Ed Scannapieco Plumbing Inc

Joe came out - was very polite and finished the job quickly. Will definitely use them again.

We had 2 plumbers take the simplest plumbing job in the world, and when they finished the job in one hour and 10 minutes later, they handed us a bill for $725. You read that right. $725 for 70 minutes of work. $10 a minute I paid these guys.
When the handed us the bill they didn't even split out parts and labor (the first sign that someone's trying to take advantage of you). They used their own faucet instead of the one we had bought. We've checked and our estimate is that the retail cost of the part he supplied was $150. Do the math. That means he charged me $300 an hour for each of his 2 guys. I will never use these clowns again.
Here are a few details: I called Ed Scannapieco Plumbing yesterday morning and described the work. At 3pm today I received a call that he could have his plumber at our house in an hour. Two plumbers arrived at our house at about 4:00 in the afternoon; I showed them the bathroom where we ad a leaky shower head, and an opening in the wall where we had cut out a 12x12 opening for an access panel. The hot and cold lines had been cut and capped. 
We had already bought parts - a Moen shower set, an access panel and a tub spout. 
I then showed him the 2nd bathroom that needed a new tub spout. It is the kind that you twist off.
He said he had a Delta shower set he wanted to put on instead of our Moen set and said I could return the other one (I bought at Lowes for $80). He replaced the 2 shark bite shut off valves with regular shut off valves (the kind you sodder).  
He did not ask any questions and they finished the work in an hour and 10 minutes.  He showed me how the new shower faucet worked and the access panel (we provided it, the kind you clip on to the dry wall)  He also gave me the shark bite to return.  They had cleaned up the area.  He then went out to the truck with his partner to get the bill.  He came back with the bill, some business cards and a magnet and said if we have any problems to let him know.  .

I had previously had the pipes in my 2bdr 2 story townhome in Philadelphia freeze and hired a plumber to repair the leak from the burst. It didnt take long and I got quality service at a fair price. It happened again a couple years later. This time around,  I was selling the house so I decided to go with the plumber that my agent recommended. After visiting the place and assessing the job Ed Scannapieco provided a quote of $250-$300 to replace all leaking pipes. I thought that was reasonable and in lne with the other quotes I had and work previously done. I asked Ed to commence with the work and keep me posted if he thought it would cost more. Ed called back the next day after doing the job and said they had to rip up multiple sections of wall to find the leak, that they had already done the work and that it would cost me $1,495. After asking him why he didn't call me back with a higher estimate before doing additional unapproved work he simply said the cost was the cost.  I am more than fair when it comes to paying for good work. And because its hard to find good contractors I believe in the importance of compensating ones I do find well. But a 5x markup on estimate? And without providing a heads up before doing additional work struck  me as someone trying to pull a fast one. I had a sense that given I lived in different state from where I got the work done (PA) there was a chance I was being taken advantage of but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I had a second contractor check out the job and they confirmed it was hack work. Apparently they simply broke through multiple spots in the wall with a hammer. And when he couldnt find the leak he would break in the wall in a different area. This continued until there were several large to medium holes in the wall. He also removed the water meter (is that legal?) and turned the water off.   

I told Ed this didn't sound right. I asked him why he turned water off and he said just in case it leaked. So you mean to tell me after multiple holes in the wall and paying 5x estimate you cant assure me that pipes wont leak? He said he'd put the meter back on but by that point I didnt trust him or his work. I told him I disagreed with the price. But to avoid drama I would pay $800 of the $1495 and sent off the check. He cashed it and sent me an invoice for the balance. I was irate by this point. The audacity. I drew a line in the sand and I told him I wasn't paying anything else. And then I  heard words that I never thought someone would direct towards me  "pay me or I'll sue you." I thought about paying just to be done with it. After all who has time to go to small claims court over $1,500? But I couldn't do it. I had really felt taken advantage of. And while I typically overlook being taken advantage of in small cases this was just too egregious. So hear I am three months later, booking a flight to Philadelphia to make a court date in small claims court to fight the judgement that Scannapieco plumbing filed against me for not paying another $695 on top of the $800 I already paid for the job that was never done. My hope is to share this so that others who  have been swindled by Scannapieco might also feel encouraged to speak up and share their experiences. Thank goodness for the Angie's Lists of the world that allow consumers to have a voice.