Ian's Plumbing

Clean, tidy work, no complaint with the tech (edit: except it leaks and they wont stop the leak without a second job). BIG issue is the sunk-cost quoting structure. I called to get a tempering valve replaced on my solar hot water system and asked for a rough phone estimate. They wouldn't give one without coming out, minimum $80. Fair enough. Once here, they would not provide a rough quote without first doing a mandatory $580 inspection (60 minutes). "Andrew Supervisor" at head office said no quote could be given without it.

They then agreed the valve needed replacing and quoted $1,990, with the $580 credited, so "only" $1,409 more to fix it on the spot. They made a point of saying they werent forcing me to do anything.

i'd argue spending $580 / quote limits your ability to get another quote. "You don't have to accept" is technically true but practically hollow.

FYI, a tempering valve replacement on an electric-boosted solar system costs about $1,990 here.

EDIT: The work has introduced a new leak. After reporting this back to them they sent out a second plumber. The new plumber was not made aware of the reported leak and was under the impression he was just checking the water temperature. After showing him the leak he quoted $1400 to fix the leak, after calling his head office he confirmed that it would be a new job and would need a new quote setup before he starts any work.

Ripping off the elderly and vulnerable. My 86 year old Mum called for a quote. They advised a callout fee of $79 even though their advertising says No Callout Fee. This is a means to suck people into engaging their services. Quoted Mum $8000 to supply and install a 250 litre hot water system in her retirement village home but would discount to $6000 if done that day. When Mum told me, I rang a couple of local companies and the quotes were $2500-$3000 for the same work. This is elder abuse and taking advantage of the vulnerable. They advertise “Best Price Guarantee” so I’ll be investigating that and intend taking action with QBCC, Office of Fair Trading and ACA. Interesting that I could not find a single review on this company anywhere.