I told the plumber that the pipe line between my meter and the street main pipe is leaking. He told me that the pipe had to be replaced by the water company, which is not true in my area. He told me he could not do anything to it since the pipe is underground. Someone has to dig and replace the pipe. All he could do now is to shut my valve off until the problem is fixed, which means I would not have water until they figure it out about what to do next.
As a licensed plumber, he decided to charge me $656.50 for Specialized Plumbing repair includes special order parts, equipment, or additional labor to complete (he did not replace or repair anything) and $100 for permit (a permit for what? shut my valve off). WOW!!!!! He just shut off my valve and took some pictures, which took him about 15 mins plus more than 30 mins on his phone to report the problem. After he finished everything, he just stayed in front of my house for about an hour. I thought he must be tired. He asked me to pay for it, I asked him what you did or repaired. He said he's a licensed plumber, he helped me to take a look at the problem and give me some advice about what I could do, plus the most important thing is "shut my valve off" which has to be done by a licensed plumber!!!!!!! Of course, I would love to talk to his boss. His boss told me the plumber work for me for about 2 hours. So I should pay at least $418 instead. I said the same thing again to his boss about what he actually did during this 2 hours. Then they finally decided to charge me $89.99 plus tax for consultation fee. I really appreciate the plumber for advising (telling) me that I need to find someone to fix the problem, then schedule another appointment with them to "turn my valve on," which it may cost me another few hundred dollar. LOL what a joke to me. Be honest, I know I have to pay $89.99 plus tax for consultation fee before he came. I totally understood and I would pay for it anyway.
Good luck to you if you decided to use their service!
Here is the description for the fee if you are interested about it.
"This fee secures you on our schedule and enables us to send an expert to your home/business. The expert will arrive on time in a fully stocked truck, ready to provide same day service if possible. Before performing any work, the expert will discuss all your options and find the one that's right for you. If you should accept an option, this $89.99 (+tax) consultation fee is waived. If you should decline all options, this $89.99 (+tax) consultation fee is due. If consultation fee is paid, $89.99 can be applied to any associated option if accepted in the future." read more