Drain Rite Plumbing, John Opitz thief, extortionist, blackmailer, thug, con-artist & insurance fraud expert Norco California
John Opitz is a con-artist, theif, thug blackmailer and extortionist all rolled into one. If you call him for a slab leak etc a well trained con-artist plumber shows up to give you a free estimate and says that he will not only fix the leak but that he is also a General Contractor and will do all the collateral work like fix the ceiling, concrete, dry wall, carpet, new paint etc etc anything - all the while he has no intention of doing any such thing. He also tells you that this is an insurance claim and that he will give you a discount from his profit so you don't have to even pay the deductible, in other words no out of pocket expense. I own a vacation home in CA and I was on vacation when this all hapenned. He then asks you to call your insurance and get him a claim number while he fixes the leak and cleans up the mess. Armed with the claim no. Opitz prepares a huge fictitious invoice (very professionally done) for services and materials/ parts that he did not even render and then goes over and above your head and bills your insurance directly. Some insurance co.s will fall for the trick and mail him a check directly. NOT OURs! And that is why he filed a LEIN on our home and then took us to small claims harassing us in the process and black mailing us into paying him.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Amazed
La Mirada,California,
I was ripped off by John Obitz too!
#3Consumer Comment
Thu, January 29, 2015
In November of 2013 I called Drain Rite Plumbing because I had a leak in my bath tub. The plumber came out, diagnosed the problem, and claimed it would be covered by my home owner's insurance. In fact, he told me I could remodel my entire bathroom because of this. They got an insurance claim number from my insurance company. A subcontractor, Titan Environmental Company came out and ripped out half my bathroom to do an asbestos report, twice. In the mean time my insurance company told me the leak was not covered by my insurance because it was a slow, long-term leak and insurance companies only cover sudden disasters. I told Drain Rite I did not want them to do any further work because I did not have the money to pay for anything and I was upset with them for leading me to believe that my insurance would pay for this, when they knew full well they were lying. John Obitz was very hostile and rude to me and told me that I needed to lie to my homeowner's insurance company so they would pay. I was not about to do any such thing. Then he had his secretary or whomever call me and request I pay over the phone $3000+ dollars for the work they'd done. I replied that I hadn't received any paperwork with any information about estimates or costs and I wasn't about to just give someone authorization to use my credit card under these conditions. So, he took me to small claims court and sued me for the $3000. We settled in court and I agreed to pay half, although I'm not sure what for, other than the initial diagnosis and the fees for Titan Environmental. In fact, John Obitz told me himself that he had already paid his subcontractors. We settled prior to seeing the judge and I agreed to pay half, which I did. The man who met me at court from Drain Rite was very nice, not John. Before we left I asked to verify that I would not be sued again for this matter, and particularly by the subcontractor, Titan Environmental.
Well, guess what? Titan Environmental is now suing me for $1500 for this issue because they have never received payment and my name is on the invoice. There is no mention of Drain Rite on the work order for Titan Environmental. I looked through my court paperwork and all it says is, "case dismissed." There is no mention of Titan Environmental. It looks like I'm screwed.
John King
New York,New York,
John Optiz is a thief, con-artist, crook, blackmailer and extortionist
#3Author of original report
Tue, May 28, 2013
My posting was superseded by someone else that he has cheated so I am posting again so mine comes first and we can save other people from this monster.