I had plumbing work by Lenz Plumbing and Heating completed early November, 2018. The work was completed successfully without a quote or estimate. The invoice arrived and I was astounded as to the outlandishly high cost for the work. The first mistake I made was not knowing costs before the work was done. I had an immediate need for plumbing repairs that could not wait since the water was turned off for my house and I had never experienced an outlandish invoice before. For the followup repair visit to the first issue, I requested additional work for a straight-forward replacement of my outside water faucets. This was work I had planned to do, but since the plumber was coming I asked him to do the work again without an estimate.
When I received the invoice, I approached the plumber regarding the troubling charges. He informed me that he is one of the highest cost plumbers in the area. He also stated that he should be charging much more than he currently does now. I explained that his costs are much higher than similar licensed plumber work I had done one month prior at my daughter's house that included replacing outside faucets. I also contacted another local plumbing company regarding estimated costs for replacing outside water faucets to learn that their costs were much lower.
After much discussion, the Lenz plumber said he would review the invoice. He contacted me to inform me that he had made two mistakes on the invoice. One being that tax should not have been charged and one other mistake that was never explained. The mistake was nearly $200 less. The two mistakes would never have been caught had I promptly paid the invoice.
It was difficult refuting the Lenz invoice. On the invoice there is a complete listing of all components involved in the work and a per visit charge. However, there is no itemization on any of the costs. There is a lump sum charge for each of the two visits. How many hours were incurred? What were the component costs? What is the arrival cost, etc. There was no itemization on the revised invoice after the two mistakes were corrected. I challenged the costs incurred on my project based on component costs on the internet as a reference, the amount of hours expended on my project at my home and my recently incurred costs on a similar project.
Bottom line, you must use caution knowing that Lenz is one of the highest cost plumbers in the area.
It is highly recommended to have a detailed estimate of all costs prior to the work being done. You should insist on an itemized invoice. I won't make this mistake again. read more
