Quote on toilet repair. Improper solution. Unreasonable pricing.
My tenant reported problems with three toilets. I called DrainWorks to repair because I read positive reviews online. However, the plumber failed to give the right solutions and thus asked for unreasonable price.
The plumber’s diagnose and quote are as follows for 3 toilets A/B/C.
A. Leaking. Toilet tank completely fails, and needs to be rebuilt with new parts. $384+HST.
B. Fillvalve fails and floater gets stuck on top. To replace fillvalve. $218+HST.
C. Leaking. Parts not working. Drainworks does not have American Standard parts. So client order and supply parts. Drainwork comeback another day and install. $268+HST (based on his estimated 1.5 hours labor time).
The total cost would be $983.1 including tax. In addition, I will have to buy parts for the toilet C…No warranty due to older toilet.
I did not hire the plumber to do the job. My reasons were: 1. the quote is way too high. The cost of labor and parts should not be that high based on common sense. 2. a plumber who does not have parts, does not know what parts are available on the market, and needs 1.5 hours to install parts in one toilet tank is not a qualified one. After I said no, the plumber was willing to reduce the quote for the second toilet to $99+HST which I did not accepted either. I paid $69+HST for DrainWorks’ on-site quote.
I took a closer look at the three toilets myself after Drainwork plumber left. I managed to fix all of them with less than $20.
A. Toilet fillvale and floater were working well. Only the flapper did not fit well because it had worn and was stretched. I bought a new flapper from Home Depot and spend 2 min to replace the old one. Toilet stops leaking.
B. The floater was too high. I made minor adjustment and lowered the floater. It works perfectly fine.
C. All parts were good. Only the flapper needs to be replaced. It is true that the parts are a little bit special. However, I bought a Korky toilet seal ring from Home depot. It is designed for American Standard toilet. I replaced the seal in 5 min. Toilet stops leaking.
The flapper and seal are less than $20 in total, and it took me a few minutes to replace parts. I am young and do not have experience in plumbing. DrainWorks might be good at fixing other plumbing issues, but definitely not toilets. Replacing all the parts will solve the problem. But is it the right solution?
- Approximate cost of services:
- $77.97
- Company Response
Thanks Yang Liu, looking at your invoice of our diagnostic service ,as you requested, was to quote multiple repairs of your tenants toilets with different price options, as well as a price for client supplied parts.
Its unfortunate that you don't agree with our recommendations from our licensed plumber nor our pricing which comes right out of a printed price book.
You refer to booking a call with us because of all the positive reviews keep in mind those clients experience the same pricing out of the same book. If we can be of assistance to discuss this further please don't hesitate to call our office.