Response from Nature's Caretaker Inc
The original purchase was a Angie's List "Big Deal"for $99 for a Spring Activation of a his sprinkler system on June 1, 2015. Customer requested a mid July start up. We advised that we were going to be in the neighborhood much sooner and he said that was OK. So yes, we arrived before the requested date by six (6) weeks. We were running early on the daily schedule. We contacted the customer and asked if it would be OK if we could come early. We arrived 17 minutes early ahead of our scheduled appointment. He advised that his adult son was at the house and to come by. We met with his son who just found out that he had been accepted into the US Army's Special Forces and was being transferred to Fort Bragg for training. We thanked his for his service. He proceeded to show us the sprinkler controller and where the broken head was. Repairs are normally not part of a Spring Activation as clearly stated in the "Big Deal" email sent out by Angie's List. However, we did agree to replace the rotor head with a customer supplied part. When we went to replace the head, we found it was not the head that was broken but it was a major lateral line break which we showed his son. We made the repair using our parts at no charge to the customer. When we went to operate the sprinkler system we found the controller was defective and would not run the system. We ran diagnostics on the controller (again, not part of the activation package but we did it at no charge to the customer) and found it needed to be replaced. We demonstrated the problem with his son and then called the customer to advise him of our findings. The customer then asked if we could test the other valves. Once again, not part of the Spring Activation Package, and at no additional charge to the customer, we used our test equipment to locate each in-ground valve and test it while on the phone with the customer. Each valve worked as well as the sprinkler heads. All total, we spent 2.5 hours on-site. The customer asked us to send a quote to replace the sprinkler controller. Later that afternoon we submitted our quote which is at the bottom of this reply. The only additional cost the customer paid was $9.31 is Washington State Sales Tax. He did not get charged for any additional parts we used nor for the additional time diagnosing the problems with his sprinkler system. The customer called a few days later and said he didn't like the pricing and that since car dealers negotiate, we should too. When we said that is our standard pricing and we do not negotiate he suggested that if we did not lower our pricing he would leave us negative feedback on Angie's List. Below is a copy of our last email to [Removed Member Name] and copied to both of our Angie's List representatives: [Removed Member Name], I am sorry you feel that way. As part of the Angie’s List deal you purchased, repairs were not included. However, I did replace the head and replace the damaged pipe so the head would work again without additional cost to you. When testing the system I found that your controller was not functioning correctly. I demonstrated this for your son so you would have a better understanding of what was going on when you got home. I prepared the estimate as outlined below and pursuant to our phone conversation. I’m sorry that we do not negotiate pricing on our repairs. We are not selling cars as you mentioned in our phone conversation and Montie Hall does not work for us. Our pricing structure is the same for everyone. It would not be ethically acceptable to us to discount parts for one person and not the other. Therefore everyone pays the same. I did discount the labor on the service call from $150.00 to $85.00 in the estimate. I am glad that you can find the same equipment online for a more effective purchase. Once the controller is replaced, the current non-functioning zones in the rear will work fine as I did manually test them with an Actuator (again, not covered by the Angie’s List purchase you made) and found them to all work. I would be happy to answer any questions that you might have via email. Thank you again for your patronage. Thank you, Brian McKenna Agronomist & CEO CLIA, CGIA, CLWM, CID, CIC #90959 CLT, CLP; Backflow ASSE# 25076 (OIIIIIIIO) Nature’s Caretaker POB 536 Puyallup, WA 98371 800-799-1750 x1007 www.naturescaretaker.com Washington State Contractor # NATURI865MC Washington State Pesticide # 87660 If there is time to do it over, there was time to do it right! From: [Removed Member Name] XXXXX [mailto:XXXXXXXXX@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, June 08, 2015 11:51 AM To: accounting@naturescaretaker.net Subject: Re: Estimate from Natures Caretaker Bryan, Appreciated your help in fixing my broken sprinkler head as part of the Angies list services and I was able to find another broken sprinkle and fix that myself. As mentioned this morning on our follow-up call regarding your price quote for additional services, which included a significant price difference in parts and your quick response to me about not being flexible on your pricing structure, has led me to not recommend your services. Regards, [Removed Member Name] On Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 7:11 PM, Natures Caretaker wrote: Dear [Removed Member Name], Please review the estimate below. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions. We look forward to working with you. Thanks for your business! Natures Caretaker --------------------------------- Estimate --------------------------------- Nature's Caretaker, Inc. POB 536 Puyallup, WA 98371 (800) 799-1750 http://www.naturescaretaker.com Estimate #: 1087 Date: 06/04/2015 Exp. Date: 06/30/2015 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Removed Member Name] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date Service Activity Qty Rate Amount 06/10/2015 Irrigation Service Labor 85.00 Service Labor (Normally $150.00) 06/10/2015 Hunter 400i ProC Controller $199.95 Hunter Expansion Module ProC (3 Zones) $49.95 Hunter Wireless Rain Sensor $110.00 ____________________________________________________________________________ SubTotal: $444.90 Tax (9.4%): $41.82 -------------------------------------- Total: $486.72 We pride ourselves on providing quality service at a fair price. Yes, we are higher than then average in pricing, however, all of our technicians are Irrigation Association Certified and as for myself, I am an IA Instructor. As we say, "If there is time to do it over, there was time to do it right".