[GT Audio Works]

Woke up to no water in my home today. We have a submersible well pump in the front yard that goes down to 350 feet.
I went into my crawl space to check if the pump was on or not. The pump was not running but there was power to the wire that feeds the pump from my basement. The wire goes underground and comes out at the well cap in my yard. The cap and junction box is corroded solid
so after a futile effort to get it off I call a local well guy. He quickly determines its the pump. A $2k job to replace. OK..so he goes at it with his 2 helpers and 3 &1/2 hrs later its in. Flip the switch....Nothing...running back and forth between crawl space and front yard a lot of head scratching between the 3 of them . I suggest check continuity thru the wire from the house to the well head..he tells me his meter is broken.  OK..I give him my volt/continuity meter...they check the wire for continuity and whadaya know...the buried 240v wire from the house to the well head is broken! They scramble to run a new wire from my crawlspace to the well head..luckily an easy job the house is very close to the well head. We flip the switch again and we got water !!!
Now comes the fun part..he is going to take the old pump with him..I keep it knowing full well it is most likely functional..the actual problem was a broken wire. He approaches me with the 2G bill..I ask him how can the pump be bad if the new pump didn't work either till the wire was replaced. He tries to make it sound like the pump was on its way out and I needed it replaced anyway.
He comes into my house without the proper volt meter to diagnose the problem and also needs to borrow other tools during this operation. Plus I am the one who suggest to him to check continuity thru the wire !!! Hope he manages ok without me on tomorrows jobs. Obviously my faith in his work is weak. I say..true the pump may need to be replaced eventually BUT NOT TODAY !!! If I hook up the old pump and it runs I am not paying for this job. We banter back and forth..he threatens to put the old pump back..another 3.5 hrs work I know he doesn't want to do.
So we play lets make a deal I offer a grand he says no way..i say make an offer he says $1400 I take it...BUT the reality is the pump was never the issue !  I wonder how many times the same thing happens when we take our cars to the shop and ok an estimate that may include parts not needed. I happen to have been there to watch him and have a knowledge of electrical. I would have not fared as well if I just stayed out of the way.

Just curious how others might have handled it.... Greg

[geowak]

First of all, let me express myself. "I feel your pain". There are some that are parts exchange specialists and some that can troubleshoot the problem. I understand your frustration, since this is his job and he should know how to determine the problem.

I hope you kept the pump. I am sure it could be tested after the fact to see if it does indeed work. But I would have still replaced the pump. You will need to do this one day, anyway.

My wife and I were looking at a house to buy recently. We both liked the house and made an offer. Later we found out that the septic failed a county inspection and it costs 14.5k to replace. After another interested buyer paid for an entire house inspection it was discovered there were a great many problems I did not see, and was not disclosed. The well was replaced at 14.5K, but the seller's relocation company refused to fix anything else.

I was so happy, I backed out of the deal early. About an additional 80k was needed to fix the house enough to pass inspections!

[srb]

Aside from the misdiagnosis, I wanted to address preparation and tools.  I had a patio door replaced and the window and door company sent a subcontractor (a one-house-at-a-time small home building contractor) to install the door.  When he arrived two and a half hours late after the appointment time, the first thing he said when I opened the door was "Hi!  You wouldn't by any chance happen to have a caulking gun, would you?"

U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E.

Steve

[GT Audio Works]

I hope you kept the pump. I am sure it could be tested after the fact to see if it does indeed work.

Yes I have it..It will not be difficult for me to run a jumper cord to it to see if it works. I am sure it will...

[GT Audio Works]

Aside from the misdiagnosis, I wanted to address preparation and tools.  I had a patio door replaced and the window and door company sent a subcontractor (a one-house-at-a-time small home building contractor) to install the door.  When he arrived two and a half hours late after the appointment time, the first thing he said when I opened the door was "Hi!  You wouldn't by any chance happen to have a caulking gun, would you?"

U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E.

Steve

[Peter J]

He's the pro.  His misdiagnosis should not be his client's problem, but I'm sorry to say that I know the type...and I'm a contractor.

If I wanted to be a hardass, I'd offer to pay for his time and material to repair problem, which appears to have been wiring. The removal and replacement of pump is on his dime. 

To be less of a hardass, and if I thought the pump may indeed have a limited furture, I'd expect to pay his rate for the pump and installation in addition to the wiring. A bozo discount  might be negotiated, but that's a judgment call 

This kind of guy is my nemesis, pro's who aren't professional...all to common. And their actions make the good ones look bad.

[GT Audio Works]

He's the pro.  His misdiagnosis should not be his client's problem, but I'm sorry to say that I know the type...and I'm a contractor.

If I wanted to be a hardass, I'd offer to pay for his time and material to repair problem, which appears to have been wiring. The removal and replacement of pump is on his dime. 

To be less of a hardass, and if I thought the pump may indeed have a limited furture, I'd expect to pay his rate for the pump and installation in addition to the wiring. A bozo discount  might be negotiated, but that's a judgment call 

This kind of guy is my nemesis, pro's who aren't professional...all to common. And their actions make the good ones look bad.

I agree,, I was in the service industry also..If I made a mistake (and everyone does) and misdiagnosed a problem I surely would not tack it on to the customers estimate. He knew he screwed up..and his idle threat to pull the pump back out and put my old one back had no merit..another 3.5 hours of work on his dime..so we played lets make a deal..didn't want to be a hard ass..i know the pump was old..might have gone out in 5 months or 5 years. so a price of $1400 seemed amicable by both of us, I got a new pump and I am sure he did better than break even for the day....Greg