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:05/08/2025

  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.

  May 7, 2025 ******** ***** ***************************************** ************************* ************ Ringleys **** ****** Hardware ***************** *********************, ******** ***** ************ RE: Complaint About 2 months ago my water pump went out and as having a water pump is a basic necessity to sustain day to day living I requested Ringleys to come out and give me an estimate on the costs to repair. As I am a full time student at *** I am able to request funding for such emergency situations to ensure I can stay in college and have my basic needs met. The owner of Ringleys came out and had a serious attitude as he spent 2 minutes and pounds on my door to say yea its the water pump. I already knew what was wrong, I needed a written estimate to get it paid and fixed. He then yelled at me saying its $950 as he hands me on an estimate paper $100. The $100 was an estimate for just coming out to tell me its $950 but he never wrote up the $950 estimate so I could get my college to pay/reimburse to fix it. I was instead harassed for months like a bill collector even adding interest to the $100 bill. I finally went to him in person after receiving relentless bills on the $100 estimate to explain in plain English that I needed the actual estimate that hes charging the $100 for, as in to get the funds I need to prove its $950. I need to know the cost of the labor and the product needed. He didnt want to write up the actual $950 estimate that costed me $100. It took over 2 months of relentless harassment over the $100 until I could get him to actually write up the estimate he charged me for so I could turn in to my college to get funding to fix it. He was extremely incompetent and unprofessional demanding payment without issuing the estimate he charged for. I would like a reimbursement of the $100 as we waited over 2 months to even receive the estimate and am filing a consumers complaint of harassment. Respectfully, Ms. *****

  Business Response

  Date: 05/20/2025

  One morning I had received a service call from customer stating that her water had quit and that she needed a service call to fix it.  No mention at that time that she was in need of an estimate but seemed rather that she was looking to have her issue fixed asap as do most all of my service calls.  (no one wants to live without water)  Approximately an hour after receiving her call I went to her property with parts and new pumps on the truck to get her up and running.  I checked in her well house and after a few minutes of troubleshooting, discovered that the pump was beyond repair and needed to be replaced. She never came outside when we arrived.  I knocked on her door and after 3-5 minutes she answered it.  I explained to her at that time that while I had hoped her pump could have been repaired inexpensively, unfortunately it was beyond that and wanted to get her ok to replace it but that the cost could be upwards of $850-950 depending on the fittings that were going to be needed.  Her response was that she didn't have the money at that time but never asked for an estimate.  I told her that I charge $125 for the service call and diagnosis work  but would only charge her $100 and her response was that she would have her dad come to the store and pay the bill.  Again never asking for an estimate in writing.  I gave her a bill for the service call with a note saying "cost to replace pump approximately $850-950" and left.  Some time later her dad came in to pay $50 of the $100 balance.  It states on the bottom of my invoices that there is an interest charge of 1.5% monthly for unpaid bills.  At least two billing cycles went by where I did charge interest on the outstanding balance and mailed her the amount due.  No phone calls were made nor any other follow *** warranted.  One morning approximately 2-3 months after being at her home, she came into my store yelling at me that I never fulfilled her request for a written estimate and how can she get things fixed without it?  My response to her was that if she needed an estimate in writing she just needed to ask but that this was her first request of that sort.  I also told her that if she made a payment on her outstanding balance I would be happy to write her a detailed estimate she could use.  After more of her yelling at me for being unprofessional in front of other customers and staff, she paid me a small amount on the outstanding debt and I wrote her an estimate.  She then threatened me saying she was reporting this and I would be sorry that I wronged her.  

  Please know that I write estimates all the time and do so for free if I do not need to make the diagnosis of problem and am asked specifically for them.  In my business when people have no water at all and just want water running again, most people do not want an estimate, they just want it fixed asap.  If I am asked to come out to give an estimate and the customer does not know what is wrong, I will do so when I can fit it into my schedule but do not make an emergency trip for them within an hour.  I also explain that estimates cost $125 but  that amount will be applied to and removed from the service call charge if they hire me.  If not, it is my diagnosis fee as some people use my time and information for troubleshooting and then fix it themselves or hire a handyman.