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[Chief]

My mother, widowed, lives in the small town of Beverly Hills, FL which is about 20 miles west of Ocala. Yesterday she had a local plumber come to her house because she had a leaky toilet. She told me she was going to call a plumber and I thought that was the right thing to do.

I spoke to her last evening, and she told me she was charged just under $350 to repair a leaky toilet!!!!! The plumber presented her with different options on rebuilding the toilet and she chose from the list. Now, she knew the cost upfront, and had agreed to pay it, but it will take a lot to convince me that anyone deserves to be paid $290 for one hour of work to replace a tank seal and a fill valve.

I spoke to the plumber and they informed me they price based on national averages. BS I say!!! I'll say it again, $290 to replace a fill valve and tank seal is highway robbery. And a service charge of $60 on top of that to boot.

I contacted one of the large plumbers here in the Atlanta area, and their charge for the same is $149.60 with no service charge. A number like that is what I expected.

Needless to say, I'm outraged.

WWW.PATTHEPLUMBER.COM 

Am I out of line?

[hard10]

Chief, You should be upset but look at it this way:

Drive to Ocala: 5 1/2 hours X $50/ hr (lost work time)  $300

Fuel: 375 miles (15 MPG) = 25 X $3.20 = $80

Time spent with mom: priceless 

Now who are you mad at?

Have a better day buddy!

[ultrafxr]

I don't think so Chief.  This looks like highway robbery to me.  When you have a problem you are not capable of repairing and you need plumbing to work NOW it is kind of hard to shop around. So they know they have the upper hand.  Plumbing ain't exactly rocket science.  Only three things you really gotta know:  hot is on the left, cold is on the right and chit don't run uphill!

[Chief]

Chief, You should be upset but look at it this way:

Drive to Ocala: 5 1/2 hours X $50/ hr (lost work time)  $300

Fuel: 375 miles (15 MPG) = 25 X $3.20 = $80

Time spent with mom: priceless 

Now who are you mad at?

Have a better day buddy!

If I had known it would have cost that much, that'd be enough of a reason to jump on the scoot and go fix it for her. Stuff like that just really pisses me off! It's shooting fish in a barrel, and they know it.

[Rooster]

I don't think so Chief.  This looks like highway robbery to me.  When you have a problem you are not capable of repairing and you need plumbing to work NOW it is kind of hard to shop around. So they know they have the upper hand.  Plumbing ain't exactly rocket science.  Only three things you really gotta know:  hot is on the left, cold is on the right and chit don't run uphill!

And don't lick your fingers

[RJ749]

I just whent through this myself at the office.  I believe the charge was approximately $100.00.

Only catch was the wankers came back three or four times as the replacement would fail again in a few weeks.

So I guess I ended up with the $300.00 charge anyway.

I put in a new toilet, problem solved.  Hard to know what was the issue with such a simple part but we have been fighting that one toilet for five years.

[Chief]

I just got off the phone with the Operations Manager, and I tell you what, the arrogance of these people is amazing. They really act like they are doing you a favor by even showing up.

I found a post on PissedConsumer.com posted just two days ago by someone ranting about how Pat The Plumber treated their widowed mother in the same area. Looks like it is not an isolated incident.

Base charge for rebuilding a toilet? $282.

Base charge for putting washers in bathtub faucets, from the post I found, $282. Is it just me? I don't think so.

[erniezap]

I'd contact the Better Business Bureau, the local Chamber of Commerce, the the Department of Consumer Affairs and register complaints.  You can also contact the local District Attorney about it.  Might as well make their life a little more miserable...

[Hoist!]

I don't think so Chief.  This looks like highway robbery to me.  When you have a problem you are not capable of repairing and you need plumbing to work NOW it is kind of hard to shop around. So they know they have the upper hand.  Plumbing ain't exactly rocket science.  Only three things you really gotta know:  hot is on the left, cold is on the right and chit don't run uphill!

Only 2 things really. The air goes up and the chit goes down!

Chief, if it's the only bathroom, you were stuck with these idiots who unfortunately felt the need to take advantage of her. If she has a second BR, you probably should have gone to HD or Lowes and replaced it. That would have been cheaper than repairing the old one. Sorry dude! It sucks getting ripped off! Hoist!

[Chief]

Only 2 things really. The air goes up and the chit goes down!

Chief, if it's the only bathroom, you were stuck with these idiots who unfortunately felt the need to take advantage of her. If she has a second BR, you probably should have gone to HD or Lowes and replaced it. That would have been cheaper than repairing the old one. Sorry dude! It sucks getting ripped off! Hoist!

Here's the kicker! I asked her why didn't she just shut off the toilet so it wouldn't be such an urgent matter and she said because the shut off valve isn't working properly. They had to turn off the water to the whole house to work on the toilet. So, being the inquisitive son I am, asked her did the plumber replace the shut off valve while he was there. She said no, because that would have been an additional charge. From what I have found on the web at PissedConsumer.com, I bet they would have charged her over $100 to replace a $4 valve.

I'm going down in July for her birthday, and I'll make sure to replace that bad valve and rebulid the other toilet since they're both the same age. And......I won't even charge her.

[The Mysterious Q!]

I hate it when these type of jackasses take advantage of the situation.It maks all of us in the trades look bad and that is the reason we see all these reports on Dateline about contractor scams. If anyone has relatives in my area call me and I will gladly take care of them.And no Chief you are not out of line making these assholes pay. My .02  Later,Q

[displacing air]

I think I would call the plumbing company and inform them that you have found
a newspaper that wants to print a story about the abuses of seniors in Fl. And you
would be using them as an example...if they would wave the bill you wont mention there
company by name...we will just say plumbers.

Media loves this crap...only thing better is if a kid or dog was involved!

DisAir

[ultrafxr]

Local TV stations love doing stories on this sort of thing.  Little guy gets ripped off.  Might be work a phone call - and if you could contact the other dissatisfied customers you found on the web site might get them involved also.

[iski]

Here's the kicker! I asked her why didn't she just shut off the toilet so it wouldn't be such an urgent matter and she said because the shut off valve isn't working properly. They had to turn off the water to the whole house to work on the toilet. So, being the inquisitive son I am, asked her did the plumber replace the shut off valve while he was there. She said no, because that would have been an additional charge. From what I have found on the web at PissedConsumer.com, I bet they would have charged her over $100 to replace a $4 valve.

I'm going down in July for her birthday, and I'll make sure to replace that bad valve and rebulid the other toilet since they're both the same age. And......I won't even charge her.

Chief - charges were WAY out of line.  Predatory practices, IMHO.  Trouble is, she agreed to the charges prior to the work performed.  Situations like this burn me up - a few $$ for parts and about an hour or less and most toilet issues are resolved.  Good of you to rebuild her other one.

Doubt you will get any satisfaction regardless from this plumbing company.  Sounds like one of those wrecker services that finds someone stuck in a ditch and when asked how much it will be to pull the car out they say "How much ya got?"

[Chief]

I contacted the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce and they directed me to the Seniors vs Crime Project I contacted the office in Citrus County and told the nice lady what was going on and when I told her the name of the plumber, she said "Ohhhhhh, Pat the Plumber. We know all about them." Not that this will do any good, but it did make me feel a bit better. Well, I filled out a complaint on my mother's behalf, and she is going to go over and fill one out herself.

I then sent an email to the plumber with links to all the different postings and information about the Seniors vs Crime complaints just so they know I'm more than a "couple of angry phone calls" guy.

Good thing its a slow day around the office.

I doubt anything will come out of this, but if I can prevent just one other person from using this company, it is all worthwhile.