ComplaintsforAxis Plumbing Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  05/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  April 25, 2024 axis plumbing started working on my plumbing, I had a slow drain in my upstairs bathroom. Axis snaked it and was unsuccessful, so they came back another day tried it again with a more powerful snake, to was still draining slow but not so slow I told them hem but he said was draining . Then I heard water running down stairs it was from the bathtub, water was everywhere. The technician stated he snaked it to far in my pipes which caused it to run water through it. My dinning room table was destroyed that isn’t a year old I paid 1100 dollars for and my chandelier was destroyed and my dining room light is flickering and my two chair smell. And the carpet smells, I told the receptionist she said they were going only give me a hundred off the bill that’s it. Prior to that home shield had Been calling them to get the send over them the diagnosis on April 25, April 26, April 29 and April 30. On April 30, the the receptionist told Home Chellll she’ll get back with them in 24 hours and hung up on them. I went to their place of business. It was a hole in the wall keys were in there. They didn’t even have a name on the building, just a piece of paper that says access plumbing. They were very rude and unprofessional. The receptionist tried to argue with me when I went to the building. telling me that my pipes were old and corroded, and it wasn’t their fault that leak came through my ceiling.. But I did not have a leak or water coming through my ceiling before they drained it first they put a little hole didn’t end up, tearing the whole ceiling down and that area. Then telling me that I will have to pay additional thousand dollars to go through concrete to get a new trap for the water. I just want my items that they destroyed to be paid for. I don’t even want them to finish the work because they’re unprofessionalism..

  Business response

  05/17/2024

  Good afternoon Melissa,

  
  

  We recently received a letter from the BBB with a complaint regarding our service. I would like to take a moment to explain our side of things and maybe bring some light to the situation for everyone involved. 

  
  

  ****** ****** is a customer that has a home warranty. We are contracted through the home warranty company, and we follow a strict set of guidelines that all must adhere to. Including Authorization for everything we perform in the home, we must provide the following info for every job.

  
  

  1. track times stamps for jobs 

  2.Photos of every job

  3.authorizations from the warranty company and the homeowner BEFORE we can do anything

  4.Flat rate fee - Anything additional must be authorized. by all parties

  5.use a dispatch service that reports to the warranty co. 

  
  

  With that being said, this situation was one where it entailed a lot more work and we had authorization from all parties prior to making any repairs. 

  
  

  To begin, 

  
  

  We received the dispatch for Mrs. ******* from her warranty company on 4.19.2024 @ 10:16am we called the customer by 10:37am and scheduled her appt for 4.23.2024. The following items were listed on the work order. 

  1. Leaking Faucet - Master bath
  2. Leaking Faucet - Basement
  3. Stoppage - Other no details given
  4. Slab Leaks - No details given
  5. Valve Keys - No valve Keys
  6. Stoppage - Floor drain not draining

  
  

  This is very excessive, usually we get one or two items. Upon inspection some items were not existing or were related to something else. None the less we did a thorough investigation. We noticed immediately that there was a giant bubble with mold spots on their ceiling in their dining room. I have provided photos. This issue was there for several months or weeks and clearly visible to the eye.  However, that was not the issue we were called out for.  We tightened faucets, changed a faucet cartridge and snaked the tub drain to help get the slow drain moving to get the "stoppage" cleared. We had some success but knew we needed a stronger snake to really clear any blockage, we call it a super V.  So, we rescheduled her to finish this on 04.25.2024.

  
  

  on 04.25.2024 Our plumbing techs new immediately there was a much larger issue at hand as the snaking of the drain caused a leak to sprout and that is very rare. We told the homeowner we need to make access in the ceiling where the bubble is and to the bathroom plumbing on the second floor. Again, all of this was authorized by the warranty company and the homeowner, and I have supporting documents.  The dining room access we opened was roughly 4'x8' that's how large this bubble was in the dining room and then we realized the pipes were rotting and breaking away.  When the techs snaked that drain before opening the ceiling, they were hitting rust, and the pipes were crumbling apart so we decided to not go any further until we got the ceiling open. (provided photos).  Once opened we confirmed that the pipes have indeed rotted away and some of the fittings used were in violation of plumbing codes. That is not the homeowners' fault, they could not have known about the incorrect plumbing fittings. As for the rotting pipes there were several visible defects the homeowners walked by every day and ignored. hence the giant bubble with mold spots. None the less, we do not blame anyone we just knew it needed some major work. All which needed to be authorized again before proceeding.  So, we left things with a temporary fix the best we could until the warranty and the homeowner could approve repairs.

   Again, we are under contract. During the next day or so as we were waiting for authorizations, we received some complaints from Mrs. ******* that the water had started leaking and that it damaged her dining table (photos attached) it was roughly a 2" water spot and also her light fixture had water on it.  We explained to them they need to turn off the water at the main. She was not interested in us helping make repairs or suggestions. Her focus was turned to her table and light. I asked her to please provide us with the cost of the tabletop and we would offer her a cash value for it.  I did not need to even do that much, I did it out of courtesy. She sent a receipt that clearly stated the tabletop cost was $165 so I offered to mail her a check for $100 for repair based on the used value of the tabletop (her receipt attached) She lost it and started screaming, calling us names and threatening us, and also said she was a Cleveland Cop.

   At which time I informed her that I could submit an insurance claim but given that these were preexisting conditions that had been let go even though visible to the eye she would have better luck working with me. She then claims we damaged her carpet. Out technicians always wear booties over their work shoes, it's a huge rule here and they assured me they did.  Her carpet is probably 10 yrs. old and hasn't been cleaned or even vacuumed in a very long-time (pics provided). I am not trying to insult her, and I did not say to the client that her carpets were filthy; according to my pics, we did not want to hurt her feelings. 

   Then it became about her light fixture (pics also provided) she said we ruined it, but it was simply just wet. All of this was a day or so after we left.  I tried very hard to work with her and find a happy medium to handle the table and light. She did not even care about the plumbing it wasn't even mentioned. She told us that she was calling her warranty company and getting the hole closed without repairs because she wasn't dealing with it.  

  Multiple aggressive, nasty, threatening, phone calls later she shows up at our building.  The building we just moved to and is not open to the public, might I add it's a shop full of plumbing materials and tools.  Yes, there was a child here. It was our service manager's granddaughter here to visit as the school sent her home sick. Not that it is anyone's business or concern.  We are 3 women running this company and we all have children or grandchildren. So having kids here is not unusual.  I think I have covered everything mentioned in her complaints. She does owe us all an apology for her behavior Infront of Diann's grandchild and the nasty words she called us. But we will let that go. We truly tried to work with her. 

  
  

  In my personal opinion I feel as though She was chasing a dime. She wanted us to pay her full retail value of her table. Her warranty company is technically liable for this . I was just trying to be nice when I offered to repair because our name is truly important to us. We take it very seriously when we have an unhappy customer.  The warranty company makes customer review us, and we strive to get 5 stars obviously, but we have an average of 4.4 stars rating out of several hundred reviews.  We are the number one vendor for plumbing with the warranty company in the Cleveland area and the number one most asked for plumber.

  
  

   Melissa, I know that means nothing to anyone but to us three women who started this residential service business last October with nothing more than three women determined to build something. We assure you we take all the complaints very seriously and we reach out to every client to try and right our wrongs regardless of what the complaint is. We are not perfect, we make mistakes, but this was not one of them. The client doesn't care about the plumbing issues at hand. She is mad that I would not pay her $1200.00 for the table.

  
  

  Thank you for taking the time to review this and let me know if you need more information or documentation. We do not want our hard work slandered. Thank you

  
  

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