Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Farwell Plumbing, Inc.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Farwell Plumbing, Inc.

  888 E Robinson Ave Springdale, AR 72764-7113

  
• 

  Farwell Plumbing, Inc.

  PO Box 7238 Springdale, AR 72766-7238

  

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:11/11/2024

  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.

  Based on a verbal quote of $99 per hour labor plus the fact they carry repair parts on their truck, I chose Farwell Plumbing to repair a water line leak located next to the utility meter. On September 17, 2024, two Farwell employees arrived at 9:15 am and worked until approximately 10:50 am then departed. They returned at approximately 1:10 pm, completed the repairs and presented me the final invoice at 2:30 pm. Of the approximately 5 hours and 15 minutes from 9:15 to 2:30 and by my estimation they were at the job site approximately 3 hours and off-site 2 hours and 15 minutes. After completion of the repairs, the on-site plumber informed me the actual labor was calculated at $120 per hour not the quoted $99 per hour. Needless to say, my attorney girlfriend and I were both flabbergasted upon reviewing the final $1,027.36 invoice which broke down as follows: total labor $675.00 (5.63 hours at $120 per hour) total parts $326.30 and total tax $32.63. Note: this actually adds up to $1,033.93 not the $1,027.36 invoice amount. To add further insult, the parts were listed but not assigned a specific price. The invoice reflected only $326.30 total for all combined parts. On September 19, I spoke to **** ******* and expressed my concern over the total hours charged, the hourly rate and the mystery price of $326.30 for parts. **** said he would check into my concerns and get back to me. To this point, it has been almost two months with no response from Farwell. Additionally, I have made numerous calls to Farwell requesting a call back and to date no response. By my calculation, I feel I owe $297 for three hours labor at $99 per hour. I feel Farwell over charged me 2.63 hours and also inflated the hourly rate $21 dollars per hour ($120 instead of $99 per hour plus). The overcharge amounts to $378 dollars for labor ($675 minus $297) plus a yet to be determined amount for parts. I believe *** ******* will agree once he understands my complaint.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/06/2024

  I was unaware of the complaint against our business.  I know the consumer and about the situation.  I will reach out to him and and find a resolution.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/11/2024

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The business, Farwell Plumbing, has not contacted me to discuss acceptable solutions.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  *** *******

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/27/2024

  Thank you for bringing our attention to this matter. My name is ******* ***** and since October 1, *** ******* has handed all business operations over to me since he is taking care of his wife who is terminal. *** ******* has forwarded his personal cell to my phone and I receive all calls made to his phone. I have received no calls from *** ******* to date. I called our answering service who we use to answer all calls made to our primary business line of ************ and they did a message search using the key word Smalley and incorrectly spelled Smally and they also have no record of any call received by them with that name after October 1. I did speak with *** ******* yesterday 12/26 and he did confirm that he and *** ******* had spoken and he should have returned his call but he had forgotten and asked that I extend his apologies for his oversight. With that being said my explanation of events and amounts are as follows.

  In the days prior to Sept 17th, our technician **** went to *** ********* home and diagnosed the issue and provided *** ******* with a list of materials that would be required to complete the repair (this was because *** ******* wanted to purchase his own parts). He was not billed for this at this time, that hour would be added to his ticket when the work was completed. While on site it was determined that this job would be a two person job. On Sept 17th, **** arrived with his helper ****** to complete the work. **** realized he had told *** ******* the incorrect size of the materials he would require. **** and ****** opened the area needed to complete the repair. They then left the job to go and purchase the required parts, returned and completed the repair. I have attached the invoices from Locke Supply showing the parts purchased and amounts for each part. Not included in those invoices were the few parts **** had on the truck. The total cost for the parts $335.35, **** only charged $326.30 on the ticket. We did not mark up the parts as we and any other business would have, due to the fact that *** ******* had already purchased parts that he would now have to return. 

  Addressing the quoted price of $99hr. $99 and hour is for a single technician working on a job. Our hourly rate for a plumber and helper is $140 but **** only charged *** ******* $135 per hour. 

