After reading client testimonials on this site, chose this place to do my repair. At first, I believed this was a very costly mistake, but the company made good on an error.
The plumber arrived on time. He went through the diagnostic work of cutting the pipe and determining that indeed the sump pump was broken. He explained to me that it would cost about $600 to install a sump pump that they supplied or have me get a sump pump and pay $300. I thought this was reasonable (and it was nice for him to allow me to run out and get a cheaper replacement pump), so I headed out to Lowes to get materials while he did some prep work and prepared paperwork. When I got back with the pump, he said that he would also need to replace "a little pipe". I thought "obviously", since the pump type was switching from a pedestal to a submersible, and he cut the pipe to see what the problem was. He then presented me with the estimate for $640 + taxes -- $292 for the sump pump replacement and $348 for the pipe work.
At this point, I had a decision to make: sign the estimate (well after the work was done) or have a confrontation over the charges that may end up in shoddy workmanship or leaving me to call someone else to do the repair. This is why a company must always present an estimate up front and abide by that estimate. Both the customer and the vendor are at risk when the statement of work isn't provided "up front".
So, all in all, I felt deceived. I was told it would be $300 to replace the pump, and when I got back with the pump, there was an additional charge of $350 to replace pipe that should be part of the sump pump replacement work.
All in all, the plumber spent 75 minutes of work and charged $640 of labour to replace this and a $10 piece of pipe. I felt ripped off.
I received a followup call from the company to ask about their service, which was a nice surprise. I told them that the cost was too high and they informed me that someone would call me back.
Someone did. We talked about the job that was performed and my experience with the plumber. Although the work done was quite satisfactory, I expressed my view that there was an error with the charge. The company asked me what I felt would make things right. I asked them to remove the charge for the pipe installation as I felt like the charge for that was dishonest.
The company respresentative agreed and removed the charge the pipe replacement charge ($348).
Because the company was willing to reason and admitted that the billing was a mistake, I can now recommend them to my friends and family. Thanks for restoring my faith in the industry.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $395.00