Response from Steinhorst Plumbing Inc
100% my fault! I knew from the beginning that this client was not an honest person, someone who was trying to take advantage of me in some way. But, I tried to make it work. And now, I'm paying the price. This customer has cost me time, money, insulted my plumber and insulted me. She has insulted my country. And now she is trying to hurt my company’s reputation. The initial phone call was "You put the water heater in. Everything is free. You did it. Everything is free. Right? I'm not paying anything - it’s under warranty. It has your sticker on it." Eventually, I found out that my company did install the water heater in April of 2009 - over 3 years ago. This means that parts would be under warranty by the manufactory. But, the customer has to pay for labor. She said her landlord would pay - not her. I asked her for her landlord’s information but, all she could give me was her landlord's last name. It was a very common name, of which I probably have 15 or 20 customers by the same last name. She could give me no phone number, or address. "He lives in Fairfax - he will pay - not me." The current population of Fairfax + 1,000,000 people. Who doesn't know there landlord address, only his last name and doesn’t even have a phone number to contact him? I knew she wasn't being honest with me. But I reluctantly scheduled because she kept insisting Steinhorst installed her water heater. I explained over & over to her that any and all labor she must pay for. That only parts would be covered under warranty. Labor on that water heater is one year; the parts are covered for six years. She agreed to cover the bill if I cannot locate her landlord in Fairfax. "Don't worry, I will pay." I called, as promised, during our scheduled window and told her we were on the way. She became very uncomfortable and then told me she was not home as she promised. I asked how are we going to get in the house and do work. In a really weird manor, she said her "Mom" was going to be there. No offense, but her English is broken at best. She has a very heavy Arabic accent. And I felt she was making up the "Mom" thing, so I asked "is there someone there who can speak English. Does Mom speak English?" This upset her, but was not an offensive question as far as I'm concerned. The plumber must to be able to speak with whomever he is working with. Once on site, the plumber called into the office with the water heater info. We did install it in 2009. Once given model & serial numbers, I was able to find out who the landlord was. The water heater was installed for a different person at that address. Not her. I started calling the phone numbers for the landlord. I never was able to contact who her said was going to pay the bill. The plumber on site found a 50 Gallon Gas Power Vent water heater. The unit had been shut down for over a year. No one knows for how long, or why the water heater was shut off. Only that is hasn't run in over one year. Gas Power Vent water heaters are very complicated. They are also finicky. They have small on board computers that show a series of lights when having problems - "throwing a code." It took the plumber about 45 minutes to restore power, but the unit had been off so long, that there no "codes" show by the heater. The plumber then called the 800 number by the manufacture for help. The heater's problem was severe enough to where the plumber was passed to 2 other factory reps. He was on the phone trouble shooting the problem for about 30 minutes. The factory service tech and my plumber trouble shoot the problem down to one of two small parts - non stock items for us. We then recommended two other companies that I know who would have the part needed. I offered to schedule for them. At that point, we had done all that we could. We put an hour and a half labor into the heater trouble shooting, located the problem and know someone who had the part needed. The plumber then gave "Mom" a bill for the labor. A much reduced price for $125 for 1 1/2 hours labor. Then, Mom “forgets” how to speak English. The plumber calls her who refuses to understand. "Everything is free" starts again. The plumber explains what was done, what is the next step and how much time and effort that was already put into this heater. She then begins cussing out my plumber. Calling him a "Dumb *ss." That he is "*ucking stupid." All sorts of names roll out of her at him and she is just screaming at him. The plumber then beeps me, explains her behavior. Nobody deserves that kind of behavior. Nobody cusses at my plumbers like that. I told the plumber to just leave - walk out, defuse the situation. Immediately, before the plumber had left her driveway, I received a phone call from her. With her very first sentence she was calling me "*ucking stupid." I tried to explain to her but she refused to listen. She then started saying “all you damn Americans. I hate G*d Damn Americans. You F**King Americans are all the same. I hate F**king Americans. I hate this F**king country . . . “Non-stop about rant about America in a heavy middle eastern accident. Drive by my building any day. Every day, there is big American flag flying on top. I’m Ex-military, A veteran. I proudly volunteered and served my country. I take great pride in that fact. I served over 3 year’s non-stop in foreign countries. Nobody – nobody has ever said those words to me. I couldn’t believe what profanities spewed out of her about my country. The country she now lives in. No customer has ever insulted me in that way. I tried very hard to work this out, but she crossed the line. I let her know so. And please don’t say something stupid like I’m prejudice. I married a woman from another country, culture and race. I have since contacted her “landlord.” Who is not her landlord at all. He sold her that townhome some months before. He was very interested in what had happened. He stated that he was about to take legal actions against her. It seems I’m not the first vender that she has ripped off. She keeps telling other people that her landlord will pay. When there is no landlord. She owns the property. She has now gone out of her way to damage my company. She has written a major complaint on the Better Business Bureau. She complained even though she paid no money. She has also written complaints on Angie’s list. And she has written complaints on every web site that will let her post commits. And now she is demanding an apology from me through the Better Business Bureau. She cost my company hours of lost labor. Lost income in which I still paid the plumber’s wages. She has insulted my plumber. She has insulted me. She is currently trying to destroy my company’s reputations with her lies. Most of all, she insulted my county and showed disrespect for a country that allows here to live here. There will be no apology from me. Craig Smith – Owner of Steinhorst Plumbing.