Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/15/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

   
  Complaint: 22427860
  
  I am rejecting this response for three reasons:

  First, I was never given a quote for going under the house and it was only later, when I asked for an itemized bill, that ****** told me that they never go under the house for less than $5,500.  Had the technician on site told me that, I never would have authorized the work of entering the crawlspace.  The independent plumber I consulted subsequently about the reasonableness of the amount that I was charged told me that this was nonsense because the pipes are always located in the crawlspace, and they always have to go under there to work on it and hes never heard of such a charge so I believe that their charging me was fraudulent and predatory and, in all events, as Ive already mentioned, they never disclosed that they would charge that in advance, so I was never given a full and fair and knowing opportunity to authorize the work given that that was going to be the charge. That charge at a minimum should be reversed.

  Second, the only reason I authorized the crawlspace work was because the technician told me that there was standing water under the house, and that the pipes were leaking, and that I had to hire a special company, whose business card he gave me, to come in and dry out everything in the crawlspace. When I brought in the independent plumber to inspect the crawlspace, he saw no such standing water.  Likewise, the photographs they sent me did not show any standing water. If I had known that there was no standing water and it was therefore not an urgent matter, I never wouldve authorized any of the work, but instead, I wouldve obtained bids from several competing tradesmen.
  

  Third, the independent plumber who inspected the work and told me he would have done it for $1,000 was not simply bidding on the work. His statement to me was that I was grossly overcharged and theres no way, in his professional opinion and his experience, including having worked for the same company (Discount Plumbing) in the past, that anyone would have charged me anything more than $1,000 for all of the work.  He also said that the rooter work that the tradesmen did was completely unnecessary because the debris that they free up does not leave the system.  
  

  For all of these reasons, I remain steadfast that I was grossly overcharged for this work, and that the practice they engaged in was fraudulent and predatory. They had me in an urgent situation based on information they gave me and therefore forced me to comply with their work rather than giving me full and accurate information. If they had given me full and accurate information, as Ive said, I never wouldve authorized any work beyond cleaning out the shower which they did initially. They falsely led me to believe this was an urgent situation.  If they had not done that, I would have asked them to give me a written proposal for their proposed work, and then I wouldve solicited competing bids before I decided whom to hire. By falsely leading me to believe that it was an urgent situation that had to be addressed by them immediately, I was put in a position of having to tell them to go ahead and do the work.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ****

  does not issue itemized receipts. I insisted so he sent one on 9.18 (attached) w/ photos, none of which showed any water in the crawl space. I got a second opinion from another plumber who reviewed the itemized receipt, entered the crawl space and took photos. He said I should not have been charged more than $1000, that the rotor rooter job had not been necessary, and that there was, indeed, another corroded area about two feet from the end of the new pipe that could have easily been resected at the same time the four-foot length of pipe was removed. I had 2 phone calls on 10.7 w/R. My contemporaneous notes indicate that R. told me most plumbers will not go into a crawl space because its a confined space, that there was risk of a ******** or spider bite, and that the company charged no less than $5500 to enter a crawl space. C. did not tell me that there would be a charge of $5500 to enter the crawl space. If he had I would not have authorized entry.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/24/2024

  We were called out to this property to assist with a clogged shower drain. Any time we are providing service for a clogged drain, our technicians are instructed to not only unclog the blockage, but also examine the condition of the plumbing pipes to help determine if there are other underlying issues that may lead to blockages. Many blockages are caused by hair, debris,grease, etc. getting caught in the line due to cracks/scale/build-up within the drainage line. In your particular case, our technician asked for permission to enter the crawlspace to examine your drain lines to see if they could be part of the reason for the backup in the shower drain. Upon his inspection, our technician found that the pipes were completely corroded and cracked (pictures were provided later). This home was built in 1963 and all of the drainage lines appeared to be the original construction material meaning the pipes were 60+years old. Our technician then provided you a quote for replacing the cracked and corroded pipes in the crawlspace for approx. $4,700. The quote and job scope were approved, so he began the repair the same day. After removing the most damaged section of piping and looking inside the pipe, decades of old scale and buildup could be seen throughout the pipe (pictures were provided later). Therefore,our technician suggested descaling the other remaining pipes that werent being fully replaced with a specialized piece of machinery meant to remove old scale and build-up and restore the pipes internal diameter to improve water flow. The price for this service was approx. $3,500, which was approved and then performed shortly thereafter on the same day. Our records show that we received a phone call from you approx. 1 week later and at that time you spoke with our manager asking for more information about the price of the service and copies of the pictures.We have pictures of the damaged pipes that were replaced as well as pictures showing the excessive scale buildup inside of the pipes. So following that phone call,we emailed you more information about how we price these jobs along with pictures. Then approximately 2 weeks passed until we heard from you again in which you demanded an excessive refund because another plumbing contractor had told you that he would have only charged $1,000. We told you that this was an unreasonable demand and that we unfortunately could not agree to this request. As stated on our phone call, its unfair to have a second contractor come out to review a competitors previous work and expect an honest price quote, especially when the work has already been performed. We proposed alternative solutions to try and address your concerns but you were unwilling to accept something that we felt was reasonable.We would still like to come up with an agreeable solution for both parties.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/09/2024

