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| - May this be a warning to all needing plumbing services.
My wife and I called Plumbing Masters to solve a problem we were having with a new water heater. We felt the positive online reviews made them the best choice for a plumber. They politely answered the phone, which we liked. Then, we were told that we would have to pay $49.95 for someone to come out and diagnose our plumbing problem. Then we would be told how much it would cost to actually fix the problem. I asked the youing man to repeat back to us what the $49.95 charge was for. He did so. I asked if that charge could be applied towards the final bill. He said yes. I joked that might simply mean they charge me $49.95 more for the repair. He said they were very professional and would never do such a thing. Because we have had several bad plumbing experiences in the past, I asked him one final time what the $49.95 was for. He repeated it was to come out and determine the plumbing problem, prior to giving me a quote for the cost of repair. We agreed to the terms.
A young man arrived and spent five minutes listening to what was going on with our new water heater. He asked several questions and asked us to turn the main water on and off several times. My next door neighbor was also present during the work. The young man from Plumbing Master made a pnone call to his boss and asked a few questions. He walked into the alley so that I was unable to hear what he was saying. He came back and placed a Plumbing Masters bill in front of me. He had crossed out the $49.95 charge written on it and wrote in $175 just below it. He stated he did not know what the problem was yet but that I would have to write him a check for $175 in order for him to figure out the problem. I told him we agreed to pay $49.95 for him to find the problem, and that I was very specific regarding that fee. He said the $49.95 is merely the cost of him driving to my house and that we must now pay $175 for him to find the problem. I got upset and told him to call his own dispatcher and verify what I had agreed to. He offered to lower the price to $115. My wife was nearly in tears and I was furious at being extorted by this crooked company. We agreed. He was clever because he already knew what the problem was (a temporary plug was left in the new shower rough in and it was blocking proper water flow). He told me it would cost another $275 to fix the problem. We agreed and he removed the plug in the shower rough in. This took less than 30 seconds. He asked to be paid and wanted to leave. I told him just because he said that would solve the problem, he hadn't tested it out to see if hot water would now flow from the water heater. He complained but said he would reattach the lines and test it out. As he attached the first copper line, it snapped and broke. He looked at me and blamed me, saying I had weakened it before he arrived. He toild me he would repalce both the copper lines with new (cheaper non-copper) lines for only $100 more. We had no choice if we wanted hot water.
A couple days later we got a call from Plumbing Masters, asking us if we were satisfied with the service call. I told the woman that Plumbing Masters should give all their technicians handguns so they could more easily rob people, because we felt we were robbed and lied to. Later that day, a manager from Plumbing Masters called me to tell me he felt the technician "bent over backwards" to satisfy us and that he had given us discounted prices for the work done. Seriously, are you kidding me. What about lying to us and saying the $49.95 service call that we were told was to determine our plumbing issue? The jerk lied and said it was only to pay him for driving to our house. Even the higher ups, the managers of Plumbing Masters are crooks.
We have disputed the final bill with American Express and they are withholding paymeny until the matter is investigated. Our next call will be to the Better Business Bureau, to warn them about illegal business practices by Plumbing Masters. Maybe Fox 10 will do an undercover sting and catch them ripping off others.
Also, the manager made it sound as if he and his staff count heavily on consumer reviews, which he no doubt pads with positive reviews his staff post. Beware, be warned, Find yourself an honest plumber. Warn others that Plumbing Masters is a dishonest company.
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