Authentic Custom Services

Zero Stars. Stay far away! I would highly advise against working with Authentic Custom Service (ACS) Sprinkler Repair Inc. Bernie, the owner who is also one of the service technicians, is a crook! Background: I made an appointment to get a quote to replace a sprinkler valve. Bernie and an another worker showed up, assessed the issue and gave me a quote of $235 to replace. I agreed to the quote, even though I knew it was high than normal. He then pointed at a broken sprinkler head and told me he'd fix it, then came back and stated I needed to replace an additional 4 rotors and 1 pop up sprinkler heads (which worked just fine). When I asked him for an estimate of the cost for replacing the 5 sprinkler heads, as he walked away, I thought he stated $6.25 for each. Since I can buy good rain bird rotors for under $10 each and the pop ups are $4, I verbally agreed, again, thinking he stated $6.25 per sprinkler head. After installing the sprinkler valve, Bernie could not get a zone that was previously working prior to installing the new valve, to work and advised that he needed to replace another valve at half the price ($125) of the first one. I agreed to have the second valve replaced but, Bernie stated he didn’t have the supplies and stated he would have another technician come to replace it and bill me then. After the other technicians we finished, they stated the cost for the service was $975. I repeat. $975 for two sprinkler valves and 5 sprinkler heads. I called Bernie to tell him I was not satisfied with the cost and that I thought he quoted me $6.25 for the replacement of each sprinkler head. He stated he meant $625 and “offered” a discount of $100. After calling an attorney I served in the U.S. Army with for advice, I contacted 3 other sprinkler companies and got estimates for between $350-$400 for the job that Bernie tried to charge me $875, after giving me a $100 discount. Armed with this information, I contacted Bernie, informed him that I believed he was trying to commit fraud by overcharging me and that I was willing to pay the fair amount for the job. His reply was “the demand for sprinkler services was higher during this time of the year.” Bottom line, I paid $500 instead of $975 and learned a valuable lesson. From now on, I will do the following: 1. Get a written quote, with a breakdown of the individual charges that are added together to create the total cost of a job. 2. Have the business draw up a written agreement and then ensure both parties sign the agreement. This written agreement should include the parties’ names, date, payment terms and what each party is responsible for.