Brian Himpel Plumbing Services

Brian Himpel Plumbing came out to my home on a Friday to check a leaky toilet. He told me that the toilet needed to be reset & the ring/Wax Seal needed to be changed & He charges approx. $ 200.00 to do this basic job. I Had him do the work and also had him do the same thing for another toilet in my home as well. I Paid close to $400 on that friday for his services. The Toilet continued leaked all weekend driving water through the ceiling below. I called his office / Cell # & Left a few messages. I received a callback from a women saying she was the emergency service / answering service & that they weren't taking call over the weekend and then Brian was away. She said- "You'll have to call him back on andy morning" I did so & Finally Monday he came back out to check the continued leak. He then saiid there was now a hairline crack in the toilet. (In my opinion this should have been noticed the friday before instead of him telling me the problem was the wax seal & charging me to change the ring and set the toilet. The hairline crack was so tiny that I there is no way that was the reason for the continued leak. I now wonder if he actually did the work he said he did & charged me for) In any event, he Told me it would cost an addition $550 for a new toilet. I said to him- what about the $200 I said the other day for you to eliminate the leak- He said, that seal would have needed to be replaced anyway etc. etc.. I didn't argue- I simply said- fine Lets change the toilet. He told me he would be brining a better toilet with the same look etc... He came back later in the day and installed a toilet not even close to the look of the one he already took out of the house earlier in the morning. I That same evening & called repeatedly for days and also sent texts to say we didn't want the toilet he Installed. (I made sure the water was shut off immediately and the toilet was never used.) He ignored the calls and texts for days and finally responded by sending text excuses (was in class all day on 1 day & his cell phone battery died etc. on another day, etc. etc.) as to why he wasn't able to get back to me. He said in these texts he would get back at certain times & then never did. I Finally got a call from him at my office (where all calls coming in & going out are recorded) so I have that entire entire conversation. I actually thought he was going to resolve the problem (based on the recorded convo) & what he told me on the phone. After that conversation he sent new Text messages saying it would cost another $200 etc etc etc. I said no and I asked him to simply come get the toilet. He said he would try to come back and get it etc. that day- when he could find time between jobs etc.. He again stalled for days in getting back to me and sent texts with excuse after excuse. It was clear he was stalling until he cashed the 2nd ck I gave him for over $550 (for the new toilet). I called my bank and stopped payment on only the 2nd check ( I let him cash the first check I gave him for $ 400 -even though he screwed me out of $ 200.00 on the very first visit). figured he would eventually call me when he wasn't able to cash the 2nd check. I never heard back from him & Let things go for 11 days later I simply sent 1 New Text message saying - " Your Toilet is in a box brand new ready for you to pick it up at your convenience - Please Advise". He replied back saying - "Now your harassing me. I will be filing a claim In small claims court for the stop payment you pout on the check" I replied 1 last time saying : " I'm not harassing you at all. I am simply giving you an opportunity to pick up your product. If you change your mind you can pick up the toilet (it's brand new in a box & safe in my garage). If you don't change his mind I will wait for something from small claims court & see you in court with al the text messages & the recorded telephone conversation we had." Then about an hour later he apparently went to the local police and complained that I was harassing him. I got a call from the police dept. - I was shocked !!! The officer o the other end couldn't believe it either & apologized for having to call. He said- he had no choice because the Plumber came in and asked him to. At this point the only resolution is court. I have all text messages and the recorded telephone conversation which I will be bringing into court. I will also be counter suing in small claim court to get the original payment I gave him for resetting the toilet (which was clearly a lie- being he then said, 3 days later, that I needed a new toilet) In the meantime I already purchased the correct toilet and had another plumber install it etc. so I paid another $600 to have the proper toilet put in etc. My experience with this provider was ridiculous and I strongly urge anyone considering using him to think very strongly before doing so.