ComplaintsforPlumb Line Plumbing & Remodeling Inc

• Initial Complaint

  06/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I paid $990.93 on 5/18/2023 for a tankless water heater to be installed. I took pictures of the project throughout its entirety and had the plumbers take pictures of the work done on the roof. On the first rainy day after installation, I had water leaking in through the roof vent. Upon inspection of the pictures, a clamp had been installed too tight and caused cracks in the existing vent. I sent these pictures to the company and they denied their work caused these cracks. My existing vent was already rusted, so I agreed to pay for the materials to replace the vent. I did not agree to extra labor charges, as this was an issue that should have been addressed initially. I have approximately 16 hours of time loss at work due to scheduling errors made by this company already. The receptionist did reach out and said they would fix the issue at their regular rates. She said I had to pay cash upfront. When I said I would agree to signing a document stating exactly how much this would cost and that I would pay half upfront and half at the end, the receptionist said she was declining my business. The receptionist stated they had proof that I had been "unkind" to them, saying they recorded all of their calls. If this is the case, I never consented to having the phone calls recorded. This is another issue I am asking for help resolving.They said this would be approximately $250 worth of work, so I am looking for that to be refunded so I can find a new plumber to finish the work.

  Business response

  06/22/2023

  First several calls she demanded an email for pricing and appt. On her first initial appt we had hold *** at prior appointments due to powers out of our control. We called to reschedule her and she started yelling at me. We apologized and told her why.  Her partner called and said she was learning how to deal with life and apologize for her un-willingness for change. We were feeling uneasy with her behavior, so we sent 2 guys instead of one. Upon arrival- First thing she said was this is how much I was quoted a certain price and it better not be any more. The quote was a rough estimate and not a signed proposal. We said it could be less or more. we wont know until we get in there. She debated with the technician for 10 minutes about the price. 
  We started to work ,she filmed and took pictures the whole time. She got in our way and took extra time with questions of what we were doing. We went on the roof to put a cap on. There were no cracks on the pipe before or after the installation of the cap that we noticed.  She refused to follow instructions on how to bleed off the system. Due to the fact that she wouldnt let them in the house to do it correctly. We hooked it up exactly to the current code. After we were done, we filled out a detailed invoice. The bill came out to be $70 over what we had quoted her. She argued with us for 45 min over it. We had to call the partner ********* and he argued with us also. We told him this is a pay at time service and we need payment before we can leave.  We told him we would give them an itemized receipt. They finally agreed to pay after wasting 45 min of our time. ********* called 5 days later and demanded an itemized receipt. I told him that we already gave them one at the time we were there and that it was an itemized invoice. She called a week later and demanded we come look at her water heater for free because it was throwing a code. The code that it was throwing was not our fault. They didnt have a recirc pump. We hooked up the water heater exactly to the current code. We told them what it cost to put in a pump. Then they called 6/12 and said the roof vent was leaking. We told them we would schedule them for us to come and inspect it. They sent us a picture of the hole. She was yelling at us saying we did it, even though we never noticed a crack, when we put the cap on. Due to the way she was threatening us and her actions on the first visit, we told her we would need the payment up front. She refused and started yelling. Due to her not paying up front and safety of our plumbers, we told her we were going to kindly decline doing any further work for them due to their behavior. She was hard to reason with, and hung up on us.
  
  

  Customer response

  06/29/2023

   
  Complaint: 20198806
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1) The attached photographic evidence clearly demonstrates a rusted vent, and crack.
  2) The photograph was taken by one of the plumbers, who was the only one on the roof.
  3) Even if the plumber did not cause the crack (by clamping a rusted vent too tightly) or did not notice the crack, it was obviously there when the plumber took the photo, leaving the job unfinished.
  4) The vent now leaks rain onto the new, digitally controlled hot water heater, leaving it at risk for water damage.
  5) Given their lengthy and tangential response, Id rather have some reimbursement to have this corrected myself or by another provider.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Business response

  07/28/2023

  Per our agreement we did everything they had asked us to do. She wanted us to install her tankless heater, that is what we did. We charged her time and material, not as a bid. We had given her the best idea of cost. The vent pipe was to be used as a sleeve for the new exhaust vent. When we were finished we gave her an invoice for the work we did in detail. She saw the picture we took of the work done on the roof and was satisfied. She signed and acknowledged that the work was completed and satisfactory. We were surprised to hear about the crack in the vent pipe, had it been noticed that day we would have said something to her and also let her know there would be some extra cost for that. When we found out, we were willing to return at a straight time and material (no travel charge) as if we hadnt left to fix the vent pipe. She became aggressive and unreasonable to talk to. We told her because of her behavior and aggressiveness, we didnt feel comfortable or safe going back. We politely declined to move forward with any future services with her.
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  04/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had a water leak and needed to have it fixed. I called Plumb Line for an estimate. The lady answered that even though it was the first week of March, she said she could not have a technician out to give an estimate until April 18th, at least. She quoted me the price of a tankless water tank. $5500 - $7500. I told her that I was getting estimates and would call back. She called me back a few days later, reminding me that her offer was still good. I told her that I was going through my insurance company and would submit her tank cost and asked her again about an estimate for the job. She told me the 18th or 19th of April would be as soon as she could get someone out. I called her and told her that the insurance company had a plumber that they used and thanked her for her time. She called back four more times wanting my business and assuring me that they would be able to take care of the job. I declined. The last time she called she left a message asking for my gmail address. She stated she would send a statement snail mail. I didn't know what she was talking about. I got the statement April 22nd. It was a **** for seven phone consultations. $202.39. I wasn't informed of the cost of fixing my water leak. This **** is for phone consultations, that happened to determine if her company could give me service. I never told Plumb Line that they had the job. They never did submit a cost of service estimate or visit my residence. I don't believe I owe them anything. My credit should not be tarnished by this type of tactic. I would like a resolution to this fraudulent tactic and an cessation of Plumb Line's harassments. Please tell me if I'm wrong about being charged for no service and if this is a fraud I should pursue with the Washington State Attorney General. Thank you very much for your help. *********************

