Ok so we have been putting this off because we were trying to be nice & negotiate with Mitch’s Plumbing and heating over an issue from November/December 2019.
We bought the old Pav in August of 2019. Since it had sat empty for quite some time we weren’t overly surprised with the fact that there were some issues with the plumbing. We had tried a few techniques that my dad suggested (he’s a master plumber that works as an instructor at NAIT and helps write the plumbing code books for Canada) by November 27 we had exhausted all of our options & had no choice but call a plumber. So we called Mitch’s.
Steve and a red headed apprentice from BC came out to fix it. Great, they came quickly and were very efficient (so I thought) at clearing the clog in our main sewer line.
So things were ok for a few days, but it started backing up again We tried the remedies my dad had suggested again but again they didn’t work. So called Mitch’s back December 10, at this point we are at 13 days from the initial call Mitch, & the red headed appreciate came. I can’t remember the exact exchange but I do remember the red headed apprentice said ‘we didn’t stick the biggest auger through because it wouldn’t fit’ Mitch looked up & said ‘we don’t tell customers that’ my reaction was stunned! They couldn’t get the bigger auger through because IT WAS STILL CLOGGED WITH SOMETHING FAIRLY SOLID!
So Mitch & the apprentice ‘finish’ the job and leave. I HAD TO CALL THE NEXT DAY!
Mitch came back alone this time. He started trying to blame the blockage on tampons, when I told him we don’t use tampons in my house, he tried to blame our toilet paper. Well at the time we were using the Scott’s brand of ‘2 ply’ that most offices use the stuff that should really be one ply so clearly that wasn’t the issue! He had me run the tub & flush the toilet repeatedly. This is where I got frustrated & told Mitch about my dad & said that when I talked to my dad that this shouldn’t be an issue if it had been done correctly the first time, & if he needed ideas on how to clear the blockage with the tools he had I was sure my dad would be more than willing to stop his class and talk to him BAM no more issues!
So we get a second and third bill in the mail UM we had to have them out 3 times in 14 days and 2 of the calls were a day apart! They CLEARLY did not finish the job the first time, as the apprentice had indicated, so why am I being billed the second time & why am I being billed the third time when it was clear that the fix hadn’t actually been fixed?
So my husband contacts Mitch’s on Facebook, tried to talk to them about it & we were essentially ghosted
according to MANY of the instructors at NAIT have stated that industry standard would be not to charge for the second and third call out because
1) 3 calls in 14 days is a little much
2) unless it can be proved that the customer is doing something that will definitely cause a clog you don’t charge for call outs so close together, and since no tampons are used and the kind of toilet paper would not have caused it there was nothing we did to create a clog again
3) their employee admitted they didn’t finish the job the first time
So Mitch, instead of actually talking to us sent the bill to collections they are now asking for a little over $900. We offered to pay the highest bill AND we offered to pay $50 towards the fee of hiring the collection company, but they are set on the full amount. I’m sorry but if I had my breaks done at ABC company and a week later they were smoking because the company didn’t install them properly would I have to pay for new? Mitch’s Plumbing and Heating KNOWINGLY did not finish the job the first time, they KNOWINGLY made it so they HAD to come back, they KNOWINGLY charged us for 3 call outs even though it was THEIR fault it wasn’t fixed in the first place! So beware when hiring Mitch’s Plumbing & Heating, make sure they do the job properly the first time & if you have to call them back in short succession because they had NOT done it correctly industry standard is to not charge!