First interaction was great. Fast response, knowledgeable, great rate and was very friendly in our first interaction. Identified the issue quickly, which was a $24 part and charged minimal labor with no trip fee. Karl advised he is retired and doing this as a side job.
While diagnosing the issue he disconnected pipes while water was still in the tub, which caused a lot of leakage directly underneath while he went to purchase the replacement part. This was concerning as it was a lot of water flowing near the wiring and area underneath, but he did not seem concerned. He completed the repairs and put everything back together and departed while I was on a call. He texted and advised to run the tub and let him know of any issues and he would come back in a few days if needed. I discovered there was several leaks where the pipes connected that were not there prior and it was rapidly draining directly under the tub, so I texted him right away since he did not answer and asked that he return as soon as he could to avoid further damaged being caused by the water. At this time the tub was working properly otherwise, but the pipes were now leaking.
This is when it started going bad. His demeanor changed and got worst as time went by, he was obviously not happy and expressed that, was clear this was an inconvenience and causing stress and disruption to his own schedule. My work and home schedule was busy during this time, but asked that if we could not reach each other in person that he either leave me a detailed message or text. Later the first evening he sent a very aggressive text and advised that he would come out the next day.
He returned the following day, very grumbly, throwing his tools around, very loud and complaining (so much that the neighbors heard and contacted me to make sure everything was ok) and made me feel very uncomfortable in every interaction. He was very dismissive and would not listen to my questions and would constantly interrupt me.
After attempting to repair the leaks he started the tub up again and this time the control panel/circuit board was having issues. He started kicking the panel and yelling. He also caused some damage to my deck that I had just had redone by trying to pry boards up with a screwdriver. I asked him to immediately stop, it was like a kid throwing a tantrum. Apparently the control panel had gotten wet due to all the leakage he has caused. He advised he would need to take it and repair it, so I asked that he properly drain the hot tub this time before he disconnected it so that no further damage would happen.
In the end he came out a total of 4 times, each time his mood got worse. He did not charge me for the continued work, as it was due to issues he had caused, which was one good thing. However, after he repaired the circuit board and unnecessarily replaced and added pipe in a place it was not even leaking he advised me everything was finally fixed and departed. I then discovered the same area was still leaking, even though mildly now and decided it was time to call another repair person because I did not want to have to interact with him anymore. I had to pay for these repairs to fix the damage he had created.
I would not recommend Karl. He seems to get frustrated easily, shows a lack of respect to the customer and professionalism. I even felt like he did not appreciate me as a woman asking questions or wanting to know what was occurring by things he said to me and how dismissive he was. The kicking, throwing of equipment and vocally expressing his frustration was unacceptable and I did not need to hear how he was stressed and it caused him to not sleep good at night and ruined his personal time.
Understandably, with hot tubs there could be other things that occur when you are taking apart pipes, etc. When you take pipes apart you need to make sure they are sealed back properly, which every other repair person who has worked on this over the years has and it has been relatively simple for them. Regardless you committed to a job and you should be professional. read more
