Guaranteed Plumbing

We called on a Friday, and the technician said that yes, his company installed/fixed well pumps. He said he could come out on Saturday but would have to charge us an emergency call whether or not they did any work since it was on the weekend. And he confirmed that if the pump needed to be replaced he could fix it while he was here on Saturday. So we said, yes, come out. He arrived and proceeded to look under the house at the holding tank, looked at the power/fuse box, and he looked under the well cover. But he did not remove the pump or check the wiring. He said that yes, the well pump, wire, and pipe needed to be replaced. He then said he'd check on parts and work up a quote and be in to see us shortly. After about 15 minutes or so, he brought in some prices hand written on a piece of paper. The prices ranged from about $9,000 down to $2,650, depending on the number of years warranty you wanted. The $9,000 was for a 10-year warranty, about $5,000 for a 5-year warranty, etc. We asked about the $2,650 because the last time we had the pump, wire, and pipe replaced the cost had been under $1,000. He said they used this really good piping and a higher quality well pump that would last for a long time...and that using it made the labor higher. We asked several questions, including challenging such a high cost for an extended warranty if the product was so good, and all of his answers were vague and unclear. So we thanked him and paid him the $200....which he had us make out our check to the owner and not the company. We did finally hire someone else from Angie's list, and the problem turned out to be just the wire. The well pump was and is fine. So a mere $250 or so later, our problem was solved. Beware of using this contractor!!!! A good contractor should (1) always be able to answer your questions, and (2) provide a written detailed estimate.