Whittington Pro Services rescued us from a scammer and provided excellent-timely completed work on our cabin bathroom floor.
Scam set-up: We needed bathroom plumbing repair work on our recently bought cabin, which came with a 1 year warranty insurance plan. The warranty company sent a plumbing company tech out, who first fixed the leak in our toilet seal, but then said that the floor was water damaged and moldy, which would require the bathtub/shower and floor to be replaced. The tech took measurements and the owner gave a $5k estimate for floor removal and a new shower/tub unit. Although never meeting him, we fell in love with him over the phone: He was so kind, sympathetic and helpful, and we blindly fell for this verbal quote.
A pattern emerged: First, no written contract was ever presented, and shortly giving the verbal go ahead was given, the owner called and said he needed $2500 deposit to help defray the cost of the bathtub/shower combo because it had non-standard measurements and needed to be special ordered. We complied. 2) The contractor called some weeks later, and said the unit was back-ordered, but should be available in a month 3) a month passed and we called and he said, that the day before the unit was being special made and he was going to call us. 4) another month delay, he calls with the same line but offered a special deal-they would install a seat for the bathtub because we were elderly, for $1500.00 more.
Realization of being taken: At that last point we finally knew something was not right. While he was up front saying that he was a licensed plumber, he said he was not a licensed in construction, but was studying for the test to take short order. Upon seeing the Yelp reviews of the company we found a battlefield of victims over several years, that were trusting suckers like us, experiencing the same pattern: a warranty company referral, a quick fix combined by an offer to complete work not covered by the warranty company, but with the requirement of money up front, followed by delay tactics.
Moreover, from the Yelp review of the work that the owner actually did do, it was substandard, some of it having to be redone, or took over a year to complete, leaving customers with a non-functioning system in the interim. When the customers sought to get their money back, they were met by the company accountant wife, who refused payment for various reasons. In our case, there were no return calls.
Once we realized that we were taken, even before trying to get our money back, my wife called Brandy, the manager of Whittington Pro, and explained the above situation to her. That day Brandy, Tim and Tyler came out to assess the situation.
Whittington Pro Services to the rescue: Tim said he could test the plumber contractor's claims real quick if he let us open a 2x2 inch hole in the floor. With permission, he quickly concluded that widespread water damage was absent, and was only damp only in spots. In short, the floor and bathtub/shower need not be replaced, and that our unit was standard. In essence, he could do the floor for 30% of what the other plumber demanded.
Once we finally decided on the floor tile and purchased it, the job was started and completed promptly in 3 days, Not only that, they demonstrated expertise in customizing and adapting to the 1960's cabin floor settling with serious dimensional changes. All in all, their workmanship and detailing were impeccable, paying very close attention to detail and astetics. It is if we have a totally remodeled bathroom!
Whittington Pro Services are now our family cabin's personal on-call physician: While we still remain $2500 short, and may never get it back, the Whittington's professionalism, expertise and ability rescued us from a potential financial and nerve-wracking nightmare from a contractor whose modus operandi exploits un-suspecting warranty customers who trust that they are dealing with a qualified, reputable contractor.
We could say that the important lesson we learned from our experience is to assume nothing and always first verify the contractor's reviews. But we also wanted to find a local business that we could work with on a continual basis.
Just as one would find a personal physician that truly cares for your well being and has the expertise and acumen to diagnose, treat and cure, we found that Brandy, Tim and Tyler take on a similar role as super handy-techs on behalf of our cabin's long-term care in multiple respects, as cited by their services offered.
We plan on several projects in the near future with Whittington Pro Services because they demonstrated excellence, outstanding professionalism, expertise and attention to detail, thereby earning our trust. Having said that, we understand that excellent physicians, like handy-care specialists like Brandy, Tim and Tyler, are rare and hard to come by. Thus, if they are busy, PATIENCE is in order because they are well worth waiting for. read more