I recently had a plumber to our house (8/18/08) from Weddle Plumbing to fix a leaky faucet (brand new) and plumbing. The gentleman was very nice and arrived in a timely manner.

Part of the way through the job, he said he would need to use plumbers putty to adhere the drain trap to our new sink. He mentioned he would need to go back to the store to get this. He said he did have something in the truck that would take 24 hours to dry, but recommended the plumbers putty because we could test it immediately. He was gone for around 40 minutes (had said it would only take about 10). (Mapquest indicates that it is a 9 minute drive each way.)

He returned with the product and eventually fixed the leaks under the sink. (The faucet and sprayer were still leaking, but he said we would need to contact Delta - the faucet maker - about this, which is fine.)

When the bill came, it was rated at 2.25 hours of labor. He arrived at 1:40 and was giving me the bill at 2:30. At the time, however, I was more concerned that I was charged for his drive time. No one informed me that this would be the case; if I would have known, I would have driven less than 5 minutes to the local supply store to get this product.

When I mentioned this to the plumber, he apologized and said I could talk to RICHARD at Weddle Plumbing. I called immediately after the plumber left (around 2:46 - this was after the discussion of the bill and some idle chat as he was leaving). Richard was not interested in hearing my complaint. Instead, he said that I had told him that I had all of the supplies on hand (in scheduling the appointment, I mentioned we had the faucet already...we had also used the recommended adherent for the sink drain).

Richard also stated, repeatedly, that the plumbers do not carry everything with them. I acknowledged understanding this, but kept reiterating that someone should have told me I would be paying for his drive time (which took far longer than it should have given the distance and estimated time of travel) - if I would have known, I would have gone to provide the materials myself. (To this, Richard again replied that I had told him that I had everything on hand so he expected that I did. I had never said "I had everything the plumber will need" - all I mentioned in scheduling the call was that we had a new faucet we had attempted to install ourselves but had found to be leaking; thus, needed to schedule an appointment.)

Towards the end, Richard stated that he "had told me that there was a $65 trip charge and $20 for every 15 minutes" which includes all time that the plumber cannot be at another job. While I can respect that; to me, charges are made when the professional is physically working on the problem for which I hired him/her. If it would have been made clear PRIOR to the trip that these charges would apply for drive time (which, again, took far longer than should have been), I would have taken responsibility for obtaining the needed materials and saved myself money on the process. (I tried to explain this to Richard but, again, was interrupted - I'm not sure how much he heard.)

Richard repeatedly kept talking over me (I had to interrupt several times just in hopes that he would allow me to talk!) and clearly had no interest in resolving this problem in any form or fashion.

I called back at 2:55 to speak with someone once I realized the 2.25 hours I was charged (which should have been 2 hours). I spoke with Tammy (Weddle) this time, who was actually very friendly. She did say that the "house gets the advantage" when rounding time, but mentioned that she would be happy to take off the .25 because she didn't want me to get upset over it. I thanked her for her gracious response but mentioned that I had other issues with Richard and the charges I received.

While both Tammy and the plumber who worked at our home were very kind, my experience with the charge (which I feel was extraneous and not adequately explained in advance) and, in particular, with Richard, means I will certainly not give my business to Weddle Plumbing, Inc again and would hope others would think twice about doing so.

-Lisa Wilson