Stay away from this guy unless you like being overcharged. Rob at Neighbourhood Plumbing and Heating Ltd in Calgary was recommended by the carpenter (who was loosely acting as a GC) we were using for our reno, so we had him come in and do a quote on replacing all the poly b in our 1000 ft bi level house, and moving some plumbing around. His quote was very high, and we told the carpenter we thought so, but he said “I’ve worked with him for years, he always quotes high then adjusts it on the final bill”. We went ahead with Rob at Neighbourhood Plumbing and Heating Ltd in Calgary, because we trusted our carpenter. On top of the first quote, Rob verbally quoted us “2 -3 hours and a few bucks for the gas line” to add a gas stove location to our reno – he charged us for 6 hours, and over $600 for materials, we never signed off on that. When we got the final bill, he charged us the full amount that was quoted – he claims it was a flat rate quote, even though everything was broken down by the hour, and nowhere on the quote does it say it’s a flat rate. I worked for a general contractor for 5 years, and not once did a subcontractor submit pricing that had hours broken out by task, hours, and materials costs when it was a flat rate quote – it defies the definition of a flat rate quote to break it down that way. The quote we received from Rob at Neighbourhood Plumbing and Heating Ltd in Calgary was by the very definition a time and material quote. Once we fired him, we had another plumber come in and quote finishing the work Rob didn’t do (he did not adjust his final bill to reflect the materials he didn't provide), and to quote us on the final connections. We’re actually glad this all happened, because it is saving us $2,000 to use another plumber for the final (which makes you wonder how much Rob at Neighbourhood Plumbing and Heating Ltd in Calgary overcharged us for the work he already did, if someone is that much less on the less intensive work). Rob’s quote on final to install 4 bathroom faucets, one kitchen faucet, connect a gas stove and dishwasher, two toilets, a shower system consisting of a shower head, hand shower and control, a bathtub and one floor mounted tub filler was $3,265, 32 hours of labour, plus materials. The new plumber quoted us $1,200 for the exact same work, apples to apples.
We paid Rob at Neighbourhood Plumbing and Heating Ltd in Calgary in full, less 10 hours of labour(that’s how much time I thought was reasonable to deduct, it was actually more than that – we have an alarm system and I can see the time entries for the days he says he worked). We also asked him for a breakdown of actual days and time worked, and according to his own breakdown, he overbilled us for 3.5 hours, PLUS the additional hours I can prove with the alarm entries, so it’s more like 17 hours overcharged. He threatened to send the amount we didn’t pay to collections, so we paid him in full and will pursue getting that amount back through legal means. We have no complaints about the work other than the slow leak from a connection inside a wall that WE found after they did the work, a leak at the gas connection for the stove that he had to come back and fix, and the elbow connection under the floor leading to the outside hose bib that wasn’t connected as far up the joint as it should have been (the new plumber took the crimp off, pulled it up, and re-crimped). And don’t even get me started on the how much he overcharged us for materials. Half inch pex water lines costs $29 for a 100 foot roll at Home Detail, full retail price. There can’t be more than 400 feet of water lines in our house, plus a few additional materials and two outside hose bib connections…he charged us $1,550 for materials. Again, we thought his costs would be coming down once he did his final bill. My advice: get three quotes on your job, and go with your gut. I didn't trust him from the start, and now it's obvious why.
