Prices take Advantage of Desperate people
On July 16th I went to my basement and discovered I had sewer back up on the floor. Because this had happened before and I had to rip out my whole finished suite I didn’t do my due diligence in selecting a Plumbing Company.
I checked plumbers on the BBB site and called ProStar Plumbing.
On July 17th Darcy (from ProStar) came and quoted me $4,400.00 to install a backwater valve. This would include removing some of the concrete to expose the pipe, installing the valve and pouring new concrete to cover the hole.
Darcy said he needed $2,000.00 to secure the job and this money wasn’t refundable. I gave him my credit card and he put through the charge.
On July 20th a (young) man came with a jackhammer and proceeded to remove the necessary concrete. He was here between 2.5 - 3 hours and then left leaving broken concrete piled on the floor.
Spoke to Darcy again who advised me that there was more work than was first thought but wouldn’t expand on what this meant. He also wouldn’t give me the additional cost involved.
After this conversation I thought I should check with other plumbers as to what they thought the cost should be. One said it shouldn’t be more than ½ of what was quoted for the whole job ($2,400.00) and I should call ProStar and request $1,700.00 back from my deposit as even at the outside for 3 hours labor already done it shouldn’t be more than $300.00. The 2nd plumber said for the total job he charges between $1,200.00 - $1,500.00. These quotes are $2000.00 and $3,200.00 - $2,900.00 less than Prostar.
After speaking to the other two plumbing companies I called ProStar and advised I wouldn’t be needing their services any longer and asked for $1,700.00 of the $2,000.00 back as there was very little work actually done. The concrete removal wasn’t even completed.
The owner of the company (Carlton) called me back and was extremely abrasive. He wouldn’t concede to anything. I told him I had conversations with two other plumbing companies and the consensus was that ProStarr was gouging. He said I would be hearing from his lawyer; so far nothing. Probably because at the time of this report I haven’t yet made a complaint with the BBB, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumers’ Association of Canada.
The owner also wanted to know the names of the other Plumbing Companies. I told him I wasn’t divulging that information at this time because according to some reviews on Google he goes after other companies by leaving untrue negative reviews. He said his lawyer does this not him.
I was also asked the same question by Brian, the person sent back to collect the jackhammer and I responded to him with the same answer.
When researching Prostar it seems they operate under three different names and at least three different addresses.
The membership form shows the address as #116, 2845 - 23 St NE
Invoice shows the address as #1545,246 Stewart Green SW and the company name is Service
King.
AND ProStar Plumbing, Heating and Drains
On the Google and BBB sites they are listed as ProStar at 1620 Summer St. SW.
Interestingly they do not have an email address listed on any of their sites. You have to call them which leaves no record of what was actually discussed.
Another investigation would be to see if this company(s) has a current Prepaid Contractors’ License. If they do, and according to Alberta Licensing they cannot charge more than 10% of the total quoted job or $1,000.00 whichever is LOWER. In my case that would be $440.00 maximum not $2,000.00.
Date of experience: August 05, 2021