Thanks, Angie's, for the opportunity to respond to this spurious and inflammatory review. This woman was neither the person who called, nor the person who signed for the work to be performed. However, now, a week later, she has decided that she does not approve of our charges, and has made it her mission to destroy our business and our character. Indeed, she does have a voice. So do I. We were called by Mr. H. at 7:50 p.m. on Monday night, October 24th. The person who answered our phone, Norwood, went over our after-hours fee of $149. We always charge this fee for after-hours work, for a couple of reasons: 1) Our technicians have already worked at least an eight-hour day at this point, and they will be leaving their families to go serve a customer. To give them some incentive to give up their personal time, we pay them half the dispatch fee; and, 2) The technician will be on overtime hours. Ms. S's normal plumber only charges $100/hour, but, apparently, he was not available for after-hours work, which, presumably, is why we were called. In addition to the after-hours fee, we charged our normal rates for in-wall repair. As I have stated many times, we are not the cheapest company in town, but we are certainly not the most expensive. It would be unfair to our many dedicated customers, who value our expertise and happily pay our rates, to discount our charges for people like Ms. S. who complain and threaten our reputation. Ms. S. also states that her husband (who must be Mr. H., the gentleman who called) could have performed the work. He was right there. He's the man who called us, and he told Norwood that he didn't want to do the work. While trying to do his own renovations, Mr. H. had driven a screw into a copper pipe that was run through a stud. Most people (wisely) choose to have a licensed plumber perform this type of repair to copper pipe, as it is both difficult and dangerous (because a torch is used in a very tight space). Although Ms. S. makes outlandish claims, they are not supported in any way. - The after-hours call-out fee was approved before our plumber showed up. We Always get approval for this charge ahead of time. Ms. S. knew about the $149 charge, because Mr. H. asked Norwood to hold on while he discussed it with her. SO, if, afterwards, she decided she didn't like our price for repair, she was well aware ahead of time that the after-hours dispatch fee would apply. There was no surprise there. But, when our techs have to deal with someone as disagreeable as she is, we tell them to drop the fee and leave the premises. She wrote the check, paying for the repairs, with no complaints. - Parts were needed for the repair; anybody that knows anything about copper pipe knows that a piece of copper pipe (approximately 8 inches long, in this case) is used to make the repair. Our technician sweated the copper pipe from the existing Tee and sweated the new piece back in. He also used a new coupling at the other end of the repair. Our technician also took care to install stud guards (which were not there previously) to prevent the homeowner drilling into the stud again. - The fact that my technician could quickly perform this repair does not in any way reflect on the difficulty of the job or the talent required to perform it. In fact, Mr. H. stated to my technician that he was "impressed with him using old-school techniques." This gentleman is a Master Plumber, with 17 years experience in plumbing. Most intelligent people recognize his ability, and are grateful to have a man of his caliber working at their home. - Our technicians use a 1400-degree torch inside a wall containing 2x4 wooden beams. When we work in a customer's home, we are careful to ensure that we do not burn wood, or leave it smoldering. Many people have tried to perform their own repairs, and had disastrous results (including a gentleman who later called us, after he had burned a portion of his house). - If Ms. S. felt the charges were so egregious, she never stated that, either to us, or to our technician. If she had expressed outrage such as this, he would have left the job site. Either people want us to work for them, or they don't. If they don't want us at their home, we don't want to be there. Contrary to what Ms. S. states in her review, Mr. H. claimed he was, "so happy to have water back on." AND, Very Importantly, he signed our Invoice, saying that he was 100% satisfied with the work, and charges were satisfactory. - Indeed, Ms. S. and Mr. H did have a choice. They could have refused our work, OR they could have waited till her regular, cheap plumber was available, OR Mr. H. could have performed the work himself. We don't make choices for customers. I've dealt with people like Ms. S. before. They are bullies, people who want to push others around. We are pleased that she has a regular plumber, and we encourage her to call him next time she has a plumbing emergency. Dixie Bishop Texas Plumbing Diagnostics 210-698-9790