ComplaintsforSteve's Plumbing, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  07/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We had a technician (********) come out to our vacation property on July 3rd to replace the heating element on our hot water heater. ******** advised my husband he didn't have the exact element as the original but the one he did have would work.Several hours after the replacement, our water was just barely lukewarm. I took a shower about 7 hours afterwards and by the end, the water was ice cold. No other hot water had been used. It took more than 24 hours for it to heat up again just enough for a single shower and then again, back to ice cold. I called the office the evening of July 4th and left a message with the answering service. A woman called back July 5th and as I was attempting to explain the issue, she spoke over me multiple times. Eventually I was able to tell her that the work done was not done properly and we would like someone to come back. She said there were no available appointments the remainder of the week we were there so I agreed to an appointment the following Friday, July 14th at 8:00 am. I explained that this would involve us taking time off work because we live 3 hours away. Less than 24 hours before this appointment, I was notified the part needed was on backorder and they were canceling the appointment. At this time, my husband and I had already taken PTO that we could not rescind. I was very upset and asked to speak to the office manager. When the manager called me back, she was sarcastic and unprofessional and at one point made a snide ****** about how my employer probably would be happy if I came into work instead of taking the day off. I ended the phone call after that comment. My husband and I replaced the part ourselves and when we took the element out that the technician put in, it was broken worse than the one he came to originally fix. Being that he was supposed to be the expert, we trusted him when he said this part would work. Not only did it not work, it broke after minimal use and could have burnt out our unit or worse.

  

  Business response

  08/23/2023

  I have attached a copy of the letter I sent in the mail to her the day after we spoke. I find it interesting that she neglected to include the letter and refund I had already sent her when she is demanding a refund. We were scheduled to go July 14, and we had to call her on July 13th and try to reschedule her because the part had not arrived. It was an unusual size for us to carry because it was for a mobile home. The technician tried to get them up and running and at that time it appeared it may work. The fact that it was not the same exact element was discussed with the homeowner before the installing it. When the tech left it appeared to be heating, and the homeowner confirmed that with me when we spoke. She did say it was working but then later realized you could not get a full  hot shower. She called back and complained that it was not working. The call taker was trying to gather the information to get the tech back out but was having a hard time because ************** had called to complain, not to remedy the situation. After venting at the call taker, she did agree to have us come back and install the correct element. It was scheduled for July 14th. On the 13th the part had still not arrived and from the moment we tried to reschedule to the moment she hung up she was not trying to cooperate with any option we gave her. I have already sent her a refund and feel there is nothing more to do. 
  

  Customer response

  08/24/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  I was sent a check by the company, which I did mention in my original complaint, that was for only half the amount of the faulty part. I have reattached it here. I want a full refund for the part (see invoice which was also attached to the original complaint). The check is also made out incorrectly, my legal name is not ********************* so I wouldn't have been able to cash it if I wanted to.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************

  

  Business response

  09/14/2023

  We feel that any opportunity we presented or will present to the homeowner will not be satisfactory. We did try to rectify the situation with a follow up repair. We gave her only a portion of her money back due to the fact we are stuck with a special order part we have no use for.  I have looked through the original complaint multiple times and there is no mention of the letter nor the refund anywhere in the complaint as stated. As far as the refund going to ***** rather than ********, that is the name we were given when the caller made the appointment. We do not give nicknames in the system to anyone. We always put the name they give us, as we know some people prefer to be called by their proper name.  At this time, we feel there is no further need for any dialog so we will issue a complete refund when the part is returned along with the original check. 

  Customer response

  09/14/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. We will return the broken part along with the check in person to avoid anything being lost in the mail and will expect the full refund made out correctly at that time. Please contact me at my email ************************* to coordinate a date and time.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************
  

• Initial Complaint

  05/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  When calling the company to ask the cost of a service, and camera fee to be ran through i was told $89 service fee and $140 camera fee. I scheduled the appointment had a plumber out at my house who told me the same cost. He ended up using a ****** which he said he wouldn't charge me for since "he cant charge me for something that didn't work." Thats when he made it aware that they would have to dig to fix the issue. I was told not to run water if so be conservative. I called them multiple times after a few weeks went by and i never heard back from the company. To be ignored for 2 months which i later found out i could run water this whole time just not anything solid. I was later billed a $79 few and a $282 camera fee($361 total) Which is way different then the price i was told. I told them i had no problem paying $250 like i was told from 2 people. Now I'm being told pay the full $361 or i can pay a $125 hr rate or be taken to court. They want me to pay more for there mishaps on prices and threaten me more money or court. When i offered to pay the $250 right away

  

  Business response

  07/25/2022

  I have attached the invoice for the work done at his home. We spent over 8 hours of labor on this job. We sent a tech out to the home for a backed up sewer. You can read the notes from the tech on the invoice. **** called and the call taker took the call and put him on the schedule. She did tell him at that time to dispatch the technician to the home there would be a $79 service fee. Our call takers cannot give any other pricing over the phone as they are not qualified to answer those types of questions. They are trained to  gather information, explain that we will come out and evaluate the situation, and then we will give pricing before we begin any work. **** had claimed we told him the price was $89 to come out (Which it has never been) and also claims that he was told the price for the camera was $140. I have attached our straight forward pricing guide to show you where the camera (drain vision) falls into a price category. It has never been the $140 he claims we told him. The technician had another person bring him a more specialized piece of equipment to try to get through the blockage but that didnt work either. Normally that is an additional charge whether it works or not. We still have to get paid for our time. We spent over 8 hours between the techs there trying to get through it. He claimed we were not there that long yet we do have GPS tracking and can track from the moment we pulled up until the moment we leave. We billed $361. $282 for the camera plus the $79 service fee to send him. Based on the 8 hour in labor we had into it, that is $45 per hour. Normal plumbers charge $90-$125 per hour. We did not take advantage, we actually lost money trying to help him. He  sent us $260 and said that is all he will pay us. This is $32.50 an hour. This doesnt cover wages, much less fuel, equipment use, ect.

  I did work up a price to make a repair that day while the tech was onsite. The price would have been to dig down and repair the pipe where it was bad. (Spot repair only) Price varied based on how badly the ground was frozen as this was ******** He chose not to go ahead with the repair that day. In Garys email he states he was given a price of $3500 if the ground was frozen, and $1700 if it was not. He did have an option to repair that day. He was also told we could try to jet the line but there was a good chance the line could be blown apart which we would not be responsible for if it happened. We also told him we could get him a price to replace the entire sewer but ***** was out of town.  He states that when he got a price from ***** it was completely different than what the tech and I worked up that day. This is true, Steves quote later was to replace the entire sewer and not just do a repair. It unfortunately did take us longer than expected to get back to him.

   

   

  He also stated that he was told he could not use his sewer. He was told not to put solids down his sewer, small amounts of water could be used but it is best to not use it if he doesnt have to use it. He needed to do what was best for him.

   

  I did stick to my price of $361 after he demanded we lower the price to what he wanted. I dont feel that it is fair for the customer decide what we need to charge to stay in business.

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