Our homeowners insurance required we install a Moen Flo automatic water shutoff. The device included "standard installation" organized through a company, Frontdoor Pro, that picks the plumber/acts as a middleman. Rocky's came in December, the person said it would take more work he didn't have the time to do and we would get a quote for the extra work. We received a quote for $550 (on top of the $700+ we paid for the device/"standard installation"). All the quote said was "modification of main water line plumbing . we will cut out tee and will have to cut the pvvc and dig up existing shutoff valve". We have a small rose bush, which is what I assume they wanted to remove? I reached out to Frontdoor (because I don't have Rocky's info at this point). I didn't feel comfortable signing off with such limited info. Months go by and Frontdoor ignores my many emails. My insurance is threatening to terminate our coverage. I track down Rocky's info and talk to a nice woman, send her photos. She says she'll talk to her supervisor and get back to us by the end of day. I reach out again and again over several weeks. About 6 weeks after my initial contact she responds and says that we need to ask Frontdoor to reassign the job to them and they'll submit a new quote.
Frontdoor reached out to schedule, but I told them I hadn't received an updated quote. They told me I'll receive a new quote when the plumber comes. We had a 8am-noon window. Around 8am I'm getting calls from Frontdoor and Rocky's saying I need to authorize the quote before the plumber gets there but I didn't have a quote to authorize. I end up with a quote for $545, this time itemized/detailed, breaking down $300 of cost is to excavate up to 8 cubic feet of dirt. I'm realizing that this is probably generic language and likely not what they'll actually need to do. We're on a time crunch so I signed.
The plumber shows up, I told him about the struggle we've had and he said the guy who came out in December should have been able to install it. He told me that we would get the device installed, but that we didn't need to keep it plugged in. He said he'd adjust the cost and it'll be $135, not $545. The plumber shows me the installed device and I confirm that it isn't plugged in but that doesn't matter and he says yes. He leaves. I find it strange that he didn't mention running the taps. I tried the kitchen and bathroom sink, nothing. I think maybe it has to do with the fact that the device is not plugged in, even though he said it was OK. I see that there's a bad drip coming from a joint. I plug the device in to see if the app tells me anything. As soon as I plug it in and turn it on, water shoots several feet into the air, all over me. I pull the handle and see that the pipe is completely detached at the joint that had been dripping. I text Rocky's, sending photos and videos. A woman called me saying the plumber would be back in about a half hour. She told me once he's done, he should have me run the bathtub tap on cold.
The same guy shows up. I go out to talk to him but he's on the phone saying things like "there was no drip", etc. so I think he's on the phone with the company. He didn't even look up at me so I went back inside the house because I was tired of standing there watching him work and talk on the phone, ignoring me. Maybe a half hour goes by and he knocks on the door. He said he completely missed sealing that joint and that's why it came detached (makes sense). Then he had me turn on the tub and check the faucets before leaving again. When I looked at his second attempt at this job, I was so frustrated. The first time, there were solid copper pipes leading up to the device. They were even and looked nice and the device was sitting straight up, etc. Now, the entire right side that was once a solid pipe, looks like several of the joint pieces stuck together. One side is longer than the other, so it's not parallel to the ground anymore, and the device is at an angle, literally leaning on the house.
I acknowledge I know little about plumbing, but the fact that it was installed one way the first time and differently the second time makes me think he rushed and pieced something together to save on costs rather than using a solid pipe again. I worry that those pieces (the one that he didn't seal right the first time and is now running the entire length of what was solid pipe) is going to leak/explode. It sits right in front of our hour and looks horrible. I thought about calling them to fix this guy's mistakes, but I don't want them doing any more work on my house anyway. I'm so disappointed all around: the first guy not doing the job, the quote that gave no info/was way over actual cost, the 6 weeks of ghosting, causing a water fountain in my front yard/not checking the water before leaving, and then the extremely subpar fix. Unreal how horrible this was. read more