Plumbing Medcs [Barrie Area] - Overpriced!

[Yusshin]

So we were renovating the bathroom and we called in a company called Plumbing Medics. Originally, we were just going to install faucets and a new toilet, but suddenly it became redoing the entire bathroom altogether. We were told that it would just be a bit more money and effort to redo the rest so my dad agreed to it.

My dad was at work most of the time, so a lot went on when he wasn't there that was not professional. The two that were in and renovating the bathroom were brothers and decided that lewd and otherwise-inappropriate conversations were OK if the "paying customer" wasn't around. They left fast-food garbage all over the driveway all day and didn't pick it up until the very end when they left. There were cigarette buds all over the place, too. Not to mention how loud they were in general - not the tools, but their conversations. Maybe if the topics were more appropriate, it wouldn't have been so much of a bother, but it was just a big "wtf" for me.

Then, they dropped a hammer on the tub! The brand new spanky tub! There's a nice black chip in it now and on top of that, they were hammering the nails way too far, so the three rooms around the bathroom had splits and cracks and holes in the wall where the nails had actually gone all the way through!

Now, obviously not very happy at this point - new tub is damaged and walls are damaged - but then he gets the bill. Labour costs are easily 500$ more than they should've been. It looked as though they were trying to include the 400$ tub cost into the labour cost as a way of pretending it's "free" but we'd actually be paying it through bloated labour costs. Plus, it also looks like they were charging for food and "outings" which is complete balogna. Apparently (from my eavesdropping) there were hidden fees or costs somewhere that we weren't told about (nothing was signed; work just began), quote, "They never told me about that." Just seems sneaky.

So that was a piss off. My dad still needed some stuff done and it was costing hundreds more than he thought it was going to / it was supposed to. He had to call them in to do some random things i.e. showerhead, installing the toilet, installing faucets today and they JUST got here after waiting since 9am (almost 3pm now), plus the only reason they came so "fast" now was because my dad called to complain about how long they were taking to come. Oherwise, who knows when they'd have come.

Now they're on tight monitoring. They leave? I tell my dad by calling him. Questions? Call. Anything, really. He left a list of what he wants done - nothing less, nothing more - and all the equipment. Now they've left to go get God knows what :| The owner seems nice enough, but the two brothers that came before (who are back now, too, it seems) were very unprofessional and they damaged our tub and our walls and then overcharged for services...

Based on the damages and the conduct of the brothers, I would not recommend them, and I think that how they handled the bill and overcharged their labour was just wrong. My dad paid it, but if he could have finished what's left now himself, he would've :| They're basically doing now what they were originally supposed to do before the whole, "It's a shame! You should redo the whole bathroom!" conversation.

Sucks because had he known that they were going to charge wayyy too much for so little, he'd have gotten the basement guys to do it because it was basically rip and add surround / drywall. They would've done it way cheaper; Hell, they're doing the whole basement for 3,000$ (painting, drywal, insulation, ceiling tiles, etc.) which is way cheaper than what this company has charged for a tiny little freakin' bathroom :|

[Edit]

Apparently they can't READ either. That list he left? Totally ignored it. They started installing tub surround when it said ON it: "DO NOT INSTALL TUB SURROUND." lol

[K8's Fate]

I'm unsure if you mentioned it, but did your dad get a quote for all the work being done? Also, did he get any quotes from other companies to compare costs?

It's often difficult to challenge a bill, when a quote for the complete amount of work was not done in the first place.

Good luck with everything.

[salady]

I like to do my research before I hire a company to do work around my home. Talk to people, get different quotes, ask to see any work they've done on sites, online reviews...I'm all about "getting to know them" before I fork over my money! Every business will tell you that they're the best at what they do, blah blah blah...sorry, I just can't take their word for it. Plumbing Medics has an F on BBB and I also suggest you leave a review for them here to warn other people: http://homestars.com/

[Yusshin]

They didn't even check the pipes before leaving It started to leak downstairs when the upstairs toilet flushed. Their answer? "Darn, we forgot to check that! Sorry!"

LOL @ plumbers forgetting to check PIPES. Is that not your job!

And he did a lot of research for pre-planned things. We compared roofing prices, cement prices, chimney repairs, doors, windows, painting costs, etc. and got pretty good deals on everything. These guys suggested that we redo the whole bathroom since it would've been "a shame to do only half when for a bit more money, you could have a brand new bathroom!"

So had there been better planning about it, he would've got onto the computer and compared prices and stuff like he did with windows and everything else. He was just convinced and in an awkward position. Here's this company, already in the house, already planning to do things (we have few plumbers in the area to begin with), and then they suggest that and the idea kinda rubbed my dad the right way I guess. He liked to idea of "getting his money back" when we sell because the bathroom is new.

Had to do most of the work ourselves after they ripped it apart! Tiles, finishing, etc. because now we were in the fix where it couldn't be left like that. Can't sell a house without a full bath lol!

It really sucks They kinda told him how much it would cost and he was OK with that, but it wasn't on paper, and suddenly the real costs are way more + sneaking in the price of the "free" damaged tub.

And apparently the owner gave my dad a "good" price when they came back today to install a few things, but it doesn't matter if they're not even going to check the damn pipes before they leave. How can we be sure the job is thorough? After all the damages and ludicrousness that has gone on?

:|

[ex0ticb3lla]

I live in the barrie area and the best plumber around here is the local mr. rooter...awesome guy who tells you exactly what you need and doesn't force anything on you!

we were considering having our rough in in the basement moved from one side of the basement to the other for a more larger powder room and he told us the cost wasn't worth it and showed us exactly how to lay out the bathroom to maximize on space, he spent over a half hour here, laying out exactly where everything would sit. Every other plumber we had in just quoted over $1000 for the actual moving + over $400 to scope the drains to see where they needed to break the concrete +++++ and left a card for us to call them back to do it.