Steven Rhodes
2 years ago
These reviews affect peoples’ livelihoods. I don’t take them lightly. This is a review of Fix It All after (almost) two years as a customer. Rates: reasonable. Plumbing skill: mostly adequate.
But I’m at my wits’ end.
The first time I had the owner out to perform some work, he cleared a massive clog in my house and it was a lot of work. That same evening the kitchen sink which he just replumbed began to leak. The clog was so bad and pipes were so rotten that some drains had to be completely replumbed. No big deal, I text him about it, and he shows up the next day to fix the leak.
And bills me again for his time. Granted, this was only for a half hour (at $155 per hour) and materials. Not unreasonable, but I was double charged for shoddy plumbing. I figure he’s gotta cover his travel. No big deal. I recommended him to multiple neighbors.
Second issue: the owner of the company relocated an exhaust pipe for a furnace. He’s not an HVAC guy, but said he could do it. It was half a days’ work, he got it done. Great. The weather gets cold and there’s gurgling coming from the relocated exhaust pipe. I ask him about it and he says “out of my league.” So he refers me to an HVAC company.
Two repairs later and that issue was solved. The issue had nothing to do with HVAC knowledge. He plumbed the pipes below horizontal causing condensation to build up in the pipe and “flood” the furnace. Gurgling water was trapped in the exhaust pipe (I have videos!), causing potential for carbon monoxide to backup into our basement. Further, he didn’t cement the joints of the exhaust he relocated. The bending and twisting of extending onto the existing exhaust pipe broke the joints, so my basement got wet (more escaping exhaust). Neither issue requires HVAC knowledge, just common sense.
Last unforgivable issue: I hired him again to do some basic fixture installs in a renovated half bath. I staged (including moving the heavy toilet with my wife) the area and provided nearly all the materials - some of which were proprietary for proper functionality. I left all the instruction manuals and diagrams with the materials. I sent him pictures of the materials, to which he said he would “use what he can.” My wife also directed him to the materials when he arrived.
He plumbed it the way he wanted without receiving consent from my wife (20 feet away in another room working) or me. Worse, his mistake rendered the functionality of the sink/vanity ruined. The drawers and shelving would not even be able to be installed.
I called him to remedy the issue and he claimed my materials “weren’t up to code,” and “metric.” All the materials were UPC/IPC compliant with offsets suited for ADA wheelchair accessible sinks. When I asked what code he was referring to, he couldn’t name one, and claimed he hadn’t read one in years. He also claimed that my material would have created an s-trap in the vanity drain (not good).
That evening, I verified everything, starting with the IPC and ending with the manufacturer’s certification (go figure: fixture packages sold in the US are compliant to use in the US). He didn’t open the packaging, nor read the instructions supplied with the fixtures. What he claimed was an s-trap was not, which he may have known had he opened the packaging. Also, the materials were 1.5 inch standard, not the metric he claimed.
He wanted to do it his way, with his materials. He ignored the direction given to him by me and my wife and did a slipshod job without our consent that I have to pay to have removed and redone.
I repeated asked for a partial refund or for him to fix his error. Instead, I got two calls with earfuls of shouting, further magical handwaving about codes he doesn’t know (but claims to), a whole lot of talking down to, and threats about a lien on my house if I disputed any of the work with my bank.
So there you have it. A lost customer(s) after what, eight jobs, quick payments, and no problems. All over an hour of labor and a stupid mistake the owner couldn’t take responsibility for? Sad.
