Memorandum re experience with Innovative Plumbing August-September 2017 I wrote this memo the end of August 2017 Project #1: I contacted Innovative Plumbing mid-summer 2017 to give me a bid for installing a vent to the outside and re-plumbing an upstairs room for a washer-dryer. Jon S arrived to survey the premises. He provided me a bid for $3012 to perform both those tasks. On Monday, August 22, 2017, the appointed day, two plumbers arrived to do the work, including Jon S. Jon immediately announced that he would not be installing the vent. He advised that he and his supervisor or manager had determined he could not do that. He said I would have to employ an HVAC guy, and that his bill would be adjusted downward. It did not seem to occur to Jon or even faze him that his failure to perform the work agreed on would put us in a nasty position, trying to find a replacement and costing extra money, not to mention that he knew or should have known that there was other work (electrical and cabinetry) already scheduled behind his. The two men did accomplish the re-plumbing. In doing so they left dirt and grime in noticeable places in my house, such as the carpet, woodwork, tile and tile grout. Oh well, you just wipe them off, right? It’s just that I’ve never had workers so clueless about their impact on the environment. But this is a small thing. They did clean up their materials and removed the boxes, and probably used an indoor/outdoor vac. I was not present when my husband paid the bill, which turned out to be $3034. In other words, we paid MORE than the bid and received LESS than the work bid for. I have no way to know whether they did a good job with the plumbing. Project #2: Before work on the refit for laundry facilities began (see above), I contacted Innovative Plumbing for another project, this one the installation of a Toto G-400 toilet in the master bathroom. I called the office because information on the web suggested that installation was tricky, requiring not only a plumber but someone who could manage the unique requirements of that toilet. The purpose of my call was to determine that Innovative Plumbing had the ability to do the work. It was puzzlingly difficult to get all my questions answered; this took maybe half a dozen phone calls to the office, which then had to check with Jon (who had gone on vacation), etc. etc. I was told that without question, Jon could perform that work. I also asked whether it would be better for the company to order the toilet or for me to do so. After another frustrating series of phone calls (often my calls were not answered), it was determined that I should order the toilet, which I did. On Tuesday, August 23, 2017, Jon arrived to install the Toto G-400. He appeared to have never seen this Toto model before and was totally unfamiliar with it. He advised that he would have to charge twice the normal price of toilet installation. Understood -- it is unique and presents its own challenges. However, I had not been told that beforehand. We ended up paying $926.42. At the end of the day he advised he had run into trouble and would have to return another day to re-work the piping, and that would be extra, thankyouverymuch. At that moment there was a non-functioning toilet in the MBR, and we were waiting for the nonfunctioning plumber to come back. What’s wrong with this picture? I had no way to know whether he did a good job with what he had done so far in the MBR. On Friday, August 25, 2017, we noticed a “fault” line in the portion of the family room ceiling below the toilet. It looks like a water leak in a straight line, and so perhaps the damage is in the seam. That will have to be re-sheetrocked and the ceiling repainted. Conclusion: By August 25, we had paid Innovative Plumbing almost $4000.00 yet none of the goals involved in their work had been accomplished: the laundry facilities were incomplete, and the toilet did not work. In sum, my experience with Innovative Plumbing is this: 1. They did not perform the work agreed to, and advised of their inability/unwillingness to do so at the last minute, leaving the homeowners in the lurch to scurry and find a solution. 2. They misrepresented their ability to handle situations, specifically, the dryer vent and the Toto toilet (hence the irony of the name “Innovative”) 3. Inept performance had probably resulted in damage in other parts of the house. 4. They overcharged Addendum: Since writing this, I have worked with the Innovative Plumbing office folks. They have been very good about this whole thing, and have paid us in full for the extra work involved in installing the dryer vent. I give them high marks for their sincere efforts to put things right. Additionally, the problem seen in the family room ceiling cleared up pretty well, and we managed to simply paint over it.