We had contacted the plumber's wife, Jackie & mid July for some minor plumbing work which was part of a remodeling project to make the bathroom accessible by a wheelchair. As an architectural company, we had provided design services for the & houses in Des Plaines and Glenview (she still owes us $1,800 in proffessional fees).
When we first talked to the plumber's wife and told her about the reason (we were in an auto accident which left my husband disabled) we needed the bathroom done about mid August of she told me that her company would do the labour for free. We told her that the jesture was nice, but we would like a fair, written estimate for the plumbing work. So, I sent her a sketch showing the scope of the plumbing work. When I called her back for the estimate she told me that they would need to come to the house first. (As an architect, we get written estimates from contractors on large scale projects based on drawings only).
Also, about the same time we had contacted the Village of Hoffman Estaes about the remodelling work, and they told us that they would process the permit on an expedited basis. We were told that have the plumber bring in the drawing and pull the permit. We conveyed the good news to Alans Plumbing about the permit.
Alans Plumbing, came to the house to verify existing condition. They were explained the scope of work again. When asked about the estimate the plumber's wife said that it would be about $3000-4,000 with material and labor, depending on whether they remove the existing plumbing fixtures (and materials needed). She also told me that we will need to pay them in advance for the plumbing fixtures before they (Alans Plumbing) pick them up.
In the meantime, we had contacted other contractors for the carpentry and other work for the remodelling project. One of the contractors who also has a General Contractor's license told me that Alans Plumbing was charging us too much for the plumbing work, and that he could have that portion of the work done for about half of what they were charging ($3000-4,000). Since I already had an oral agreement with them, I decided to hire this contractor for carpentry work only, and have Alans Plumbing do the plumbing work as agreed.
On Tuesday, August 09, Al Jr., and an assistant came to the jobsite to remove the existing plumbing fixtures. They were done in about an hour (very small bathroom - 5'x8' and three fixtures - one fiberglass tub and shower, water closet and a 36" vanity cabinet) and were ready to leave. When asked why they were leaving so soon, Jr. Told me that his mother did not tell him about the concrete floor and that he did not have the tools to cut the floor. So they left for the day.
We did not see or hear from them till Thursday, August 11, when three workers showed up about mid-morning (unannounced) at the same time to work in the tiny bathroom. After a while two workers left and Mr. &r. Stayed back.
Mr. & Sr. Came back the next day, Friday. When asked when the plumbing work would be done (it was originally agreed that it would be done mid-week so that the carpentry contractor could start since that was the bulk of the work) he said that it would be done next week. He could not tell us when next week.
On Monday, August 15, the carpentry guy came in early in the morning as scheduled. Early afternoon, Mr. & Sr. Showed up, and he asked the carpentry guy to leave saying that both could not work together in the small bathroom. The carpentry contractor had to leave for the day. The plumber worked for a few hours and left saying that he still did not remember to bring the 'ramp' that was supposed to have been picked up with the roll-in shower the week before. He could not tell us when he would come next.
The plumber, Mr. & Sr., showed up on Thursday, August 18, mid afternoon. He told me that he had an invoice from his wife. About a couple of hours later when he was ready to leave for the day (he still did not finish the work) he handed me the 'invoice'. It was for over $6,000 and billed on a 'time and material basis' (not the price we agreed on), plus it did not show any credit for $1,100 that was paid in advance.
I asked Mr. &, Sr. About the oral contract of $3,000-4,000, he denied having the conversation at all and suggested I talk to his wife. His wife also denied having the conversation (she in her letter next day admitted that she did telling me that it would be about $3,000-4,000, but she had some twists in her wording). I requested them to revise the invoice to reflect the verbal agreement and show proper credit. They refused to do so and the plumber left without finishing the work. So, I had to ask the carpentry contractor to start where the plumber left off and pay him extra.
Over the next few days after my husband came home (after about two months in the hospital), even though we were going through the most difficult period of our lives, we sat down to review the invoice, make them a reasonable offer and write a response to the plumber's wife's letter. The 'invoice' had an attachement with hand written scribbles that showed the heavily padded hours (for example, the first day two workers were on site for about an hour, we were charged for sixteen hours; some items were double charged and overcharged). Also, inspite of the fact that there was a major problem with the shower base Alans Plumbing installed - water dows not drain properly, instead of draining to the floor drain, it puddles about the center, we made a very reasonable offer.
When we first tried to fax them our response and a reasonable offer, the fax line was disconnected. Over the next few days, the plumber's wife called us everyday and in one message she threatened to send someone over for the the money. We called them for their fax number and to discuss our offer. But the plumber's wife kept picking up the handset over and over again to interrupt the fax.
After several attempts when we were able to send the fax, the plumber's wife called again and told us that our offer was not acceptable. When we told her that they padded the hours she told us that they had a lot of 'behind the scene' hours. We asked her to send us copies of original invoices for the materials so that we may pay them for the materials they charged us for. She refused to do so. We also told her about the defective work. She blamed everything else but accepted any responsibility.
We sent the letter of our offer to Alans Plumbing via certified mail. But the mail came back because they refused to accept it. When we sent the plumber's wife invoices for our architectural services for $1,800, she got very belligerent and denied ever asking us for those services.
Instead of working with us on their attempt to defraud us for the plumbing work (which the plumber's wife originally said they would do the labor for free), Alans Plumbing filed a mechanics lien for $7,000.00 on our property last Fall. When we initially offered a reasonable compensation for their work, we did not realize the extent of their defective installation of the shower base would cost us.
Since then we have received estimates from reputable contractors for the 'value of the plumbing work done by Alans Plumbing' and the costs to reinstall a new shower base to solve the problems with defective installation. The value of the work done be Alans Plumbing is very similar to what we offered to pay them (which they refused to accept). But the costs to replace the showe base is almost double. Now, we do not owe them anything.
All these coming from a woman, meaning, the plumber's wife, who wrote us a bad check for the retainer fee for our architectural services for the house in Des Plaines; wrote us numerous post-dated checks becasue she always seemed to have chronic shortage of money; always behind on paytments for our architectural services - as much as six months behind, and when we called for payments she would get very offensive).
And now for their plumbing work, instead of keeping the verbal agreement of $3,000-4,000, Alans Plumbing invoiced us for double the amount, and out of spite filed a mechanics lien on our property! People like them should be behind the bars and professional license revoked!
By the way, other contractors on this job got paid right away (Alans Plumbing in their lawsuit against us indicated that other contractors did not get paid). If Alans Plumbing did not get greedy and kept the verbal agreement, the plumber, Mr. - , Sr., would have walked away with at least an additional $3,000 on August 18!
Shahana
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
U.S.A.
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