Bringhurst Plumbing

Matt H.

In September 2016, Bringhurst responded to my call to come out to our vacation rental home in Washington. My guests had called me to say the plumbing was backing up into the tub and shower, while they were showering and doing laundry, which I explained to Bringhurst.
(I should mention that I live about 700 miles from the property.) At this point, the backup was contained in the tub and there was no damage to my house. Next thing I know, the company has called me and told me that the plumber ""pulled the toilet"" and water (technically sewage) came spilling out of toilet hole and onto rug in master bedroom and the hall. At first it sounded minor, but as I gathered facts it began to look otherwise.
Also, after plumber left, my guests noticed that water was on the floor in the other bathroom also. The one good thing Bringhurst did was tell me I might want to call a water damage expert, which I did. Because it was technically sewage water, certain precautions were recommended. Carpets were cut out, along with the bottom foot or so of drywall on several walls and baseboards around the floor and doors. When I called the plumbing company to say this just ISN'T RIGHT, the owner was very nice and said oh, don't worry we'll work it out, and then referred me to her insurance company.
Oh, and the same thing happened a week later. Which I believe could have been avoided if the company had explained the benefits of putting a camera in the sewer line. Another plumber came and was able to clear the blockage from the Outside clean-out.
Long story short (sort of). The cost of restoration and mitigation came to almost $14,000.
I also had to put my guests up in a condo for 1 1/2 weeks. And, since I couldn't find a comparable house to put them in, I am giving them a free week this year. I had 2 more guests scheduled to arrive after them and I had to refund their money. And I had to pay for my travel expenses to come out there twice while all the repairs were going on. And I took time away from my own work, more lost income.
Bringhurst's insurance company did come out to ""investigate"", but they NEVER told me their final determination until March of 2017, which was that they don't think the company is liable. So, meanwhile, my homeowners ins. covered all but 2000 of the mitigation and restoration.
They covered none of my other expenses which have come to about $4800.00. So, I requested that Bringhurst or their Insurance cover the 6800.00 that I am out of pocket. Which seemed more than fair to me, that they accept less than half of responsibility.
I have spent a huge amount of time overseeing repairs, on the phone, on emails, documenting, filing a report with insurance board, etc.
Bringhurst has refused to accept any responsibility, their insurance company says they followed protocol. (My guests description of events is different than theirs, so that is debatable). I don't know about plumbing protocol but there is no scenario I can imagine where the plumber comes to your house and leaves it with a much worse problem than what we started with, and the company does absolutely nothing to make it right. What a crappy way to conduct business.