My mother used this company several times and found it to be really expensive. The plumbers always arrive to do the work on time but then they tell you that they need to go to buy a part and disapear for more than 30-60 minutes. I called them when i moved to my new house to do a plumbing job. I was giving an estimate to do the work for $475, however after signing the contract Ed (another person from the company) came to do the work and said that it would cost more. He wanted another few hundred dollars more. After an argument he decided to honor the quote offered in the signed contract. He left and disapered for more than 1 hr with the excuse of going to buy the part needed for the job. He then came back and finished the job in less than 2 hrs. I ended paying that day $675 after he did also a change of small pipe and also a replacement of a leaking faucet. None of the two jobs took him more than 20-25 minutes.\r
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A months later I phoned Mattex again to install a toilet. I had already spoken with another plumber who came to do another small job and I was told the job would cost me about $82-85 since it wouldn't take more than 1hr. Unfortunately I needed to wait for another week before he could come back to do the job. I decided to consult with Mattex and they told me that they would come in the next day for an hourly rate of $90. I phoned the next day to arrange an apt for someone in Mattex to do the installation. This time I was told their hourly rate was $95. When I questioned the discrepancy in the rate promised the day before I was told they would do the job for the $90. \r
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Ed showed up to do the installation at 2PM. He got home and left right away stating he needed to buy a part to install the toilet. According to my mother the plumber always leaves during a client's service to probably do a 2nd job that he left on hold when he came to my home. He probably told the other person he was going to buy a part needed for his job. By doind this the plumber is getting paid by me for waiting when he is ""buying the part"" when in fact he is doing the job of another client and is getting also paid. I was told by someone who works for a plumbing company that this is a very common unethical practice used by most of these companies.\r
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After Ed disapered at 2PM and I was left waiting for 30 min I phoned the company and asked to cancel the apt. I said I did not want to pay for this waiting time. The owner stated that he would talk to Ed and I wouldn't pay for the errant. However when Ed showed up and I mentioned it to him he got upset and got the calculator and told me that he needed to charge me $118 for the job and that would be it. He started the job at 2:40 and ended at exactly 3:31. He went to the car and sat there for 15 more minutes. He came back at 3:47 and said that i would be charge for 2 hrs of work. My mother was there and inquired about the reason for the 2hr charge when there was not more than 1hr. We were told the errant wouldn't be charged and Ed got back from the ""errant"" after 2:30 and ended installing the toilet at 3:31. He said that as soon as he got to the door of a client he has to add 15 additional minutes for his travel time and after he finishes the work other 15 additional minutes will be charged for the paperwork. \r
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The conclussion here is Mattex hourly rate (according to Ed) it is not $95 as stated by the company. The $95 are for only 1/2 hr of service.
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