Bath Fitter Reviews

Finally, he worked more than 8 hours on the job and still was not finished. I could not break the commitment made to attend the evening function. The installer said he had about two hours more work to complete the job. I knew that I could not have him stay. I told him I would call the company and request the completion of the work to be rescheduled as soon as possible. The company said they could not accommodate my request and that it could be perhaps next week before they could finish it. I told them it was unacceptable.

Donna, the branch manager, came on the line and began to be very rude and insulting. It was so rude that I told her I was going to record the conversation. She told me that she had a business to run and that she could not reschedule the job "just for my convenience." I was shocked at her reply. She expected me to go at least a week, maybe longer, without proper hygiene and with unhealthy and unsanitary conditions. The conversation ended by her hanging up in my ear and telling me "Mr. **, drop dead!" I have it recorded.

In addition, the workman left the job with no water hook-up in the shower, no doors on the shower, and about 2 hours more from completion. He tracked in mud from the yard all over my floors and rugs. He sawed material in my bathroom that created a cloud of the finest dust particles dangerous to breathe, leaving the cloud of dust to precipitate all over three rooms of my house. It will take several days to clean up the mess. I may have to hire a cleaner to come in and clean as I am disabled with 4 degenerated disks in my back and unable to properly clean up his mess he left.

In addition, I am treated by the doctor for an asthmatic lung condition. There is dust left everywhere, and I am having repercussions tonight with extreme headache and difficulty in breathing. I don't see why if the job isn't complete that I shouldn't be first on the list tomorrow either early in the morning or sometime during the day. Why should I be forced to wait a week or more without having bathing facilities for proper hygiene? This is inhumane and against good business practices. And then, to be shouted at, insulted, and rudely hung up on with the words "Mr. **, drop dead!" is inexcusable! I don't know what to do!

I first thought Bath Fitter to be too expensive. After researching bathtub building materials, I decided acrylic was the best material to meet my needs. As I spoke with tub suppliers and plumbers, I came to realize there existed a $500-$700 decrease in replacement expense over the Bath Fitter quote. My problem was having to deal with two suppliers. If a problem was to arise with new installation, who would be responsible? How could any issues be resolved and where is the warranty? The Bath Fitter warranty is unsurpassed. Lifetime is a very long time. Should any tub or shower problems arise within my lifetime, I have but to call my Bath Fitter supplier. Any $500-$700 savings on original installation would be exhausted within the cost of a tub alone, never mind any plumbing expense.

I was contacted on Monday and promised installation on that same Wednesday. Scott arrived on Wednesday morning, removed my existing tub/shower unit and completed the installation of my new tub, shower walls, plumbing fixtures, header and shower doors within eight hours. Even a potential problem with plumbing was discovered and repair was implemented at no additional cost. These guys know what they are doing and have no desire to return to implement any repair at their expense. I am very satisfied with my new tub/shower unit and impressed with the professionalism of Bath Fitter. I strongly recommend replacing an existing tub/shower problem as opposed to covering, trying to cover one up.

I called the corporate number the day before my schedule measurement appointment, hoping there was still time to cancel. The corporate help desk informed me that I had three days to cancel after signing the contract with no penalty. After the three days, I would be held accountable for the deposit and up to 50% of the total job. I stated that I couldn't find that language or anything similar on the contract I'd signed. I even asked what paragraph and line number etc. It wasn't there. She told me a local representative would contact me. Steve, my original sales rep, contacted me and stated the same 3-days/50%. I stated that the documents I had didn't state that signed anything like that. He didn't deny it and said his manager would contact me.

The next day George called me. I explained the situation and that I didn't see any where about the cancellation policy on the documents I'd signed. He referenced a vague statement on the contract about the purchaser defaulting etc. To me it seemed more like if I refused to pay not cancel, but I'm not a contract lawyer. I said that if that was the case, there was still no language referencing the 3-day time frame in the contract I'd signed. He stated that there was an entirely separate document about cancellation, and that I had signed it. He also stated that I should have two copies of this document. I stated that I never discussed this or had seen or signed any document with my sales rep, Steve about canceling. He told me that I signed it.

My wife and I are very organized people. We had every scrap of paper and remembered small details about the conversation, but never anything about this cancellation form that we supposedly had to copies of. George faxed over the form and there at the bottom was my alleged signature right next to a statement that says "I certify I have received two copies of this form and have until midnight three days from now to cancel." That was not my signature!

My wife agreed that she could forge my name better and it appeared as though someone traced my signature from the contract as it had all the details of that one signature. I showed other people the two signatures that I had signed for them and the false signature. All agreed that they weren't a match. I called George back and said that I wasn't comfortable with this being my signature. He said that was a big deal and that if so Steve would be terminated immediately. He said he would investigate and get back to me.

After a few hours, George called me back and said that he talked to Steve (one of his best sales reps) and that he said he didn't sign it. He also said that he told Steve that if he did sign it he could be fired. Now I'm no master interrogator, but if you tell someone they're going to get fired if they say yes, you're "coaching the witness" to say no. He then said that he personally looked at the signatures and said that "all three look different" and he can't be sure. To be fair, I'm sure they get people trying to cancel all the time, but I'm of sound reason and if I signed something, I honor that contract even if it was an expensive mistake.

