Juan has now installed the replacement water heater. He said he included additional materials at his expense. We are now awaiting verification from Eternal, the manufacturer, that the new water heater has been installed correctly and the warranty will cover it. Although this has taken weeks longer than I would've liked, I appreciate the efforts Juan has made to correct this problem. I believe that he genuinely prefers to have a satisfied, rather than unhappy, customer. As for the rough plumbing work, he continues to insist that he was following the instructions of the contractor, Edgar Bowie of ERB Construction.
Update: Juan called me back. For several weeks he has told me he wants to make this right. Eternal offered to reinstate warranty and replace the unit. However, to date he has still not succeeded in finishing the job and has offered a host of reasons. After talking with Eternal yet again yesterday, Eternal advised him and I confirmed that Eternal will reimburse him for the replacement within 72 hours upon proper installation. Because the patched-up heater is failing and because this is going on two months, I advised him that the replacement must be installed by 5 p.m. this Friday. If not, we will hire someone else and expect him to reimburse our costs. Stay tuned.
Juan: If you're reading this, please call me back!
Juan installed our tankless water heater last summer. When it broke in December, the company voided the warranty because it was installed so badly. I've now gotten the company to reinstate the warranty if Juan will consult with them on installation. But for the last two or three weeks, he has failed to follow up with the company and now has stopped returning my calls and emails.
(By the way, we installed the brand that he and our contractor recommended. Since then, he's told us we shouldn't have chosen that brand.)
Through our contractor, Juan also did the rough plumbing for our bathroom renovation in October. (1) He measured incorrectly for our in-wall tank, which only became clear after drywall, painting and time to install the bowl. LeBron James would've needed a step ladder to reach it. To fix it, the dry wall had to be ripped out, repaired and the bathroom repainted. (2) He measured the wall-mounted faucets too low. This became clear only after the cabinets were installed and the granite fabricated. To fix it, the granite had to be pulled off (it broke, of course) and replaced, along with fixes to the drywall. (Note: Juan blames the contractor for the incorrect measurements.) read more