Back To The San Diego Plumbers, Part 3. They Must Be “Official Re-Bath” with Ethics Like These…

On with the soap opera…:

Email sent 5-21-08
"Good Morning Mr. Murdock,
Again, I am astounded at the actions taken by agents of Re-Bath while supposedly attempting to rectify previous mistakes. I thought I had been clear to everyone I spoke with in making a point about stopping the shoddy work and the lying that has become the status quo for responses from Re-Bath franchise employees. When we would rhetorically say, what can go wrong next, it or something worse would.

The plumber that was dispatched not only showed up late, apparently using the same exact bogus excuse as the Re-Bath guys used to explain their tardiness on Saturday, ( we checked the traffic reports online and found no mention of these claimed accidents). OK, so it's just more of our time wasted, but to compound the matter, but the plumber flat out lied to me when I said the "clear silicone" sealant he used to secure the escutcheon looked white, but he said “it will dry clear because it is clear, just looks that way when wet”. I guess I should have made him redo it on the spot, but I figured after all that has happened, and considering the situation this these guys would not have the audacity lie to my face like that, and that I did not any proof it wouldn't dry as he said at the time. Now that it has dried, it has turned opaque white and looks and feels like it is just latex caulk, not even silicone.

Granted,it looks like we can finally use our shower, another 24 hours later, finally tonight. (That's five days without use of our shower this time due to S.D. Re-Bath's mistakes.) The repair needs to be done correctly at some future time.

But unfortunately there is more. I decided to test the shower this morning since we were not even given a demonstration to show that it worked properly by the installers on Saturday, or the plumber yesterday. Sadly the shower head sprays out the top of the enclosure over the door and onto the window. I tried to rotate the head to aim the spray inward but it has so many errant sprays it is of no use. I then noticed the shower head pipe coming out of the wall wiggled a very significant amount while I was rotating the shower head and the escutcheon around it is not fastened securely to the wall either. Another instance of a Re-Bath installer lying to our faces when we pointed out it did not look right last Saturday. Miguel told me he knew how to fix it and would secure it, then later told us he did secure it with putty. Sorry, it is not secure.

I have attached pictures showing the escutcheon caulking, the water spraying from the head, and how soaked the top of the door rail was after about 30 seconds of running the water. The water spray made it all the way to the toilet, and of course onto the floor in between.
We really would like our shower to be usable, I know that has been stated clearly many times, yet it is still substandard and not functioning correctly. You mentioned you had other technicians that have made many customers happy, maybe one of them should have been dispatched for this repair?

These may seem like petty or minor concerns to you, and if these were the only problems we had I would not be contacting you today other than to provide the contractors quote. But considering the events leading up to them, and the way the “service” call was orchestrated yesterday before even contacting me, it goes exactly to demonstrate the lack of honesty and integrity we discussed and that was shown by the Re-Bath franchise agents and certainly of Myrna's lies and fabricated theatrics she told you about our conversation. I welcome a three way call with you, her and I, if she wishes to explain herself. As I have mentioned multiple times, I do see a clear difference in the actions and attitudes between Re-Bath corporate and the Re-Bath franchise. That is a positive reflection for the most part on the corporate staff, and unfortunately a series of very negative experiences with the franchise people that seems to be escalating instead of them trying to help us.

So, this means the job attempted last Saturday and yesterday is still not completed correctly.
I’m not sure what I can do to repair the shower head to control the spray. I believe it needs to be replaced. We are compiling the "punch list" you requested as well as a list of compensatory damages to be addressed. We have the original repair request lists we’ve submitted in the past and will update them as quickly as we can.
Also attached is the contractors quote. I am looking forward to a prompt and fair solution to all of the problems as well as a timely response from you this morning.”


Yes, there are a few sugar coated lines in there, as it is often said, you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. We were trying to give these cheats the benefit of the doubt and be civil too, we actually always have been civil to them despite our feelings toward them, there really is no reason not be, except after being figuratively kicked in the teeth repeatedly by them…