GEM Plumbing

dougchips

My sister had this company out to repair the drains for her toilet and bathtub. They quoted a price, cut open the ceiling and re did the drains. They now want $800 to replace a gasket in the waste and overflow. They quoted the $800 and mentioned that they inserted some silicone that will hopefully not leak. The waste and overflow is now very easy to get out since they have removed the ceiling and replaced all the plumbing up to it.

Is Gem Plumbing in your markets and do they generally offer good service? I am no stranger to making a dollar but $800 for a w/o gasket?
13 man hours to replace the two drains---priceless to leave the w/o leaking.

gitnerdun

Never heard of them, sounds really high to replace a overflow gasket. Let me guess, they are a "Flat Rate" type outfit. I would try to find a independent plumber. One who comes recommended from a good source.

mahlere

http://www.gemplumbing.com/

300+ employees...

gitnerdun

That is a lot of people. I bet the boss doesn't know half of them.

mahlere

bet you all four of them don't know 1/2 the employees. But I bet their management team does.

they provide jobs, benefits, and a living for 300 people. maybe they screwed up here. but they must be doing something right.

dougchips

They are big in her market place (tons of branding, tv,radio,print, trucks). I hate family members second guessing my contracts and prices so I would like to keep out of it. I could change the w/o myself and that is not the point. Problem--clogged drain--rip open ceiling and give bid---fix the drain pipes without fixing the drain----quote $800 for a gasket. One person's actions or lack thereof has tainted their company image. They easily could of changed the gasket when the w/o was apart.

mahlere

doug,

i agree with you. quite frankly I would contact their office and tell them what you have said here (or have your sister do it)

honestly, the tech screwed up and should have replaced the gasket when everything was already apart. But, I guarantee the office doesn't know this yet.

I would also bet, that if you let the office know, they will do something about it.

dougchips

good point, they are on her list to call. She has had some bad luck on her house this past week, must be karma catching up on her. Movers quoted her 6 hours and came in at 12 hours (they charge by the hour), two fat guys and one really old guy. Went by her old place and they forgot the closets....wonder what I did for fun on Sunday?

Ron The Plumber

What was the cost for the other work done?

dougchips

Ron, I dont have her invoice in front of me but I think that it was $1300 and they said that they went way over on the time. Not sure if they are making it up on the gasket. They cut open the ceiling 1'x8' to access the drain area (repair not included) and ran new pvc from the tub to the toilet drain and connected it to cast iron.

The connection to the existing w/o is a rubber boot and there is silicone coming from the gasket would would make me think that they took apart the w/o in order to add it. Or they could of smeared it around the edges.

Ron The Plumber

Quote is way steep, time to make some calls. Maybe words got turned around.

mahlere

they are probably around $300 per BILLABLE hour. That allows them to advertise the way they do, pay their employees the way they do, benefits, etc.

So, my guess is around a 4 hr job. Or at least a planned 4 hr job. Now they want 2.5 hrs to come back and put in the gasket. However, where they screwed up was simply not doing the job right the first time.

For the guys who think that $300/billable is highway robbery, look into the company some. It's all online. Find the article about them in Plumbing and Mechanical magazine that talks about their dispatching system.

Then ask yourself why they get that kind of money and you don't. Don't get jealous, figure out how they do it.

Grumpyplumber

Just bumped into this thread.
GEM was all over the radio back a few years ago, advertizing themselves as "the good smelling plumbers".

The reason I decided to post here is they stopped advertizing a few years back, not a peep.

This company is a perfect example of what I often see...plumbing companies that inundate the market with a plethora of high cost advertising, charge huge money...and then seem to disappear on the advertizing.

What I wonder is why they stop advertizing?

Does a one or two year campaign generate so much repeat business that it sustains business for years?
OR do these companies almost go belly up and decide it finally not worthwhile when balancing cost of marketing vs lack of repeat biz or loss of business from word of mouth over having to price accordingly to cover the ad overhead?