Kitec pipe replacement - Poor Service
Southern Cross Plumbing was hired to replace existing Kitec water piping throughout our entire condo complex. The project would take several months to complete to ensure all units were retrofitted with new Uponor pipes. They required 1.5 weeks to complete my unit and during this time I decided to live elsewhere (not required) to give them as much space as they needed to finish the work. During this time frame they were to cut through drywall, remove the old pipes, install new pipes, replace the drywall, re-paint using the paint I provided, and clean up after the install. In addition to this, they were to use floor runners and furniture tarps to eliminate any mess to the rest of the home.
While they successfully installed the new pipes, they unfortunately, did not hold up to their end of the bargain in protecting my furniture, floors, or ensuring the home was clean after their project. During the install I did a quick inspection and noticed that tarps or runners were not being used. Drywall dust was everywhere, including leather couches, beds, closets, bathroom and kitchen. When I brought this up to the project manager (Steve) he told me I must have missed them because his crew always uses tarps. Photo evidence shows otherwise. At the end of the project the closet doors were not replaced, hardwood floors were full of boot prints and dried mud/water stains from outside, ceiling air vent was damaged, the furnace did not function properly, and dust still covered my furniture and main living areas. All 21 drywall patches were not painted with the paint I provided (as agreed upon via contact), but painted with a cheap primer. After complaining again to the project manager, they sent someone in to repair the furnace only.
I escalated my concerns with the manager/owner Anton who simply stated he didn’t care and his crew was “hired to install the new pipes and not to be house maids cleaning dust up everywhere”. When I expressed to him his crew didn’t use tarps to minimize mess, didn’t clean up after their work, wore wet boots around the house causing more mess, he chuckled stating “we’re plumbers, not maids”. He was extremely unprofessional, unwilling to take any accountability for the actions of his crew or project manager, and refused to work with me to come to a solution.
In the end I was required to clean the mess they left behind and repaint the walls.
In addition to the above, I’ve learnt from other tenants in the complex that they too have experience similar issues with Anton and his crew, some having a worse experience (i.e. flooding due to washer/dishwasher piping connections not made).
While his team did install the new pipes, I would caution hiring Anton due to his unprofessional behaviour and recommend you look elsewhere for your plumbing needs.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $7,700.00
- Company Response
Hi Jeff,
My apologies for the events that had happened as we certainly do not want unhappy customers. It is my understanding that any concerns you had were dealt with and corrected prior to this review including coming back to clean your unit. As mentioned in our prior discussions there had been some miscommunication with respect to who was to paint the finish colour. It was our understanding that you were going to paint your entire unit yourself over the weekend. We then offered to paint the areas we worked on but you had already done the final colour over the weekend. In the contract it does state that we paint to primer finish only and it is a courtesy for us to paint the walls with the final colour (when supplied by owner) at no additional cost. The required work was done on time and to the contractual obligation and its my sincere apologies that your experience with us was unfavourable and not to your satisfaction.
Sincerely Yours,