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Started By
Message
Home warranty company and plumber having dispute - I get the bill
Posted on 1/3/13 at 10:59 am
Posted on 1/3/13 at 10:59 am
Background - bought a home in July, and noticed ever increasing utility bills. My home warranty company contracted a plumber to look at my water heater. Plumber determines water heater is fine, but suspects a slab leak for which he needs to come back with diagnostic equipment.
Comes back, feels around on the floor to roughly determine the location, but diagnostic equipment isn't working. Tells my wife that he'll need to return with the equipment, but that he will probably need to jackhammer my floor to repair. I do a little research and determine that it may be better to plug and reroute through the attic.
At this point I have spoken with my warranty company again who says they will cover up to $500 for aggregate repair of the leak; diagnostic costs covered seperately.
Plumber calls me the following week saying he is ready to open up my floor, and will not agree to another method of repair.
I contact my insurance company bc I know jack hammering the floor could get extremely expensive. They won't agree to give me a quote until the floor is opened.
Home warranty company says they will cash me out for the $500 to have another plumber fix the repair. The second plumber comes out and reroutes the pipes for $970.
Now the original plumber says that the warranty company is refusing to pay him for the second day he was out there. He is also trying to charge me for talking on the phone with me and my insurance company on the day he tried to come out. Total bill ~$500.
After talking with the warranty company he should not be charging me because they contracted him, and that he was paid the agreed upon rate for the diagnostics. They told me to disregard any bills he sends me.
I am just worried he could try and put a lean on my house/send collections after me. Can I really just tell him to stuff it?
Comes back, feels around on the floor to roughly determine the location, but diagnostic equipment isn't working. Tells my wife that he'll need to return with the equipment, but that he will probably need to jackhammer my floor to repair. I do a little research and determine that it may be better to plug and reroute through the attic.
At this point I have spoken with my warranty company again who says they will cover up to $500 for aggregate repair of the leak; diagnostic costs covered seperately.
Plumber calls me the following week saying he is ready to open up my floor, and will not agree to another method of repair.
I contact my insurance company bc I know jack hammering the floor could get extremely expensive. They won't agree to give me a quote until the floor is opened.
Home warranty company says they will cash me out for the $500 to have another plumber fix the repair. The second plumber comes out and reroutes the pipes for $970.
Now the original plumber says that the warranty company is refusing to pay him for the second day he was out there. He is also trying to charge me for talking on the phone with me and my insurance company on the day he tried to come out. Total bill ~$500.
After talking with the warranty company he should not be charging me because they contracted him, and that he was paid the agreed upon rate for the diagnostics. They told me to disregard any bills he sends me.
I am just worried he could try and put a lean on my house/send collections after me. Can I really just tell him to stuff it?
This post was edited on 1/3/13 at 11:26 am
4
Posted on 1/3/13 at 11:07 am to Bmath
Did you sign anything? I think you are fine especially with the warranty company saying the plumber should deal with them, not you.
Posted on 1/3/13 at 11:24 am to C
I never signed anything with them.
What I think is happening is that the plumber and I agreed that he would come day two to complete the diagnosis. I called the warranty company to keep them in the loop. However it seems they will not specifically pay him for that day.
I suspect they are telling him that he had a seperate agreement with me and can charge me. However the warranty company keeps telling me that was all covered as part of the diagnoses. They maintain that is seperate from the repair.
I think he is just trying to get more money.
What I think is happening is that the plumber and I agreed that he would come day two to complete the diagnosis. I called the warranty company to keep them in the loop. However it seems they will not specifically pay him for that day.
I suspect they are telling him that he had a seperate agreement with me and can charge me. However the warranty company keeps telling me that was all covered as part of the diagnoses. They maintain that is seperate from the repair.
I think he is just trying to get more money.
