Plumbing Ethics Question, does this sound right?

[joe_y]

Hi folks, I had a plumber come to do an estimate for a small leak in the town water pipe right before it entered my house. We weren't getting any water leaking in the basement so it wasn't a big emergency, but we could hear it.

We were on vacation at the time of the estimate, and instead of calling us to give us an estimate, the plumber just fixed the pipe without asking. In the process, he broke one of my lawn sprinkler pipes while digging next to the house (which is going to cost us $300).

The plumber said he gave us a good deal at $1000 for fixing it. I was still a little ticked because if he said he was going to do the work, I would have told him to watch out for the sprinkler pipe. And I was also a little ticked since I never authorized any work to be done.

1) Should the plumber knock off $300 to pay for the broken sprinkler pipe?

2) Is $1000 really a "good deal" for replacing the water pipe as it comes into the house?

Thanks for the help on this! Much appreciated.

 

[havasu]

In my area, that is a pretty good price, depending on how far and how deep he had to go. Did you sign any paperwork authorizing the repair? I would ask him to fix the damaged sprinkler.

 

[joe_y]

Thanks havasu for the info. I did not sign any paperwork authorizing the repair. It was just a phone conversation to come over for an estimate while we were away, I left a back door open for them to come into the basement.

I agree I'll ask if they can fix the sprinkler pipe. Thanks!

 

[SlowDrip]

Yeah I agree with havasu on this. The price seems fair but it is odd that they did repairs without settling on a price or anything first. Also, common sense dictates that if you break something you are responsible for it.

 

[joe_y]

Thanks SlowDrip... appreciate the backup. I thought so, just needed some reassurance.

 

[Chris]

In my experiences as a Contractor if I don't have a signed estimate there is nothing I can do to collect payment except try and take them to court but in your case there was not even a verbal contract. The price sounds fair depending on what they did. It could have been something very simple with a small hole or he could have replaced all the line from the meter to the house. Personally I would have him fix the sprinkler for free (Since it was his fault it broke) and then you guys can negotiate on a price.

 

[havasu]

Yeah, to clarify, no signed contract, he is out of luck. Besides this, it did seem like a fair price and sometimes, if you have someone honest working for you, it is often better just to pay the bill but I would gripe about the broken sprinkler line.

 

[joe_y]

Thanks Chris - it was just a small hole in the pipe near the house, so they had to dig down about 7-8 feet but only in one place... they didn't replace all the way to the shut off. I know they had to subcontract for a machine to dig, which he said ran them $700 + 2.5 hrs of labor =$1000 even though it took roughly 4 hours or so I believe to finish.

Thanks again havasu - I do plan on paying despite the lack of contract or verbal agreement, once we work out something for the broken sprinkler line. Hopefully they'll agree to come back and fix it, so far I haven't had a response yet (nor the actual bill).

Thanks guys this was a nice help for me.

 

[havasu]

Please keep us informed, and lets all hope it has a good outcome for you!