Replace water shut-off valve for hot water tank
Called Mr. Swirl on Saturday morning Aug 1 around 9 am about a leaky water shut-off valve with my hot water tank. On-Call technician called me back within 30 minutes and informed me he would be on-site between 12:00 pm and 12:30 pm. I asked about the call-out charge during the call and was told that if repairs was needed, then the call-out charge will be deducted from the repair cost. Then I asked him to proceed with the service call.
At about 12:00 pm, technician called and have to delayed his arrival to 2:00 and 2:30 pm. He was very apologetic about this but I'm still not happy with this 2 Hr delay on a long weekend.
Technician arrived on site and confirmed the leaky shut-off valve. He informed me that the valve is a special order and have to return on Tuesday Aug 4 to replace. Since the valve was very close to the wall, he stated the dry-wall has to be cut to gain full access to the pipe and that a "Limited Access" charge would have to be applied. Since he was late, he will reduce that charge by half to $75 dollars only. Then he prepared the work-order on his tablet and quickly scrolled to the bottom to have my signed the authorization. Because he scrolled so quickly, my wife and I never got the chance to fully review all the charges before signing.
Technician returned on Tuesday August 4 to perform while I was at work. During the repair, he told my wife that he didn't need to cut the dry-wall to replace the water shut-off valve. He completed the work and offered to check out the water flow in all the outlets in the kitchen and bathroom throughout the house.
The day after the repair on Aug 5, I phone the office and requested the invoice (#82149) and was unpleasantly surprised with 2 charges: a Call-Out Fee of $59 and a Limited Access fee of $73.20. These 2 charges should not have been charged based on what the technician informed me.
When I called the office on Aug 6 to inquire about these 2 charges, the receptionist informed me she will have to check with the technician before getting back to me. It's now Aug 21 and I have yet to hear from Mr. Swirl
- Approximate cost of services:
- $634.66
- Company Response
Hi there Peter, we do apologies for the delay that happened initially. As we do service the whole Lower Mainland we do our best to ensure all clients are well looked after and try to be as prompt as possible. During a long weekend we do tend to book up quickly and try to assist same day to the best of our ability. Looking at the photos taken of the work, we were able to see that the valve was in a very tight spot creating limited access to preform the work. The technician informed the possibility of also needing to cut open drywall if he was unable to work in the limited access area. He did what he could to avoid needing to also cut the drywall. The call out fee is company policy to charge. As he needed to return a second day to complete the work he did not charge an additional call out fee, he only charge the one. We have addressed this matter with the technician regarding communication to ensure a better understanding on his future jobs so there are no further miscommunication regarding potential of cutting drywall and how the call out fee works.