Spicewood Plumbing & Maintenance Services

t was during one of the worst freezes we have had in Central Texas in over ten years and many homes in the area were having freezing pipes and bursting pipes. I discovered a frozen pipe in the front of our home and a burst pipe near a water faucet in the rear of our home. I placed the call at 8am and was told that a service person would get in touch as "soon as possible" but that we may have to 'wait until late this evening" before they could get around to us. The owner called approximately 12 minutes after I hung up from speaking with the dispatcher. He stated they were extremely backed up but would come out himself. he stated it would take him 35 minutes to get to my home, but he arrived faster than that. I showed him the leaking pipe and the frozen one. He said when it freezes it isn't a problem, it was the thawing out that cause water pipes to break. He said the drip would allow enough water to flow and would prevent any breakage. He spent about 25 minutes fixing things and at least ten explaining how pipes worked and how to prevent problems. He charged me for only the home visit, and said the cost of his parts were so minimal he didn't feel right charging me for them.

Stressful.

Everything with this service went very well. The lady who answered the phone for our initial call was very courteous and helpful. She sent the team earlier than expected that same day, and then called to let us know they were on their way. The plumbers were prompt, courteous, professional and very hard/fast workers. We would highly recommend the Spicewood Plumbing firm to others.

First, the water softener: The serviceman said that the water softener problem was due to the salt level not being set correctly. He reset the salt level which required less than 5 minutes. Two days later, we measured the hardness level of the water coming from the softener only to find it still was not working. We called the water softener manufacturerer and received the information and guidance we needed to restore the softener to proper operation by ourselves. Now, the water heater: After a cursory inspection of the water heater, the serviceman said we needed a new one. After learning that the heater was less than three years old, he then told us it needed a new thermostat, He returned to his "office" to get a new one and came back to the house an hour later only to tell us that they didn't have the right one in stock. He presented a bill for $250 (2 hours work). We paid the bill (our mistake). The serviceman said the new thermostat was on order and they would call to schedule a time to install it. They subsequently called and told us they could not provide a new thermostat. We contacted our builder about the water heater and discovered that the unit was still under warranty. The builder suggested we contact the water heater manufacturerer to see if there was a simple fix to restore proper operation. We did this and discovered the simple fix was resetting the temperature probes. The water heater has been working properly ever since. Spicewood Plumbing was engaged to fix two problems - they were unsuccessful in fixing either one. Both of the simple fixes provided by the equipment manufactureres required less than 15 minutes to implement. In the spirit of fairness, we think Spicewood Plumbing should refund 50% of the amount we paid. We were at fault for paying the bill - they were at fault for not fixing our problems when simple fixes were available in both cases. Also, it seems that a simple phone call to the office concerning the availability of the thermostat (which we didn't need) would have been more cost effective than a round trip by truck for which we were charged $125 (one hour). We have proposed this "settlement" to Spicewood Plumbing but they declined to refund any of our payment.