I made an appt for a free estimate. When the plumber arrived he looked at the leak and took several pictures. He said he would send them to his boss (Ignacio Esqueda) and let me know what he says. He messed around with the leak area a little longer and then asked where the water shut off valve was. He was shown and he walked back to his truck to get tools. We asked how much he was told it should cost to fix it, as we mentioned it was just supposed to be a free estimate. He said, I dont know about that, I just do what Im told to do. He then told us that he COULD FIX IT for $275 but he needed to go to home depot for some parts. He turned the water off and he cut the pipes. He left and was gone about an hour and a half, returned with parts that werent correct. He left for a 2nd trip and came back (another hour and a half).
When he returned he told us that the pipe we had was outlawed and would get in trouble it they were caught working on it (he had taken pictures of it before and sent to his boss) He then turned around and told me to fix it for $595... we said no you had already given me a cost to repair and it was $275. Now all of a sudden, its over $300 more, no. He spoke to his boss again and came back with $495. We still said no. We werent given an estimate, we were given a COST TO FIX after you had taken pictures and spoke to your boss numerous times. the plumber then picked up his tools and walked to his car and got inside, ready to leave. We stopped him, told him if he left with our pipes cut and water off, not being finished that it would be a lawsuit.
Once again, he called his boss, and came back with the price of $275 plus the cost of 2 special parts ($25 a piece) Totaling $325. We said fine, just get it done you already have the pipes cut and were stuck here until its fixed. Another plumber showed up and fixed the pipe in 10 minutes using only 1 special part, not 2 that we had paid for. The pipe is now "fixed" after 6 hours of dealings and we were still overcharged for special parts that he didnt use. read more