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:06/10/2023

  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.

  Our transaction with Wilbur Plumbing occurred June 6, 2023. We hired the company to come to the house to install a kitchen faucet that we supplied. When we set up the appointment on June 5, 2023, we were informed that there would be a $65 charge to come to the door, and that we would be told at that point how much the install would cost. Both homeowners were at work during the appointment, however our two college age daughters were going to be home to allow the plumber access to the sink. No one from the company attempted to reach out to us, as the homeowners, to get authorization to complete the work. The installer was at our home for 34 minutes total, and we were charged $370 ($305 for the faucet install and the $65 fee that we knew about). Had we been informed of the cost of$305 for installing the faucet, we would not have agreed to the charge. We were not fully informed as homeowners of what we would be charged and feel that $610/hour is not a fair wage for this service. When I spoke to business owner, I expressed that I fully expected to pay a fair price for the work provided, but the charge we received was excessive. He was not willing to work with me, and said that my daughters had authorized the work to be completed. He expressed that his company did not have any obligation to contact the homeowner to get consent. When my husband got home, he noticed that the faucet was leaking and attempted a call to the company. He was told that the owner would return his call the following day since he had left for the day. Our faucet is leaking so badly that there was water running across the counter, down the cabinets and across our kitchen floor the morning after it was installed. The business owner was to return a phone call on 6/9/23, and never did. We have yet to hear back from him regarding our request for a return call. The work was not done properly, and we were charged an outrageous amount of money. We are left with a severely leaking faucet.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/13/2023

  *** *******,
  I am sorry that we did not meet your expectations on this visit, compared to your previous positive one with our company. Our company policy / procedure is to quote all pricing upfront, prior to any work starting on every service call. As stated by you, your adult daughters were quoted the upfront price, AND they then attempted to contact you for further approval while you were at work (as a teacher). After waiting a period of time with no response, they authorized work to proceed via signature. At no time during the remainder of the entire appointment would they hear from you either. At the completion of the service call they again confirmed the invoice to reflect the scope of work done via signature, installing your customer supplied kitchen faucet. I am sorry to hear that it was leaking and furthermore, leaking from above the countertop from the pictures you supplied but all of our connections during installation are below the countertop, INSIDE the kitchen cabinet. Any water leaking on top of the finished countertop is due to a leak at a factory assembled component or a defect in a water bearing portion of the faucet that we never touch or are responsible for during the installation process. You will absolutely need to contact the manufacturer for a warranty part/claim as it is likely under warranty through the manufacturer, but that is the risk anyone takes when supplying their own fixture for installation. Unfortunately this scenario is all too common when faucets are obtained from online retailers, or box stores as they are frequently factory refurbs, 2nds, or retailer specific product lines that look appealing from a price perspective, but have sacrifices to meet price points. Lastly, we do our best to leave the installation site as clean or cleaner than we found it, hence the reason we removed all the trash, cardboard, old faucet that had to be cut apart to be removed, etc. We would have been happy to leave all materials there had someone asked us to do so, but instead you decide to surprise us with a Police visit accusing us for theft of materials? Note: any and all materials, boxes, trash, etc have been turned over after request. We wish you the absolute best finding another provider to use with such unrealistic expectations at * ********* *****, Mechanicsburg PA *****

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/13/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  No quote was given ahead of time and up front of the work being completed.  In our previous encounters with this company, a fee was charged to come out to the home, and a reasonable fee was charged for the hourly rate of completion of work.  On this occasion, we were charged a very unreasonable fee for a task that took less than 30 minutes from start to finish.  When we set up the appointment and asked how much a faucet install would cost, we were told that they couldn't tell us ahead of time, but that the technician would assess the situation and tell us before they started any work.  We were assured we would be told the price as homeowners. We were never told an amount prior to the technician starting the work or given an opportunity to decline the work at the price that was to be charged. There is no way we could have anticipated that the company would not charge a reasonable fee as before, and thought we could trust that our daughters could allow the plumber to have access to the sink without having him and the company take advantage of them and pressure them to make a decision that is the homeowner's responsibility.  No signature was acquired from ANYONE prior to work being completed.  The only signature our daughter was asked to supply regarding the faucet replacement was after work was fully completed.  In addition, a $305 charge for this scope of work calculates to $610/hour, which is an outrageous amount for any plumber to charge.  We would like to pay a fair price for the job that was completed.  Even if we were charged on the upper end of plumbing rates at $200/hour, and we were charged for a full hour, our bill should have only been $265.
   This company took advantage of young females by price gouging them since they had no idea what was a reasonable and respectable amount to charge for a simple faucet installation.  The technician NEVER even attempted to contact myself or my wife to get homeowner authorization.  Our daughters were not expecting to have to provide authorization, nor were we expecting them to be pressured to do so.  We were expecting to be told up front what the cost would be, as homeowners, like we were promised over the phone when making the appointment.
  The reason we contacted the police regarding our old faucet and packaging is because the company was not working with us in order to return the old faucet, packaging, warranty information, etc.  In addition to being overcharged, we had no way of even verifying that all of the parts of the new faucet were even installed.  No one told us verbally or in writing, and it is not listed in any company policies, that our items would be taken.  The faucet we supplied was a brand-new faucet complete with paperwork, warranty information, and packaging.  All of those things that need to be saved for future reference were taken without even asking if it would be ok.  ********* himself approved, via phone conversation, of a report being filed with the police in order to have our faucet and packaging, etc. returned to us.
  We have contacted ******, and the gentleman told us that it is common for people, even certified technicians, to not tighten everything properly, and that could be the cause for the leak.  He did provide us with a rush order of replacement parts AT NO COST TO US because of the terrible ordeal we are going through dealing with this company.  This is how a business should communicate with and service their customers.  
  In summary, we reject this response because:

