I read this in the paper the other day and am posting it here just to start a discussion.
Beware of price-gouging local plumbers.
Evidently price gouging by many local plumbers is so common that it has become an accepted practice.
As I relate my experience to friends and associates, most of them top my story with one of their own.
I was astounded recently when I had to pay $303 for a pressure switch for my water pump. I have it on good professional authority the the switch cost about $45 wholesale.
The $303 was on top of the $79 service cahrge just for showing up. Actually I thought the service charge was somewhat reasonable, especially since my call to the plumber was after normal business hours. We had no water at all.
But the next charge really caught me off guard. The plumber said, if he checked to make sure the switch was the cause of the problem and I decided I didn't want to pay the inflated price, I would be charged a $100 diagnostic fee.
So, there I was at 8 pm Friday, with no water in a house and out of town guests about to arrive for thr weekend.
So what do you do? Politely tell the pleasent plumbe to get lost and pay $179 for doing nothing? Feeling trapped, I signed the papers and let him go ahead and install what must have been a gold palted switch. Bottom line: After paying $382 ransom. we finally had water.
As I said there are many other stories similar to this one, some much worse.
We are all victims and feel a bit helpless to do anything about it. I have expressed my concerns in writing to the plumbing company and filed a complaint to the BBB in hopes of curtailing such unethical, immoral and possibly illegal business practices in the future.
