We engaged Pele Plumbing to install a gas heater at our property early 2018 and after multiple reminders over text, voice mail and emails received a final quote in May.
The sketches were done by hand (1 min job) and the follow up process to get an initial quote and a revised quote was long and very painful.
[NAME REDACTED] consistently failed to deliver on his commitments (ie. getting back to us on agreed time with expected revisions).
We then paid a deposit for the work to start a month later.
Four days before the start of the job and despite multiple warnings about the lack of clarity regarding detailed sketches and next steps, Pele Plumbing advised us over the phone that they could no longer complete the work. The store had run out of stock of the model agreed 2 months earlier.
The lack of planning and organisation was blatant.
We were very disappointed, hence cancelled the job and requested our deposit back, of which [NAME REDACTED] agreed.
Despite endless phone attempted calls, voice mails, emails and texts, Pele Plumbing failed to respond.
After trying for 3 months we decided to take Pele Plumbing to VCAT to settle the situation.
We won the case at VCAT then hired a collection agency to retrieve the deposit and fees independently.
Again, [NAMES REDACTED] ignored the payment requests.
We could have gone to the Magistrates Court but decided to let it go as we had wasted enough time and money on the case.
I can only assume they had dealt with VCAT and court action before and knew of its low risk to them.
I advise anyone to stay away from this company and [NAMES REDACTED], they cannot be trusted.
It’s disappointing and unsettling to see trades people behaving like thieves, also hard to believe they are still in business with such lack of consideration for prospective customers.
In short, if there is a glitch in the plan, you are on your own.

Approximate cost: $5900