A STEINMAN PLUMBING & HEATING

The disconnection of the old stove appears to have gone without incident. When Home Depot delivered the new stove, they took the old one away without a problem. When I called for the A. Steinman plumbers to connect the new stove, I got off the phone with them at 1:30pm. The plumbers arrived at 1:50pm, and left at 2:10pm. Assuming it took about the same time for them to go back as it did for them to get to me, they should have been back by 2:30pm. Thus the whole connection of the new stove, including travel time, took one hour. Although the morning disconnection took less time, I was fine with counting that as a whole hour as well, and paying for 2 hours of work. What was not acceptable was their billing me for three hours of work. Although their own bill recorded it as 2 hours, they multiplied the $160/hour fee by 3 in order to reach a total of $480, plus sales tax and material, for a total of $528.11. This meant that not only were they not refunding the excess of the $500 I paid them on the date of service, but they were demanding $28.11 in addition. When I called the company to ask about the bill, I was told that the 2 hours on the invoice was the mistake and that the charge was for 3 hours: 2 hours in the morning to disconnect the stove, 1 hour in the afternoon to connect the new one. The woman there claimed that in the morning, the workers had not been allowed into the building, or were not allowed to come up to the apartment, but had to charge for the time they were kept waiting. I found this claim unlikely, as everyone at the front desk here is always very prompt and I never have had a delay in any other service reaching me. Having searched the name of the company online, I found that they are not very reputable ? other people have complained about their aggressive billing practices and they were noted in the New York Times as having engaged in dishonest business behavior several years ago. After I complained to the super in my building (who had recommended these plumbers in the first place), A. Steinman backed down and refunded the charge for the extra hour.

THEY WERE EFFICIENT AND PROFESSIONAL (WHEN COMPARED TO OTHERS). THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN A LITTLE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN OTHER PLUMBING COMPANIES, BUT THEIR PRICE WASN'T OUTRAGEOUS. THEY GOT THE WORK DONE VERY QUICKLY.