- Report: #1395728
Complaint Review: A-1 American Services - Virginia Beach Virginia
Reported By:
David and Rachel -
Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
A-1 American Services
1620 Centerville Turnpike, Suite 113 Virginia Beach, 23464 Virginia, USA
Phone:
757-425-2400
Web:
www.a-1american.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
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A-1 American Services Rip off, Incompetent Service Virginia Beach Virginia
On 8/25/2017 I called A-1 American to have a plumber come and take a look at the leak coming from my baseboard. Someone came out and I agreed to pay the $78.00 fee for the plumber to determine the source of the leak. He literally stood looking at the wall then right away asked if I would be okay with paying $300.00 an hour for him to determine the source of the leak. I was desperate to stop the leak and didn't know how serious the problem was so I said okay hesitantly. Even though I thought part of the $78.00 was for him to determine the source of the problem and further money woul go toward FIXING IT.
After reading the A-1 American website I discovered they usually do not charge per the hour, but by the job. He obviously didn't know this. The plumber went around the condo and looked at the bathrooms and other areas trying to troubleshoot. He used no equipment. Didn't see him pull out anything when he supposedly "pressure checked" the water. I felt like he had no clue how to determine what was wrong. I could have easily gotten a neighbor to go around and the house with me to guess what was wrong. Soon after he said the wall in my closet and part of my living room wallwould have to be taken down to determine the source of the leak and/or my concrete floor bashed in. I asked him in shock how the hang would he be able to tell the source of the leak by ripping down my walls (I was too shocked to inquire about the concrete bashing). He said he could tell by using his flashlight.......The neighboring unit owner was not home, but I asked if he had access if he would need to tear down their wall to determine where the leak was coming from. His quote was that there would be "no promises." He also said that water can be a "funny thing." I then asked agin (realizing he had no clue what he was doing) if he would be charging me extra for the time he spent talking to me about ripping out my walls. He paused to see if he could screw me over with more fees then said no it will be $300.00 for each hour to determine where the leak is coming from.
I quickly got on the phone with a local contractor we trust and he said to NOT RIP DOWN WALLS or DESTROY my concrete floors and he would be able to determine source of leak without doing that. I had the A-1 plumber leave and he happily charged me not only the 300.00 an hour which he didn't accomplish anything and didn't even stay the hour PLUS the $78.00 fee to come out along with and extra $10.00 making e total bill $385 for doing nothing!! On the phone the person said the $78.00 would go INTO any further costs but he just slapped that on top of the other fee and somehow added in an extra $10.00. At the end he said "that's business" and shrugged his shoulders. Later on in the evening the contractor we know came and he quickly within 30 MINUTES discovered the source of the leak - neighbor's refrigerator! So if I did what the A-1 plumber wanted my walls and concrete flooring would be destroyed for nothing! Am$200.00 job would turn into a $2,000 one (which is what I suspect he wanted - more money for him). Such incompetence and trying to take advantage of people!!
