Don't let these opportunists with their preditory pricing in your home!!!
I made the mistake of trusting these guys to charge a fair rate for repairing a broken pipe under the slab of my house. The job appeared, and was explained to be, a big one. Jack hammering my dining room floor, breaking thought the concrete slab, digging down 18 inches and replacing a three foot span of pipe.
Not knowing anything about plumbing, and trusting the Mike Diamond brand, I agreed to pay $6,986 for the job. The next day I priced the job with five other plumbers in Orange county. NOT ONE quoted a job over $1,800! A city official I later complained to confirmed I could have had my entire house re-piped for less than that. Mike Diamond and George Brazil (they are the SAME company) are well known in the industry for their outrageous rate structure.
After I made a complaint with the Company, a company spokesman came to the house to discuss the issue. The woman I made the complaint to assured me that Mike Diamond plumbers follow a pre-determined rate structure quoted in "the book" and I could see it if I wanted. I told her the fact gouging rates are quoted in a book does not make it acceptable. The guy that came over listed all of the benefits of Mike Diamond (they "stand by their work and do the best job"). I explained I wouldn't mind spending more to have their expertise, but how much more should one expect to pay? Double? Triple? Quadruple the next highest rate in the industry? I was cut short with the comment they rarely get complaints about the their rates and they have a wait list of customers waiting to see them every day. I said if their customers got other estimates before letting Mike Diamond in the house they wouldn't have any business.
Mike Diamond exploits the trust generated by their advertising and suckering dopes like me that don't get other estimates.By the way, I DID see "the book". Mike Diamond is brutally honest. The let me see their approved rates for different jobs. The purchase and installation of a Koller toilet (which should at most cost $300 or $400— and that's high!) is quoted in "the book" from OVER $1,800 to $2,500, depending on the Koller model. These monsters got over $7,000 from me (I didn't mention the $167 that Mike Diamond charged for the job certification from the city which I could have done myself for $35 and one phone call!)
I will do everything in my power to alert my friends and neighbors that Mike Diamond preys on people that don't know better and don't get estimates from other plumbers with pricing integrity. Mike Diamond has NO pricing integrity. They will rob you if you are not informed.
-But they DID give me a $10 discount for my next job.
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