I told him to please refund my deposit, or I would seek my attorney's help if needed. He said that he would contact his corporate office and discuss with them. The next day, I heard nothing. I was hoping for at least a phone call saying that he was on it and that they're taking this charge seriously. Nothing for the next 3 days. I called George 5 business days after our initial discussion. After leaving a message for George, we do connect in the late evening 7pm, he called me back.

He has the audacity to ask me if I still want to cancel and if yes, that they will hold me responsible for the deposit and up to 50% of the total job. I was speechless. After he checked to make sure I was still there, I asked him what about the situation we discussed last week. Had he heard anything from corporate? He went on to reiterate that they were three different signatures and now states that he's had experts look at the document and that it's not Steve's handwriting.

Just as I'm about to ask for these official analysis documents to be sent to me and call my lawyer, George said that it's not worth the trouble for them or me and that he'll refund the money. I said thank you, please refund the money to the same Visa card.

I just wanted to share my experience so that Bath Fitter and customers of other companies make sure that they’re getting all the paperwork, so that they won't be in the same stressful situation that I was in. Money was returned, although I was under stress and very upset at work and home that someone had forged my signature and that I would have to possibly go to court to get it resolved.

Shortly afterward, I received a call from Pawl, the manager of the Watchung Bath Fitter. This is the gentlemen mentioned in my original posting (I misunderstood the pronunciation of his name during my earlier conversation). Pawl apologized for the previous misunderstanding and personally came to my home several hours later and re-caulked my tub, no-charge. He further stated that my warranty would not be affected and that any future maintenance issues would be handled in a manner much more advantageous to me.

Although corporate dragged their feet, I am very grateful for Mr. **'s assistance and I am especially pleased with Pawl's personal response in this matter. I am very impressed that the manager himself came out to my home to ensure that this situation was resolved amicably.

Next he said that I could not get a refund on the $300 deposit. I really kicked up a fuss over this as they had seen my tub, etc., and I had made the deposit in good faith - that the work could be done as agreed - even with a little more plumbing work (clearly this installer was not a plumber, however). After "going to the top" in the local office, I did get my $300 refunded. Then, about three weeks later, I started getting water from this bathroom down through my kitchen ceiling. Long story short, when I got a contractor that then did pull out the whole tub to also replace the surround (had to take money from a retirement fund), they discovered that the bathtub drain was not connected and had silicone around it.

The installer had not attached to the plumbing at all. So, even if they tell you that they can do the work on an older home with newer plumbing (my home is 100 years old, but my tub was 50 years old; I know this because it was my parent’s home), they do not know about plumbing and are not reliable in regard to their repairs. I think different Bath Fitters locations can be different, but watch the fine print regarding how they deal with your plumbing! The cost went from $1,200 (Bath Fitters) to $4,000 for the bathtub because now the surround is an issue. It remains to be seen if my kitchen ceiling needs to be replaced (can't be partial because a lowered ceiling tile does not exist anymore).

A gentleman named Taul (manager?) asked me why I didn't call the company. Again, to my knowledge, this is a common maintenance procedure. When I had the tub installed, I was told not to use certain cleaning products and I received a copy of the list of these cleaners. I was never informed that I would void the warranty by re-caulking and it is not listed on my warranty card as a condition. Taul informed me that the company would charge me at least $75 to come out and re-caulk the tub. He offered to sell me a tube of silicone for $10. I would also need a special etching solvent in order to perform the task myself. However, he insisted that if I do it myself, I will be voiding the warranty. I've also been informed by a plumber that working with silicone is messy and difficult.

Everyone considering the purchase of one of these acrylic liners should know about this right upfront, don't you think? I've sent an email to the company and I will follow up tomorrow with a call to the general manager, but I don't yet know how this will turn out. Stay tuned.

4. There is no start date - just Terry ** estimated date.

What is a legal and legitimate contract for legal business? I called for a "bath seat" for my jet tube for my disability. Terry ** knew he could not provide this bath seat, but he came to my home and misled me into believing he could. What is a legal contract for purchase and services? No purchase was made because Terry ** could not provide the bath seat I requested. And no prices were written, no labor cost charges were written, no affirm date was made because I was waiting to hear about the "bath seat" I requested, which Bath Fitters, Inc. could not provide. What constitutes a contract? Please let me know.

Five appointments and 6 months later, it is still not done. The last time they came out, I got a call that they would cut a hole in the wall and redo some of the plumbing, fix the hole and paint it and I would not see the repair. No charge to me. So I said yes. Someone from the company came out, did all that they said they would do. He said he could not paint it because the plaster was not dry and that there would be someone out the next day to paint it for me. No one came and when he did finish his job, he left the tub a mess and the new fixtures has a dry mixture on them.

I am not going to get on my hands and knees to clean any tub for them. I just got another bill from them as I just put down a small down payment. I called them and left a message that the work was not completed yet and that I was very upset with there company and the job was not finished yet. It still needs to be painted and cleaned up. I am very upset and would not recommend them or use them again.

