Billing fight with plumber left family, disabled son, without water
An East St. Paul family with a special needs child was left without running water for a week, after an Oakbank plumbing company took apart their well over a billing dispute.
Jacqueline Desrochers hired MBM Plumbing to fix the pump in her family’s private well when it broke down this August.
The company fixed the pump for just over $150 but told Desrochers her well would have to be replaced, as it was collapsing and the pump would keep breaking down.
Desrochers said she agreed to the replacement as their 11-year-old son, Austin, is a quadriplegic and depends on water to provide an extra-clean environment because he is prone to infections.
“We need water to feed him, to clear his tubes, to flush his tubes, to hydrate him,” she said in an interview. “I have changed his diaper, and then I have to clean my hands to feed him.”
Company owner John Muller gave Desrochers a quote of $8,450 and told CBC News the quote indicated that additional costs may apply if the company needed to drill deeper than 120 feet (about 37 metres).
Desrochers said she told Muller the family had limited funds but they were able to agree the price would not be over $9,500, she said.
Muller denies that he agreed to that amount.
The final bill that he gave Desrochers in mid-September was almost $13,000.
A drilling report for the well shows the company drilled an additional 105 feet (32 metres) to reach adequate water.
“You can’t tell someone in advance how far you have to drill,” he told CBC News. “With wells, you have to drill until you produce enough water for the house to run.”
Desrochers said she was shocked, but she offered to settle with Muller for $10,000.
She gave Muller a cheque for that amount which was cashed on Sept. 19, and she said she thought the transaction was settled.
Muller denies the arrangement and said the cheque was a deposit, not final payment.
“I’m not in the business of putting wells in for free and costing me money from my own pocket,” he said.
When Muller texted Desrochers three weeks later and told her they had to replace the pump system currently installed in her well, she balked.
Pump was removed
Muller removed the pump, which was accessible from the outside, on Oct. 16 while Desrochers was at work. She said she did not consent to the change. That's when the water stopped flowing.
Muller said a less expensive model that wasn’t in stock at the time would be installed. He insisted that she knew about the arrangement.
The two met at the house to remove the control panel that was inside the home.
Desrochers asked Muller not to remove the panel without showing her the new system they would put in, which he said was coming in another truck.
Desrochers said she was angry when he wouldn’t listen to her and at one point she physically removed the panel from his hands.
Muller said he drove away with the various parts of the system, but said he offered to hook the water supply to her neighbour’s house. But Desrochers,said that never happened.
“There's no reason for someone to have no water,” he said. “She chooses to live this way; it’s not my doing.”
Texts from Desrochers' phone later that evening, say that Muller was sorry for the inconvenience but he would be back when “you have the cash to pay balance on your invoice.”
“If we had a dispute over a bill, there are so many other options that he could have used,” she said. “So many other avenues that he could have gone to, and this just seems so barbaric.”
Muller told CBC that he left because he thought Desrochers didn’t intend to pay her bill and was abusive to him. He said he had the right to retrieve the equipment because it belonged to his company.
Desrochers' texts show she contacted Muller shortly after the crew left on Oct. 16 and begged him to reconsider, offering him $2,000 in extra cash.
Text messages from Desrochers' phone show that he agreed to come under the condition that Desrochers wasn’t home. She claims he didn’t show up and then demanded the full amount again the next day.
‘Horrifying’ situation, says Desrochers
Desrochers said the family being without water for a week was “horrifying,” because she couldn't easily look after her son in her home without water.
“It’s not easy because you can’t just pick him up and take him somewhere,” she said. “The most basic thing as parents you can do is feed, clothe and diaper your child.”
Muller said that if Desrochers was concerned about her child, she should have paid her bill to get her water turned on.
“She uses that kid for everything,” he said. “If you have a handicapped child, why would you play games with a contractor? “I've done everything I can to help the lady out,” he added.
Shortly after the CBC News I-Team contacted Muller, he offered to settle with the family for $2,000, saying he would “take a loss on the difference.”
But Desrochers said she found another contractor because she didn’t want Muller back in her home.
The other contractor hooked up the family’s water on Thursday for $2,000.
“Water is the most basic necessity that we can have as humans,” she said. "I feel horrible, like I’m failing my family.”
The province’s Consumer Protection Office and the Conservation and Water Stewardship Department are investigating the situation involving Muller and Desrochers.
CBC Manitoba ITeam
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