I recently discovered Homestars.com and am now writing about a situation that took place in Jan. 2009.
Late one January evening, I received a call from the police informing me that an elderly friend was found unconscious in his condo and was admitted into Etobicoke General Hospital. The police had entered into the unit because the owner living in the unit below had been complaining about this leak coming from his ceiling and had been unable to contact the elderly man who lived above. The toilet was the source of the leak.
I remained at the hospital all night with the elderly friend until 9 am where I then travelled immediately to the condo building to have the toilet fixed. However, the property manager refused access into the unit since I did not have the Power of Attorney on me. I was told to come back another day to get the key.
The next morning, I received an angry call from the Property Manager demanding I get the toilet repaired because it was leaking into the unit below.
I called New Canadian Drain & Plumbing, explained the situation and informed them that it would take 2 hours to get to the site since I would be traveling by TTC from downtown, that I did not have a key and would have to get it from the superintendent once I arrived on site.
I arrived 1.5 hours after I made the call to the plumbing company. However, the plumber (Tony) had been waiting for me for some time and was annoyed that I had kept him waiting. I told him how I had informed the receptionist that it would take me 2 hours to reach the condo building since I was traveling by TTC from downtown.
He became further annoyed because I had to contact the superintendent to get the key. It was another 10 minutes before we could enter the unit. When he entered the unit and saw the state the bathroom was in (it smelled horribly, there were toilet rolls on the floor), he became angry, announced he was leaving and stormed out.
He was prepared to leave me high and dry even though I explained the situation. He only agreed to stay and replace the toilet and gasket if I agreed to pay $1,100 (total: $1,155 including GST). I suspect a job like this probably costs $300- $400.
At that time, I was in a desperate situation. I couldn’t find a phone book in the condo unit so I wouldn’t be able to find anyone else, it was an emergency situation so I didn’t have time to get estimates, I didn’t know anyone in the building whom I could turn to, the superintendent barely spoke English and was of no help, it was in the middle of January (2-3 feet of snow and around -20°C), I didn’t know my way around Etobicoke, and had no car. The Property Manager had demanded I get the toilet repaired immediately because it had been leaking into the unit below for days. Furthermore, I had to travel to the hospital to speak to the doctor about the elderly friend’s condition. He later died at the hospital.
The plumber knew I was in desperate situation and decided to exploit it to his advantage. He was prepared to walk unless I agreed to pay him $1,100 for replacing a toilet and gasket. Due to my desperate situation, I agreed to this amount even though I knew he was exploiting the situation I was in. Once I agreed to pay the outrageous amount, his demeanor changed. He became extremely congenial and pleasant.
To add insult to injury, my credit card was billed TWICE for this job. When I called to complain, I was told they had to investigate. They did eventually reverse the second charge of $1,155 but because the charge were reversed after the billing statement cycle, the credit card company expected me to pay the full $2,310 since the credit of $1,155 would not show up until the next statement date. At the time I did not know this and only found out when I was charged interest because I had not paid the full $2,310. I had just paid $1,155. Luckily, my credit card company reversed the interest charges.
This was the first time I had used New Canadian Drain and Plumbing and it will be the LAST time. I find the behaviour of the plumber in this company’s employ to be highly unethical, opportunistic, exploitive, totally void of compassion and empathy. I would NEVER recommend this company to anyone especially, if they ever find themselves in a similar situation.
Price: $1,100 (with GST: $1,155)