  Business response

  05/04/2022

  There are several attachments here I will be referencing as I respond. 
  
  I will start with the attached Call Log. The call log is from our ******* Business Account and shows all calls to and from his phone number beginning on 1/29/22 and ending 4/29/22. There were a total of 9 calls. 3 incoming and 6 outgoing. I can not tell what was said exactly in each conversation but I do have some of them documented on the Job Record attachment and I will tell you what I remember regarding the conversations as a whole.
  
  **************** states that his 1st contact with us was in the first week of March. Our call log shows our first call from him was on 2/21/22. He stated that he had a leak near his water heater on the 2nd level of his home and it was leaking through the ceiling below. ****** states that we were never at his home. The attachment labeled Service Call is dated for the following day 2/22 when our technician went to his house. There are handwritten notes on that attachment from our tech saying he had diagnosed the leak but was unable to reach it due to work that had been done by another company, **********. ****** told our tech he would contact that company to remove the ducting that was in our way and that he would call us when the area was accessible to come back and fix the leak. We did not **** for the appointment at that time because ****** led us to believe would be returning and we would have billed him for all of his appointments on one invoice.  
  
  The attachment labeled Job Record is from our calendar. I keep notes on this calendar for ongoing jobs so that I can transfer that information to the next appointment. The job record and call log shows that after our 2/22 appointment I hadn't heard back from him in the following 4 weeks. On 3/28  I called ****** to check the status of the job. The job record shows he told me that the ducting and furnace had been removed. If I remember right, I believe on this call that he told me he was trying to go through his homeowners insurance.  ****** told me he wanted us to do the work. He had liked the tech that had been to his property but it was going to be up to his insurer. He also said he was considering upgrading from his current tank water heater to a tankless. He said he would have to pay the difference for the upgrade and he wanted a price from us to supply and install a tankless. ****** said I gave him a quote on this phone call. I did not. I told him I would have to talk to the plumbers and I would get back to him. On the following day 3/29 I called and left a message that a rough estimate for the tankless would be $5,600 - $7,000.  He called me back and I told him we would need to come out to the property to give him an accurate bid. ****** is saying that I called him several days later and I was harassing him trying to get his business.  It was not several days later that I spoke to him, it was the following day on 3/30 and there were 3 calls back and forth.  I believe we were trying to set up a time to come out and do the bid, I honestly don't remember what day I said we could come. I do remember offering him a date and he said he would like an appointment more quickly. I told him I would have to talk to the plumbers to see if we could work him in earlier. I believe on 4/1 I called to say we had a cancellation that I could come earlier. Ido remember that on this call he said his insurer was going to go with another company. The last call on 4/4 I left a message. I was billing out for our service call and the many phone consultations we had and I left a message for an email address to send it to. The attachment Inv. ***** shows the Date of Order as 4/4/22 which is the date I wrote the invoice and it shows a Starting Date of 2/22/22 which was our service call to his home. I set the invoice aside waiting for a call back with an email address. As things do, I got busy in my office and I did not realize I hadn't heard back from him with his email address until 4/21/22 at which time I sent the invoice via snail mail to ******. 
  
  The Invoice ***** for $202.39 was for our service call to his property and our time spent on phone conversations trying to facilitate his requests. 
  Our time is valuable and we feel the "phone consultations" are reasonable, but in a good faith negotiation we will offer $54.70 off the total invoice. ($50.00 + $4.70 tax = $54.70) That will bring a total owed to us by *************** for the service call on 2/22/22 of $147.69.
  I hope this all makes sense. If you have any questions feel free to call me at ************. Also, please keep me posted as to any updates or resolutions to this matter.
  
  Thank you,
  *****
  ************************* Office Manager
  ************ **************************************** www.plumblinewa.com

  Customer response

  05/04/2022

   
  Complaint: 17116415
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I was not told there would be a service charge until I recieved the **** dated April 4th. And the phone calls were initiated by *****.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Business response

  05/09/2022

  You called us on 2/21/22 at 1:23 pm. (See attached call log.) At your request we went out the following day 2/22/22 to repair/diagnose a leak near your furnace. (See attached Service call.) Anytime you request a service call from any type of service provider to your home you should anticipate to pay for it. You owe a balance of $147.69 for the service call you requested. Thank you.

  Customer response

  05/10/2022

   
  Complaint: 17116415
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I was not informed of a service charge in any conversation. I wasn't given the information that I asked Plumb Line to provide. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

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