A1American ripoff scam Chesapeake Virginia

I had to call a plumber for a broken water pipe between 2 walls in my kitchen. Being new to the area, I opened the phone book and found the largest advertisement and immediately called to inquire about a plumber coming out. I spoke with Mark and he said he would be out in about 30 minutes. On the phone, he said when he arrived , he could give me a quote and he would be able to repair the problem if I decided to have him do so. He arrived at 6:30pm. At that point, my husband had already located the leak and removed the dry wall so he could quickly see there was a hole in the pipe from a nail that had penetrated the pipe during construction a year and a half ago. The nail finally rusted off and the hole was exposed. When Mark came in and looked at the pipe, he turned to us and said $525.00. I couldn't believe what price he had just quoted. He then said, remember I told you it would be $150.00 to just come in your door. He never told me that on the phone. He told me on the phone that he would come out and give me a price and then I could decide if I wanted to have the pipe repaired. At this point, my husband and I agreed that we were at his mercy because we needed the pipe repaired to have water for the family. By the time he left, the price had gone up to $675.00. He added the $150.00 walk in the door fee to the $525.00 fee for repair. We were led to believe it would be $525.00 total. I argue with him and he essentially told me all he could do was to take off the walk in the door fee of $150.00.

This company is charging OUTRAGEOUS fees to customers that are at the mercy of a home repair they themselves cannot do. I am an Open Heart Recovery Nurse and the most I ever made an hour was $35-40/hour and that was for working during the middle of the night or on a holiday. And, the minute by minute decisions I made determined if a patient lived or died in the first 24hrs of heart surgery. $675.00 is an unfathomable price for an hour and forty minutes of work. Mark cut out a 12 inch piece of pipe and replaced it. And, remember, we isolated the source and cut out the drywall before he ever arrived. Is there something that can be done about this price gouging to customers or is this fair pricing. When you need a service, a customer is at the mercy of the contractor. Because of the need for water, I can't shop around and pay every estimate $150.00 to walk in my door. That is how they force you to consent to the repair. He told me the only thing he could do was to act like he forgot to charge me the $150.00 walk in fee. No..he collected the full fee he said when he walked in and gave me no breaks. The work order said he cut out hot line to half bath. Does that cost $525.00. Please look into their unfair rates and see if they jive with local plumbers costs.
Mad in Va Beach

Anonymous
Virginia Beach, Virginia
U.S.A.