WD Graves Plumbing Inc

Service Provider Response

This customer accused us of dishonesty but her first sentence is less than forthright. What she fails to mention is that another company broke the snake auger off in her drain... not W. D. Graves. The second less than forthright statement is that our auger wouldn't fit...The truth is our auger wouldn't fit past the first broken-off auger, and it was never even disclosed to us, that an auger had been broken off, though she was apparently aware of it, by her own statements. Only when we discovered the blockage and suggested a smaller snake, did she finally disclose the existence of the broken auger, lodged in her pipe. We then got her agreement to fix the problem. Then we scheduled the repair, Purchased blades capable of cutting through her galvanized STEEL pipe drain, special fittings to connect steel to PVC piping, and was in route to her home when she decided to cancel the repair. In an effort to find an amicable solution, since we already had time spent at the parts supplier, travel time, and appointment slot dedicated to her, for which a full refund of deposit was not fair to us in any way, we offered her a discount which she accepted. We then located the other companies broken auger, cut the wall, cut the steel pipe in 2 places to remove the section with the broken,lodged auger, installed a clean out with special adapters, and then proceeded to snake the drain successfully. She paid the technician, the already discounted rate, then proceeded to call our office, demanding additional discounts, to which we finally agreed. That was not good enough, so she then began haranguing us for break-downs and receipts and when we complied, she was still not satisfied. We charged her initially 1/2 to 1/3 of what many of our competitors would have charged. we ended up, 2 discounts later, at 1/2 of the agreed upon, already discounted price, and thus investing our money into her home. It is never good for us when the warranty company denies certain customers repairs, because we are expected to either do the repair for free, or face their wrath in forums such as this. You will notice that EVERY SINGLE COMPLAINT we have is related to a home warranty company call. I understand their frustrations, having assumed once they signed up for a home warranty, they would never face another repair bill other than their deductible. That is not in their contracts, as I've read them, and that is not the belief of most home warranty customers, as most are well aware that the deeply discounted repairs we do for the situations not covered by their warranties is still a bargain. It is unfortunate that there are those few which take their disappointments, when they learn their warranties are not the magic bullets they believed, rightly or wrongly, out on the hardworking technician and company which shows up to do the dirty work to get their plumbing working again. Many people have suggested we stop taking warranty work altogether. But where would that leave the customers who depend on their warranties for prompt reliable service on covered work and significant savings on non covered work ? I have chosen to trust the reason of those reading these forums to see through the few complaints from customers like this. W. D. Graves

Service Provider Response

I would like to point out that this is a plumbing service customer REFERRED BY HER HOME WARRANTY COMPANY, not a remodeling customer. This is a case of a landlord, expecting her home warranty company, to fix the dilapidated condition of her rental property, instead of herself. THE CONDITION OF THIS RENTAL PROPERTY WAS APPALLING. The tiles were literally FALLING OFF THE WALLS due to extensive water damage from BADLY NEGLECTED MAINTENANCE. In fact, it was so BLATANTLY ABUSED/NEGLECTED, that her warranty service REFUSED COVERAGE. She was very angry the CLAIM WAS DENIED. She was very angry we didn't make all her problems disappear for her $65 a month or whatever it is, home warranty fee. She really needs to invest in her property before it is condemned. We did everything possible to arrest the WIDESPREAD damage, from poorly maintained installations/fixtures, but this was a plumbing emergency job, not a remodeling job. It was not our responsibility to replace cracked, loose tiles thru-out her bathroom.

Service Provider Response

(member name removed) if you would of called us to let us know what happen, we would of came out free of charge and fixed the problem, but you did not so I could not help you.