Complaint Review: Alans Plumbing Company - Des Plaines Illinois

This is my final update.
1. I never said I wanted to put your out of business.
2. I agree that I should not post what happened to other people in our building. They should do it them-self. I have email on file from my neighbor stating exactly what I posted - good luck with the "legal counseling".
3. I posted the facts and my opinion which I am entitled too. Please stop harassing me on the phone, your threat of "legal counseling" is ridicules.
4. No matter what you said the facts are: You charged me $300 for nothing.

5. It is not to late to apologize to me for overcharging me , being rude on the phone, and harasing me for sharing my opinion about your business with other people.

Everything  I stated in my original, and this rebuttal, is absolutely true.

To clarify: Mr. Previne was not present on either of my visits.  I spoke with his wife Anna and explained exactly what was going on each time I was there.  I never spoke to Ilia, on the third floor, until after the second visit. I was on the jobsite until 4:00 New Years Eve, 2009.  After 4:30 we would have to charge overtime.  I never said " I want to go home".  That is ridiculous! I own the business. The actual cause of the leak was not found "the next day" but rather a week or so later. 

As I stated we have been working at this building for over 15 years and we can tell if a plumbing issue is a general building issue or the homeowner responsibility.  We do a lot of plumbing work for that building association. Throughout the years, we have earned their trust for our honesty and professionalism. Although Ilia wanted us to bill it to management as a building problem, it was not.

Ilia probably could have avoided all this if, when his neighbor reported the leak, he took responsibility and hired whomever he wanted and volunteered to fix the leak.  But he didn't.

He has not paid the bill as of this writing.

Now for his slanderous remarks stating that his neighbors told him we charged $500.00 for 1/2 hours work.  This is an absolute total LIE!  I called Ilia yesterday to ask him who it was who told him that.  He said he wouldn't tell me.  I told him that he cannot write a lie about us.  He simply stated that he will have us put out of business and he hung up on me.

He can write whatever he pleases to express his perception of the truth.  But let it be known if he does not supply me with the facts of that accusation, or write a full retraction, I will seek legal counsel on this matter. We have NEVER charged ANYONE $500.00 for a half hours work.  That is absurd!

God has blessed with wonderful customers.  It has been a joy throughout the years to have the ability to do the work. 

I can understand that the times now are hard.  I'm sorry that Ilia is so bitter about this.  I really don't know why he has this vendetta.

I ask God to bless him and his family and I hope that the Lord will lift the burden of this maleficense from Ilia's heart.

Sincerely:   Alan and Jackie of Alans Plumbing Co.

Why would the 2nd floor call the plumber directly - that is just inviting a dispute like this.  They should have gone to the building mgr/HOA.  The plumber may be correct that the repair is the 3rd floors problem (but he says he did that himself) but in what world can the guy on the second floor enter into an agreement with the plumber on behalf of the guy on the 3rd floor? 

The rebuttal is only partially true
1. Alan did not spend enough time to find the overflow leak, told us to "observe" but charged for the visit
2. We found this next day but simply filling up the bath tub. We called Alan again to fix it
but he produced the $800 estimate instead. I am not disputing his estimate.
I have fixed it using the "universal overflow gasket" which he probably does not know about but this is not the point of this report.
3. When I asked Alan why he could not find the leak during his first visit he said "it was late and he wanted to go home". He could find it and try to fix it. This way I would not have to pay him for 2 visits
4. He has sent bill to me for 2 visits ($300) and to my neighbors below.
5. I have paid the $300 bill (check is in the mail)
6. I have paid the $300 for nothing.
7. He and his wife were rude on the phone.
8 When I shared this information with my neighbors they told me stories about Alan charging $500 for 1/2 hrs work (changing faucet) etc.
9. Angie list will by the next place for me and my neighbors to complain about this company.

We have been doing work in this particular building for over fifteen years.  We value our reputation and we do excellent work.  Please look us up on Angie's list. We could not stay in business if we were rude.  We love our work.

The person who made this original report did not call us out to repair overflow leak.  He is on the third floor.  The owner of second floor unit called us out to find out what was causing the leak on his bathroom ceiling.   He has a dropped ceiling  two foot below another wire lathe and plaster ceiling.  Water came down only once in awhile but it was enough to make a mess.  We went down on New Year's Eve 2009 to open the ceiling.  That was the first visit and it took about an hour and a half.  At that time we could not re-create the leak.  So Alan told the people upstairs (the ones who wrote the report) to try a few things and he told the people on the second floor to let him know when they experienced the leak.  We did not know if it was a water pipe, waste pipe, or caulking problem. We did not want to make a conclusion to change a lot of piping and create a big expense when the leak was not obvious.  This work could not have been accomplished in one visit. 

Third floor person did not ask Alan to "spend ten more minutes and finish the job".  Alan did not say he wanted to go home. That's just plain silly. 

A few weeks later the people on the second floor reported to us what was happening when the water came down again.  With this information Alan concluded that the problem was the overflow.  This made the owner of the third floor unit responsible for the leak. 

Alan returned to installl a gasket but found the overflow was pulled away over 1" and the gasket would not make a tight seal.  We then advised that a totally new tub waste be installed to guarantee that no water would leak into second floor unit. The service and material for both trips and a third trip to install the tub waste would have cost around $800.00. 

Third floor party then called us and wanted to know if we could caulk the gasket, tape it, or could he just be careful and not let water get into the overflow.  We told him that would not work.  He called later and said he fixed it himself. It is not fixed right. 

He said he didn't call us so he would not pay. He said we should send the bill to whoever called us.  I then sent the bill to second floor owner.