I come to find out that when they installed the shower wall, they never caulked the top edge where the wall and liner come together. So for 9 years water has been getting down behind the liner wall and ruining my wall, which made the tiles pop off. The service man did say, “Yes, it should have been caulked, but…” I say, “But what?” Had it been caulked 9 years ago, then there wouldn't be a water issue popping my tiles off which caused the liner to bow and caused a water leak. It is clear that this is because of their faulty installation, no doubt about it. I called my homeowners insurance and unfortunately they do not cover faulty installation claims. So now I am on my own as to how to get this whole matter fixed. Oh, it was nice to know that they decided to start giving lifetime warranties the year after mine ran out, don't you think?

My whole ceiling in the downstairs laundry room sagged and we needed to cut it away. I filled the tub again less then 6 inches and in the back left hand corner of the tub it just drips right out - nowhere near the overflow and drain pipe. We will see what the company does. They are supposed to be coming in the morning but with all of the complaints, I will probably have a fight on my hands. I will keep you posted as to what should take place. Has anybody thought of a class action lawsuit, because they do not back their products or lifetime warranty? More to follow.

I worked for the Vancouver branch for 6 months and in that time, the small number of staff lost 7 people including myself. They have very high turn-over due to poor management, poor pay, and poor treatment. The installers are treated very poorly and due to the high turn-over, they are turned out on their own to do installations before they are ready. Employees that are not performing well are not let go for reasons unknown, and as such, poor work is the result and many mistakes are made. Many of them large. The payments are often processed incorrectly and customers have had to contact their credit card companies to have it reversed.

The branch manager has no customer service skills whatsoever and doesn't care. He does not care about your problems with your installation, he does not care that your only bathroom is ripped apart and we can not install because the estimator measured your tub incorrectly, and he does not care about his staff. He does however care a great deal about money and numbers, and does what it takes to get both. He lies to prospective employees saying that we are always hiring because we are expanding, not because his staff are running from such a negative and unhealthy work environment.

He also says that Bath Fitter is recession proof, however in my 6 months I have seen the work load cut down to less than a quarter what it was when I started. Do yourself a favor, don't get involved. Just because your product is installed, doesn't mean it will be the last time you have a Bath Fitter installer in your home. And that is almost guaranteed.

We spent a year buying Drano and snakes to try to fix the plumbing the cheapest way possible. But nothing worked. The drain never moved any better. With our frustration growing, as January 2009 came around, we took our tax refund and called a plumber. The first thing the plumber did was to try the snake. He could not get it down the drain. He told us that it would be very expensive to fix it. Since the house was "brand new" to us, we had no idea about the history of the house and we thought that the problem was in the plumbing throughout the house, the basement or a root growing into the pipes outside.

We made an appointment for the plumber to come back. He had to cut a hole in our kitchen ceiling to be able to access the pipes to the bathtub. We also had to take down all of our kitchen cabinets for this job. He started to cut into our pipes, and about 30 minutes later, he came out to me to ask me if someone had been over to remodel our bathtub. I told him that Bath Fitter was here about a year ago. He said that Bath Fitter made a mistake while they were here. While remodeling the bathtub, the tech doing the job, cut the plunger in the tub. It dropped down and was lodged in the pipe, allowing only about 10% of the pipe to be open, which was what was making the tub drain so slowly. He recommended that I contact Bath Fitter about the problem and told me that Bath Fitter could call him to talk about the problem. He also gave me the pipe with the plunger in it so we could show Bath Fitter what they had done.

So, I contacted Bath Fitter and spoke to the office manager of your Guilderland, NY branch. She asked me to fax over the receipt of the plumber's bill. She was very aggravated by my complaint since it was a year later. I told her that I could see why a year later would be very frustrating for her, but after spending $3000 on a brand new tub and liner, we did not think that it could have possibly been their fault. We had just bought the house, did not know the history and could not imagine where the problem was. She told me she would get back to me.

A few days later, she called and offered me 50% of the plumber's bill. I told her "no" because it was their mistake and that it was only right for them to give us our money back. She was very insulted and rude to me and said, "I guess you do not understand what we are trying to do for you and I will have to have our Vice President, Mike, call you back so he can explain things more simply for you". Then she hung up on me before I had a chance to respond.

Mike called me back a few hours later and after an hour discussion with him, we came to an agreement that they would give us a reimbursement of 75% of the plumber's bill back. While on the phone with Mike, I also expressed a concern with our bathtub, since the walls were also coming unglued. He told me that he would send someone over immediately to fix that problem. An appointment was made for the following Tuesday. I took Tuesday off work to meet the installer and about 1 hour before our appointment, the office manager called me and told me that the service man was running late and would not be able to make it.

I told her that I had already taken time off work and an hour's notice was not acceptable or respectable business practice. So, they did end up sending a serviceman over that afternoon. While he was here, we looked at the tub. He said that the glue was coming off the wall and it was making a "popping" sound. It was on the side and on the back (it was not on the side with the faucet since that was holding it tight). He asked me when I had the bathtub put in, and I told him January of 2008.

He told me that the problem was that there were a lot of complaints about the glue and they had recently changed the glue to get rid of this problem. He also told me that the entire tub and surround would need to be replaced because you cannot replace one section of the wall without taking other parts off. He told me that he would go back to the office and in his paperwork he would recommend complete replacement of our bathtub. He told me that I should hear from Mike or the office manager within the next day or two about his service call.

