Ok, sorry this is so long ... our Home Warranty Company sent out a plumber on Wednesday to take care of 2 toilets that needed repairs in our empty rent house. He "fixed" one of the toilets in just a few minutes, but on the second repair, the plumber broke one of my ceramic tiles while removing the toilet to check a leak and then he gave us an estimate on the repair for $600. He said he couldn’t do the repair until the “mold” was removed and he would need to check with the warranty company to see if the repair was covered to begin with. When I told my husband about it after the plumber left, he said "BS!" in much more colorful terms and said the part that needed replacing was like a dollar. Furthermore, when I got in to look at the stuff he said was “black mold”, I saw that it was brown, not black, and as gross as this sounds, it was probably accumulated “waste” residue from where it was leaking, and not mold at all.
The warranty company called us yesterday and said they would not cover the repair the plumber described because it was a result of improper installation. Improper installation??? That toilet's been there 21 years! It only JUST started leaking!!! The plumber had told them the repair would include jack hammering, "floating" concrete, and raising the flange. I explained to the warranty company person that we thought the plumber was trying to cheat us and told them what my husband thought was the issue. My husband has replaced toilets before so he pretty much knew what he was talking about, even though he's not a plumber.
I used bleach to clean the “residue”, which cleaned up quite easily and the warranty company agreed to send out another plumber who ended up just replacing the wax ring to fix the leak. We didn't tell the second plumber anything about the first plumber. We just told him the toilet had been removed and we thought it needed a new wax ring and maybe a new flange. He said there was just some paint missing on the flange but that it didn’t need to be replaced. I think he charged the warranty company $60 to replace the wax ring and reset the toilet.
Oh, and one more thing, earlier this morning, I got a call from the "Crooked" plumber saying that the warranty company told him they would not cover the repair. He said "I know I quoted you $600 but there's a way I could fix it where I wouldn't have to jackhammer and it would be much cheaper." I asked how much cheaper and he said $250. I told him I needed to find out from the warranty company why they wouldn't cover it. He said ok and that I could call them back to schedule the repair when I was ready. Hmph!
So, what do I do now? The warranty company did not make me pay another service call fee so I'm not out any extra money. My tile is broken, but I don't know if I should expect the plumber to pay for that repair or not since it's consequential damage. Should I pursue it more with the warranty company to see if they are going to take the first company off their approved list or "discipline" them in some way for their dishonest practices? Should I contact the better business bureau even though at this point I don’t really want a remedy other than to fix my tile, which the plumber couldn’t do anyway? Technically, they could just say the difference in choice of repair is a judgment call between plumbers, and I know the warranty company wouldn't do anything about the broken tile because they have wording in the contract about subsequent damage not being covered.
I just hate the idea that some people might fall for this kind of stuff if they don't know better. Specifically, and this is probably really the reason, I was there by myself with the first plumber and today, my big husband in his water department shirt was there. I’m sure the plumber today thought my husband had been the one to remove the toilet, hence had more knowledge than a naive woman. He could have been perfectly honest though, whether I was there alone or not, but I didn’t want to chance it. That’s why my husband took off work to be there with me.
What would you do? I want to do something, but maybe I should just be happy we didn't get cheated. Thanks in advance for your opinions on this one.
I talked to my husband, who is a plumber, and he said if you really want something to be done you should report him to the Plumbing Board. He says their number should be on the invoice and if not write me back and I can give you their number. He says if you report it to the company, some supervisors don't do anything about it. Even if you report them to the warranty company, some don't remove them from their list since they are looking for the cheapest companies.
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T.O.
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on
N.,
You already got great advice in detail. Just tell me if it was Rescue Rooter or Blackmon Mooring (not as bad as Rescue Rooter. Blackmon did refund my money and apologize for the misunderstanding). I had a frustrating experience with BOTH of them and they were both sent by American Home Sheild.
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L.C.
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Can you send me a personal message with the plumber you used it sounds EXACTLY like the same story we just got from a plumber co. I can give you a phone number of a EXCELLENT plumbing co. thats HONEST and will not rip you off. I used them AFTER i got ripped off by a plumber and the awesome plumbing co. took care of my $700 job for $100 and told me I was lucky to get a second opinion!
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T.R.
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I work for a plumbing company. You should call the supervisor tell them what happened. Send them a copy of the other plumbing bill. Tell them you want them to pay to have your tile repaired. Dont ask them to. Sometimes its not the plumbing company it's the plumber. They may not know they have a lousy plumber and you telling them may solve the problem. Replacing a flange is not a common repair to be made. It should be a last resort.
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S.B.
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Well the absolute very first thing you should do is post here on Mamasource and tell us who this plumber was so at least we can all be warned!!!
Then I would put your complaint in writing to the warranty company, and cc the company that the plumber worked for. There is a very big chance the company has no idea that particular plumber is dishonest. I have worked for companies where the techs were dishonest and did jobs under the table. So keep that in mind...but anything you do, write it in a letter and cc the heck out of it to everyone you can think of.
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J.W.
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Yes you expect hin to pay for it. He was there to repair things not break them. I would talk to your warrnaty company becuase the guy the sent out broke it. No I would not want that plumber to come with in 100 yards of my house but I would want a check covering the repair of the tile. I would also contact the better bussiness buearu. (Not sure of the spelling there)
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S.B.
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I would definitely call back and make a "formal" complaint about the first company to your home warranty company. I don't know who you use, but I had a similar issue with our garage door. When I needed a callback I asked them not to send out the same person they did the first two times because I did not like his professional presence and I felt like he was trying to get more business for his company on the side. When the second guy came through and gave a totally different outcome, I told him about the company that was there before and he said I wasn't the first customer of his where he has come behind that company due to dissatisfaction. I know my company has some kind of "lotto" when it comes to sending out a service tech, but if I have formally complained about a company, I then have the option to say that I do not want them coming to my house again. So far that has only happened with the garage door guy and I don't plan on having him come in my house again.
Hope this helps you out a bit.
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L.G.
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The plumber who broke the tile ought to have insurance that covers errors and omissions or some sort of bonding that you can file against. I'd look into that. You shouldn't be out money to repair the tile because of his shoddy workmanship.
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B.
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Well, I have been remodeling my home for the last year and have been dealing with the Warranty company and basically arguing about everything with them. Here is what you need to do, First of all about the plumber breaking the tile you need to report that to the Warranty company and then call the company that the plumber came from and demand to be reimbursed for the damage. Second you need to call a different plumber and have them come out for a FREE service call to tell you how much the damage is. When that is done(and I am sure it will be a completely different estimate than the first plumber) you send in the invoice to your warranty company and demand a new company to come out and not the old one that ripped you off. From there you need to argue with them and DONT take no for an answer. They may offer a cash out(which is a riduculous low amount) for you to pay the company you get on your own but demand to have them cover it!! Also remember to tell them it is an emergency and they need to fix it ASAP bc you have no running toilet in the house!Good Luck and keep me updated if you have any questions I dealt with the same issue.
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K.M.
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attorney genral's office and BBB
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K.K.
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I am not sure about the tile...I would definitely state the company's name here so that others don't use them. We just had a plumber out from our warranty company and they did a great job. We used Flow Rite and will request them if we need to in the future. Collin MacDonald is the Project Manager and he was friendly and I did not feel he was riping me off, especially since I was also the only one home at the time. What a crazy experience...these things make me want my husband to just take off to deal with them....cut through all the bull!!!
