We had a leak on our 1 1/4" main service line to the house. The plumber located the leak and dug approximated 18" down to the leak. The ground was very wet and he used a sump pump. He left to go to the supplier and came back and installed two (2) metal compression couplers to replace the one (1) leaking PVC glue type coupler and another PVC glue type coupler a few feet away that wasn't leaking. He said he was confident that he had fixed the leak, partially covered the hole, charged me $701.88, then left.
I called Duncan Plumbing Solutions on Monday, January 23, 2012 because the plumber normally use was totally booked for the day. We had a leak on the 1 1/4" main service line from the meter, and Mike Duncan found the leak right away when he arrived that afternoon. He said he would return the next day to repair the leak. He and his brother didn't show until Friday. A lot more water leaked during that time. We knew the ground was very wet because of heavy rain and the leaking water, and expected a higher than usual repair bill. Mike helped his brother get started with the repair, then left and never came back. His brother seemed to struggle and the repair definitely was not professional. The PVC pipe had not separated and the water was clean previous to the repair. two (2) metal compression couplers were installed when only one should have been used. Duncan charged me $100 each for the couplers. The brother needlessly let mud and muddy water into the line. He had a sump pump to prevent such from happening but didn't use it properly. He said he was confident the leak was fixed but didn't go to the house to check his job. he only partially filled the hole he dug. I was in shock when he presented me with a $701.88 repair bill. That was about double the amount we expected and what would be fair. That was also over double the amount that we had been charged by other plumbing companies to repair a leak on that line before. We had to flush mud out of our faucets for two (2) days. We had to remove the clogged screen from the kitchen faucet sink three (3) times to clean the mud from it. We had to remove the hoses from the washer, flush the lines and hoses, and clean the washer out. We turned on the bath tub water the following night to give the granddaughter a bath. So much mud came out of the faucet that I had to scoop it up and put in the trash. It's hard to believe that much mud could have got into the line during the repair. Actually no mud should have got into the line during the repair. It was totally unnecessary. Duncan Plumbing solutions charged way too much and their job was was poor and unprofessional. I talked to Mike Duncan a couple of times hoping he would change the to a more fair amount, but he would not. Our Water Bill was $2,348.00. The work was performed at 348 Childress Rd., Waxahachie, TX 75165
Service Provider Response
6 August 2012 Complaint Activity Re: Duncan Plumbing Solutions This letter is in response to the member’s complaint about a repair on a water line. I'm more than happy to also submit the work order signed by the member that he was completely satisfied with the repairs. The member has been untruthful in many of his written accusations. He signed the original work order indicating the repairs were performed to his satisfaction and he paid the bill before we left the premises. It was not until the following Monday when our office called him to follow up (we randomly call with customer satisfaction follow ups) that he indicated he was unhappy because felt the repair cost too much. It was when we refused to refund half of the cost of the repair that he became unhappy. The member first called for service on Monday January 23, 2012 with a water leak on his water line that serviced three houses. As per our usual procedure, charges were discussed including the price for our service call and time/material charges. These were agreed upon. I met the member the next day and immediately located the leak. It was agreed by both parties that the water leak had so saturated the ground (the ground was saturated and pooling water a radius of about 5 yards in diameter) it would be impossible to repair without some time for the ground to dry out. We both agreed that we would follow up at the end of the week (on Friday) because heavy rains were predicted for that week. I made contact with the member on Thursday and met with him on Friday. We both agreed that I would return on Friday. Attached you will find weather reports for the week of 23 January showing heavy rains that week. If I just ‘didn’t bother’ to show up for 4 days any other customer would have simply called another plumber. He well knows that Friday was agreed upon by both parties and exactly what was planned. As agreed, we returned that Friday. As previously determined, the leak was on a prior repair at two PVC coupling. IT was 100% evident that this was a previous repair (repaired by another plumber at least once). The member mentions in his letter that the amount we charged was twice what other plumbing companies (plural) charged previously. He mentioned to me that the line had been repaired on other occasions. A red flag went up with me that the way this line was being repaired in the past with PVC was not sufficient. It had been repaired at least once by someone else. To ensure the highest quality and to guarantee the work, I decided to go with high pressure steel couplings. I made this decision for 2 reasons. 