Ten days later, she finally got a hold of me. She told me that the service tech that was here told her a different story and that the tub did not have considerable damage and will not need to be replaced since they do not think it will cause future damage to my house. But if it does, please let them know right away and they will come over because it is covered on my warranty. So, do I have to wait for my house and ceiling to be damaged before they come to help me?

It is very frustrating as a new homeowner, to spend so much money on a service to make your house nice and worry free, only to end up with more and more problems. I know that it is hard to discuss things a year later, but the fact of the matter is, that we have a lifetime warranty on our tub. I believe that any concerns I have with my tub, even a year later should be talked about and dealt with properly, not by threatening or hanging up on clients. I also believe that a week to get back to a customer about an issue it too long. I am so disappointed with Bath Fitter. I thought we were getting quality work, quality products and quality service. I was very wrong. I would never recommend Bath Fitter to anyone. I have already told people my story and they just cannot believe it. What happened to doing the right thing?

So if anyone is thinking about having them do this, take it from someone that has been dealing with the shower leaking. Don't put yourself through the agony of dealing with everything to do with Bath Fitter. I wish I would have found this site before having them torture us. Everyone that has had this company do work and it has ended up like being on a battle field should file a complaint with their attorney general. Consequences: I had to have 5 layers of flooring torn up and the shower is soaked under the base; the cost of buying a new shower, time and frustration on dealing with a company that does not stand behind their work.

Obviously the root had been attracted by the standing water, and because of the water, we had rotted drywall and other issues. Bath Fitter did not want to take the blame for this or take care of the cost of repairs. They asked us for $1,000 towards the cost of repairs. Since this was not our fault, we said no. Then they had a leak detection expert come out to determine where the problem was and basically who was to pay for this. The expert, however, agreed with us, that the root came in because there was water and there was water because the Bath Fitter shower floor was cracked!

Bath Fitter manager, Lisa, did not want to hear it and still would not admit it was their problem to fix. Now our bathroom has been torn up about 2 weeks, and Bath Fitter said we were not covered under warranty because supposedly we used silicone sealant in the shower which would negate the warranty. The truth is, I said I used silicone sealant in the other bathroom. Whether Lisa misunderstood or heard what she wanted to hear, we are apparently not getting our bathroom fixed. Lisa will not take my calls, so our next step is court!

I don't know how they can continually advertise with promises and down playing their competition, and then stick the customer any way. Do they honestly believe we will all give up? I may have but not this time. Still having problems but this time major, the tub is rising from the old tub and I woke up to a flooded bathroom floor. I called at 8:30am, spoke to 2 different reps, and still waiting. I guess I will have to go beyond customer service. I only wish I had read some of the other postings on this site, maybe I would have gone elsewhere right from the beginning. Consequences: a destroyed bathroom floor for now. I do not know how much worse it will get when the water keeps seeping out.

Four weeks later, the company was contacted by the owners and was told the glass door had not arrived. Six weeks later, the company installers arrived to install the shower. The installers were in the home for 9-10 hours, but were unable to complete the job at that time. The reason given by the company was the glass did not fit properly. Although the job was incomplete, the installers requested payment in full. The owners insisted the job be completed before payment. Three weeks later, the installers arrived to finish the job. But once again, the glass door did not fit. The installers explained that all the glass was contracted out and they would have to wait for the proper sized door.

By November, the job was still not complete. The owners called the company and was told the company was having a problem with their current supplier, and that they were switching to a new supplier. The owner asked why there was a contractor when they were told all parts for the shower were supposed to be made in the company's factory as stated by the company's representative at signing. The company stated that only the shower parts, not the glass nor the chrome were made in the company's factory. When asked why Mr. ** said all parts were made in the company's factory, the manager, Mr. Kirk **, said only the shower surround parts were made by the company and Mr. ** had misrepresented to the owners that all items were made by the company factory.

At this time, a comment was reported by the owners on the Consumer Reports' internet site that the owners were misled regarding the manufacturing process and the time to complete the job was underestimated. The attempts to resolve these problems were totally unsatisfactory with no resolution. The job was never completed. The installers did not return until December. The glass door once again did not fit. There was a one inch space between the door and the striker plate. Installers insisted that the door properly fit, whereupon the installers were shown another shower that had been installed by the owners to show that the door did not fit properly. The door was left installed although there was still a gap at the top. The job was never completed.

When the first shower was taken, there was no hot water. Mr. ** was called again and the installer returned. A restrictor was removed, however, there was leak from the bottom of the shower. This was corrected by the owner. After Christmas, the owners were contacted by Mr. **, requesting to check out the shower and the problems associated with the installation so that the job could be finished. Mr. ** arrived at the home and the owners asked why no workers came to correct the problem. Mr. ** said that he only wanted to see the problems. Mr. ** was shown where the installers had damaged the chrome by installing the screws too tight and making dimples. He was also told about the leak and the lack of caulking. Mr. ** informed the owners that this kind of poor workmanship was not acceptable. He advised that the new door was at the office and he was going to make sure it fits. He took his own measurements.