Posted on 1/3/13 at 11:29 am to Bmath
quote:
think he is just trying to get more money.
well of course. If you want to be nice, I would call the plumber and talk to him directly. Otherwise just throw it in the trash or send it back with a note saying "covered by warranty company XXXXX phone # XXX-XXXX"
Posted on 1/3/13 at 11:29 am to Bmath
quote:
feels around on the floor to roughly determine the location, but diagnostic equipment isn't working. Tells my wife that he'll need to return with the equipment,
quote:
the warranty company is refusing to pay him for the second day he was out there.
I don't blame them.
If his equipment had been working on the first day, he would not have had to return the second day, right?
Why should he be paid extra because his equipment didn't work?
If that is correct, that is the tactic I would use in disputing his bill with him.
Posted on 1/3/13 at 11:46 am to LSURussian
quote:
I don't blame them.
If his equipment had been working on the first day, he would not have had to return the second day, right?
Why should he be paid extra because his equipment didn't work?
If that is correct, that is the tactic I would use in disputing his bill with him.
The timeline is a little unclear, but should look like this:
Day 1 - Arrived to look at water heater. Determined that a leak may be present. Needed to return to verify.
Day 2 - Returned to verify, but equipment was not able to work. Said he was sure of the location of leak, but would need to return with new equipment.
Day 3 - Calls saying he on his way to open up the floor. Make no mention of the equipment. I then proceed to call my warranty company and insurance company.
The Bill shows charges for Day 2 and Day 3. He claims on Day 3 1.5hrs for talking on the phone to my insurance company. I call BS.
Posted on 1/3/13 at 1:25 pm to Bmath
quote:
Day 2 - Returned to verify, but equipment was not able to work. Said he was sure of the location of leak, but would need to return with new equipment.
If his diagnostic equipment didn't work, how was he so sure of the location of the leak?
I don't know plumbing but it sounds like he was going to bring a jackhammer into your house and wing it until he found the issue. He's not owed squat for day 2 and certainly not day 3 for talking on the phone about his compensation.
I can't imagine he could put a lien against your house if you never signed a work order, but if he gets hostile maybe you should talk to an attorney.
This post was edited on 1/3/13 at 1:26 pm
Posted on 1/3/13 at 1:26 pm to Bmath
quote:
he could try and put a lean on my house
You wouldn't want that.
Posted on 1/3/13 at 1:35 pm to lnomm34
quote:
You wouldn't want that.
I am terrible with homophones.
quote:
Talk to an attorney
My sister in law is a corporate attorney, and given me a consultation on the matter. However she has been dragging her feet. We've discussed having her write a letter and saying that any correspondence should go through her. Unfortunately she doesn't really have anything other than a personal contact number to give them.
Posted on 1/3/13 at 1:39 pm to Bmath
quote:
We've discussed having her write a letter and saying that any correspondence should go through her. Unfortunately she doesn't really have anything other than a personal contact number to give them.
I'm not sure that's necessary. You probably just need to know if he can justifiably take legal action against you in your state (I can't see how he could be but I'm not a lawyer). If not, then you are probably safe to tell him he isn't getting paid for days 2 and 3.
Posted on 1/3/13 at 1:43 pm to Bmath
quote:Are those the little pink ones I saw at the Apple store???
I am terrible with homophones.
Posted on 1/3/13 at 4:12 pm to Bmath
I kept the home warranty with American Home Shield for several years after buying my house but I got screwed so many times that I finally gave up. Just about every repairman they sent out wanted to patch things up on the cheap. I don't know what kind of arrangement they had with AHS but the incentives were not in favor of the homeowner.
Posted on 1/4/13 at 7:43 am to Layabout
if its with Ahs they will nickle and dime the poor tech and offer to pay him a flat fee ex $125 for ALL his plumbing work or other trades and if it's over the $125 - then it is the techs responsibility. The tech not wanting to loose money on the jobs over $125 will either deny it or bandaid the job to keep his costs down. AHS is the only provider that offers techs a flat rate on all jobs they are dispatched...
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