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Business Profile

Plumbing and Heating

Richard T. Fowler Family Plumbing

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

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Complaints

Customer Complaints Summary

  • 1 complaint in the last 3 years.
  • 0 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

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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.

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  • Initial Complaint

    Date:08/12/2023

    Type:Service or Repair Issues
    Status:
    AnsweredMore 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.
    ***** Fowler was hired to replace the clay ***** piping. The piping is in my backyard in June of 2023 I had flagstone surrounding a fire pit that is no longer there. ***** Fowler said he buried my flagstone.Fowler dug next to the fence and never filled it in.Fowler did not attempt to evenly spread out the dirt upon completion.There is buried electrical conduit running electrical from the corner of the house to the garage. Fowler cut the conduit in 3 places and attempted repair.I paid $1750 to have the electricity restored from the house to the garage. ***** Fowler offered me $850 dollars and excuses as to why thats all he was responsible for. Here is ***** Fowlers reply when I informed him of the cut electrical and my cost.I have spoken to my operator, he said there was a private line there. Private lines are not marked by Indiana 811. He said he scraped against the conduit but didn't see anything break. He had our helper check the garage and it was working. It's possible it did more damage than we realized though and was cracked elsewhere. This isn't something we can plan for as those lines aren't marked and would normally be added to the cost which is why it's sent as an estimate for unforeseen circumstances. Because it was working no one thought it was as bad as it was and no extra cost was added to the estimate.But for the frustration we can offer $875 as we did not have a chance to look at the issue or receive our own bids.We did not bid for moving the flagstone out of the way but we did move a lot of it out of the way and back and we did not bid for landscaping so I can't offer anything for the stone.Im sorry that you may not be happy with the results but if this offer is acceptable to you and settles the matter, and no reviews are left online, let me know and I can send you a check.Fowlers backhoe left imbedded tracks on and in my driveway.***** Fowler cut all for pergola supports to get his back hoe in.

    Business Response

    Date: 08/19/2023

    *********************** Response
    We wanted to clarify some of the circumstances brought up by ******************
    We were hired by the realtor and sellers of *********************** to repair the sewer which we did per our estimate and paid through an escrow account. We will attach a copy of the estimate and pictures of work done and relevant data. 
    No one was on site when we did the sewer repair besides us but we were in contact with ***************** through text. We told him the pergola was in the way and we would most likely have to cut it and move it. He gave us the go ahead to do this. We also put the pergola back in place using wooden dowel rods, exterior wood glue, and anchors. We did not just cut it and leave it and he was notified before we did it. We also did not charge for this extra work. 
    For the flagstone, I did not say we buried all his flagstone. I told him some may have gotten buried as the ground was a sand clay ******* and the trench had to be wider than we originally planned. ********** most flagstone was moved before we started so very little would have been buried and ***************** claims are exaggerated but he was telling the truth when he said we did not bid in moving any of the stone. 
    As for the electrical, ****************** had someone check the job site the day after work was done, while he did have complaints about the flagstone, an umbrella closed and lying next to the garage (we found it open in the middle of the yard when we arrived and did not know who it belonged to, we actually asked the neighbor if it was theirs.) He complained the fire pit was next to the garage not in its original spot but nothing was mentioned about the electrical not working. We informed him we dont do landscaping and he just asked that we move the fireplace back to its original location, which we did the very next day. 
    It was not until ******************************************************************** his garage. While we admit we found the unmarked private electrical line while digging, we only scraped the side of it and there was no damage and the electrical was working. We doubt an electrical line could be cut in 3 different places and still work for 1 day, let alone 20 and refute his claim.
    As I mentioned, it was 20 days after the job before we were contacted by ****************** making complaints, he gave us less than an hour to respond before he started insinuating that we did the job illegally. I sent pictures showing him the permit we pulled and showing it was inspected. When I sent those as proof that the sewer was done to code and legally, he shut done the conversation, saying Im out. I tried to respond to some more of his previous questions but he then insulted us. He then texted the next day saying he had an electrician on site and he wanted $1750 plus compensation for the flagstone. Even though it was 20 days after the fact, we had not even seen this issue, nor given a chance to rectify it, we still made a good faith offer. We offered ****************** the $875. He told us Nope. keep your money. You obviously need it worse than me. Too bad. Since ****************** took any kind of monetary settlement off the table by telling us to keep our money and insulted us, there was nothing more we could do for him. We accepted that offer from him and ceased in communication. Though he has continued to text us. 
    Through those texts, he told us he only spent $1539 not the $1750 he is now claiming.
    The imbedded tracks ***************** is claiming is also nonsense. It is simply mud from the tires of the backhoe that was used to dig 7+ into the ground. There is absolutely no damage to his driveway caused by us. 
    The entire dig site was filled in and smoothed out to a level consistency. We have pictures of after the dig to back up our claim. We can not control how fast or slow the dirt will settle. The only spot he showed us was settling from 20 days after the dig was right by the clean-out, where we can not pound any dirt down due to the risk of damaging the clean-out drain. 
    Everything was done per our estimate and to the Indiana Plumbing code and inspected and approved by ********************** Mr. ******** claims have no merit.

    Business Response

    Date: 08/19/2023

    Here are attached photos from the job.

    Business Response

    Date: 08/19/2023

    More photos of the job and conversation with ******************.

    Business Response

    Date: 08/19/2023

    Additional photos. 

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