PLUMB RITE

I felt the owner was shmoozy and acted all nice to get the job. He tried to sell us more services that we didn't need. When the job was over, he became a j***. They were rude, offensive and unprofessional.

They act sweet as pie until they get the job. As soon as we gave them the job Bill, the plumber, started trying to convince us that we had tree roots in our sewer line & the only option was to replace the whole line for about $5000. He ran his camera down the line and said "That's a big root ball right there" blah, blah, blah. I wasn't so sure it was tree roots because the area of our yard where the sewer line runs is just grass-the closest trees are quite far away. When I voiced that concern he brushed it off saying that tree roots spread out really far. Given that I was so skeptical, I had him do a "locate" for $50. Plumbers have a pretty high tech piece of equipment that lets them locate a clog in a sewer line rather precisely without digging. He marked the spot & my husband dug it up. Turns out it wasn't roots -it was a landscaping spike that had pierced the line and eventually created a clog. All that was needed was to have that section of pipe cut out and replaced. Obviously a lot cheaper than replacing the whole line. I should also note that the morning they were supposed to start the work, they showed up 3hrs late. I called the office several times and kept getting told "they're on the way" I asked where they were coming from and was told they were in Bellingham. Obviously, they were not "on the way" because it doesn't take 3 hours to get anywhere in Bellingham. If I hadn't been in such a desperate situation (hadn't had running water in the house for 4 days & I have 2 small children) I would've fired them before they even started. In hindsight, I REALLY wish I had! We gave Bill $200 cash, and he begrudgingly agreed to give us 60 days to pay off the balance. We even had it written into the invoice. His mother (who either works there or is part owner or something - she answers the phones for him) called us about 30 minutes after the work was completed and got very threatening with my husband. She called him a liar, accused us of not paying, and started threatening to put a lien on our house. My husband tried to explain that we just needed 60 days to pay the bill. I have never, in my life, been treated so offensively by a business. We are honest people who had every intention of paying the bill (and it's been paid in full now, within 60 days as agreed). Her conduct was truly insulting, but it didn't end there. Over the course of the next 6 or 8 weeks, Bill called our home several times. He always started out very nice and sweet, asking if he could "swing on by the house and pick up the rest of his money" When we said not right now he instantly turned incredibly rude and started the lien threats again. During 1 phone call I actually had to hang up on him due to his behavior. We had a written agreement for payment, but I guess he felt entitled to threaten and harass us for payment even before it was due. This was a nightmare. There are lots of other plumbers in town. Do yourself a favor and call one of them