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Complaint Details
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Initial Complaint
11/01/2021
- Complaint Type:
- Billing Issues
- Status:
- Answered
I requested National economy Plumbers, through the BBB website, send a plumber to repair my pedestal sink. On Friday October 29, 2021 the plumber arrived. During the first two hours, the plumber tried twice to tell me the sink was fixed. The sink was obviously not repaired. The plumber had never repaired a pedestal sink. He then called another plumber who came out and instructed him on the repair. The repair was complete in an hour. They were here 4 hours. I was billed for 3 hours of labor. It does not seem I should be responsible for the first two hours of labor, as the plumber did not know how to repair the sink until he was trained by another plumber. I respectfully request a refund for 2 hours of labor (approximately $348). Thanks, ***** ****Business response
01/12/2022
Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2021/11/18) */ Contact Name and Title: **** ****** /Marketing Ma Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXX Contact Email: ****@nepmem.com We appreciate our customer's feedback, as it is always welcome and valuable to our team. We take matters such as unsatisfied customer concerns very seriously. As per the customer, "others" installed a new lavatory faucet and attempted to right this pedestal basin to no avail. The pedestal for the basin sits on a fabricated wooden box also built by "others". This wooden box is not level to the floor and by design it's too small for the large pedestal basin. Our plumber disconnected the pedestal basin from the wall, removed the bracket, realigned the bracket and drilled the holes for the correct anchors. After we reset the pedestal basin the customer stated that she wanted the fixture to be sturdy enough to support her elderly mothers' weight where she can pull up on the fixture. Before sealing and reconnecting the plumbing, the technician called a senior technician out to check assess the situation. The senior technician advised the technician that if the customer does not want to remove the wooden box that it will not sit level without shimming etc. However, the pedestal basin cannot be used in the manner requested. It is not designed (with or without the wooden box) to support weight. A different style of basin and or safety grab bars would be required. We offered our services to furnish and install ADA grab bars and the customer declined. The technician was on the job for four hours and reduced the charges to only three hours. This was the best discount we could offer considering all circumstances. Consumer Response /* (3000, 9, 2021/11/20) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The opportunity to engage in a dialogue is appreciated. Please allow me to clarify: 1) As per the customer, "others" installed a new lavatory faucet and attempted to right this pedestal basin to no avail. This is correct 2) The pedestal for the basin sits on a fabricated wooden box also built by "others". This wooden box is not level to the floor and by design it's too small for the large pedestal basin. This is partially correct. The pedestal does sit on a wooden box. The box has functioned perfectly for about 20 years (since it was installed). If the box has become somewhat out of level in that time, consider that the home is 101 years old. Much in this home is not perfectly level. 3) Our plumber disconnected the pedestal basin from the wall, removed the bracket, realigned the bracket and drilled the holes for the correct anchors. Possibly partially true. New holes were drilled, but I am not sure it was required, as the since was not fixed after this was done, and easily tilted by placing one hand on the sink. 4) After we reset the pedestal basin the customer stated that she wanted the fixture to be sturdy enough to support her elderly mothers' weight where she can pull up on the fixture. This was NOT stated. When the plumber showed this to me as "finished" work, I placed my hand on the sink and the entire basin immediately moved significantly. I explained this was not safe. This sink has been rock solid for about 20 years (when I had it installed). I have no expectation of a sink to support the weight of an adult or pull up on the sink, but it should not be easily moved with one hand. This is dangerous. 5) Before sealing and reconnecting the plumbing, the technician called a senior technician out to check assess the situation. The plumber did not know how to repair the sink. He had never repaired a pedestal sink. There was a one hour delay while he called an experienced technician and we waited for him to arrive. This was why I was not charged for the 4th hour of labor. I cannot imagine why a plumber with zero experience with a pedestal sink was sent to repair my pedestal sink when I was very clear that a pedestal sink needed repair. 6) The senior technician advised the technician that if the customer does not want to remove the wooden box that it will not sit level without shimming etc. There was NO discussion of removing the wooden box. That was never presented as a suggested remedy. 7) However, the pedestal basin cannot be used in the manner requested. It is not designed (with or without the wooden box) to support weight. A different style of basin and or safety grab bars would be required. We offered our services to furnish and install ADA grab bars and the customer declined. There was NO discussion of installing grab bars. Again, the sink has been rock solid for about 20 years, so it is adequate for the job. 8) The technician was on the job for four hours and reduced the charges to only three hours. This was the best discount we could offer considering all circumstances. This was NOT a discount. It was the time waiting for the experienced technician to arrive. Although this issue is not resolved, I look forward to this dialogue leading to a resolution. I respectfully request a refund for 2 hours of labor (approximately $348).
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Customer Complaints Summary
1 total complaints in the last 3 years.
0 complaints closed in the last 12 months.