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Do I have a claim?

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I

Indoubt

Guest
Does anyone know if I have a claim to the below circumstance:

On October 17, I had a repairman from a local plumbing company come to my home to fix a water heater that was leaking on the top part of the water heater from a loose seal on both the cold and hot water pipes. The repairman said that our waterheater needed new sealers on both the hot and cold water pipes. He said that he would have to sauder together new pipes over the existing pipes and then would have to put down a new sealer for both pipes. He said that this will fix the leak. He also said that we would still experience some leakage from the new seals he put on for the next couple of days, but that was to be expected. The total repairs came to $100.

I noticed that the leak was still there after four days. My husband and I thought that the leak would eventually stop per the repairman. But, the leaks became bigger and more evident as the six and seventh day came. I had to put several towels around the pipes to keep the water from spilling out and over the side of the waterheater and onto the floor in my laundry room. I called the plumbing company on October 24 and made another appointment with the same repairman to come back to my house. He came back that same day and told my husband that we would have to buy a new waterheater. He offered to install a new waterheater for $585 and would deduct the $100 we had already paid to the plumbing company. We declined the offer and my husband inquired as to the $100 we had already spent and the repairman said that he would have to call his supervisor and discuss the refund with him. My husband ended up buying a water heater at a much lower price than what the repairman quoted and we ended up installing the water heater ourselves.

I called the plumbing company again on October 26 and spoke to the dispatcher (the supervisor/manager was out on a call). The dispatcher informed me that there would be no refund whatsoever. I told her that I wanted to speak to her supervisor and she said that he was out on a call and that she would leave my name and number and he would call me back. I called again today to speak to the supervisor/manager, the dispatcher informed me again that he was out on several calls. I have been waiting since October 26 for this supervisor/manager to return my calls and so far he hasn't.

I am wanting to know what my rights are in my claim against the plumbing company. Do I have a right to a refund of $100? Or does the plumbing company have the right to keep my $100 for the repairs?

I am wanting a legal answer to this question before I seek a small claims action in court.

 


L

lawrat

Guest
I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

Well, your point of view is this:

You wanted it fixed the first time around.
They didn't fix it. Since they didn't fix it and you didn't receive the service that IS REQUIRED BY LAW, you should get your money back.

Their point of view:

They came out and attempted to fix it. Still leaked it. So they came out again and offered to deduct 100 from total price of water heater. They showed good faith.

Your husband was able to purchase one for much less.

How much less -- was it less than 485? or 585?
What did you pay, taking into account the 100 paid already?

At this point, see if you can get the Better Business Bureau to act on it.

Go to bbb.com and look up your county's office.

 

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