- Sep 15, 2007
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This is my latest personal experience with government abuse and corruption so there are no news links but it is a current event.
Several months ago my partner hired a plumbing company to do an oil to gas conversion on a rental property. After most of thethe work was done, it was discovered the plumber was not licensed but only had an apprentice license, which means he couldn't do anything. Upon discovery I visited the Gas and Plumbing Inspections office for the city to inform them of the situation. The Inspector did nothing about the guy posing as a licensed plumber, and it turns out the Inspector has known the guy for a few years, after telling me he had never heard of him.
The work needed to be completed so I had two other companies visit the property and submit a bid. Company Name Y gave a detailed proposal for labor and parts with a fixed price of $3,000 and the other, Name X, gave an estimate of $2,500. The latter said he wanted to have the Inspector look at it to save time by knowing exactly what the inspector wanted for it to pass inspection and we agreed. After the visit with the Inspector his estimate jumped to $8,500 and he still could not give a fixed price so we decided not to use him.
The Inspector then asked for all paperwork regarding the original plumber hired so I visited his office with it. At this time I told him the first company that gave a bid will finish the work and he said "I thought Name X was going to do it?" I said no because Name X could not give a detailed bid. He responds by saying nobody is going to finish it until we have a meeting with the original (unlicensed) plumber. After the meeting he asked again who was going to finish it and I told him Name Y. Wrong answer!
He goes to the rental property and and has all gas shut off and meters removed for "safety concerns." This whole process took several weeks so if it was about safety he would have shut the gas off when made aware of the situation. I asked him if he could recommend a plumber and he said legally he can't but he was "real comfortable" with Name X. I then called Name X and to our amazement, he could be there the next day.
Name X billed $8,500 for parts and labor. He gave no receipts for plumbing parts and was at the house for three days. When the Inspector showed up he didnt inspect anything but simply filled out the tags so the gas company could re-install the meters. What could we do but pay it? We couldn't have tenants without heat and hot water.
The whole situation is nauseating.
Several months ago my partner hired a plumbing company to do an oil to gas conversion on a rental property. After most of thethe work was done, it was discovered the plumber was not licensed but only had an apprentice license, which means he couldn't do anything. Upon discovery I visited the Gas and Plumbing Inspections office for the city to inform them of the situation. The Inspector did nothing about the guy posing as a licensed plumber, and it turns out the Inspector has known the guy for a few years, after telling me he had never heard of him.
The work needed to be completed so I had two other companies visit the property and submit a bid. Company Name Y gave a detailed proposal for labor and parts with a fixed price of $3,000 and the other, Name X, gave an estimate of $2,500. The latter said he wanted to have the Inspector look at it to save time by knowing exactly what the inspector wanted for it to pass inspection and we agreed. After the visit with the Inspector his estimate jumped to $8,500 and he still could not give a fixed price so we decided not to use him.
The Inspector then asked for all paperwork regarding the original plumber hired so I visited his office with it. At this time I told him the first company that gave a bid will finish the work and he said "I thought Name X was going to do it?" I said no because Name X could not give a detailed bid. He responds by saying nobody is going to finish it until we have a meeting with the original (unlicensed) plumber. After the meeting he asked again who was going to finish it and I told him Name Y. Wrong answer!
He goes to the rental property and and has all gas shut off and meters removed for "safety concerns." This whole process took several weeks so if it was about safety he would have shut the gas off when made aware of the situation. I asked him if he could recommend a plumber and he said legally he can't but he was "real comfortable" with Name X. I then called Name X and to our amazement, he could be there the next day.
Name X billed $8,500 for parts and labor. He gave no receipts for plumbing parts and was at the house for three days. When the Inspector showed up he didnt inspect anything but simply filled out the tags so the gas company could re-install the meters. What could we do but pay it? We couldn't have tenants without heat and hot water.
The whole situation is nauseating.