Professional Standards/Customer Question

[silver144]

I have a property that I rent out because I couldn't afford to sell it since I went back to school and had to move after only owning it for a year. Anyways my tenant had a clogged kitchen drain. I did some research online and I understand that this can cost on average anywhere from $100-250 depending on how bad it is. So I went ahead and hired a plumbing company that charged $70/hr to come take a look and fix the problem. I asked if they had any additional fees and they said no. I asked if they roughly knew how long it would take or cost and they replied no that that they usually don't give estimates. They came initially with a hand auger that wasn't big enough to fix the clog, so they left and then came back with a larger mechanical auger that still wasn't enough to fix it so they ended up having to remove some pipe to get it cleaned out. All told it took about three hours to fix the problem. My tenant says they were efficient and their work was well done from what my tenant could see. Which I have no problem with the quality of work they performed, just how they communicated everything. At the end of it I expected a bill for around $210-250 since they were there for roughly three hours. I ended up getting a bill for $486.96. When they came back they ended up bringing an additional plumber that I was also charged $70/hr for. They also charged me $35 for the larger auger even though I was specifically told at the very beginning there were no other fees. At no point during all this did they call me to tell me the extent of the problem, or the fact that they left and had to come back. I just feel I should have been called and told about the changes, if I had been I probably wouldn't have been that upset about the total amount in the end. I would have also had the option to re-evaluate if someone else could possibly do it for cheaper, but I wasn't given that option. I called and talked with the owner or manager not entirely sure which for I felt I shouldn't be charged for something that I was unaware of the cost of. I was told essentially that is just the way they do things for service calls, and that he could put a note in my file for future visits that I would like to be notified of changes that increase the cost of services. Honestly when I first talked with them I just thought it was an honest mistake and that they would take the charges for the second plumber and the mechanical auger away. They did drop the fee for the mechanical auger, but nothing else. At the end of it all I came away feeling slightly cheated and taken advantage of. I am sure I am partly to blame, for I should have insisted on an estimate, I just didn't think I needed to because was told it would be $70/hr. Which in actuality it ended up being $140/hr for the last two hours. From what I could find out myself most clogged drains take under an hour and some harder ones can take a few hours, so like I said earlier I was expecting at the very most only $210-250 for the fix. Just leaves me wondering if this is an industry standard where on service calls they go and fix the problem and don't make the customer aware of any drastic changes in costs. Maybe an almost $250 increase in cost isn't a significant enough amount to some people or they didn't think that was significant enough change to notify me about. But to me, a college student with other payments, it was a significant change in price. Sorry for making you read through all that, just wanted to give an accurate portrayal of what went on. So like I mentioned earlier do you feel I was treated fairly? Just wanted to ask someone who isn't biased by the situation.

 

[Terry]

I don't do any snaking with my business. I did work for someone that made me do it on call for weekends in the 70's.
Kitchen drains, if it's beyond the baffle tee and p-trap requires a powered snake to clear the drain. Next time hire someone that has the tools for clearing the drain on the truck. Not every service plumber does drains. They either are equipped for it, or in your case, went out and rented a machine. I refer drain cleaning out.

I just talked to Sylvan in NYC this morning and he loves doing that kind of work. I drove into Seattle today and installed three ADA Drake toilets in a nice home overlooking Puget Sound.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Plumber69]

I snake kitchen and basin drains. I will not buy or rent equipment for main sewers or get into sewer pumps

 

[hj]

I have the equipment for both large and small drains, but I also NEVER give an estimate, since it can take a few minutes, or a few hours and there is no way to tell in advance which will occur. I know some advertise a fixed price for a drain cleaning, but even then I am sure they have caveats to CYA.

 

[Cacher_Chick]

IMO, anytime a professional tradesman comes to a home and gets the job done, $500 is a fair price.