Ballard's Plumbing and Heating

"This is a case where the customer did not take our technicians recommendation to replace the zone valves and chose to rebuild them so he could save some money. Now he claims that he was intimidated and pressured into making repairs, even though he was given options and he chose not to take the technicians recommended repair and decided to take a cheaper fix. Before, we went back, 8 weeks later, the customer was told that if the problem was not related to the parts we replaced he would be billed at our normal service rates. He insisted we return knowing exactly what at the charges would be and the conditions that the charges would apply. The parts that were replaced at the customer'[Member Information Removed] request were working properly when the service tech arrived. The tech was asked to leave immediately after he determined that the valve body was working properly. On January 9th we received a request from a homeowner to clean, inspect, do preventive maintenance on a nine zone boiler system that had a couple of zones that might not be working properly in a house he had just bought. On January 23rd we performed the requested service on the boiler. During this service the tech checked the boiler components and antifreeze, adjusted the aquastat, replaced an air vent, purged the system, and found four zone valves sticking and recommended that the zone valves be replaced. The customer was very concerned about the cost of the service call and asked if there were any less expensive alternatives to replacing the zone valves. The customer was given alternatives and chose to replace the valve body using a valve adapter kit instead of replacing the entire zone valve. When the tech completed the installation of the valve adapter kit he cycled the system through several calls for heat. The system was operating properly. This service call lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes. The invoice sent to the customer totaled $445.51. When the customer received the invoice he called complaining that he was not aware of our $45.00 service call fee when he scheduled the service, that we had to reschedule the call because we had employees that were sick, and that he didn't like price of our parts. We removed the service call fee to satisfy the customer and he paid 405.51. On March 20th, 8 weeks later, the customer called demanding a warranty call because the valves to his children'[Member Information Removed] room were stuck open. We explained that if the parts we installed were causing the problem the call would be covered under warranty, if not, he would be charged our normal rates for the service call. When we arrived we found the valve was operating properly, valve body functioning freely, and there was not a part or workmanship issue. There could be a number of reasons why the children'[Member Information Removed] room zone was so warm. Most of these reasons are related to a faulty zone valve, which is why we recommend replacing zone valves instead of replacing parts in a zone valve. Other reasons could be a bad thermostat, a short in the wiring, a loose connection, or a bad transformer. However when our service tech arrived the system was working properly. We could not troubleshoot determine if there was an intermittent problem because the tech was asked to leave immediately after he determined that the valve body was working properly. This customer elected a repair that was not the most recommended repair insisting he wanted to save money. He knew before we schedule the return visit that he would be charged if it was not a parts or workmanship problem. When we arrived we found the valve was operating properly, valve body functioning freely, and there was not a part or workmanship issue. For these reasons we feel the charges are justified."

"“We are sorry that Ballard’s did not have the opportunity to re-evaluate the water heater after the initial repair failed to resolve the issue. Unfortunately, the member did not bring any of these issues to our attention until after we started the collections process for an unpaid bill. We would have loved the opportunity to continue working with this member and solve their issues, but the member chose not notify us of any further problems.”"