Plumbing Services

I hired Epps Plumbing thru Grove Supply to install new brass faucets and shower handle attachment in my main bath tub which is a reproduction claw foot tub with brass feet and faucet that had sprung pinhole leaks. This job went fine. The Shower in the bath off of my bedroom was also brass and I was told the stem needed replacing. The company that made the faucets and shower riser (Sunrise) had gone out of business so the plumbing supply told me Epps should do the measuring, not to try to do it myself as the brass was very expensive. Allan Epps came in, measured and I signed a work order for what I had picked out at the plumbing supply. When the items came in they were way too large for my shower and Mr. Epps told me there was a restocking fee that I'd have to pay at approximately 30% of the items cost. I questioned why I had to pay it being he was the plumber and measured and he said he could not "eat the cost" and also that it needed to be customed to fit my shower. He ordered it and after he told me it had been shipped he said it wouldn't look like the other one that it had "right angles" to which I replied I didn't understand to show me what he meant. Where my shower riser curved and was very graceful looking to match the look of my historic farmhouse he informed me this one would not curve but came out in a straight line and down again in the straight line. I said that I had never approved anything like that nor had he ever mentioned the extreme changes from my other shower before ordering it. He said it wasn't returnable as it was custom so I might as well just keep it and then he proceeded to repair the hot faucet stem. I asked him why he didn't do that before ordering such expensive items and his reply was that he had just done me a "favor." I said I wasn't paying for that so he offered to split it with me. I said, "No, that I'd pay for the shower steam part and his time for that job. He said the part had been on his truck for eight years and he'd forgotten about it but that it was $100. I paid $150 for the part and his time in Sept. And by January I had no hot water coming out of the faucet but the cold still worked. I called and left him a voicemail and he returned the call with a voicemail saying the part had no warranty and not to call him again that he was just returning my call as a courtesy since I didn't pay him for the items I stuck him with. #1: He was responsible for measuring wrong but wanted me to pay for his error, #2: He never told me of any changes to the custom items or got approval before ordering them, #3: I paid $150 for a repair that worked for only three and a half months and he refused to stand behind the part or his work. Don't hire this plumber or beware if you do!