Dan Wright Plumbing Co

Horrendous. The reviewer who spoke of overcharging and demanding payment was spot on. First text the morning he was coming out was "Bring your checkbook!" We were in a situation of selling our house to a very difficult buyer. Our licensed plumber(s) were not good enough, he had to have this guy. Well, we found out why. Dan Wright was in cahoots with the buyer behind our backs. He actually performed work we had not authorized and refused to stop when I told him to cease. The buyer kept threatening to walk, so there was ZERO guarantee the deal was going through, but Dan Wright arrived with a list of what that man wanted done -- on our dime! A few lowlights: He charged $150 to “fix” a toilet already inspected by a licensed plumber and found sound just a few days prior. He appeared to tighten a hose and add plumbers putty, but there was no reason to do so. He installed a new shower head that was not in the contract. The old one had nothing wrong with it! The first inkling I had of that was seeing the old one on the counter. I had stepped out to talk to my wife about his horrendous estimate ($775 instead of the $484 our plumber had quoted) and came back in to find it. Plus, I do not follow tradesmen around while they work. I was on premises but not videoing him, though I guess I ought to have done. Before we even went inside, he started insisting the pressure regulator needed replacing. He had not even seen it. He had started in on it on the phone call setting up the appointment as well, so he obviously had his marching orders from the buyer. Plus, that was not part of the contract list of things to address. There was nothing wrong with it according to the other plumber we'd had out days earlier. However, the buyer, a son of a friend/customer, was demanding the water pressure be increased. We had pressure gauge testing done both independently and by the water company. There were no issues. All was within normal range. Even the sticker on the regulator said so! But no...he kept insisting it had to be replaced. Cost? $275 to tear it down and assess it, $150 for a new regulator, plus paying for the time it took him to go get it, and the labor to install it. Side note: our usual plumber, an honest third generation concern, said the regulator is a $40 item and that there was no way it would take "hours" to break it down or analyze the issues. In case you are keeping track, that's a ballpark of getting on for $600 or better by the time you add in travel time and labor -- for something that was in perfect working order. And this was in addition to the already overcharged estimate of $775! When I told him that we were not having anything done to the regulator until the pressure test came back from the water company, he got nasty and said, "I don't want to have to make another trip back out here when I have to replace it." It's pretty clear he already KNEW it was going to be replaced, no matter what the contract said. And this was to be on our dime!! I also caught Mr. Wright boring out the factory installer restrictors in shower heads and faucets. I told him to stop. He kept right on doing it! The only reason I did not throw him out of the house was because I knew by then that he was the buyer's stooge and would go back to him and kill the deal. Thank goodness we had paid with an electronic check because I could not find that particular checkbook that morning! When we discussed all that had happened, my wife suggested we kill the check transaction and tell the broker. It wound up with the agent having to pay all the money above the $484 estimate we had obtained and our portion was paid out of closing. Sorry to say, I have gotten nowhere (yet) with reporting him to the licensing authorities. No one is willing to hold this man accountable, and apparently licenses don't mean very much in Ohio. SO -- BUYER BEWARE. As our honest reliable plumber warned us that increasing pressure nearly double in older plumbing can lead to a host of leaks and a wrecked system and damaged ceilings before you know what is happening, we made a room by room video of the house, including all access panels and ceilings, to verify the condition in which we sold the house. Protect yourself! Because a picture really IS worth a thousand words!

It was all done on the day that was scheduled and within a few hours.

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