We had a company called Drain Source Drain Service Ltd. do some plumbing work for us which included:
1) ripping up the shower floor in our downstairs bathroom, replacing the pipe and drain, pouring new concrete, and retiling the floor.
2) Installation of a pedestal sink and faucets provided by us.
3)Replacement of an upstairs faucet.
Items 2) and 3) were completed quickly and satisfactorily. But the retiling of the shower floor was never completed, and we had to get someone else to finish the job.
On Aug. 26/08, with the shower drain work partially completed, we paid the agreed price of $2000 to cover all work. Payment was made in cash to the 'project coordinator', Vince Forgione, who is apparently also the owner.
Following this, the re-cementing of the shower floor was completed on August 27/08 (by Vince), and an arrangement was made to have Vince's tiler come in to complete the work. No one showed up on the agreed upon date, and no one called to cancel.
Following this, two more tiling "appointments" were made (after spending *way* too much time pursuing Vince) and no one showed up for either one. Again, no calls.
Following several more calls by us to Drain Source, we were contacted by the tiler and we agreed on Sept. 10 to complete the work, with Sept. 12 as a contingency date. No one showed up either day, and none of the dozen or more calls we made over the ensuing month or so was returned.
We filed a BBB report on Drain Source on Sept. 23. BBB made three attempts to contact Drain Source, the last on Nov. 6. Drain Source did not respond to any of these.
In late November, believing we would never hear from Vince again, we got another tiler to finish the work. This cost us $600.
We approached Vince again and this time he did respond. We asked him to reimburse us $600 to cover the cost of finishing the job. He balked at this, stating that the amount was excessive. After some pointed discussion we settled on $300. This was certainly not ideal, but I opted for expediency. About 20 days later Vince paid us the $300.
There are some positives about Drain Source. Their initial response was impressive. Our first phone call to them was returned in moments, and they came by promptly to take a look and provide us with a free estimate. The actual plumbing work was done quickly and well. But their unreturned phone calls, missed appointments and failure to follow through on the retiling were dismaying to say the least.
Vince blames the tiler for all of this, but that doesn't explain the unresponsiveness, unprofessionalism, and Drain Source's failure to follow through.
You can never actually get in touch with Vince directly- his 2 office numbers are not really Drain Source but people who apparently page him. The cell number is a woman's voice that says you've reached Drain Source and you can leave a message, but our calls to that number were never returned.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $2,000.00
