We had a clogged sink drain that I wasn't able to clear, so I asked my girlfriend to call a plumber. They came out this afternoon.
The guy farts around for an hour and a half, and when he's done, leaves a bill with my girlfriends adult son for $375 + tax ($250 per hour). When I find out, I smell a rat, and I couldn't get on the phone to them fast enough. The dispatcher says I can call the office manager in the morning. Nope, she can call me. I'm pretty hot about it so I figure talking to her in the morning, so I let her call go to voicemail when she called half an hour later.
A few minutes after that, she calls my girlfriend and profusely apologizes for the "mistake" and says that supposedly the plumber was "confused" and thought he was at a different job - where apparently they charge a different labor rate because they authorized the use of a "hydro jet", whereas we didn't. They did end up using a hydro jet when the guy couldn't otherwise clear the drain, but nobody ever said anything about additional charges for that service. He had basically given up when "all of a sudden it started working". Inspires confidence, that.
So the final bill ends up being $225 + tax, which is still quite a bit higher than the last time I hired a plumber for the same drain.
The dispatcher had claimed that if they used the hydro jet that it would have been for a main line clog. Well, that's pretty much impossible as the kitchen sink is the closest to the street, and none of the other drains - all of which are lower than the kitchen - none were backed up, despite being heavily used. There's all of 8 feet of pipe between the kitchen and the bathroom, if it was the main, it's impossible that those wouldn't back up first.
It may be relevant that until I called to complain, for all they knew, my girlfriend is a single mom.
Sketchy, or not?
The guy farts around for an hour and a half, and when he's done, leaves a bill with my girlfriends adult son for $375 + tax ($250 per hour). When I find out, I smell a rat, and I couldn't get on the phone to them fast enough. The dispatcher says I can call the office manager in the morning. Nope, she can call me. I'm pretty hot about it so I figure talking to her in the morning, so I let her call go to voicemail when she called half an hour later.
A few minutes after that, she calls my girlfriend and profusely apologizes for the "mistake" and says that supposedly the plumber was "confused" and thought he was at a different job - where apparently they charge a different labor rate because they authorized the use of a "hydro jet", whereas we didn't. They did end up using a hydro jet when the guy couldn't otherwise clear the drain, but nobody ever said anything about additional charges for that service. He had basically given up when "all of a sudden it started working". Inspires confidence, that.
So the final bill ends up being $225 + tax, which is still quite a bit higher than the last time I hired a plumber for the same drain.
The dispatcher had claimed that if they used the hydro jet that it would have been for a main line clog. Well, that's pretty much impossible as the kitchen sink is the closest to the street, and none of the other drains - all of which are lower than the kitchen - none were backed up, despite being heavily used. There's all of 8 feet of pipe between the kitchen and the bathroom, if it was the main, it's impossible that those wouldn't back up first.
It may be relevant that until I called to complain, for all they knew, my girlfriend is a single mom.
Sketchy, or not?