Shortly thereafter, the owners received a phone call from Mr. ** informing the owners that the new door also would not fit. He offered the three following solutions:

3. The owners could contact a professional(?) to redo the job and the company would pay the bill with the owners still having to pay the balance due.

After the owners consulted with others, the company was notified that the owners would pay $2,135.00 (twenty-one hundred thirty-five dollars), half of the balance due. The company installer would come back to correct the errors of the shower surround. They would not correct the damage to the chrome and would not replace the door. The company agreed. Mr. ** told the owners that there was a job in Hawthorne, FL and that if the installers were unavailable, he would come and complete the corrections himself. This was on Jan. 15, 2009.

The owners did not hear from Mr. ** or a company representative again until three months later. Mr. ** called on April 13, 2009 to schedule the installers. Mr. ** was told that as far as the owners were concerned, the company did not fulfill their obligations and that the contract was null and void. The reason given by Mr. ** for not coming sooner was that the job in Hawthorne did not materialize. When asked why he didn't take care of the owner's problems, Mr. ** said that he didn't think that he would have to take care of the problems within a couple of weeks.

The owners have been waiting for eight months for the resolution and end of their association with the company. Mr. ** threatened to turn the owners over to a collection agency. If Mr. ** follows through with his threat, the owners will take Mr. ** and the company to court to recover the deposit of $500.00 (five hundred dollars) and will seek compensation for failure of the company to fulfill the contract and their nonperformance.

As quoted, we were only without the use of this bathroom for one day and they actually left it cleaner than it was prior to doing the installation! I felt that the price of $3200 was fair for the work that was done and feel very confident that should we need to call on Bath Fitter for repair or follow up work, they will stick to the same principles. I am saddened to see such bad reviews on this site because my husband and I could not be happier. We have actually recommended Bath Fitter to other couples in similar situations and some friends who are renovating summer homes on Cape Cod. I feel that these guys deserve some kudos for a job very well done!

We can understand why the comments one often sees online can give you the wrong impression about Bath Fitter. But we'd like you to know that over the past 25 years, Bath Fitter has transformed the bathrooms in hundreds of thousands of homes to the delight of their owners. And that whenever any customer in any part of the country has an issue with our products or our service, we see to it that their concerns are addressed promptly and completely. Rather than taking the word of a noisy few, we would suggest that you ask your local Bath Fitter franchisee to give you a list of his references so that you get a more complete picture of the kind of honesty and service that are the hallmarks of Bath Fitter.

Please feel free to write to us at info@bathfitter.com and one of us will be happy to call you to answer your questions. We look forward to being of service to you and your family.

We could not use the tub/shower. Since the install was on a Thursday and we noticed this on Friday, they could do nothing about it until the following Monday thus the 1-day install took 4 days in reality. I also remarked to the installer after he fixed the spigot that it leaks after the water is turned off. He said, "Don't worry; that is just residual water from the shower head." Now, days later, one can see a brown mark in our new tub from where the spigot leaks.

I am still waiting for a call back from Bath Fitters so they can come complete a proper install but it seems they don't like to return phone calls once they have cashed your check. I may resort to getting another plumber to fix what they could not. Btw, this was Bath Fitters in Watchung, NJ under the operation of Gorman Plumbing out of Freehold.

When my wife did call to speak to someone about our problem, they said that there was nothing that they could do because the previous owner had the work done and that the warranty would not transfer to us. Then they also said that since we had the liner that they installed ripped out, they couldn't do anything. All of this could have been prevented had they lined up the drain! Do the job the right way to begin with!

Just be aware that all of the posts are only opinions and are subject to how well consumers care for the product, etc. Hope this will help someone who might get cold feet.

There is no way you can expect to have good results using a labor-mill approach, but yet Bath Fitter continues to survive. How many horror stories we have heard and to now find this website forces me to realize this is no nightmare but reality of a business model that benefits few but the owners (as long as they can get away with it) and the customers who happen to get installers whose work ethic won't allow them to give up. When the phone rings here we smile... but it must be a horrible experience for any honest Bath Fitter employee in the outfits referenced here to have to deal with calls from customers. We, too, have disclaimers on the back of our contracts. I can't recall exactly what they are though. We so rarely have to get into a disagreement with a customer.

I can't believe the avoidance of responsibility I have read in these complaints. A customer should NEVER have to pay for damage caused by installers... yet that seems to be Bath Fitter's unwritten (or could it be actually written?) policy. The installers should be trained well enough to protect the customers home and repair or generate a service call for another industry professional if needed. I am so sick of the bad reputation contractors have and that ethical contractors have to overcome. Ahh… I can't stand marketing. The comments I hear about the Bath Fitter sales people here make me sick, but what can I do? People respond to high-pressure and sales tricks.

Why am I even writing this? Why don't I just tell our sales people to add this web page link to their sales package? It is because this is not about Bath Fitter alone. It is about ethics. I applaud this site for serving people and hope it grows and becomes a force for change. When I did a Google search for Bath Fitter, this was link #2. I was shocked at first, then angry… and that is why I write this. I am NOT happy that Bath Fitter has such outrageous complaints (enough to be seen as a trend according to this site). There is a suffering customer behind each one, and maybe quite a few franchises whose honest efforts may suffer. I am hopeful that this site has resource links and I will now check them out. Hopefully I will see DEMAND CUSTOMER REFERENCES somewhere in big bold letters. It is one of the few ways you can judge a company or particular franchise.

