J.Yates and Sons Plumbing Co

He (the owner of the company) initially came out, an hour late, for a well inspection. After the inspection, he offered to put in a water conditioning system and install a couple of water shutoff valves for the spigots outside for roughly $2500. He seemed like a hard-working, honest, small business owner so we said yes to his proposal. He said that he would gather the necessary materials and return the next day, around noon, to perform the work. The next day, noon came and went, but no sign of Mr. Yates (or text...or phone call). Around 1:30, we decided to text him to see if he was still coming. He said he ran into the problem getting the proper pipe sealant and would be at the house in 45 minutes Finally, around 4:30, Mr. Yates pulls into the driveway with a pickup truck (which I later found out had left oil spots all over my driveway) and a couple of extra workers. He then proceeded to install some piping for the conditioner as well as the shut-off valves for the spigots outside. A couple of hours later, he came up from the basement and said he would need to return the next day, around 5PM to finish the installation. The next day, once again the appointed time came and went and no Mr. Yates (nor a text or phone call saying he'd be late). Once again, we contacted him to see if he was coming. He said yes and would be there as soon as he could because he had an emergency. A few hours later he pulled into the driveway. As he walked through my door he apologized for being late and finished installing the conditioner. After the installation, I cut him a check for the amount owed, we talked for a few minutes about the conditioning system, then he left. A couple of days later, while we were returning items moved from the mechanical room (so he could perform his work), we noticed that one of the fittings threaded into the water conditioner was leaking. We texted Mr. Yates a few minutes later stating that there was a leak to which he responded that someone would stop by and fix it. We assumed he meant that someone would be coming that day and patiently waited around for someone from his company to show up. Unfortunately, no one showed, nor was there a text or phone call. We had remembered that Mr. Yates had previously stated that he would be out of the country later in the week so we thought maybe he had poor or no cell reception or lost his phone so we decided to wrap the conditioner in a towel (to absorb the water leak) and give him a few days before contacting him again. A few days later, we sent another text politely asking him if he was coming back to fix the leak. To our dismay, there was no response so, once again, we decided to wait and try again. A few days later, we sent out another text and once again, no response. We then debated on whether or not to hire another contractor to repair the leak but later concluded that Mr. Yates should stand by his work and rectify the issue. So again we waited, hoping to hear from him. The waiting continued for another week then today, I decided to text him again. In the text, I expressed my disappointment not necessarily for the leaking water conditioner (I am in the service business and I know unpredictable things occur) but the fact that he made zero effort to rectify the problem and is now seemingly blowing me off. Again, no response. As you can see this has been, overall, a pretty bad experience and now I am going to have to pay someone else to fix a leak caused by Mr. Yates' installation. I would obviously never hire him for any additional work and would not recommend him to anyone else.