Update #1: On Jan 22, 2022, I sent a letter to the owner of Michael and Son with an offer, for a fee, to review their CRM system, training and procedures.
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Michael and Son missed 4 of 7 appointments that needed to be rescheduled. I would say they are as bad as the cable company. But, that would be disparaging to the cable company.
If you can tolerate the lack of proactive communications, missed appointments, and customer service reps, you need to explain the situation on every phone call; they are OK to work on your plumbing.
These issues may be the nature of the current service industries with the lack of employees to complete a backlog of work. Good communications would have eliminated my uneasiness.
An explanation of the work time frame could have been better. I didn’t know that the on-site work would only be 2 hours. I thought it would take all day.
Besides the scheduling and communication problems, they did the work without issue, and the price was fair.
Details of my experience are as follows:
Monday, November 29
I received my water bill from the county, and the consumption was three times my typical usage.
I ran a toilet leak test and found no issue.
I contacted Stafford County Utilities to report a problem, and they scheduled a flow test for later in the week.
Wednesday, December 1
The county found I had used 7000 gallons in 9 days. We isolated the leak was between the water meter and the inside shut-off. Water was not bubbling out of the water meter or leaking from the pipes inside the house. So, the leak was somewhere in the ground.
I contacted Miss Utility to mark the ground in anticipation of digging.
I called FH Furr, who would call me back to set up an appointment.
Thursday, December 2
I had not received a return call from FH Furr.
I called Michael and Son and made an appointment for December 3 between 8 and 10:30 am.
Shortly after that, I received a call from FH Furr, who indicated they could repair but could not detect what to fix. Also, they could do a complete replacement.
In 1997, I replaced the main water line on my house on Lee Avenue for about $2500.
FH Furr recommended American Leak Detection to determine the location of the leak.
Friday, December 3
I did not run this morning because of my 8 am appointment with Michael and Son. I thought I could run later in the day.
At 10:30 am, no tech had arrived, so I called Michael and Son. Their response “he should be done at his current job and call you in 10 minutes”.
At 11:30 am, no call yet, so I called Michael and Son. Their response “he is in Annandale working on paperwork and will call you in 10 minutes”.
At 1:30 pm, no call yet, so I called Michael and Son. Their response “he is in Quantico.” I rescheduled for Monday from 10:30 am to 1 pm, missed appointment number 1.
Michael and Son did not call me to advise of missing the appointment time during the scheduled window. If they had called, I would have run in the morning and not waited around.
At 2 pm, I contacted American Leak Detection. It would cost $600 to find the leak location, which they would not be guarantee. Their earliest possible appointment was Thursday, December 9.
Monday, December 6
I wanted to make sure I would be able to run today. So, I made my appointment time with Michael and Son for 10:30 am to 1 pm. I had a nice 6-mile run.
At 1:20 pm, no call yet, so I called Michael and Son. Their response “he is in Springfield.” I told them I would call back if I did not hear from him before my time constraint.
Once again, I did not receive a call from Michael and Son advising me of the schedule issue. On my calls to them, I received no acknowledgment that they saw they had any problems or mentioned my past calls.
After calling Michael and Son, I reached out to FH FURR to get an estimate for replacing the pipe.
Within 10 minutes, When FH Furr called me back to schedule an appointment for an estimate, their line hung up without connecting. I waited 15 minutes, so I called back on the number from my caller id.
It took a little while to get to the correct person at FH Furr. I scheduled an appointment for 2 to 3 pm on Tuesday. They will text me on my cell before heading my way.
FH Furr called back within an hour to change their appointment to 2 to 3 pm on Wednesday.
At 2:30 pm, no call yet, so I called Michael and Son. I was out of time. So, I made an appointment for Wednesday between 1 and 3:30 pm, missed appointment number 2.
Wednesday, December 8
I got back from shopping by 9:45 am.
Michael and Son called me at 12:30 pm and told me they would be here in 25 minutes. Around 1 pm, Wylace Liggon arrived. Nice guy. He looked at the side of the house and into the crawl space. He gave me two quotes, one to patch the existing pipe and one to replace the main water line. To repair the line, I would need to have a leak detection company mark a spot. Their current work backlog is two weeks.
On his tablet, he was able to show me the two quotes and emailed me the details. When I got back to my computer, the quote emails with more information were in my inbox.
FH Furr, Shawn Kelly, showed up at 2 pm. Nice guy. He looked at the side of the house and into the crawl space. He gave me verbal quotes to repair or replace. He said he would email me the estimates. Compared to Michael and Son, patching was cheaper, and replacing was more expensive.
When I got back to my email, a quote from FH Furr had not arrived.
Later that night, I emailed Shawn Kelly and asked him to resend the quote.
Thursday, December 9
A quote from FH Furr had not arrived. I contacted their office to resend.
By 2 pm, I still had not received a quote from FH Furr. I decided to go with Michael and Son for a complete water main replacement.
