Hired Rick to change and old leaky tub and shower valve. Had an appointment for 9 am. He showed at 9:20. After we went to Home Depot to get the new valve and copper fittings and pipe he needed he quoted me $450 to change the valve and said that included the valve which was $100. When we returned he said the old valve was plumbed backwards, hot and cold switched to incorrect sides of the valve, and that he would need more parts to fix. He also said that that was probably why the old valve was leaking, that the cold side of the valve was not rated for hot water.(which is an incorrect statement) He convinced me to switch from copper to Pex, which is the flexible plastic tubing. He said it would be cheaper than getting more copper fittings. He returned to Home Depot to get Pex supplies. During the installation of the new valve while he was sweating the copper fittings he melted the plastic spacer that is used to mount the valve to the tub, see pictures. The plastic spacer was originally square. If you'll notice in the pictures he completely melted the top right corner. Also the plastic spacer should be level because there are two notches designed to fit to the valve when connecting the face plate. As you see in the photos the plastic square is turned 45 degrees and the spacer and the valve are not properly together. I've also attached some photos of how it should be after I corrected it. He should've used some type of heat shield to protect the plastic that is vital to correct installation. He claimed that this was no big deal. After the installation was complete and we turned the water on the hot and cold were backwards. So yes, the original valve WAS plumbed correctly. Instead of fixing the mess he made connecting the valve he simply changed the internal ports of the valve itself so that it ran cold on cold and hot when set to hot. Keep in mind that he has already told me that being connected backwards like that was why the original valve failed. So why did he leave my new valve connected backwards?? He ran water for 5-10 minutes to watch for leaks. Once he was finished he admitted that he connected it and backwards and said he would not charge me labor for the error BUT he said he would have to raise the original quote from $450 to $525 because he had to buy more parts. Keep in mind his original quote included valve and parts. Apparently labor was not included in his original quote either. I asked if I got to keep all the copper supplies that he purchased for the job but did not use and he said no. So he purchased supplies to do the job two different ways, copper and Pex, used only one set of supplies, Pex, and charged me for both. Then told me that I was getting a deal because he "knows what the rates are in this area". Also because I was getting such a sweet deal that I had to leave him a review. Four days later the tenants at the condo noticed that the new valve was leaking. We had left the access panel off for a few day so that the space would dry. The leak was coming from the solder joint that feed the shower head. During the time he was running water to check for leaks he never turned on the shower head therefore missing the one spot that was leaking. I'm sure he'll claim different. I contacted Rick and sent him a video of the leak. He did offer to come and fix it, if it was his fault. I declined to have him back so that I could fix it properly myself. I did ask for a big refund because I was having to fix his work. He again replied "I don't care to fix it if it's my fault, But yea your not getting no refund." read more