ComplaintsforRumpca Services, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  11/22/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  - Date of Transaction: 11/4/21 - Amount Paid: $530 paid - Nature of Dispute: I've been using Rumpca Services for over 6 years. The terms of service for service calls has always been: $59 charge for the service call + Labor charge of approximately $118 for 1 hour or less of labor + Parts Charge. On 11/4/21 My furnace was not working correctly so I scheduled a service call with Rumpca. The service technician spent 1/2 hour at my house from the time he pulled into my driveway until the time he left. He replaced a gas valve. The total charge was $530.The price seemed very high for a 1/2 hour service call so I asked Rumpca to email me the invoice. The charges for the service call, labor, and parts were not itemized on the invoice as has always been the case in prior service calls. Just a single line charge of $530. That seemed awfully high. So I pulled off the cover to the furnace and took a photo of the gas valve, looked it up online and the retail price is $75. So for 1/2 hour of labor and a $75 dollar retail part I was charged $530. I called Rumpca and spoke with the owner, Mr. Rumpca the next day. He offered to refund me $64. I asked why the price was so high and he explained: About 1 year ago we changed our terms of service to flat rate pricing. My dispute is, I've been using Rumpca for years and he changed his terms of service from parts & labor to flat rate pricing and I was never notified. That's morally unfair at the very least, and from what I've read he is legally obligated to notify an existing customer when his terms of service change. If the flat rate pricing charge was fair I would not have such a problem. But $530 for 1/2 hour of service and a $75 retail part that he buys wholesale - that's grossly unfair pricing. Under previously agreed upon parts & labor pricing terms the charge would have been approx. $277 ($59 service call + $120 labor + $100 part assuming 100% markup from $50 wholesale estimate). I would like a $253 refund ($530 - $277).

  Business response

  12/21/2021

  We were called out for a no heat situation, We arrived the same day diagnosed the problem with the furnace and quoted customer our minimum cost of $536.00 to replace the gas control valve on the furnace. Customer approved the cost of the repairs. We replaced the gas control valve, started up the furnace, checked the gas pressure and made sure the furnace was in good working order. When finished we charged customer the quoted price of $536.00 for the job we completed. We feel the charges were fair and competitive.

  Customer response

  12/22/2021

   I am rejecting this response because:
  There was no quoted price until the service man arrived.  After diagnosing the problem which took approximately 5 minutes he quoted me a price of $600.  Based on past terms of service I expected that I would be charged for labor and parts.  They did not provided an itemized bill of sales for parts and labor which concerned me. So I called them and asked that they do so.  They sent the bill of sale which was not itemized.  I became concerned because the bill had a bottom line charge and it was not itemized as had been done in he past.  So I took off the furnace door and took a picture of the only part that they replaced which was the gas valve.  I went on line to check out the cost of the part and it was a $75 retail part.  This is when I realized that they changed their terms of service for pricing.  It was no longer labor plus parts.  They charged me a flat rate of $530 for 1/2 hour of service that included a $75 retail part.  That part most likely cost them less than $75 which was the retail price.  Most likely $50.  So the charge for the service call minus the part was $530 - $50 which equals $480.  $480 dollars for 1/2 hour of labor equates to an hourly rate of $960.  The owner may state that he charged me a fair price, but $960 per hour for HVAC work is not a fair price. 

  So, in summary,  The owner changed his terms of service for pricing from parts + labor to a flat rate for an existing customer who had used him for many years and paid parts + labor. I, the customer was not notified that the pricing terms of service were changed.  Rumpca then charged a grossly unfair labor rate of $960 per hour. It is morally suspect and most likely illegal to change terms of service pricing for an existing customer without notifying them.  This is what Rumpca did.  Then, applying their flat rate pricing they overcharged me at a hourly labor rate of $960.
  

  
  

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