  9/17/24 Timeline
  Time Duration Note
  8:45-9:15 30min Drive time to site
  9:15-10:50 1hr 35 min On site
  10:50-1:10 2hr 20min Drive time & purchase materials & Lunch (45 minutes)
  1:10-2:30 1hr 20min On site
  
  8:45-2:30 5hr 45min Total time (45 minutes was deducted to include their lunch)

  **** did not include the hour fee for going to *** ******** in the days prior to once again try to help him out on the bill since he had told him the incorrect size of materials to purchase. ** ******* has pointed out that the ticket was added incorrectly and the total should have been $1033.93 and even though this error was caught in our office when processing we never reached out to *** ******* to pay the correct amount. We now have processes in place to prevent this situation from happening in the future. We use software to complete and send invoices to clients on site with totaled line item listing of parts, materials and labor. Rest assured, addition won't be a problem in the future. We also have time trackers for each employee and trackers on all vehicles that show location in real time. We have also moved away from customer supplied parts in most situations without prior signed approval from management to help eliminate these situations all together. 

  For any other client, the total of *** ******** bill would've been $1440.57, but instead he was charged $1027.36, after paying for materials, labor and sales tax our profit on this job totaled $224.70 without reducing for overhead so I believe that the insult *** ******* pointed out was actually our profit margin. It is our position that this matter is resolved, details are attached and provided throughout this response. There will be no refund or adjustment of the bill as we feel that we have made adequate concessions to/for *** ******* throughout this entire process.

  Thank you,

  ******* *****

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/29/2024

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: First of all, I am sorry to learn that *** *******'s wife is battling terminal cancer. Sadly, I am not a stranger to this scenario, and I wish both *** *** **** ******* strength throughout this ordeal. 

  Secondly, thanks to **** ***** for her explanation of these charges.  However, I respectfully disagree with her on several points.  The first problem I have is by her own admission within the response, **** ***** stated **** mistakenly informed me of the incorrect size of part to purchase.  How could this happen?  Had **** informed me correctly, the two hours additional travel time for not one plumber but two plumbers at $135 per hour would have been avoided.  I feel you are charging me $270 more dollars to correct his mistake.  Is it Farwell's position to make their customers pay for their employee's mistakes?  This is unfair to me and an extremely poor business practice. 

  Secondly, I described this job to two other plumbers.  One estimated this job to take one person four hours maximum with less time more likely.  The other plumber estimated two hours for one person which I believe is possible if you are efficient.

  Basically, I do not have a problem with the three hours on site time for one plumber at $99 per hour.  I'm just not sure why two plumbers were needed. I drew this conclusion after observing both men digging out and filling in the hole but for the balance of five hours the helper was basically not needed.  All in all, this dinged me $36 additional dollars per hour times five hours.  Extremely unfair.  As I previously stated, I chose Farwell after being told they carried parts on the truck and based on the quoted $99 per hour labor not $135.  At the very least and before beginning work, Farwell should have given me the option to cancel the job order after informing me of the bump up from the quoted $99 to the new rate of $135 per hour.  From my point of view, this seems to border on "bait and switch".  Definitely, not fair to me or a good business practice on Farwell's part.

  Thank you for itemizing the charge for each part.  After adding up the Locke invoices I came up with $309.67 before tax not the charged $326.00 before tax.  However, this is close enough and I am okay with the part prices.

  Additionally, I would like to know what labor time *** ******* would estimate based on his past experience repairing simple easy to find water line leaks?  Also, since this kind of leak is very common, why did they not carry the necessary 1-inch repair parts on their truck as was portrayed to me.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  *** *******

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/06/2025

  "How many more times will I have to respond to
  this complaint?
  We appreciate the response you have already
  provided and our goal is to minimize back-and-forth communication. 
  The new information provided by the consumer may have brought up new concerns
  that your BBB consultant felt needed some clarification.  By
  providing this information, you are allowing BBB to develop a more
  complete picture of the situation and how to move forward. 
  
  Generally, resolving a complaint requires both
  parties to move from their current position to a middle ground. In your
  response, please state your position and if possible, indicate what steps
  can be taken by both parties to resolve this matter. If necessary, the BBB
  will offer its mediation and/or arbitration services to bring a close to
  this matter."

  
  So, the above is included in
  correspondence from the BBB. I think it’s safe to say we are both pretty set in
  what we believe a resolution should be with this matter and I believe the time
  for caddy remarks and words to incite hostile responses has passed. We would
  like to settle this matter so that we can stop this back and forth and
  hopefully find an amicable solution with the customer.
  