I printed the quote document, added a couple of clauses, and signed. I called Michael and Son to schedule the work and asked where to email the signed quote document. They told me that somebody would contact me once they received the signed quote document. I would need to be in attendance during the job, and it should take one day to complete.
I emailed the signed documents.
Friday, December 10
Michael and Son called at 9 am and scheduled a meeting with Wylace Liggon for 10:30 am to 1 pm on Tuesday, December 14. At the meeting, we’ll sign a contract and schedule the work.
Even though 40 gallons per hour are leaking, it is going into the ground, and there are no wet or soggy spots on my grass. Maybe, the water is filling up groundhog burrows?
Tuesday, December 14
Michael and Son arrived at 10:30 am at the start of the scheduled window. We went over the contract, signed it, and I paid a 30% deposit. They started the permitting process with Stafford County. Wylace marked the sewer line, which went around the opposite side of the house from the waterline.
Wylace told me that once Stafford County has issued the permit, Michael and Son will contact me about scheduling. If I don’t hear by Friday, I should call the office.
The plan is to do the work in one day and then have the inspector look at the finished product the following day. I will have water overnight. The water may be off for a couple of hours during the first day. I do need to be around while they are doing the job.
Wednesday, December 15
FH Furr sent me an email to rate their service. They did not get a good review since I have never received a quote. They sent me the quote in an email after reading my comments. FH Furr’s estimate to replace the entire line was $11,500. This price was a considerable difference from Michael and Son’s.
Friday, December 17
Just before noon, I called Michael and Son. They told me they had the Building Permit and that the technician would contact me to schedule work later in the day. The remainder of the day, I did not receive a call.
Monday, December 20
I gave Michael and Son a call around 2 pm. They told me the Building Permit just got there today. Oops. Either they lied on Friday or lied today. They need to get better automated CRM software to know what they told me on Friday. They told me somebody would call me Tuesday morning to schedule the work. I’ll see if I can finish my morning run by 9 am.
Tuesday, December 21
I got a call from Glenda Lehnen of the Michael and Son Dispatch Office. Nice Lady. She called around 8:30 am when I was out running. I called her back at 9 am. We set an appointment for 1 to 3:30 pm on Wednesday, December 22. They will dig that day and return Thursday morning to complete the work. Water will not be off overnight. They hope to do the final inspection on Thursday, too. I received two appointment emails: one for Wednesday, from 1 to 3:30 pm, and another for Monday, December 27, from 8 to 10:30 am.
Wednesday, December 22
I called Glenda around 2 pm to verify the purpose of the Monday appointment. They will start work on Wednesday and finish on Thursday morning. Monday will be the county inspection.
I called Michael and Son around 4 pm to find an eta. Ronny, the Tech, is working on a pipe that won’t hold water and asked to reschedule for Thursday at 8 am; missed appointment number 3.
Thursday, December 23
Workers showed up just after 8 am. They were in an unbranded truck and clothing. I assume they were subcontractors. English was not their first language. It only took them 2 hours to finish the work. I have a new water line. My water pressure is better. The hole they dug at the water meter is still there, surrounded by orange fencing. They can not fill the ditch until the inspection is complete on Monday. I have not looked in the crawl space to see what needs to be completed.
It was freezing Wednesday night. If they dug yesterday, the new line might have frozen. Between today and Monday, temperatures are forecast to be above freezing.
Monday, December 27
My appointment was from 8 to 10:30 am. Nobody had arrived or called before 10:30 am. I could have run, missed appointment number 4.
When I called at 10:45 am, Michael and Son indicated Wylace was tied up at a different job, and I was next in the line. He is in this area. So, it’s not a drive from Northern Virginia. The projected window is 12:30 pm to 2 pm.
I asked Mary Ann if she gets a lot of calls like this. The answer was, “no, I must just have bad luck.”
In anticipation of writing this blog, I went on yelp to see past reviews. Michael and Son is a 2-star company with many complaints.
Many complaints dealt with pricing. There is nothing you can do about pricing, as most people don’t understand the cost of running a plumbing business.
I think that this review won’t make any difference.
I checked the weather forecast. There are forecasted lows above 40 degrees until January 1. At least, the exposed pipe won’t freeze.
At 12:30 pm, I decided to call the Stafford County Building Inspection Office (540) 658-8950 to check the scheduled inspection time window. On the first attempt, the phone system went to a loop of messages. I wonder if these can be scheduled and monitored online. I putzed with their online system for a little while.
About 1 pm, the inspector showed up, and Wylace was here, too. Wylace said he was here at 8 am and then found out the inspection window was 12:30 to 2 pm. He was sitting in front of the house next door since 12:30 pm.
Inspection passed.
Wylace told me they would be back to fill in the hole.
Tuesday, December 28
I went out to run just before 9 am. When I returned home, they had backfilled the hole.
I called Michael and Son to get a receipt, and they sent me one via email.
I applied with Stafford County for a leak adjustment, and they reduced my $301 water bill to $74.