  1. We were not contacted with an amount that would be charged for replacing the faucet as we were told we would be when we set up the appointment.
  2.  The price we were charged was unreasonable, and we were not given the opportunity to decline the work. 
  3.  All parts of the faucet were not installed correctly, and the faucet is leaking.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *******
  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/14/2023

  **************,

  As I re-read your ever changing account of the service call, I ultimately believe you to be focusing on two issues.

  1.)  You feel you were over charged

  2.) Your faucet was leaking at the completion of the call

  Operating a service business (one that brings a service to you with all the licenses, techs, overhead, insurance, etc) all of which we have absolutely little to no control over, hence the reason we provide all customers with guaranteed not to change pricing upfront, before work starts, so they have the opportunity to shop, or decline service should they see fit.  Our software system physically does not allow a technician to complete payment or invoicing, without a physical signature present, so that technicians cannot circumvent our company policy even if they wanted to, hence the reason I know that pricing was presented in addition to the physical signature of your daughter on the invoice where it states the invoice is agreed upon and acknowledged.  At this point we have done everything we could do to be transparent in the service call, presenting all costs before work was completed.  In summary, we presented pricing, upfront, prior to work starting, to the adult on site, who approved the repair in writing.  The fact that you could not be reached during the entire duration of the service call even after the written authorization is not our responsibility.

  Your pictures do show the faucet leaking, but as described previously, show a leak originating from the faucet itself, above the countertop. Nothing we do from an installation perspective of a kitchen faucet takes place above the finished countertop.  The tightening/securing of the faucet to the countertop, connection of hot/cold water supply lines, connection of the pull out hose, all occur below the countertop INSIDE the kitchen sink cabinet.  If there was a leak for which we are responsible, it would be coming from only inside of the kitchen cabinet.  I have attached the ****** installation instructions with this reply to further show/support the installation of the faucet requiring nothing above the countertop.  Lastly, why would ****** be sending you a part under warranty, expedited, if in fact there wasn't something wrong with their product, a product that you did not buy from Wilbur Plumbing & Heating?  It is because the product is defective, and again because you purchased the item elsewhere, any warranties fall under the manufacturer's obligation.

  Moving forward, -if- possible.

  We would be willing to offer you a free complimentary service call, no charge what so ever, to return and install whatever warranty part that ****** is furnishing you.  Even though we offer no labor warranties on a product not purchased from us, nor made by us.  This would eliminate you from having to spend any $ with another contractor to do so, or be bothered with conducting the repair yourself  as ****** does not have any service departments

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/16/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: 20169829
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  The resolution that is offered is not what would be mutually beneficial to us or to the company.  We asked for upfront pricing on the phone when we made the appointment.  We also told the party who scheduled the appointment that our daughters would be there to allow the plumber access to the faucet.  That same employee told me that I, ***** Wilburn (who scheduled the appointment), would be told upfront pricing before any work would be completed.  No one ever told me that our daughters on site would have to make a decision regarding the price of the job.  At no time did the company or technician even attempt to reach out with a price quote to me to allow me the choice to accept the price or shop around for another solution.  Had we known that this was how the company would operate, we would not have scheduled the appointment that day and instead would have waited until a time when myself or my wife (the homeowners and responsible parties)could have been present.
  We believe you are being truthful when you say that your system does not allow payment to be processed without a physical signature.  We know that to be true because the only time that my daughter was asked to sign anything was AFTER all work was completed and the technician was processing payment.  There was no signature obtained prior to work starting. 
  Regarding your proposed solution, this would not be mutually beneficial to us or to your company as I stated above.  For you to bring your truck back out to our residence and have your technician install the parts we were given by ****** at no cost to us would be costing your company a significant amount of overhead costs, labor costs, and time as you have very clearly described in all of your other communications.  As you charged $610/hour in labor for our faucet install, we do not see how you could afford to fix the leaking faucet for free.  We propose that you adjust our bill to subtract these expenses that you would incur to come back out from the $370 that you charged us for the faucet install.  We would not feel comfortable with any employee of your company servicing our home and have already made other arrangements for the faucet to be fixed properly.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** Wilburn
  
