It was very disappointing to read the two reviews that you and your wife wrote regarding the service provided by Gas Fix to your Rheem PVW50 water heater. Your wife’s review was removed though we did print a copy for our records. We have gone over and above as a contractor to provide you with the best service possible only to have you write false, misleading information in your review.
The first line in your review is a complete contradiction. Your wife hired us for free? The first point of contact was with your wife Irina when she called our office and spoke with Michelle. It was at that point that we advised what our fee is to dispatch the technician. Our service fee to dispatch our factory-trained, TSSA licensed gas technician to your house in the allotted time given to you upon booking is $93. Labour and parts are extra. Our labour rate is $96 per hour and labour begins once our technician arrives. This same information is detailed on all our invoices as well so there is no reason for our technician to misrepresent our rates and tell you the service was free. Our office staff does not quote on parts as we don’t know what, if anything, is required for the repair. This was fully disclosed to your wife upon booking the service call.
As noted, labour begins upon arrival of our technician and that includes all tasks that our technician does on behalf of the customer, which includes sourcing out the parts required for the repair which involves phone calls to the wholesalers to find out price and availability, especially when said parts are special order parts. The call was booked with an arrival time at some point between 12 PM and 2 PM. When we book our calls, we give a two hour time frame in which our technician will arrive when many other contractors give you a time frame between 8 AM and 6 PM. The technician arrived at 12:40 PM. The head technician for water heaters determined, quickly, that you needed a new hot surface ignitor and flame sensor with booster coils. He called our wholesalers to see who could provide the best price and who had the required items in stock. Once determined, he advised you, in writing, what the cost would be and the estimated labour time it would take to install the parts. At that point, you could have declined the repair and contacted a different contractor but you didn’t. The technician also called the office on your behalf to arrange the return call so we could complete the repair as quickly as possible. The office staff further shuffled our schedule around to be as accommodating as possible to prioritize you as we didn’t want you to be without hot water. For that first service call, the technician was there for 40 minutes but only billed you for 35 minutes as he didn’t want to bill you for arranging the return call with the office. For that first service call, you were charged $93 for the service fee plus 35 minutes labour, which is $56. The bill was $149 plus HST. Our prices do not include HST, which is extra. By law, most companies, including Gas Fix, cannot include HST in their pricing. The price of $168 that you are saying that you paid includes the HST and that is misleading.
We returned to install the ignitor and flame sensor with booster coils on December 9. The appointment was booked between 12 PM and 2 PM and the technician arrived promptly at 12:05 PM. As the technician had indicated on Monday, the repair took 30 minutes. We billed you $49 for the return service fee plus parts plus labour. The parts totaled $307.64 and 30 minutes labour totaled $48. The total bill for the second call was $404.64 plus HST. Both calls were $553.64 in total, before HST. Again, your $620 is misleading as that includes the HST.
Last, you imply that the parts used for the repair are used parts. Please note that Gas Fix does not use or purchase used parts. We purchase brand new parts directly from wholesalers who are supplied by the manufacturers. Further, there is not a contractor out there that would offer any warranty on a used part. Our invoice details our warranty policy. We warrant our labour for 30 days and we warrant our parts for 90 days.
Further, the last conversation your household had with our office was when your wife, Irina, called. Your wife was rude, belligerent and abusive towards our office administrator. Michelle answered all her questions politely and professionally. As the situation was escalating, I specifically advised Michelle to tell your wife to put her concerns in writing and send us a letter or email that we would address once all the paperwork was reviewed. I then advised her to terminate the call as we have a zero tolerance of any person being abusive to our staff.
At Gas Fix, we strive to provide quality service and care to all our clients. Unfortunately, there are circumstances where no matter how hard we try, it becomes clear that this is not possible.
