Overcharging, not showing up and threaten to send customer to collection agency!
If you want to get overcharged double the hours than were originally agreed upon, wait for their service man to show up 5 hours later because somebody forgot to make notes on the scheduled service agreed upon over the phone or whatever the reason, but later on find out that they didn't know they were supposed to come, and then in the very end of it all get threatened to get sent to the collection agency because you don't agree to the amount they are charging you, this is the place to go. Long story short:
1. I decided to give this company a try due to their good online review, it turned out to be the complete opposite. After explaining what needs to be done, I was quoted for two hours of labour plus parts. My husband later called again to speak with another man who can tell how long the work should take and we agreed to it. And I made it clear that if they could not do the removal within an hour and the reconnect within an hour that we would not use them.
2. The job was for our tenant, so I wasn't there. I ordered a new quartz countertop and sink. The plumber needed to remove the sink and the countertop (as was agreed upon) before the installation and come back after to hook everything back up. The plumber suggested that we wait for two days to let the countertop settle. So the next service was scheduled for Friday morning before 12:00 p.m.
3. Then I got a text from my tenant at around 3:30 pm on Friday saying that no one showed up yet. She was not very happy because she couldn't use their drinking water and she needed to leave the house. I called the plumbing company. THERE WAS NO RECORD OR NOTE mentioning that they were supposed to come on Friday morning. Now they couldn't make it because it was too late, and we had to wait for Monday! There was no way my tenant would wait for Monday without a sink and drinking water. I insisted that they finish the job by the end of the day, and they agreed that they would get the job done. They eventually did make it, around
4. Weeks later, I got a invoice of $565.34!!!! The labour charge equaled to 4.5 hours! Apparently they sent two plumbers instead of one to remove the sink and countertop (we were charged for the second plumber as well), they apparently also charge TRAVEL TIME and because they had to finish the 2nd service late in the day, they charged me overtime while it was fully their fault for not showing up! My husband has been doing kitchen service for over 12 years, removing many bigger countertops by himself, and he is not a big guy. And according to Hammond Plumbing, they ALWAYS send two plumbers if there is a countertop to be removed, which no one mentioned in the beginning while we were talking to them!
5. So we phoned our tenant to ask how many hours they spent. Our tenant said that both services were under an hour. We phoned Hammond Plumbing right after and they said they would look into the recorded phone conversations, which they always record for training purposes and in these sorts of cases.
6. After they reviewed the recording, Samantha(?) called me back saying that they can give us a DISCOUNT, and now I only need to pay three hours of labour: One hour for the first service and two hours for the 2nd service. We still found it hard to believe because we did the same reno at our house two years ago, at that time we had three sinks that needed a plumbing job. The plumber didn't take 2 hours to finish three sinks plus installing three faucets.
7. So we went to their office to try and talk to Samantha, after a while she didn't want to talk anymore (conversation was going nowhere), doesn't suggest that we talk to the owner because the result would be the same but still says that she'll pass on the message, meanwhile making threats about sending us to the collection agency! Althought we made around 5-7 phone calls, only 3 have been recorded and the rest have been conveniently lost.
What a good business to be in. Just bait your customer with a low quote, overcharge them later, and if they don't agree, threathen to send them to the collection agency!
- Approximate cost of services:
- $565.34
- Company Response
Hello.
We apologize for your experience and would like to look into your situation. Please contact us at CustomerService@ServiceExperts.com with your full name on the account, address and phone number and we will follow up with you.