A few weeks ago I called a plumber to replace the main valve in my apt. Plumber 1 (licensed and contrator for a large plumbing company) installed the wrong stem and caused a leak to the floors below
I had to call Plumber 2 to smash through the tiles and replace the piping backend (weld/solder whatever), at a significant cost to myself.
So far all I have heard is of water damage to cabinets and food stuffs, nothing major YET and its been more than a few days.
I want at MINIMUM a full refund from plumber 1 and I am seriously considering pursuing the company he works for ... for the cost I incurred having to pay for a second plumber to fix the mess at a significant cost.
I would have demanded plumber one fix all damage. If he refused, I would have hired plumber 2 and sued plumber 1.
If you failed to do the first part of that, you might well be out of luck. A judge will take your failure to be bad faith, and rule against you. If nothing else, you had better find out what actually happened, as your explanation doesn't make any sense.
Don't you even make mistake? If I were the OP'er, I'd call him back and let him make it right and pay for the damage. Decent trade peole have insurance to cover themselves.
If I had my own house I would have taken this course of action. But livign in a condo with others below you leaves little room for negotiations.
trust me if you get a call from the HOA that theres a leak downstairs and they are cutting off the townhouse water WITH TTHE UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU WILL BE RESOLVING THIS IN A TIMELY MANNER
you find your options limited besides I was hesitant calling plumber 1 who messed this up by installing the wrong stem
You keep referring to plumber # 1 but is he the only plumber at that company.
When we have a service tech who for what ever reason has pissed off a customer we send out another tech to see what has pissed off the customer and why.
When you say he used the wrong stem, who told you it was the stem, plumber #
2?
Like some of the other posters, the company does have insurance and they would have covered the cost and most likely see if their plumber needs to be working for them.
Nonsense. First, the water damage noted is to apartments below that are not owned by the person who contracted the plumber. Those people, with damage cabinets, ceilings, who knows what else, are under no obligation to allow the plumber to make repairs. Would you let the plumber fix your kitchen cabinets? Or even choose who does the repairs? If your car is damaged in a car accident, do you have to let the other party fix it to have a valid claim? Of course not. Also, no one automatically has to always give the original contractor another chance to fix the screw up, even if it's his own area of work. It depends on what was done wrong. If it's relatively minor, which is most of the time, then I agree, a court is going to expect you to give him a chance to correct it. However if it's a case of total gross incompetence, where it's obvious he doesn't have the necessary skills or competence, then I agree with the others. You don't have to give the guy a second chance. And if you have the proper evidence to show how badly the original job was done, a court will rule in your favor even if you didn't allow him back.
The OP did make a call to plumber #1 when the leak to the other apartments was first discovered and could not reach him. Then because obviously time is of the essence here to avoid further damage, another plumber was called in. What needs to be done now is to document everything with complete reports/bills from the new plumber as to what was wrong, save any parts replaced, take pictures of the plumbing, damage to other units etc. Contact your insurance company. Make a call to plumber #1 and send written notification telling them exactly what happened and asking that either they or their insurance carrier make good on the cost of repairs to both the plumbing and the damage.
If they don't then likely your insurance company together with insurance companies for the other apartments will take care of most of it. Any deductible, remaining amount, etc, if not covered can be handled by small claims if necessary.
If you don't give the plumber the chance to fix any damage you ALLEGE he caused, you largely lose the right to make him pay for it. And I say allege, because if you didn't give him the chance to even see the damage before it was fixed, you will have a very difficult time establishing that he did anything wrong; he will receive the benefit of any doubt. Yes, he does have the right to fix the kitchen cabinets, or choose who does. If you don't like that, you repair them at your expense.
It is pointless to argue with you further, as this is a straight forward matter not subject to opinions; but please don't give advice over matters you don't understand.
That's Alcoholics Anonymous bullshit babble. Contractors have all sorts of insurance and bonds for just such situations. And contrary to public beliefs, they screw up. If he's a decent fellow, he should put you and the insurance company together, and it works like that. If he's not, then you go to plan B.
You said he worked for a large plumbing company. You should've called the owner and asked for someone else to come fix the problem. Instead, you dug yourself a hole.
Since this appears to be primarily a legal question, the OP may want to consider posting it to a legal group such as misc.legal.moderated. If the original contractor was negligent in effecting the repair he may be liable for subsequent damages. That may or may not be affected by the terms of the OP's contract with him, if there was one. Personally I doubt the law imposes any obligation to go back to the original contractor to fix the problem. -- H
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