S&J Plumbing and Gasfitting - stay away
Very disappointing experience with S&J Plumbing and Gas– extremely high charge for a very basic job.
We called this company on 3 August for a non urgent job of blocked drain on our investment property. I met technician NIck Maloney onsite, he arrived at 2.32pm the next day (weekday). The technician first quoted me $900 to use a water jet to unblock the drain, which I immediately declined, as I had quotes from other plumbers, quoting $200-450 max (with camera and water jet). But because the technician was already there, I asked whether there was a cheaper option, and he suggested using a chemical treatment, he said it was much cheaper option.
I agreed to the chemical treatment believing it was a much cheaper alternative. I did not see or knowingly approve a $720 quote (Quote number 16874/2) before the work was carried out.
Only when I came home and opened my emails, I saw the email from S&J Plumbing and Gas, with the quote - apparently the technician emailed me the quote when we were onsite, but did not tell me about it!
I did not open, read or approve that emailed quote. Instead, while onsite, the technician presented me with an IPad showing a blank screen with a place for me to sign. The $720 price and quote were not displayed to me on that screen. I signed without understanding that my signature would apparently be treated as acceptance of a $720 quote that I had never seen (minus $89 first customer discount the Company advertise on their website to fool customers into paying super high charges they have).
The actual work took 12-15 minutes (I have prove that it was not longer than that), and the technician was off at 15.03pm. The technician used a plunger and poured one bottle of chemical drain treatment down the drain! That was it for $631 (invoice 16874) - there was no water jetting, mechanical drain cleaning or camera inspection, the basic non-urgent job during business hours.
Had the technician clearly told me, “This chemical treatment will cost $720,” I would never have agreed to it**, particularly after I had just rejected the $900 jetting option because it was too expensive.
After seeing the quote, I contacted the company immediately after discovering how much I had been charged. The admin lady told me that she will report my concerns and my request for the charge to be reduced and a partial refund provided. Ok, I have made an error engaging S&J, but why I have been charged at the higher end of this company price list for 30minutes of technician's time and bottle of chemical liquid? The admin lady said that S&J charges for unblocking drains are from $500-900. So to me the fair (but still inflated) charge for this service would be $500-$89=$411. Still this is far more expensive, comparable to other plumber, who quoted $200- $450 (the top tier is for using jet and camera)
The admin lady has said that a manager would call me back.
I have now followed up three times and no manager has called me back.
After this experience, I have read other Google reviews for this Company - I wish we had read those reviews before calling S&J! - multiple customers reporting concerns about very high charges for relatively simple jobs, and also reporting that no one calls back when they complain.
We are now putting the dispute in writing and, if it is not resolved, intend to lodge a complaint with the Queensland Office of Fair Trading.
Update: less than a week later, we have the same issue with the drainage, only worse. We have called the company asking for the technician to come back and finish the job - admin lady said that it will be considered a new job, ripping customers off. They are also not transparent with their pricing and when you call, they will not tell you what their fees are.
Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this company, stay away.