  

  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/16/2023

  *** ********************* or To whom it may concern at the BBB:

  We have demonstrated in writing, via written signature (from your adult daughter, the one you instructed us would home to conduct the service call) that we did in fact present up front pricing, prior to the working taking place.  *** ******* also did not ask to be contacted personally as he claims, as we record, save, and can reference every phone call placed into the company.  I tried to attach the file, identical with the process of previous attachments, but it is in a file format not recognized, accepted, or too large size wise by this platform.  NOTE:  We would be more than happy to provide this recording to any and all parties involved via email upon request.  During the call, the communication is very clear between our dispatcher and *** ******* about the costs, up front pricing we provide, and that his adult daughter will be home to handle the homeowner responsibilities of the service call, again provided and executed in writing.  *** ******* I would refrain from what you thought you may have said, when we can clearly provide it for all parties to hear.  Every call.
  
  Mutually beneficial would be for us both to benefit if possible.  Refunding you any monies would not be mutually beneficial.  As you stated, you have already secured another contractor to repair the faucet, with the warranty supplied items from ******, as they acknowledge a defect in their product.  By definition this means you will be spending additional monies with another entity (your choice to do so), when we would be happy to extend the olive branch and absorb all costs ( a zero cost 2nd service visit) for an issue or problem that we are not responsible for.  Wilbur Plumbing will offer refunds if there is a failure or fault in the products or services that we supply and install, which is not the case *reference provided installation instructions, and because ****** is sending you warranty replacement parts (implied defect on their product) on a product you supplied.  In summary, we will not be providing any refunds at this time.
  
  My advice would be to direct your frustrations toward the manufacturer, who sent you a defective product, which became apparent after you paid a contractor to install it (frustrating I agree).  Only to have them mail you additional parts (acknowledging their defect) for another cost inducing service visit with an entity of your choice.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/16/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  We received the copy of the recording that **. ******************** is referencing.  There are a few items that need to be clarified from this recording and his claims:

  1.  I, *****, was told that I would receive notification prior to any work being done.  There is no mention of my daughter having any responsibility in this matter.  As a matter of fact, this happened on two separate occasions (time stamp 1:58 and 2:31) during this conversation.

  2.  I was never notified, nor did I ever provide consent to have this (or any of our conversations) recorded.  Pennsylvania is a two-party state and this is an illegal activity.  "Pennsylvania recording law stipulates that it is a two-party consent state. In Pennsylvania, it is a criminal offense to use any device to record communications, whether they're wire, oral or electronic, without the consent of everyone taking part in the conversation."  This is another example of unethical and illegal activities conducted by your company.  Providing our home address in multiple public forums is unprofessional and unethical as well.  You continue to prove that your business is not trustworthy and run in an unprofessional manner.

  3.  Our faucet is repaired at no cost to us, and not by anyone from your company.  I will not allow anyone from  Wilbur Plumbing, Heating and Air to come back into my house.
  
  4.  There is still the matter of the $610 hourly rate you charged our daughter to install a faucet.  The e-mail that we received from **** ****** (with the illegal recording) states "8:00 to 8:00 same great rate."  This has been our previous experience, however for some reason this time was different.  When I asked for a price, we could have been quoted this outrageous hourly rate at that time.  What is your actual "great rate"?  
  
  5.  ****** has confirmed with me that when the handle of the faucet is installed, the plumber needed to properly attach and tighten the necessary parts which are all above the counter.  This is a contradiction to what you have previously stated as well.  This would also explain why the faucet was leaking and why we were able to have it repaired at no additional cost.
  
  There are so many contradictions, lies, unethical practices, and illegal activities that it is getting difficult to keep track.  I do not accept the proposal because the mistake that was made by Wilbur Plumbing, Heating, and Air has been corrected at no cost to us and we do not need them to fix their mistake any longer.  We are still seeking a reduction in the $610/hour rate that was charged to our daughter, and never communicated to myself, as the illegal recording clearly states would happen.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *********************