Plumber Allegedly Charged $3,350 to Repair a Water Heater That is Sold at $250 Online; PUB Investigating

How much would you spend to repair your water heater that costs S$250?

S$100? Maybe lesser?

Well, one thing for sure, you won’t be paying a single cent more than S$250 because if that’s the case, you might as well buy a new one, right?

Unfortunately, a woman in Singapore was charged way more than the price of her water heater by a plumber.

Here’s what happened.

Plumber Allegedly Charged $3,350 to Repair a Water Heater That is Sold at $250 Online

On 19 Feb 2021, the water heater of the woman, Ms Lim, broke down.

She found a plumber to replace it and the charges came out to S$3,350 for services rendered.

S$2,500 for the water heater and $850 for repair services.

The water heater in question is a Joven JH38.

No, It Wasn’t S$2,500

Later, she found out that the water heater was only selling for S$250 on Lazada.

Feeling cheated, she allegedly lodge a report with the Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE).

Unfortunately, according to the Facebook post, CASE allegedly told her Singapore practises free pricing.

Basically, a free pricing system means that prices are decided on by supply and demand, and not regulated by the government.

This is why, when Singapore wants to control the prices of daily necessities, they had to set up NTUC Fairprice instead of asking businesses to charge a certain amount.

Refund Provided

Well, there might be a reason why people are so willing to bring their complaints online.

On 23 Feb 2021, Shin Min News Daily (SMND) reported that the plumber involved in the case has agreed to refund S$2,700 to Ms Lim.

The plumber will also provide follow-up repair and installation works.

She thanked everyone for helping to bring this matter to the relevant authorities, and also PUB for their quick response.

But that’s not the end of the matter.

PUB Investigating Plumber

According to Mothership.sg, PUB is now investigating the plumber.

After PUB officers visited the home, they discovered “numerous defects in the installation works”.

The customer was advised to engage a licensed plumber to carry out rectification works.

PUB had to take actions against an average of 40 companies and individuals per year from 2018 to 2020 for carrying out unlicensed plumbing works.

You can find a list of licensed plumbers here.

For those who want to know what works are regulated, you can check here.

Feature Image: Facebook