I don't expect this to get posted, as it is not a valid customer complaint... just a valid human one – LOL. If it does, my sympathies to those who don't get justice, and my advice to those researching - as above: GET CUSTOMER REFERENCES. You may find your local Bath Fitter outfit is great. This is a place for COMPLAINTS, after all... Consequences: Describe the economic or physical damage that resulted. Consequences? The result is bad for everyone, in general. A bit of humor to ease the pain ;)

I had asked if there was a payment plan available and Paul stated there was and would have someone in the office mail out the application for her to fill out. I then put the $500 deposit on my credit card. I didn't hear anything more from Bath Fitters until the day they called to schedule the date of September 24th for delivery. I said to Michelle that I was waiting for info about the payment plan. Michelle said it wasn't stated anywhere on the contract or Paul never mentioned it to her either.

When it came, I opened it up. I was shocked to find out it was not an in-house payment plan application, but in fact a credit card application! Paul and Michelle never referred to it as a credit card form as only an application. I called Michelle the very next day to tell her I am NOT interested in filling out a credit card application. Michelle told me that is the only way they do payment plans.

Michelle also stated they already processed my credit card for the materials and since it was beyond the 3 day grace period to cancel the deal from date of signing the contract, I will not be getting my $500 deposit back. I then asked Michelle to speak to her manager/boss to see what can be done from this point forward. Michelle said she would ask and get back to me. I waited a few days and finally called Michelle back and was told she would get back to me yet again! I am as of yet to hear from anyone from Bath fitters since then!!!

Dale was very professional and understanding about the situation my senior-aged parents were in. The products should be installed within a couple of weeks, and I will update my report based on the outcome of the actual installation, but based on my experience with Dale, I am far more optimistic about a positive outcome.

They will give my parents their bath tub back!

When it came time to install, a number of weeks later, the installer (who told my dad that he had been working for the company for 4 weeks) took the existing lino off the wall and some of the plywood that was behind, replaced the faucet/shower controls and put drywall up, without the existing shims that had been installed behind the original plywood. This caused the drywall to be recessed in relation to the surrounding wall. In order to bring it back flush with the surrounding wall, he used 5/8 thick strips of soft putty spaced about 8 apart on top of the drywall, which was supposed to support the flexible plastic liner. There is no way soft putty will properly support the thin, flexible wall liner.

Then, he said there was a problem with the tub, and needed to call his supervisor. The supervisor came on site and told my dad that the tub needed to come out 1/2 in order for them to install the liner. Maybe they would have caught that when they measured? According to the supervisor, this would require removal and replacement of the tub with a new one, for an extra 700-1000 dollars. He also said that the existing wall was too flexible. He said it was 1/4 plywood. My Dad said it was actually 3/8 plywood. After hearing that, the supervisor didn't say anything. He then said they would have to reschedule the work since the job scope had changed. He said he would call back at 8:30 the next morning.

That was over a week ago. He also told my dad that he had two options, either pay them the extra money to finish the job, or cancel the work and they would leave the job as is. They are trying to pressure my parents into forking out more money for nothing. My parents now have a bath tub that is totally unusable and the walls are ruined.

I didn't feel comfortable with this response. I went with Bathfitters because I thought it was a National firm and wanted to deal with a Company that I thought would stand by the product. I was told by the salesman that everything was guaranteed. My installation was over $4000, but felt secure with the product and the installation.

I explained to the woman that I was dealing with in the Stoneham office, that I didn't feel that I should deal directly with their supplier, that they should have a better vantage position, after all this is the Company they use and the product that they install. I asked if I could speak with the owner. Still not hearing from anyone, I continue to call, leave messages. The same person calls me bacek (never giving me her name, or anyone else's name), she explains to me the owner said if I want to purchase the fixtures that are flawed again, they would be happy to install them. After all, your installation is three years old.

I certainly don't expect the fixtures to to stain and wear out in less then three years! Again I asked if the owner would call me. Now I noticed a gray stain in the connor of the tub, looks like something is coming through the enclosure. Again, I left messages requesting the owner to call, after a few days, the same lady calls back. I asked if someone would please come to my house to at least look at fixtures and the tub. I was told, that someone would be out as soon as they have a job in Revere. They are in Stoneham less they 20 miles, but she told me that is not how they work, when they have a job in Revere they will call me. I asked if they had any work coming up in Revere, no. I would have to wait until they get an order for work, as long as that takes. I told her I was going to contact the Coporate office, and also was thinking of calling our television station which has a very very popular Help me Hank line, her response was a snicker, and she said you call anyone you want, when we get a job in Rever, we'll call you, click!!!! She actually hung up. I am so disappointed. My husband and I checked other places, and certainly could have had this work done less expensively, but foolishly thought this would be a better choice.

