Is there a lawyer in the house? Or just general opinion

[chajones]

OK headed to court on Friday for a small claims issue. My mother in law is my attorney, however her mother just passed away. So now I'm on my own.

Situation is this. I needed a sewer pipe from the kitchen sink re-routed. They worked for about 2.5 hours - total bill is around $400. I pay in full end of problem

A few MONTHS later I notice a large water stain in my drop ceiling below the sink. I removed the tile to find out tht water was dripping out of the old sewer pipe. Not the new one that is attached but the OLD sewer pipe that is no longer attached to anything.

I immediately call the plumber and explain to them that there is a leak from the old pipe that they replaced and asked them to come fix it. The guy comes the next day and puts a plug on the end of the pipe - to me fixing the symptom not the problem. But oh well. I replace the ceiling tile again.

Two weeks later the stain is back! I remove the tile and see that the plugged pipe is leaking yet again! I call them back and they come out again. This time the guy realizes that the hose attached to the dish washer was lose. This hose was removed and replaced when the original plumber rerouted the sewer pipe.

Two weeks later, to my surprise, I get a bill for get this "two callouts and tighten a hose" - total cost $264. So I balked. I just don't think it's fair. And the company wouldn't even discuss it with me.

Thoughts?

[Bluedogcards]

WOW that sucks, IMO i would think you should be fine, if they replaced a hose in the first job and it starting leaking just show poor workmenship. good luck let us know hat happens

[Star_Cards]

hmm... I'm not sure what the legalities are, but if I were the company I would not charge for a problem that I didn't fix properly the first time. seems shady to charge again knowing that they didn't fix the problem.

[andrewhoya]

hmm... I'm not sure what the legalities are, but if i were the company i would not charge for a problem that i didn't fix properly the first time. Seems shady to charge again knowing that they didn't fix the problem.

+1

[duane1969]

Shady plumbers seem to be everywhere.

My mom just had some work done remodeling her kitchen. When she got the bill from the plumber she had been charged for some flexible metal hose to connect a gas heater and for a rubber hose to connect the clothes washer to the drain. She got to looking and realized that they were her parts.

When dismantling everything the guy carried the old flexible pipe and hose to his truck. A day or two later, when re-installing everything, he re-used the old pipe and hose and billed her for it. Nice, huh?

Good luck Chris. I think you are in good shape. Let us know how it goes.

[angel0430]

I am not a lawyer but most of my family is. So I'll give you an opinion to the best of my knowledge. It is messed up that they will charge you for something that they "fixed" or worked on before. Now, when they gave you the bill the first time, did they put down all the things they did? This is critical because if there is nothing in writing they are probably going to side with the plumber. Same as if you don;t have DC when you have a claim in PP or ebay.

GL on this anyway, hopefully you don't have to pay for this.

[chajones]

yea I'll keep you guys updated.

The first bill is a basic summary - reroute swere pipe and replace plumbing under sink.

I think they may argue that they did not remove the hose from the dishwasher. But it's easy to see that they had to do that to do the job right.


Whatever the turnout, I feel like I'm doing the right thing.

[angel0430]

YOu are doing the right thing. But I will advice to go with a lawyer and they know how to persuade the judge. Most of them know what they are doing.

[chajones]

Well the company showed without a lawyer so I actually had an advantage. Due to them being incorporated, the employee could not ask questions about my testimony, they needed to hire a lawyer to do so. But I as an individual could ask questions about their testimony.

So after the lady testified, I asked her a bunch of questions about what standard procedure was regarding that type of repair, why the procedure wasn't followed etc. I asked her why if no leak was detected that that one clamp was replaced - why not the other clamp and why not other hoses. I also asked her if the specifications for the plug used called for it to be installed on a cut pipe or only a pipe with a machined end.

Of course she had no answers and admitted that the plumber did not follow procedure and had no reason for not doing so.


Anyway, I didn't like the judge. He ended up giving them about 20% of what they were seeking, saying that eventually I got some benefit from the service. I guess I did fine. I feel like I made my point anyway.

[andrewhoya]

Well the company showed without a lawyer so I actually had an advantage. Due to them being incorporated, the employee could not ask questions about my testimony, they needed to hire a lawyer to do so. But I as an individual could ask questions about their testimony.

So after the lady testified, I asked her a bunch of questions about what standard procedure was regarding that type of repair, why the procedure wasn't followed etc. I asked her why if no leak was detected that that one clamp was replaced - why not the other clamp and why not other hoses. I also asked her if the specifications for the plug used called for it to be installed on a cut pipe or only a pipe with a machined end.

Of course she had no answers and admitted that the plumber did not follow procedure and had no reason for not doing so.


Anyway, I didn't like the judge. He ended up giving them about 20% of what they were seeking, saying that eventually I got some benefit from the service. I guess I did fine. I feel like I made my point anyway.

Should have gone to Judge Judy.

But hey, 20% is much better than 100%.