1) PVC was not working on at least one prior repair 2) the water line sits beneath a fence post which applies additional pressure to the line. I still back our decision 100% and believe this was the best option since PVC had obviously given on a prior repair at least once and based on what he told me and what is referenced in his letter, on more than one occasion. High pressure steel couplings do cost more than PVC but this is what it took to repair this job. We employ only the highest standards in repair at Duncan Plumbing Solutions, which in this case may not be what necessarily cost the least. His claim that we only needed one coupling is unfounded and in no way based in truth nor is he educated enough to make such a claim. When you excise a piece of pipe, two couplings must be used to connect the bridge created from the piece of excised pipe. You must reconnect the bridge with the couplings where you cut out the damaged pipe to connect the new piece of pipe. He is incorrect in his claims that only one coupling was needed. The rest of the member's claims are also unfounded and are in no way based in truth. Why would we allow muddy water into his service line intentionally? That makes absolutely zero sense from a business perspective. We repaired the line on Friday at his request because he said he was losing money in water and wanted it done despite the bad weather. The leak was causing an enormous amount of water followed by days of torrential rains which had to be pumped out to do the job. We filled in the hole where we worked the best possible with pure mud—which we agreed to do the job under these conditions because he needed his line fixed as soon as possible and we were trying to help him to resolve his issue despite the terrible weather. It’s funny that it was not until Monday when our office called to follow up with our customer satisfaction call that he had any issue. Mainly he said he felt the repairs should have cost what he paid previously (which was apparently $300). I called him back personally within the next few days of that week to follow up after our Office Manager explained the phone call to me. It was obvious the only issue was regarding price. He asked several questions about how we could have done the job ‘cheaper’. It was obvious he’d been talking to someone who didn’t know what they were talking about because he said ‘someone’ told him that we should have used PVC and someone told him we only needed to use one coupling. I believe it was a matter of he-said, she-said talks that lead him to believe he was over-charged. I tried to appease him. I answered every claim: We needed a pump to pump out all the water that was still saturating the yard. We needed a generator to power the pump. He asked why we couldn’t have used his generator to save money. We do not use customer’s tools. Our insurance does not allow for it and it’s unprofessional and unnecessary. We had to use two couplings because we excised an area of pipe that was compromised. I also explained that mud can recess after rain. I apologized that the hole wasn’t covered to his satisfaction and offered to personally come and shovel new dirt over the line myself to make it right with him. He refused because really nothing would make him happy except a refund. I was just not going to be bullied by the member into giving him a refund because it took the way we repaired the line to properly fix the line. The bottom line is we believe has been untruthful in his claims. He is not a plumber so the claims are not only untruthful but uneducated based on the international plumbing code but many of the claims he makes are completely unfounded. He did not mention anything about the quality of our work until he decided several days later he thought the price was too high. The fact is, we did what we he contracted us to do and repaired the service line in the best way possible using fittings we felt were the best for the job. We repaired the service line and the quality of this has never come into question. I stand by our price and stand by the workmanship. The member was fully aware of the rates going into the job but for whatever reason became unhappy over the weekend. It is unfortunate he is unhappy but in this case there was nothing more that would make the memberhappy except to refund his money. This is the real issue here. Our job came in at $701.88 which is below market value and less than 3 other estimates for the same job using similar materials. We pride our company on offering the highest quality plumbing at affordable rates. We’ve built our business on repeat business and customer satisfaction. It’s discouraging to know the member is unhappy about the final price but it is more discouraging to feel like the company we’ve worked so hard to build is being slandered and that we are being bullied when we completed the repair as agreed upon. On one final note, we warrant all of our work. The quality of the actual repair on the service line has never come into question. The issue is didn’t want to pay for the work several days after the work was completed. What’s most surprising to us is there was no mention of any issues during the job or upon completion of the job as is evidenced by signature at the bottom of the work order. Rather, the member signed the order indicating he was satisfied and paid the bill on Friday when we completed the job. Thank you, Mike Duncan President and CEO Duncan Plumbing Solutions LLC
