ComplaintsforChilders Enterprises Inc

• Initial Complaint

  04/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This occurred on 03/20/2024 I called to obtain emergency repair services for a leak and also requested that they replace the pressure reducing valve. I was charged $400 flat rate for "Quoted services" but never was quoted the price for the PRV replacement ahead of time, otherwise I would have declined the service as they told me the material cost was $130 for the PRV & labor is $140/hour. They initially told me their labor rate when I called so I was only able to reasonably assume they would charge for actual time spent and materials plus any markup on materials as appropriate. Instead they spent 1 hour and 40 minutes of total time but when computing $400-130 that results in $270 in labor which is close to 2 hours additional on top of the labor they already charged me for on the first ticket of 1 hour. Therefore I have been overcharged by approximately $130 in extraneous labor that I was not given the opportunity to decide on performing the work or not as I was not actually quoted for the repair cost of the PRV replacement in advance. I called to clarify and dispute this billing method and they said they were powerless to change anything but I can not accept that answers and consider this duplicate billing usurious and deceitful. Invoice #'s are ******** *** ********. In addition to this I requested the plumber call me when he diagnosed the problem and he didn't call until after he had already completed repairs which was not the instructions I gave when I requested service. There are no photos of the condition prior to the repair or after. After the PRV was installed I not told by the technician what he set the PRV pressure to and later was informed by the office that they set it to "Standard pressure" for which I have no evidence that they actually did a pressure test on the system after install in the invoice notes, I would expect a photo or clear notes at the time of work to verify this was actually performed.

  Business response

  04/10/2024

  H* ******

  I am sorry to see you felt the need to address this here. We have tried to explain this and I will do so again here for clarity. We invoiced you for two separate issues:

  1. A water leak in a copper line.

  2. A PRV replacement for a severely corroded PRV with substantial biological growth on it. 

  The first issue was priced with time and materials, which totaled to approximately $181.89, and the second issue was charged at a quoted price of $428.00 after we replaced the PRV at your request. 

  Based on the total time registered on these jobs, the total of the two invoices is equal to our hourly rate + material costs. Thus, there was no overbilling. 

  We strive to provide exceptional customer service. Let us know if there are any issues with the work we performed. Thank you.

  Customer response

  04/16/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

   

  the company claims they charged me in the quoted service, which again was not quoted to me in advance, duplicate labor beyond the actual total cost of repair based on time and material. The repair of the leaking pipe did not actually resolve the issue as it is still leaking, and the PRV installation does not allow for future service as it is oriented incorrectly and is lacking a union on the top of the PRV. It also is lacking a shutoff valve on the outlet side of the PRV. The use of PEX at the main service was not authorized as it could not area a restriction to smaller than 3/4”. The installation is missing insulation on the piping to prevent condensation.

  The use of shark bites on the pipe repair was not authorized and there is no evidence that the pipes all are inserted fully and properly because no markings are made that demonstrate this was checked.

  
  Regards,
  
  *********** ******

  Business response

  05/03/2024

  Hello BBB,

  I am following up on the BBB complaint case we responded to last month, as the case appears to be closed. We have refunded the customer’s money, which we believe is an adequate response to the issue. We also revisited the customer’s home two weeks ago at no charge, and the customer seemed to be satisfied with everything.

  If there are any further actions we can take or if there are any unresolved issues, please do not hesitate to let us know. We are committed to ensuring customer satisfaction and resolving any outstanding matters.

  Thank you,

  ****** *******

• Initial Complaint

  07/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We hired Childers Enterprises to come and look at our stopped up commode and when they came they supposedly fixed it but the next day it wasn’t working again. They charged us 487.600 I believe and wanted to charge us again! I was told by another company they were just bought out by another company and they do not even have the right truck or equipment to fix our problem. They basically ripped us off and now we have to spend more money to hire someone else. My wife and I are in our 80’s and believe this was a case of Senior Citizens Scam! I am hoping to hear from someone and get our money back.

  Business response

  07/19/2023

  In response to complaint # ********. On May 11, 2023, Childers Enterprises completed a service call for the ********* with a backed-up sewer.

  We were at their home for 2 hours we found the sewer was blocked with bathroom wipes; we cleared the line with the sewer jetting machine 

  we told the customer what the cause of the problem was. We tested the system and everything worked.

  We charge $140 an hour plus a $30 trip fee and a fee for the use of the sewer jetter. Total of $487.60

  We heard back from the customer again on June 29, 2023, at 4;46pm stating that the sewer was backed up again, The customer service rep tried to

  schedule the plumbing supervisor to come look at the sewer problem and the customer said never mind

  We use a program called Service Titan all of our calls incoming and outgoing are recorded I have listened to both phone calls from the customer

  so i am not sure why they think they were scamed.                                        Thanks Ken ********* GM Childers Enterprises

• Initial Complaint

  06/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Date of service 3/23/22 Was charged 169.60 My air conditioning system had not been working properly so we contacted Childers enterprise. The service tech said he did some checks and told us that our system was old and needed replaced. So we contacted another company and their tech said that the system was low on refrigerant and the capacitor was bad. Our system is working fine now. I feel like the tech from Childers enterprise did not do the basic checks of the service call as he stated.

  Business response

  06/29/2022

  In reference to the above complaint. As you can see from the attached work order #****** dated 3.23.2022 that was submitted by the customer it shows that we inspected everything but did not find anything wrong at that time. We only gave a quotation on new equipment due to the age of the existing equipment in case this was something the customer wanted to upgrade in the future. If the ******* would have called us back we would have went back at a No Charge to see what we may have missed if anything. Or if they would have called us to express their concerns with us instead of the BBB we could have resolved this before now. I have tried to call them a couple of times to see what we need to do to work the problem out but I apparently do not have the right phone # that's listed on the work order. Their correct phone #'s are ************ *** ************ which I have left messages on. If they will contact me we will work this out no problem at all. Please let me know asap so we can put this behind us. Thank you and I'm sorry this simple problem had to involve you. 

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