Avoid Riddell Plumbing at all costs. We had major issue after major issue with them. We showed the plumber two-bathroom faucets which were leaking from the handles and asked him what to do. He replied that the cartridges needed to be replaced, however their advice was for us to go ahead and purchase two new faucet sets, as he informed us that that price to install new faucets would be less, than changing out the cartridges. We were charged an hourly rate for a previous cartridge repair. Based on the technician's advice, we went ahead and purchased two new faucet sets. He arrived at the house by himself and proceeded to work on installing the first faucet At about 1 pm, he finally came out and informed us that he had accidently chipped our marble sink. He asked my wife if she wanted him to go down to Lowe's and to fix it himself. She replied no and asked that a professional come. She thought he was being paid by the hour and was concerned about the amount of time it was taking. He got fussy and replied, "well, it takes however long it takes". He finally wrapped up around 2 p.m. and told my wife that he did not want to work on installing the second faucet by himself. He explained that normally technicians work in pairs but that someone had called in sick. He stated the lack of a 2nd technician was partly to blame for the damage he caused. He further explained that a washer was stuck and that it was very difficult to get off. The next day he came back with an assistant and attempted replacing the second faucet upstairs - around 4 hours to complete. I was not home so he asked my wife for payment and she asked him how much it would be and he told her, approximately $1,500! She asked why it was so expensive and he said that there is a FLAT RATE for installing each faucet of $575 each and that he had to replace approximately $400 in additional parts (remember we bought faucet kits). She was surprised as she was under the impression that we paid by the hour because at no time was it stated that there would be a flat fee. My wife pointed out that all of the parts came in the boxes with the faucets, however, he said he had to replace additional parts to the tune of $400. She told him that she did not want to pay the bill until someone came to fix our sink, however he demanded payment. She was alone at the time and didn't feel comfortable getting into an argument so she paid the bill. On 8/21 someone came to try and fix the sink.
In spite of the repairman's best effort the chip is still noticeable. I found out about all of this and contacted their office. I informed them that $1,500 is unreasonable to install two bathroom faucets (that we paid for) and therefore we would like to inquire about the high bill, particularly the cost of installation and what parts were really needed. In pricing the parts ourselves they are found online for a lot less than what we were charged (example angle stops were 2-3 times higher). This seems like a bait and switch to us. We would have been better off doing the cartridge repair as that was much cheaper than the $575 flat fee. We would have also avoided a chipped sink. They should have informed us if there was going to be a change to a flat fee rate versus the hourly rate. Additionally, the technician commented on the day of the damage that he would 'work with us/discount the bill for some of the time/trouble'. We certainly didn't see that. Riddell responded that they do not conduct business in that way and do not want any customer to feel like they have been ripped off. They claim to have spoken with the plumber on this matter and explained that this should never be charged as a flat rate, In addition he over charged for material that he supplied. They claimed the plumber is "new using our system for billing" and he hasn't quite gotten the hang of it just yet, but that should not be our issue. They offered to reduce the parts to $62.50 and the labor refund to $532 and an overall total for replacing two faucets (that we bought) to $915.00. We wanted to be done with this situation so we agreed to the refund amount.
The story could have ended here...but unfortunately it gets worse. The second faucet was not secured correctly, see photo. Having spent $915 on faucet repair I called them out for the quality issue. I sent them the picture. They send the same plumber. I let the plumber in and head off to the office and I hear the technician yell at me from the other room "what is wrong with this?" "what is wrong with the sink?". I went back in and I see that the faucet is no longer at a 45 degree angle. He must not have been aware I sent a photo to the office a day prior. I grabbed the faucet and turned it on and said see it is not tight. He exploded and said "YOU DID THAT". Retort: No I didn't. "Yes you f;ing did". He puffed up at me and became belligerent. I responded. It got very heated. Company never responded to this report! read more