There are red flags with all six transactions totaling $1918.75 my mother had with Able & Willing Plumbing. She has been experiencing short term memory loss for about two years and tends to overreact when a small amount of water enters the basement. I have moved back to her home in December. Unfortunately, I never knew three service calls included in the total above amounted to $732 until looking at the checkbook register. The company had a new owner effective in January.
On 1/8/08, the company replaced a sump pump installed in July with a new 1/3 HP sump pump for $353.75. There was no owners manual left behind. Later in the year, my mother received a postcard advertising equipment prices, including Sump Pumps for $199. As of today, there are signs on the company property advertising those same equipment prices. On 1/26/08, my mother called Able Plumbing due to water in the basement. The invoice states: "Minor replacement of Discharge pipe from sump pump". The cost was their $169 minimum at the time plus $80 for Overtime since it was a Saturday.
Also, a plastic tube was connected from behind the house to temporarily reroute water from the discharge extended about 20 feet into the back yard above the ground. After the first two transactions, it became more than just a company with very inflated off the chart prices.in April I disconnected the plastic tube and placed it next to the garage in order to mow the lawn. On 4/30/08, my mother paid Able Plumbing $179. It appears that she was charged again for simple follow up work from the previous service call charge. At that time, the discharge pipe was rerouted back to its original postion. We have no invoice for this charge.
On 9/4/08, Able Plumbing replaced the battery on the existing backup sump pump that was previously installed for $634. At Home Depot, there are three choices for batteries in the Sump Pump section of the Plumbing aisle ranging in price from $94 to $162. Six quarts of battery acid are also required costing $18.67. On the owners response to the complaint filed with the Illinois Attorney General Consumer Protection Division, he provides the following explanation: "This system requires a special sealed gel battery as required by the manufacturer"."This special battery retails for $337.00 plus tax or $363.11 at the time.
Our quote on that day included product, reasonable mark up, and labor". What does he mean by product? Isn't the retail price markup above wholesale? Is the battery being marked up twice? And how much additional labor could be involved? Of course, the invoice does not itemize any of these hidden or phanthom charges. It states Parts & Labor for $634 and four other lines above. Nine days later on 9/13/08, my mother called Able Plumbing because there was water in the basement. She paid the service call charge of $304. If one of the sump pumps was not working, the company should have been concerned.
Most likely, the city sewer system had backed up. What could Able Plumbing have possibly done to justify a service call charge. The owner indicates in his response to the Attorney General CPD: "We rerouted her back up pump discharge into her drain tile drain to alleviate her dilemma". Although I am not a licensed contractor, this statement does not appear to be practical. Why would you discharge water into a drain? Our two sump pump discharge pipes have always gone out behind the house down into underground drainage to the farthest back end of our property, then spill out above the ground.
Once again, there is no invoice to show for this charge. On 8/24/09, my mother paid Able Plumbing $199 to Inspect Plumbing. The owner states in his response to the Attorney General CPD: "This is a very common request from our customers". Thankfully, this is where the easy money trail came to an end. However, one month later, my mother received an invoice for Annual Plumbing Protection Program Renewal at $299. Able Plumbing began to launch a program asking customers for prepayment in advance for work that may or may not be needed over the next 12 monts to cover minor plumbing repairs. The attachment does not specify what is covered as a minor repair.
Later in Able Plumbing also aired a commercial in the local cable viewing area about their Plumbing Protection Program, or as the spokesperson refers to as Free Labor. On 10/5/09, I went to the Able Plumbing office asking about the two missing invoices along with other questions including the battery cost. The manager or company representative said he would call me about those missing invoices. He also said the minimum cost for service call charges was $189 at that time without turning a wrench. I never received a phone call. After filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau later in October, the case was closed in January. The BBB stated that it is their policy to not process complaints with uninvolved third parties.
My name is also on the checking account.in March I filed a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General. On 5/5/10, the case was closed. They cannot represent private citizens and could only act as a mediator. As of today, I still have not received any invoice copies from Able Plumbing for those two questionable service call charges. Able Plumbing provides absolutely no value to the average area resident. My mother paid at least three times more than what should have been charged for the products and services received. Able Plumbing never really rewarded her as a loyal repeat customer.instead, just the opposite happened. What is the business strategy of Able & Willing Plumbing? Does this company have any integrity or shame?
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