Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/24/2023

  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.

  D&S was scheduled to give me an estimate to replace a water heater in one of my rental units in ******* on Thursday April 20, 2023. Upon the technician's arrival, the tenant was not available.I called back D&S plumbing to reschedule the appointment for Tuesday April 25th, 2023.During that conversation, the lady asked for my credit card number. I asked if I was being charged for the trip, and she said no, they just need it for their records. I told her there was no need to give her my credit details at a that juncture.I found another company that was able to replace the water heater sooner than April 25th, so, I called D&S back to cancel the Tuesday appointment. D&S Plumbing started sending me an invoice for $157.50 for 'Trip Charge' that I was not previously advised will be assessed, otherwise, I wouldn't have scheduled with them.I have called, and sent emails to try to resolve, to no avail.Their reasoning was that I did not tell them it was a rental property, so they have to charge! Their website does not mention anything about 'Trip charge'This is a direct quote from the site "You will never get charged a service fee from us not after hours, not on weekends, not on holidays period. We only charge for the work we do. "I fell harassed by the constant emails they send demanding $157.50 for work that they did not do.Please help resolve.Regards,***************************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/24/2023

  ******************** is intentionally misrepresenting certain facts. The most important fact in this case is that his invoice had already been written off ("zeroed-out") by the company owners because they were tired of arguing with someone who is obviously just trying to get something for free. Since we didn't actually do any work, it still costs us gas, wear & tear on the work truck, time that could have been spent helping another customer, and company resources to pay staff to repeatedly communicate with him about a small trip charge, the purpose of which is to recoup these expenses. No other company come out for free and he would still be paying anyway. 

  As for the actual facts of the situation, D&S Plumbing does indeed do free estimates. For residential customers, there is no charge to reschedule a missed appointment, as we understand some things can be beyond our control. For income property owners & management companies, there is a trip charge if we arrive on location and the tenant fails to be on premises and/or refuses access to the property.

  ******************** failed to reveal the fact that this was a rental property, instead leading the dispatcher to believe that this was his personal residence and that he, himself, would be on site for the appointment. It wasn't until after the technician arrived on location and couldn't get anyone to the door, nor would ******************** answer his phone when the technician called, that the dispatcher called him from the office phone and he admitted that this was a rental property and that he, himself, was not on premises. Had he told the dispatcher up front that it was a rental property, on the initial call she would have gotten:
  1) the tenant's name and phone number, so that we could both schedule the appointment with the tenant (when they would be sure to be there) and so that we could call the tenant when we were on the way. Again, to ensure they were actually on site. 
  2) ************************ billing contact info (address, email, phone), as rental properties are set up in the customer database with separate billing and service contact info. 
  And she would have explained the policy that we would charge a fee if we arrived on location and the tenant wasn't on site to allow the technician access to the property to do the task for which we were called. They are aware that this is a tax-deductible expense for income properties, and they understand the costs of doing business.  

  ******************** states that we requested his credit card info when he called to reschedule the missed service call. That is a lie. The office manager heard the entire conversation and the dispatcher never once asked for his credit card. She requested his "billing info," meaning his billing contact information, NOT his credit card. That misunderstanding has been explained to ******************** repeatedly, yet he still insists on repeating the lie. 
  
  Therefore, ******************** has now misrepresented the facts of the situation to the BBB, although the situation has already been remedied to his satisfaction. He is out nothing, for which he would have had a tax-deductible expense, otherwise. Therefore he has nothing for which to complain.