The tub is fine I just feel I got robbed. And I don't want this to happen to someone else.I oviously over paid for a tub that supposedly was made by bathfitter which is what there motto is saying they manufacture it and give a lifetime warranty i feel like this was alse advertizement.

Im still waiting! I might not even wait anymore, I have had it! Im just going to call the BBB. I wouldn't recommend them.

Bath Fitter came out to my house the following week on I believe it was 7/10/08 and caulked the area that needed to be done. The regional manager from Charlotte was here and the another gentleman from the Raleigh area. The regional manager stated the office lady was just looking out for my best interest when she told me to put duct tape over the area and I stated that's what lit my fuse, if she would have given me an appointment time right off the bat, I probably wouldn't have written the first complaint. After all the problems I had with the intital installation and the rudeness of the installer when they had to come back after Thanksgiving, being told to put duct tape over the area got me rather upset.

The regional manager also offered a few free items, for my retraction of the complaint (these items were just small upgrades from what was already purchased). He also offered to take out the shower doors that were over $725 including tax plus installation fee to make my bathtub seem larger but did not offer to refund the amount paid for the doors.

Bath Fitters arrived at my home today 7/15/08 to fix a few more of my issues. The problem still remains they can't/won't do anything about the tub being so narrow and that is the main issue. They stated the tub I have is the largest style they carry. Another is that it drains too slowly, with water filling up the bottom of the tub over the tops of my feet during a shower and the bottom of the tub remains wet over 12 hours after usage unless it is dried out by hand with a towel.

All in all they did their best to make me happy but I'm still stuck with a tub that's too small and I'm not happy with. The majority of Americans are somewhat overweight....

Our installation was done in early March, 2008.

No check was ever been sent to them.

We called the sales rep and he once again confirmed that the referring customer should be receiving a check.

We later followed up with Bathfitter, going to the Sharonville location, taking a typed form with all this same information for them to use to follow up.

They told us the home office had to take care of this. We asked them to call us with an update.

To date, we have not heard from Bathfitter and the check has not been sent to the referring customer.

Bathfitter wanted full payment when our installation was completed. We did this. Yet, they have failed to live up to their promise of issuing this check to the referring customer.

We do not approve of this business pratice and think something should be done to protect other consumers.

No harmful consequences - just dishonest business practice.

Once the tub was installed I discovered it is about 4-6 inches or more narrow on the inside. There are these arm rests that serve no purpose & take up too much space. I am not pleased with the tub but they refused to replace it or return it so I could buy another one. The Wainscoating on the wall with my sink and toilet did not meet the floor by about 3/4 inch in some places, they had to put up the framing material they use around windows as a baseboard. Since it is plastic, it collects dust and debris horribly and looks even worse. But at least it was fixed.

BATH FITTER DOES NOT DO ELECTRICAL!! They took down the light over my medicine cabinet but refused to install another one, I had to install my light myself and they would not relocate the box for it a couple inches higher than the original. I had to call & find an electrician to come without an appointment, short notice at a cost of 95.00 for 10 minutes work. The installers left their heavy tools on top of my new sink and left dents and scratches in the finish. The installer stated they get paid by commission only so it was apparent they use less materials to save money and make more commission. The caulking job is horrible. It is so thin you can see through the caulk. Some places didn't get caulked at all. They are having to come back to repair one area of the tub that the caulk was so scant, there's a space between the bottom wall and the tub.

The installer even wanted to cover up my bathroom window so I would have yet another charge to install an exhaust fan, it would have saved him time and materials and gave him more commission. My toilet seat had chips in it after they were done using it as a work bench, this I replaced & they were told to reimburse me, which they did. The installer left debris in my bath tub drain. I have lived in this house close to 9 years at the time of installation, and I have never had to use a drain opener on the bath tub. Within 2 weeks the drain was clogged. Whatever is in the drain remains there, I have used Draino Gel twice to get some of the pipe open, it needs to be snaked out, yet another bill thanks to Bath Fitter.

After the installation was completed (I was told it would take 2 days and it took 4, then one to come back) the installer left my carport in a mess, there was plastic shavings from the Wainscoating all over the driveway, cigarette butts all over the concrete and in my flower beds, wet cardboard boxes that had been rained on, shop towels, etc all over because he was in such a hurry to get to his next job, he waisted too much time on this one for over $10,000 I might add.

With the lack of caulk on the opposite wall of the shower head and the space where there is no caulk, a shower would get in the crack & cause mold & damage. I am not a tiny person, nor am I extremely overweight, this tub is way too narrow for the average person. It should have been disclosed that Bath Fitter does not do electrical. Also, I should not have had to install the light over the medicine chest, I am not an electrician. If they can take it down, they could have put another one up.

The salesman is smooth talking. We already paid him $2000 dollars up front. We owe him another $4200 hundred dollars. He might have to see me in small claims court, in light of what I am reading on line. They also told my parents not to try the shower, because the calking had to dry. YET THEY WANTED $4200 UP FRONT!!!! The jerk contractor finished at 8:45 PM. My senior parents were half asleep, and those ** expected them to pay $4200 for a job that could not be assessed.

