Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/05/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We needed a contractor to connect a gas stove, dish washer and an in-wall oven on a new house and was referred to this outfit by a reputed local hardware chain. (being new to the area).
  We contacted them over the phone, and was quoted a price of 2 hours at $130/hours and we agreed.
  
  Two tradesmen arrived and looked at the appliances and the work and proceeded and the first two appliances were connected within the two hour time frame.
  When it came time to do the in-wall oven, they said that they cannot do the work and just called in a third tradesman who came in the next day. All the time, they did not say that there would be additional costs.
  When the third tradesman showed up to hook up the electrical the next day, work was completed in about 15 minutes.
  We were shocked that there were two invoices.
  The first one for the 2 hours which we gladly paid. A couple of weeks later, a second invoice arrived claiming the third tradesman work was over $200 (about an hour and a half of charge) which we did not agree to.
  
  We tried to reason with them about (1) second invoice was not in the original quote (2) nothing was said about this second work that was charged separately (3) when the first tradesmen first showed, they should realize that there is work that they cannot do and immediately ask us for guidance and agreement for another quote.
  NONE OF THAT WAS DONE,
  (4) the actual work took less than 15 minutes and they charged us for 1.5 hours
  
  Eventually, and to get them off our backs, we sent them money for an additional half and hour of charge, which we thought was more than fair for work done in less than 5 minutes, but they are still threatening us with collections etc etc.
  
  can you contact them and help us resolve this matter, As a businessman, I see this as very ugly business practice, and preying on customers new to the London area. It is giving your area a bad name.
  
  thanks
  *******

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/05/2023

  When initially called to the home to complete the
  install we were not aware that electrical work would be required. Our techs cannot
  perform electrical work, so we had to hire an electrician to complete the
  install of the stove and billed the customer for their work after we received
  the invoice from the electrician for the repair.

  
  On December
  18th we received an email from the customer expressing their concerns, I
  explained that we are not electricians and could not install it correctly
  without an electrician and reduced the bill by 10%. On December 22nd the
  customer replied that they still weren't satisfied and would not pay the
  invoice.

  
  In
  February, ***** in our collections department emailed the customer requesting
  payment to avoid escalation to collections. The customer responded saying they
  were going to send us $65 to get us out of their hair, indicated that they
  wanted to report us to Better Business Bureau and “scream at the hardware store
  chain that (highly) recommended” us.

  
  In March
  ***** followed up again indicating that we had received a payment of $65 and
  noted the outstanding balance of $158.74.

  
  In April
  ***** followed up again indicating that if payment wasn't received this month
  it would go to collections the following month.

  
  On May 5th
  ****, our new collections clerk, contacted the customer and subsequently wrote
  off the remaining $158.74 of this invoice.
  This matter
  had been settled on May 5th so I'm unsure why the customer submitted a
  complaint to the BBB after the remainder of the invoice had been written off.
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/05/2023

  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ******* ***