Gopher had been recommended to us by a friend, so we brought them in to help with a large bathroom remodel. We spent more than $5,000 on this job, which we assumed had been done correctly.
A couple months later we had a leak in our basement apartment and Gopher sent 2 plumbers out to take a look. They capped the leak over the weekend and returned the following week to investigate the problem. I talked with them at length about the issue and was told that the pipe was in a spot that could not be reached and that we would have to run all new hot water lines to the bathtub/shower, sink and washer. This would require removing the ceiling and 3 walls - essentially we were looking at a full bathroom remodel in order to complete this repair. Keep in mind that we have tenants renting this apartment, so they would be without a bathroom for a significant amount of time.
Because Gopher had been recommended to us, I trusted that this assessment was legitimate. However, they were unable to complete the work until the following week, which would further delay the job, so I called in another plumber to see if it could be addressed more quickly. The plumber came by the following morning and told me that the pipe could be fixed in place without additional damage to the walls/ceiling. He sent someone out that day and the job was done in less than 3 hours. We paid approximately $900 for this work, instead of the $3,000 - $4,000 we were looking at with Gopher.
In addition, the other plumber pointed out several things that had been done incorrectly and not to code in the previous job Gopher did for us. For example, only half of the kitchen drain was replaced, and it is not correctly sloped; the pecs were not secured every 32" and they are in a place that is exposed to light, so they will break down over time.
After this, I left a voice mail with Gopher to let them know that the current issue had been fixed and that the new plumber had pointed out several problems with the previous work. I asked that the owner call me so that we could discuss this, but I never received any response.
Over a month later, and with no additional communication from the staff at Gopher, we were emailed an invoice for $443.35 for the work that was done in regard to the leak. When I tried again to get in touch with someone to address the issues and the misinformation I was given, I received some incredibly rude responses from their office manager essentially demanding immediate payment. In the end, I gave up on trying to make this work with their incompetent staff, paid the $443 and brought the other company back in to fix their mistakes. read more