A plumbing company that is under investigation has been blasted after charging an elderly pensioner $1,850 without even fixing the leak in her unit.
Fergusons Plumbing, which also trades as Point Plumbing and Dan’s Plumbing, billed Sylvie Leber, 75, the sum without identifying the source of a leak before turning off the water for every apartment in the building, much to the shock of residents.
Her daughter Colette Leber discovered the plumbing company was under investigation after dozens of complaints prompted the NSW Building Commission to suspend its licence before the decision was challenged and temporarily stayed.
‘She found Ferguson’s Plumbing – they had a 4.9 rating and seemed trustworthy,’ Ms Leber told news.com.au.
When Ferguson’s Plumbing came out they couldn’t find the leak and Ms Leber claimed her mum was told specialist leak detection was needed, which cost thousands of dollars.
‘So, what we discovered, the plumbing company that came didn’t even identify mum’s water meter,’ Ms Leber said.
‘They found the building water meter, did a test and couldn’t find the leak and turned off the whole building water meter.’
An assessor arrived the following day to find the main meter had been turned off.
Fergusons Plumbing, which also trades under Point Plumbing and Dan’s Plumbing, billed Sylvie Leber, 75 (pictured), the sum without identifying the source of a leak before turning off the water for every apartment in the building, much to the shock of residents
Charbel Alha’s plumbing company has been accused of ripping customers off
Yarra Valley Water found Ms Leber’s mum had a leaking toilet and fixed it for free through its hardship program.
Colette spent three months trying to recover the money for her mother.
She claimed she was asked if she was ‘lonely’ by the plumbing company and if that was why she kept contacting them.
Eventually, the plumbers agreed to refund the Melburnian $1,849 last month, but Ms Leber said they tried to prevent the family from speaking about their experience.
She described it as a ‘goodwill refund’ as the company refused to accept any fault.
The company declined to comment to media outlets, saying it was unable to due to confidential terms of settlement.
The NSW Building Commission is investigating the company and its director Charbel Alha regarding allegations of repeated breaches of the Home Building Act and Australian Consumer Law.
The construction industry regulator received 62 complaints relating to Australian Trades Pty Ltd trading as Ferguson’s Plumbing last financial year, and five new complaints this year.
The email explaining the conditions of the job which lists the additional cost of leak detection
The allegations include misrepresentations and overcharging for emergency plumbing services.
A Building Commission NSW spokesperson said: ‘Under powers in section 23 of the Home Building Act 1989, Building Commission NSW can issue public warnings where it is satisfied a business or licence holder poses a particular risk to consumers.’
Ms Leber said it was an issue that the company was under investigation in NSW but was still able to operate in Victoria.
Consumer Action Law Centre chief executive Stephanie Tonkin said: ‘Ordinary people have neither the knowledge or the time to pursue regulator complaints themselves, they need help and support. The harm we hear about when families are hit with these unfair and unreasonable demands is immense.’
In August the same plumbing company allegedly quoted a 98-year-old war veteran more than $31,000 to fix his broken toilet before another tradesman did it for just $550.
Daily Mail contacted Ferguson’s Plumbing owner Charbel Alha, as well as Sylvie and the NSW Building Commission for comment.
