Thietje Plumbing

Thietje Plumbing had worked with me in installing the first unit in our basement years ago. We are restoring a 100 year-old house room by room. We finally got to the upstairs part so I asked him to give me an estimate of the cost. He responded that he didn't work that way, but did the work and then sent me a bill. I asked him to verbally tell me the cost. He indicated it would cost about $2000. We live in a relatively small community, so I trusted that he would not take advantage of us. To make it easier for him to complete the work, I set up scaffolding and also was available to assist him wherever possible. The bill he sent for the initial work ( running tubing, gas lines, and wiring) was approximately $700. After I constructed the base and cold air return in the attic, he installed the furnace, including the intake plenum and the supply plenum. He then left and told me he would make the ductwork and let me know when I could pick them up at his shop. About a week later, I received a bill for $1700, which now pushed the total to over $2400, with a substantial part of the work yet to be completed. I sent a partial amount of that bill, wishing to discuss the number of hours he listed as they appeared to be considerable more than I would expect for such a project. When he called and asked me to send the remainder, I told him I wished to speak to him about the number of hours he had listed, he hung up on me. Since I was on my cell phone in the country, I assumed my cell had lost the signal, and I called him back. When I apologized for having lost the signal, he responded that he had hung up on me. I told him again that I wished to go over the number of hours he had listed, he began to call me names, and told me to get my head out of my (expletive) and hung up again. I then sent him two checks along with a message expressing my concern about his behavior. I indicated to him that I would appreciate a response in writing instead of on the phone. I also indicated that if he simply cashed the checks (one for the remainder of the bill and one for the finance charges he had assessed me) I would assume that he did not wish to share with me an explanation of his hours. He simply cashed the checks and did not respond. I will now work with another HVAC company here in West Point to complete the work that remains unfinished.