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:05/19/2025

  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.

  On 11-13-2024 we called the plumbing company to come and fix an outside frost free faucet that wasn't working. The company sent out a tech he said he needed to order a new faucet. We paid $184 to him at that time for the new faucet and to install it. After this was done the faucet still wasn't working. It was determined that the check valve on our pump wasn't working correctly so we had to replace the well pump. We had to wait for a while before the well company could get to us. After the pump was replaced I called the company to have them come out and finish what they started. A tech was sent out. She charged us $291 before she would start work. We were not happy about this as we had already paid to have this done but we wanted the faucet fixed so we paid it. The tech worked a long time but couldn't get the faucet to work. She told us she would send out another tech to see if they could determine what was wrong. The new tech showed up and looked at the faucet and determined that they would have to dig up the entire system to the amount of $750. We decided that was a ridiculous amount to spend on getting a faucet fixed so they left. I called an other plumbing company and they came out and had it fixed in about 5 minutes. We felt that the $291 should not have been charged as we had already paid $184 to get the faucet fixed so I canceled the $291 check. If the tech that charged us the $291 had actually fixed the faucet I would not have considered cancelling the check. $475 is a lot of money to replace a faucet but it would have been done, unfortunately it was not done. Paying twice for the same job doesn't seem fair to us.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/20/2025

  Two things that may help add some clarity here. The first invoice for ****** was for the rebuild kit in the faucet that was installed and just needed adjusted after the well pump was replaced. The first tech only charged for what he actually did not what his notes read. His note make it sound like he charged for a valve( ******) and fittings (****** each including labor) and a rebuild kit (******). The valve was installed at no charge and the rebuild kit and labor to install it was the only thing that was charged and paid for on that first trip. Once the pump was fixed a few months later,  we returned to the site to reconnect the piping to the faucet. What was charged and paid for on that trip was to reconnect the piping leading to the faucet, water fittings and labor to install them. The reason the second company was able to just adjust a s**** and it worked was because of the rebuild kit that had been installed on the first trip and the fact that the piping had been reconnected on the second trip. I wish we could have made the small s**** adjustment and got the problem completely resolved while we were there, those faucets can be a little finicky and apparently the other plumber was able to be successful and we are very glad to hear that. Had you needed to have the other plumber put in a new repair kit ( what you paid for the first trip), or had to pay them to connect the water piping to the faucet ( what you paid for on the second trip ). I certainly would agree, you deserve a refund and would promptly send you one. We certainly wish we could have come to a satisfactory conclusion, but we understand that isn't always possible. Thanks for your time. Take Care.    

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/22/2024

  Type:Customer Service 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.

  On March 18 ************************************** my home by a1 plumbing. I personally dont use the downstairs bathroom, therefore it was a while until I found out that there was no hot water to this bathroom. When I realized this, I contacted a1 plumbing to inform them. ****, the owner, wouldnt even listen to my complaint. His only concern was that I still owe him money. He said, how can he uphold the warranty I was supposed to have when I still owe money. I happened to have another plumber come to my house who made me aware that the hot water was capped off (it wasnt capped off on my original water heater. We had hot water to the bathroom). I still have the old water heater that shows the split pipe that the hot water was hooked up to. Also, this plumber said the work is not up to code. No straps. No expansion tank. I waited a couple weeks til I had the remaining balance I owed in order to get **** to honor the warranty that A-1 plumbing said I have. He still kept saying that he will not come. He kept insisting the job was done right. I even offered that if he would give me a date within a reasonable amount of time (in writing) I will trust him and pay the balance. He still refused. I have since come to find that he did not obtain a permit for this work as well. I am so saddened by all of this. I feel it should have been so simple. He comes and fixes the problem. I pay him. We all go on happily. I dont know what else to do. I have sent numerous emails. Now I am being ignored. I will have to take time and effort to make official complaints with the city. But that is STILL not the route i wish to proceed. I just want him to have integrity and honesty. And to simply fix what isnt right. Thats all.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/02/2024

  In Response,

     A-1 Plumbing has a standard of offering the client the option to have a permit when water heaters are changed due to the added cost of ***** for the permit and the code updates that are then forced on the client, adding approx ****** to a standard water heater install plus the permit fee. Some clients opt to have us pull the permit and others opt to have no permit pulled due to budget reasons or just the inconvenience of scheduling an inspection. As to the facts, this client asked for special payment terms including only paying half down and making monthly payments to pay down the rest of the balance over 6 months (interest free). She made the first couple payments and then paused making payments as agreed upon, when the balance owed reached our past due 90 days column of AR we reached out via phone and asked for the balance of the payments due once again, interest free. The response we got was that she wanted us to return and warranty our work prior to paying the bill. "Warranty" in her opinion was to do the code updates (earthquake straps etc.) for no charge as they should have been included in the original install price. We as a company, understand that some people can't afford the code updates, but still need hot water and this has put us in a dilemma. Force everyone to do all code updates : pull permits on all water heater installs, force all of our clients to try and come up with an additional approx. ****** plus tax added to their bill for a water heater change out.  After attempting to come to an agreement, we get paid for the work that has been done, and then we would happily come check the install. This was not acceptable to her, and after another 3 more months and several emails and phone calls we decided to turn the balance over to collections instead of continuing to argue. At which point she began threatening us with a complaint to the BBB and a complaint to the city for no permit pulled on the water heater install. We wish in todays world that all issues could be resolved in a way that all parties could be perfectly happy. Unfortunately, this is a lose-lose, we lose a client, and she lost a plumber.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/17/2024

  This is all incorrect. I was never offered a permit. And the issue is that A1 plumbing did not attach the hose or pipe that sends water to the downstairs bathroom. Which was attached on the water heater that they removed. They capped it off. Why would they do that???
  I offered to pay ion advance if they gave me a date in writing when they would come back and finish the unfinished  work. ****, the manager who told me he is the owner, said they did the job right and thats that. Please I beg a1 to show the emails sent and the ones I sent. If they had offered to fix what they did not install correctly we would not be in a dispute. And they NEVER gave me terms as far as 6 months to pay. This is the first I am hearing of this. I was making good payments. I only stopped when they would not fix the problem. And they should still fix it for integrity sake. And I still will pay as soon as the job is done right. I do not care about the straps or permit. I care about having hot water. Give me hot water and I will give you payment. 

  Business Response

  Date: 05/08/2024

  Hello ******,
  
  Per the recording from your November 29th, 2023 phone conversation with ****, you repeatedly requested that we send someone out, free-of-charge to address your concerns.  He advised that we could not warranty work that had not been fully paid for.  If there were issues with the water heater due to incorrect installation or incomplete work, we would have been able to warranty the work once the bill was paid in full.
  
  
  The original bid was given on March 18th, 2023 and service performed on March 22nd, 2023, with the agreement that payment would be made within 30 days of service.  After several attempts to collect and warnings that the remaining debt would be sent to collections, it was turned over on February 1st, 2024.  Per the final notice sent to your email on January 24th, 2024, turning the invoice over to collections also constitutes a discontinuation of services.
  
  
  We sincerely regret that we were unable to find a mutually satisfactory solution.