South Morang Plumbing & Gas

I would give less than 1 star if I could – I hired [Name Removed] from South Morang Plumbing and Gas, in July 2023 to replace the old hot water system with an instant, to install two water taps in the yard, 3 storm water points, and to install a basin in the toilet room, running the necessary pipes for cold and hot water and for drainage. I told him I want the work to be done according to the standards and as soon as possible. On 26 July, [Name Removed] arrived with another person, [Name Removed], and I understood that [Name Removed] was [Name Removed] employee, but I found out after 7 months that [Name Removed] has his company named RDH Plumbing. [Name Removed] installed the hot water instant and the 2 taps, while [Name Removed] installed the storm water points. The removal of the whole old hot water system (including solar panel) was on the quote, and I paid for it, but after a few days I noticed that they didn’t remove the hot water solar panel from the roof, just because I was too short to see that it was still on the roof. I contacted [Name Removed] several times, kindly asking him to come and remove the panel as we were scheduled to put a solar panel system on that roof, and we were waiting for [Name Removed] to remove this panel. On 4 September (after more than a month), [Name Removed] came and removed the panel. I still haven’t received the warranty and compliance certificate for this work, even though I asked [Name Removed] repeatedly to send them to me. For the basin, the quote from [Name Removed] was $2,500, including digging, materials (pipes, fittings), running the pipes, the quarter minus used to backfill the trench for the sewer pipe, the basin, cabinet, mixer (tap) plus installation (labour cost), cutting the plasterboard wall to run the hot and cold water pipes in the toilet room, repairing the wall and painting it. Instead of advising me to get the plans from the Council with less than $40 to see where the pipes run through, he spent a whole day with [Name Removed] digging through the backyard with an excavator to search wherever he thought the pipes might be (to connect the basin sewage to). He found nothing (the pipe was not running through that place). He dug the whole yard, didn’t do any useful work, and charged me $1,309 for the day for this digging even though no work was actually delivered and I also had to pay someone to compact the soil so we don’t break our legs walking through the garden. Then I told him I can’t afford to pay for the digging anymore, so I dug the trench myself. I also bought the basin, cabinet and mixer (tap) myself at a better price than he was offering. For the quarter minus, he asked me to buy it from an acquaintance of his with $80 per cube meter, but after I gave the card details, they charged me $160 per cube meter. I called them and they said “I thought your plumber told you the cost”, and [Name Removed] asked me to leave things like this and not complain about it. I asked for an updated quote for the basin and associated work, given that I supplied everything myself, apart from his labour and the pipes and fittings. He charged me $2,450, even though the initial job was $2,500 including everything that I was now supplying. I told him it’s too expensive and he said that is his price and if I’m not happy with it, he won’t do the job. A complete rip off! I paid another $2,000 for the pipes to be installed, then I backfilled the trench myself, after I waited for one month for [Name Removed] to confirm that I can backfill the trench. [Name Removed] was supposed to come after I fixed the toilet wall myself (so I don’t have to pay him a lot of money for that as well) in order to install the basin which will cost another $450.

He was on holidays repeatedly, then he was busy, and on 20 Feb when I asked him again to book me in to install the basin, he said he is busy with basketball, kids and a new full time job he started, and that I should find another plumber. I told him he needs to finish the job he started and that I’ve been waiting for him for 7 months and I made myself available whenever he wanted, and he insulted me repeatedly and refused to come. [Name Removed] (brought in by [Name Removed]) also put a water tap pipe through a place where I need to put a post for the pergola - I had clearly explained to [Name Removed] where the pergola post will be but they still put the pipe there and now I have to get another plumber to move it and fix their mistake, and of course, to pay another money for this. I would recommend that you find a plumber that actually respects the client and the client’s time, and is not just after the money and then leaves the work half way through.