I moved into a new home back in March. On April 13th, 2018, I had to use my home warranty because my Water heater was leaking. The water wasn't staying in the pan and it was leaking all over my ceramic tile and onto the carpet. Kevin from L.D. Smith Plumbing came out. He told me I needed to have the water heater replaced. I agreed. He replaced it and installed the new one. He informed me that the home warranty didn't cover the disposal of the old unit, so at this time I paid $140, so he could take my old broken one away. Kevin at this time only replaced the water heater and not the pan. We talked about water leaking out of the pan and he saw water under the pan. He said that it will dry out, there was just a lot due to it leaking.
Now fast forward to 9/21/2018, I had to have them come back out (through the Home Warranty) because the pipe on my water heater was leaking again! It was not holding in the pan again! I had to keep switching out towels every day for two weeks prior because the pan was leaking all over my ceramic tile and carpet again! When Kevin came back in he told me that he talked to the home warranty company and they said they would cover the leaking pipe, but I needed to add a expansion tank and they didn't cover that. He then joked about how he had to word things correctly to the home warranty people because they are picky about what they cover. He told them he had to change the pipe (which was on the side of the water heater), but when he told them that the pan was leaking again - they all of a sudden wouldn't cover him removing the water heater, so I had to pay out of pocket for that and that cost was $544! I at this time asked him why I would have to pay to have him "pull the water heater out" to see if there was a crack in the drain pan and his response was "Well it's not covered and that is the cost of labor to unhook the unit and pull it out to replace the pan". I stood in disbelief because the water heater needed removed anyways so he could fix the pipe and cut the pipe on top to install the expansion tank. He just looked at me like he understood, but said he had to charge me that. This was on top of the $364 I had to pay for this expansion tank because supposedly the water heater heats up too fast and it needs more room for the water to go when it expands. Not sure if this is true or not because right now I'm not believing anything I was told by this company. I had to pay the total $908 so I could actually have my 5 month old water heater working properly.
I called the office on Monday 9/24/2018 to try and talk to the owner about my issue. I in no way needed to pay the $544 for him to "disconnect and remove the water heater" when he had to any ways to fix the pipe and install the expansion tank! I spoke to Jennifer, who claimed to be the office manager. At first she was extremely rude when I was explaining the situation to her and told me that back in April, Kevin never put notes in the system from my order about the pan leaking, therefore it was too long ago to assume that it was an issue back then. I explained THREE times how Kevin told me he'd have to remove the water heater to fix the pipe and install the expansion tank on top because he had to cut the pipe on top of the water heater to install the tank. She finally just said she would talk to the owner of the company and he would call me back. About 15 minutes later I received a call back from Jennifer stating the owner Lance, said she could refund $100 for the inconvenience. WHAT!?!?! I asked her what $100 of the $544 I paid for him to "just remove and disconnect the water heater" meant and why was it only $100, when in no way should I have had to pay this amount. All she would say is that Lance, the owner, told her just to do that, but she didn't know why it was only $100, she would put it back on my debit card I paid with.
I am in EXTREME DISBELIEF about this experience. I feel 100% taken advantage of and lied to. When I let a service pro in my home, I'd expect them to be professional and do the right thing. I have asked the owner Lance to reach out to me, but still haven't heard anything from him. This was wrong and just a way for the company to get money from a home owner and the home warranty company.
STAY CLEAR OF THIS COMPANY. If the home warranty company assigns your plumbing issues to this company, call and have them send the request to a different local company! They take advantage of the customer and are just out to get as much money from a home owner as possible and double dip with getting money from the home warranty company. Their office staff is unprofessional and rude. Also, the owner Lance, must not care too much about his customer's experience if he won't even reach out and at least have a professional conversation with a customer. read more