   
  Complaint: 22427860
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  There was absolutely no misunderstanding during my phone calls with R on 10/7/24.  I took contemporaneous notes during the two calls I had with him that day.  On the first call at 10:49am he indicated the many reasons that the bill was so high, including that C had entered the crawlspace which posed a risk for spider bites and rat bites and that "most plumbers will not go into a crawl space."  On the second call that day at 11:19am he said that the company would charge "no less than $5500 to enter a crawl space." 

  I did authorize the work to be done on the day the pipe corrosion was identified because C led me to believe that there was standing water and that the repair was urgent.  The photos sent to me weeks later did not show standing water at the time the photos were taken, contrary to what C told me about standing water leading me to believe that the repair was urgent.  While C was at the house I asked him to send me an itemized receipt and the photos taken in the crawl space and he agreed to send these, but after a week he still had not sent the photos or the receipt.  I did not authorize the additional work that C said was necessary since his quote was in excess of $11,000 and there were not enough funds in my mother's bank account to cover such an expense.  

  The plumber whom I asked to assess what work had been done by C, to determine if more work needed to be done, and to review the itemized receipt (which took three calls to the company to get) happened to be doing work at the home of my next door neighbor.  He made a trip to my mother's property, went into the crawl space.  It was his opinion that the 2 hour and 32 minute job should not have cost more than $1000.  He was not offering a bid on the work; he was telling me that the work C did would never have cost more than $1,000 maximum for any tradesman to do and therefore it was excessive.  He encouraged me to report the excessive charges to the ************************** Board which I have done.    

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/15/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On Friday, February 2, 2024, I called Discount Plumbing to check my storm drain system. They came on February 2, around 11:30am, and did the inspection with a hydro jet. It was not successful. ******, the man in charge, said that a crew would come Saturday at 9:00am to break the ground. Then he made a contract on his phone that estimated the work would be $7987.60, and he wanted a $700 deposit. I gave him my check.No one came on Saturday. At 11:36am, I called ******* phone, but then it cut off. At 11:41am, I called the Discount Plumbing office phone and explained the situation. The man said to stay on the line, and to give him a moment to contact ******. He came back and said that ****** would contact me momentarily. I waited the whole day, but got no call nor text.On Sunday, the water was collecting in the yard. I used my own tools, and opened both sides. After waiting through two days with no contact from Discount Plumbing, I was very disappointed and didnt know with whom I was dealing. I texted the Manager of Discount Plumbing to let them know not to schedule any crew to work on the system, because I had gotten it working.On Tuesday, February 6, at 12:27, I called ******* phone. The phone rang twice, then was silent. I waited one minute, but no one answered. Then I texted Mr. ************************** Chief Executive Officer of Discount Plumbing, explaining the situation. To date, I have received no response.I am 87 years old and have patience, and I trust and respect local businesses.It has now been 72 days. I am requesting to have my $700 deposit returned.Attached are copies of my texts to the Manager and to the Chief Executive Officer.Also attached is a copy of the contract made on ******* phone.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/16/2024

  Our manager spoke to **** about his concerns via phone. We had attempted a hydrojet service to clear his line but were unsuccessful. We agreed to return ****'s deposit that he paid for the larger repair since work was never performed... **** was satisfied with this resolution.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/17/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  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.
  

  At the current time, the refund check has not been received. Assuming that arrives and matches the agreed upon amount, I will be satisfied with the outcome. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  ng by not consulting the manufacturer, I believe they should refund the charges for the ineffective visits and cover the costs incurred with **** Plumbings repairs.Receipts for all charges are attached.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/27/2024

  Our General Manager spoke to ****** and discussed all concerns. We are refunding ****** by the form of check for the desired amount. This issue has been resolved and both parties appear to be satisfied with the end result.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/23/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I paid $600 for them to TRY and not fix anything. Money down the drain!Plumber ***** quoted me $600 to fix a drain blockage, but instead he put a bandaid on the problem with same day required payment. If a snake was not the solution, then as professionals they should have quoted the right procedure to get the job done.**** the manager told me that since the recommended snake didn't work, I'd have to pay an additional $800 for the job to get done! Bait & switch. Had ***** quoted me $1400 from the get-go I would have never hired them. But I was told they can fix the problem for $600 and couldn't.We can't use the toilet nor shower 3 different days after they came out. This is a loss of business & multiple clean *** of brown water.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/04/2023

  Hello,

  We reached out to ****** and resolved the matter. We refunded her the entire amount paid $600. She is satisfied with this resolution.