  In the last communication I included copies of tickets from
  Locke for the purchased materials for the job which totaled $309.67. The total
  for the parts used from the truck should have been $25.68, these parts were not
  on the Locke tickets because they were on the truck. The client was charged
  $326.30 not the correct amount of $335.35, so this saved him $9.05. Sales tax
  was calculated based on the correct total, not the $326.30.
  

  As for the labor fee in question. In the last communication
  it was stated that the customer witnessed both plumbers working while digging
  and back filling the area.
  For arguments sake, let’s remove the second plumber for 3 of
  the 5 billed hours, and let’s split the time for going to the parts store and
  back to the client’s property, which will break down as follows:
  2@135 $270 (digging and backfill
  with two people digging and filling a 3’x3’x3’ deep hole; see client’s prior
  response)
  2@99 $198 (1 plumber completing
  repair)
  1/2hr @ 99 $49.50 (11.9 miles to
  Locke from client’s property, average drive time 23 minutes with no traffic,
  round trip would be 23.8 miles or 46 minutes with no traffic or delay plus time
  at Locke Supply)
  $517.50
  The difference between this and
  the $675 he was billed is $157.50. We are willing to refund the client this
  difference to bring this to conclusion.
  
  For additional clarification, it
  is impossible to keep every single part needed for any given project on our
  work trucks.  After the tornado took out
  our shop building, we have been displaced and both of our work trailers were
  totaled. Our most common repairs based on the prior twelve months would be; hot
  water heater replacement, toilet tank rebuild, sewer line clean outs, garbage
  disposal replacements, toilet wax ring replacement, outside faucet repair and then
  water main leak repair, followed by several others. While the repair we
  completed may be a common occurrence it is not our most common repair.

  As the
  customer requested, I spoke with *** ******* and he estimated that the average
  time for this repair would’ve been between 3.5 to 5 hours but would depend on
  several factors. He also stated that 95% of main lines are 3/4” but the others
  are 1” main lines that reduce to ¾ when entering the home, this allows for
  higher volume of water delivered to the home. 
  
  Thank you,
  ******* *****
  Farwell Plumbing Inc.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/09/2025

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  I couldn't agree more, it is time to cease bantering and reach a fair resolution to this complaint.  First of all, and for the record, I spoke to a city employee familiar with this type of issue and repair, their response was, " I have heard of repair costs upwards of $700 dollars for these repairs to this type of leak".   

  Secondly, *** ******* calculations regarding distance and travel time to Locke Plumbing from my location are accurate.  I appreciate most of *** ******* approach for calculating a fair invoice amount.  However, I have an issue with her calculation of two men working for two hours at $135.00 per hour to dig out and fill up a 3'X3'X3' hole.  The ground surrounding the leak was super soft and very muddy making the digging fast and easy.  In my opinion, the two-hour estimate is greatly inflated.  By my estimation, it took them a fraction of two hours total time to dig and fill this hole.  Therefore, I generously propose calculating one hour labor at $135 per hour for two men.  This is generous and more than ample time for the digging labor calculation.  Also, one man two hours to simply cut out and splice in approximately a 30-inch section of line seems high but I will agree to her $198.00 calculation for this repair segment. 

  Therefore, my estimated solution is as follows:  *** ******* estimation of $157.50 plus one hour digging time credit at $135.00 is a fair solution to close this complaint. This amounts to $292.50 refund off the $1,027.36 total bringing the final invoice to a realistic $734.86.  This amount is in line with other verbal estimates I have received for these repairs.  

  Hopefully, Farwell Plumbing will agree to my proposal and bring an end to this complaint.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  *** *******

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/03/2025

  Our final offer to resolve this complaint will be $224.50. This will remove the amount for the additional helper completely and encompass the original deduction of hours for travel time etc. This will be our final response to the client and BBB regarding this issue. Please have the client provide you with a current mailing address and we will mail the check this week.

  ******* *****

  Farwell Plumbing Inc

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/05/2025

  
  
  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.  Additionally and per *** ******* request, please inform Farwell Plumbing my address is **** ********** ***** Fayetteville AR, 72703.  Thank you for your professionalism and handling of this matter.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  *** *******