P
pjs
Guest
I live in CA. I’ll try and keep this as brief as possible...5 weeks ago I called a local plumbing service who advertised in the yellow pages as being licensed, bonded and providing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week service, to replace my
old garbage disposal with a new one. They sent an individual out on a Friday who replaced the unit. After running my dishwasher a couple of hours later, I noticed the disposal was leaking so I called the plumbing service back and got no answer. Over the weekend I left at least 5 voice mails for them and finally got a call back on the following Monday. They sent the same individual back out to correct the problem. He came out 3 times in all and still the unit leaked. The last visit he said he had fixed the problem. 3 weeks later, on Sunday my sink backed up and I needed to have the line snaked so I called a different plumbing service who came out right away. The new plumber said part of the problem with the sink backing up was due to improper installation of the garbage disposal unit and that the first plumber had glued the pipes to prevent them from leaking (PVC pipe) and had not installed a compressor unit on the P trap so the only way he could snake the line was to cut the pipes. I had paid the first plumbing service $450.00, $80.00 of which was for the new unit the balance was installation charges. The second plumber snaked my line ($250.00) and then had to replace the piping (270.00) he did a good job and replaced the PVC pipe with copper, everything is working fine. Before I had him work on the pipes I took digital pictures and I also kept the PVC piping. I called back the first plumbing company to ask if they would refund the installation fee as they did such a poor job. They refused. I called and checked on their license and the service does have a valid plumbing license which belongs to the owner, however the individual they sent to my house is not a plumber (they confirmed this on the phone) and there are already complaints logged against this company. I have called my credit card company and asked them to send me the necessary paperwork to dispute the first charge of $450.00 (I am willing to pay them the $80.00 for the unit) I informed the first plumbing company of my intent and they got really upset and verbally abusive on the phone. I have since discovered that it is not ‘code’ in this county to glue a P trap without a compressor unit. Do I have a case for small claims court? I am only seeking to have the install charges refunded. I feel that they fraudulently misrepresented themselves in print and by charging for a licensed plumber when I did not get one, just some sort of ‘handyman’. Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for reading my saga!
old garbage disposal with a new one. They sent an individual out on a Friday who replaced the unit. After running my dishwasher a couple of hours later, I noticed the disposal was leaking so I called the plumbing service back and got no answer. Over the weekend I left at least 5 voice mails for them and finally got a call back on the following Monday. They sent the same individual back out to correct the problem. He came out 3 times in all and still the unit leaked. The last visit he said he had fixed the problem. 3 weeks later, on Sunday my sink backed up and I needed to have the line snaked so I called a different plumbing service who came out right away. The new plumber said part of the problem with the sink backing up was due to improper installation of the garbage disposal unit and that the first plumber had glued the pipes to prevent them from leaking (PVC pipe) and had not installed a compressor unit on the P trap so the only way he could snake the line was to cut the pipes. I had paid the first plumbing service $450.00, $80.00 of which was for the new unit the balance was installation charges. The second plumber snaked my line ($250.00) and then had to replace the piping (270.00) he did a good job and replaced the PVC pipe with copper, everything is working fine. Before I had him work on the pipes I took digital pictures and I also kept the PVC piping. I called back the first plumbing company to ask if they would refund the installation fee as they did such a poor job. They refused. I called and checked on their license and the service does have a valid plumbing license which belongs to the owner, however the individual they sent to my house is not a plumber (they confirmed this on the phone) and there are already complaints logged against this company. I have called my credit card company and asked them to send me the necessary paperwork to dispute the first charge of $450.00 (I am willing to pay them the $80.00 for the unit) I informed the first plumbing company of my intent and they got really upset and verbally abusive on the phone. I have since discovered that it is not ‘code’ in this county to glue a P trap without a compressor unit. Do I have a case for small claims court? I am only seeking to have the install charges refunded. I feel that they fraudulently misrepresented themselves in print and by charging for a licensed plumber when I did not get one, just some sort of ‘handyman’. Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for reading my saga!