Plumber.Ca

I called this company on a Friday afternoon because I broke the handle of the main valve of water supply inside the house while using too much force to shut off the water into the house in order to fix a leaking faucet myself. So we had no water and needed emergency service. The receptionist at Plumber.ca advised that there will be a service callout charge of $199. Two service people showed up in about 2 hours and quoted me from a company handbook that it would cost $1,000 to replace the main valve (they gave me a break because otherwise it would be $1,400 for a brand new customer). I agreed to it given the situation that there is no water supply and the house was therefore not habitable. After 15 minutes they could not find the outside shutoff valve of water supply into the house and therefore they could not replace the main valve. They told me to call Halton Region (as they are responsible for water supply) to locate and turn off the outside shutoff valve and then call them back to replace the main valve inside the house. Meanwhile, according to their book, it will cost me $500 to turn the water back on but that will be part of the $1,000 replacement cost of the main valve. With no water, I paid the $500 plus tax and they used a pair of pliers and turn the water on in 10 seconds. I then called the Region right after they left and was advised that plumbers working in Halton Region should know that the main valve is the property of the Region and should not touch it and that the Region will fix any problems free of charge. Since I now have water and can live with the leaking faucet (the starting point of my episode) over the weekend, I told the Region that it is not an emergency situation (like water spraying around). The next week the Region sent their contract plumber, who turned off the outside shutoff valve and replaced the main valve inside the house in 20 minutes and at no cost to me.

Reflecting on this experience, I have two pieces of advice to people considering Plumber.ca for their services. First, their charging by the job instead of by the hour means that you probably pay for the worst case scenario of what the job may actually need. For example, my $500 cost according to their book for turning the water back on might be justified if there was a major leak and water was spraying everywhere and flooding our basement instead of just the 1 minute job to turn the water back on. Of course, faced with an emergency situation without water supply, a customer like myself is not likely to call in another plumber for a comparison quote but rather would be prepared to accept the book price for the job to get the problem over with. Second, their lack of knowledge that the main valve is Regional property and is to be fixed only by the Region at no cost to the customer reflects either their ignorance of local situations or their company policy to maximize their profit and prey on customers in a dire situation. A responsible plumbing service would have told me over the phone that anything to do with the main valve should be directed to the Region (who has an emergency phone line and is prepared to get their contract plumber out as soon as possible because they may be liable for flooding damages). Since Plumber.ca did respond to my call for service, I owe them the $199 fee which should cover the time they spent for turning the water back on with a pair of pliers and even looking for the outside shutoff valve (which they were not supposed to touch had they known better). The $500 plus tax charge I paid is definitely unprofessional and the result of a predatory pricing policy.