I contacted them by phone regarding a leaking pipe under my kitchen sink. The man on the phone said they could come by in about an hour they quoted $150 service call and it is applied to job fee.
I was greeted by two people at the door, Tony and an assistant. I showed him to the kitchen and he took a call from someone on his cell phone; a conversation of which I could hear his half. It sounded as though he was talking to another person at his company. Here is what I heard Tony say in his half of the conversation.
The woman at the church said that the price we quoted was way too much, she complained and did not want to pay the $150 service call fee. I had to go back and collect the check. The other job said they got a quote for less than half the amount of ours and they refused to pay the $150 for showing up. Let me take a look at this guys sink and call you back.
This should have been my first indication that trouble was brewing, but they were already in my kitchen, so I figured they could take a look at my pipes.
After finishing this call, Tony took a look under my sink, said he saw the leak it was a galvanized pipe that ran into the area behind the dishwasher. I advised the area behind the dishwasher is accessible. The dishwasher was replaced less than 6 months ago and that we can take it out. All we need is to remove two screws.
After looking under my sink for about 45 seconds he called his supervisor Mark. Tony described that he could see the leak in the pipe that runs behind the dishwasher, and they would have to remove the dishwasher to get a better look.
After a moment, Tony hung up his cell phone and said, "My boss says it will be $895 plus the $150 service call". I advised that seems terribly high and asked how he could know what was involved without taking out the dishwasher to get a closer look. When I called them for the service call they told me that the $150 fee would be applied to the job so why are they quoting me $895 plus the $150 fee.
I then explained that I recently had major pluming repair to my upstairs hall bathroom. It required accessing and repairing pipes in the wall between my wifes closet, the shower/tub area and removal of some of my living room ceiling to replace a section of drain pipe. All that pluming work they did for about $650. The contractor I used before is out of town for vacation. I told Tony that I want to talk to his boss about the price to see if we can work something out, and that I was not paying them $150 for simply looking under my sink for 45 seconds and telling me what I already know that I have a leaking galvanized pipe.
Tony called Mark on his cell phone and let me talk with him. I did not speak more than about one sentence of conversation when Mark told me that if I do not like the price for the job then I need to pay them $150 for the service call before the technician leaves. I told him I did not think that was reasonable and again before I could complete more than another sentence Mark interrupted and advised me that I agreed to the $150 service call and that they record all their calls. If I refuse to pay the $150 they will simply refer it to their attorney.
I tried to ask him if this is the way he treats all his customers; can we simply have a conversation, but he continued talking right over my comments and questions.By this time had lost my patience and the conversation was going nowhere so I hung up the phone in the middle of Marks pontificating.
I politely asked Tony and his associate to please leave. I said to them tell your boss Mark that he has some pretty poor business sense nor any idea what good customer service is about; he would not even let me speak". To this comment Tony agreed by saying I know. I apologized for losing my patience in front of them as I walked them to the door I told them I would not be paying anything for such terribly poor service. I left them by saying have a good day and let them out my door.
The people who work at this company have absolutely no problem providing one set of information over the phone and then telling you something completely different once they arrive in your home. They said the $150 service call would apply to the job price which it did not. Charging someone $150 for looking under your sink without touching a thing and ultimately spending less than five minutes in your home is price gouging. Overcharging for pluming job by as much as double is also price gouging.
The real scam became evident once I tried to have my phone call with Mark the supervisor. I believe they quote prices that most people will know are too high. This way they can collect $150 payments for less than five minutes of their time and having not even performed any work. People who will actually pay the price gouging fees they quote are simply getting even more ripped off. Either outcome is a scam.
I would have been willing to pay him some money, perhaps $50 or $75 for their time, but I was not able to even discuss or negotiate any price, as Mark never let me finish even one sentence or question on the phone. This is most likely because his entire goal is rip people off rather than run a legitimate business or provide any level of decent service.
I ended up getting two other quotes that were both less than $500. Both of these individuals advised me that the more than more than $900 price tag from A1 for this job is outrageous.
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