Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  07/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Magnolia Plumbing was hired under contract to repair the sewer at my house in Washington, D.C. on Monday July 3rd. At the time, the contract amount had been agreed to be paid by financing plan. Work began by them on July 4th but a stop work order was placed by DC DOT on July 5th because Magnolia had started digging on public property without ever filing a permit with DC water/city. Even after a stop work order was placed, the correct permit was never applied for by Magnolia. That stop work order was never lifted so the job was never completed and therefore the contract agreement should be void. Additionally, Magnolia had dug a trench without shoring that violated OSHA standards within 10 feet of the foundation of my house. With all the above, I did not feel comfortable having Magnolia finish the repair. After two days of Magnolia not being able to complete the job due to the stop work order, I called the foreman on the job to let him know I wanted the contract to be canceled. Additionally, I called the Magnolia Office and emailed their form notifying them the contract needed to be canceled on July 8th. They never confirmed on my phone call with them or email that the contract was void, and that someone would call me back in order to confirm the cancellation to make sure I would not be charged the $6800 in which the the finance plan was made for. Since that time, I have yet to hear back from Magnolia. I have called their office twice more and spoken with someone who claimed a manager would call me to confirm the contract was canceled. I have not received any call backs or clarification from them to finalize the details of our cancellation. Any additional calls have me on old until I speak with someone who can’t help me at the moment but will have someone call back. Attached is the contract for the repair that was never completed.

  

  Business response

  08/10/2023

  This email was sent on July 10th to a different email address listed in the complaint. Our manager never heard back from the client.

  From: *********************************** <*********************************************************>

  Date: July 10, 2023 at 7:09:00 AM EDT
  To: **************************
  Subject: Project Cancellation
  
  Good morning, **********************,
  
  I’m reaching out to you for your request to cancel the project at your home. After speaking with ****, I am currently aware that a stop work order was put on the project due to not having a public space permit. From what **** showed me was the property line for your home on  property quest. The lines appeared that you are responsible for some of the sewer line on the property but dc water and ddot gave us different information. We are capable of pulling the permit they are requiring but this will take a minimal of 14 days to obtain. In the past we have tried to expedite this but ddot will not expedite. This permit comes at a hefty cost. If you would like us to proceed I can show you the invoice for the permit and we would ask that this be covered by you seeing that this is not in our original contract. Please let me know if there is anything that I could do to help.
  

  Regards,
  
  **************************************
  Plumbing Service Manager, Residential Home Services
  Magnolia Companies
  **************************************************************************
  office: ************  ext:****
  *********************************************************
  ************************* Connect with us:  

• Initial Complaint

  12/14/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In mid-october 2022, Magnolia Plumbing came to our home because our sewer line was blocked. They tried snaking the line and hit an obstruction about 20 feet from our basement toilet, the best access point. Their camera could also not get past the obstruction. They told us they would have to dig up the line from the toilet to the obstruction, jackhammering 20 feet of concrete slab, for a cost of $15,000. We signed a contract for them to do that on Oct 24th, 2022.After replacing the line to the obstruction, they put their camera down the rest of the line to the street. I saw the images, which were black and white, very grainy and hard to read. They told me that the line to the street was severely corroded, missing much of the bottom portion of the cast iron pipe in several places and leaking sewage into our yard. They said it needed to be replaced at an additional cost of $25,000.We decided to get a second opinion. Another company put a camera down our line, and we saw a much higher quality image - high def and color. The sewer line looked quite good. They saw no holes. They said it was in surprisingly good shape for its age.They also indicated the work Magnolia did was unnecessarily destructive of our concrete slab and floor. They said a single hole could have been dug to clear the obstruction and assess the system.They recommended finishing the work in the basement and continuing replacing the old cast iron under the slab since it was now 70% replaced. They could achieve that by digging smaller holes and sliding pipe in, thereby preserving more of our slab. They recommended leaving the exterior line since it was in pretty good shape, and only adding a cleanout just outside the house. We hired them to finish the job.In the process they filled in the slab covering the work Magnolia did. According the our contract, we still owe Magnolia $5937.00. We have not, and do not intend to pay them.

  

  Business response

  12/19/2022

  My understanding is that we are reaching out to the client in attempts to come up with an amicable solution. 

  

  Business response

  12/23/2022

  what are you asking for on the summitted complaint? There is no detail. Just a written contract

• Initial Complaint

  12/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Last month I called Magnolia Plumbing (*** ************NE, Washington, DC *****) to ask for a quote on replacing 2 steam radiators. The tech said he would need to reach out to their supply company, but he had to charge me $49 to do the quote. I realize they are the type of company that like to fleece a bit before they actually do anything, they installed the boiler and did a decent job. So, I said ok. Several weeks went by and I heard nothing. I emailed the tech and he said he was still waiting to hear from the supply house. I waited another couple of weeks and emailed again saying I wanted this resolved by close of business on Monday 12/5. Nothing happened. I called on Friday 12/9 and left a message. Finally a "supervisor" called to say sorry he dropped the ball on this. He said they had decided, at some point, to not take the job and just never contacted me. I said I wanted my $49 dollars back. I was told the $49 was not for the proposal but rather just to have a tech come out. Now, I realize this company likes to fleece as much from people as possible but come on. This is ridiculous!

  

  Business response

  12/19/2022

  I have spoken to department manager *******************************. She will have a refund for $49.00 processed. I apologize for any lack of communication on our part. Thank you

  Customer response

  01/11/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  From: Jerry Foust <******@*****.com>
  Date: Tue, Jan 10, 2023 at 4:26 PM
  Subject: Complaint #********
  To: <*******@mybbb.org>
  
  Hello *** ******,
  I am responding to you to note that although you closed the complaint the matter has not been resolved.  I see that there is a response from Magnolia Plumbing on December 19, 2022 that they were going to refund the money.  However, as of today, January 10, 2023 they have not refunded the money.
  
  Thank you for your time.

  Regards,
  
  ***** *****

  

  Business response

  01/12/2023

  You should a reimbursement within 7-10 days 

  Customer response

  02/16/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  From: ***** ***** <******@*****.com>
  Date: Wed, Feb 15, 2023 at 6:20 PM
  Subject: Re: Complaint #********
  To: <*******@mybbb.org>
  

  Hello *** ******,
  
  I am responding to inquire why this has not been resolved.  I have attached a pdf of the response from the company saying they will send a reimbursement in 7 - 10 days.  It was dated January 12, 2023.  It is now 24 days later and no reimbursement from Magnolia Plumbing.  They are a horrible company and the Better Business Bureau should take it seriously.
  
  Thank you for your time.

  Regards,
  
  ***** ***** 

  

  Business response

  02/16/2023

  My understading is that our assistant CFO missed the reimbursement and it has been done and she reached out to the client directly to inform him

  Customer response

  03/15/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *****  
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/26/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Magnolia Plumbing provided me with a new water heater on 7-3-15. I paid a total of $1,783.00 for it. I assumed that they were a reputable company and that they followed the law. I found out yesterday that a permit was required to be pulled for the water heater when it was installed according to the law; and I also found out today by checking with the County and the Company that no permit was pulled. Further I found out yesterday that the work was not done according to code and that there are possible carbon monoxide leaks.

  

  Business response

  08/31/2022

  We are reviewing the work order. Rebecca F********* our field supervisor will reach back out to you again. If we missed the inspection we will have it inspected by the local jurisdiction. She will also make an onsite visit to review any possible deficiencies. The heater has been in use for 7 years. We will not be giving a refund. 

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