At this point, I am not paying them another penny. I actually called to settle the bill, and they have not returned my phone call. I am quite livid at this operation at this point, and would NOT recommend them. Until I resolve this bill and aggravation, I can not recommend them. If they compensate for the destruction of a tile and the bathroom wall to wall carpet on my parent's floor, worth about $500, I will reconsider. However, the 10 page reviews of problems are making me very wary that my parents will soon be experiencing problems with this shoddy construction project. Does it meet the ADA standards?? The contractor said it did, but who can believe that jerk, whom I tipped $20! Beware of Btahfitters is my warning. To date, no manager has called me to discuss the current situation. I decided to meet them in court, unless they renegotiate a fair price for their shoddy job.

Finaly got in touch with someone on a Friday who stated that the warehouse forgot to send our floor pan out. They could request it to be fed X'd out, but didn't want to pay for that and it may take another week. I told them to pay the fedX charge or I would cancel the bathroom. They stated I signed a contract and I read the contract piece that they already broke and I had a right to cancel. Low and Behold, that afternoon the piece was in the shop and they called to come out. I was told that due to my job being special they would come out on a Saturday to put it in so we would not have to waste vacation time. But in doing this, they would like to come out during an evening to take out the old shower. On Thursday (going onto the 15th week), they came out and ripped out our shower.

We lived like that until Saturday when we got out next surprise. We received a phone call of a subcontractor to come out and measure our shower to order the shower doors which would take 10-14 days! I got very upset since they did not at anytime tell us that this was not with the shower. The Bath Fitter installer came in and installed the shower. One note, be careful since the materials used are very slick. So now we looked at a shower we could not use for 2 more weeks. Finally the doors came in and installed.

Our first shower was awful since they mixed the hot and cold water up and now have to come back out to fix that. In requesting some kind of a refund, we were offered an extra shower head (not sure what to do with two of them). We finally got $150 back for all this headache and it is still not over. I expected more for a $5,000 install.

When I filed the complaint, BathFitters had already agreed to let us out of our contract, which also included the removal of the shower installation and reimbursement of our $250.00 deposit. Twice, my husband and I asked them if they were going to do anything to help us put our shower back to a useable condition, which it was before the installation, or even perhaps leaving the $625.00 valve since we had already disposed of our original one that they could not use. Twice we were told they were going above and beyond their call of duty and it was against the company policy to give us the valve.

Removal of the shower installation was scheduled for May 7th, 2008. They did come out and remove the shower unit, and they did agree to remove the tiles behind it that were now damaged, which we knew they were going to be. And, on the day of the shower unit removal, I got a call from the branch manager and then the regional manager offering us the valve, but it was only after they found out about the complaint I filed, which they stated it had nothing to do with that, but wanted to know if I would retract my complaint.

Nevertheless, they gave us the valve. But in the meantime, we had received our first statement from the finance company, which BathFitters had already been paid for and should have already refunded the money. I was also told more than once by the branch manager that it took about 2 weeks to process our deposit refund...and that was May 1st. Naturally, BathFitters wasn't very pleased with the fact that I filed a complaint and felt my accusations were very unfair. Nothing I wrote was inaccurate or regretful,and my husband and I were prepared to turn the matter over to ur attorney.

Of cource, we wanted a peaceful resolve to this experience, as did BathFitters. It seemed that in order for us to receive our deposit refund, on good faith,I was asked to write this addendum, to which I agreed to only after the money had been returned to the finance company and we received our refund, which I put in writing to BathFitters that I would do. The money has been returned to the finance company and I deposited the refund check yesterday.

The mold is back and not removable, it's within the caulking. The floor of the shower has a huge crack and water is leaking underneath. There are huge gaps where the seems are separating around the shower door frame.

I was concerned about any fumes or offgasing from adhesives or caulking or cleaning agents they used to prep with. We were told they used an acid wash on the existing tiles to clean any residual soap scum, mildew, etc., had a strong odor, as did the adhesives and caulking, but all would dissipate within a day or two. It lasted 9 days, even with having fans on and windows open, 24/7.

The finished unit did not turn out how it was described to look. The drain looked like something a child try to install and the water did not drain completely from our shower, leaving standing water around the perimeter.

The branch manager was contacted and he came out to our house to assess our complaints and he admitted that the installation was done incorrectly, but wanted us to be happy with the product and have another unit installed the right way OVER the one they already installed. He told us he didn't understand why the fumes lasted so long, that they had never had that complaint before but couldn't guarantee it wouldn't happen again if we allowed them to put another unit in.

Also...we were told the sales rep that came out to our house that we signed the contract with was no longer with the company. When the sales rep initially came out to our house, he made several comments that led us to believe that he had been with the company for a long time, and went to work for Bath Fitters after he had one installed in his house because he believed in the product...but it turned out he was only with the company for a couple of weeks and that would explain why he never returned our calls after someone had to come back out a few days later to remeasure our bathroom.

We were misled on many things about this product and the installation and the branch manager has agreed to let us out of our contract, will reimburse our deposit, and will remove the installation, but leaving our shower in an unusable state. They seemed to want to move forward quickly to install a new unit, but taking their time to remove it and we are having a housefull of out of town company in 6 weeks.

We are the Bath Fitter location in North Carolina referred to by Robert. We are proud of our team of employees, all of whom have gone through our rigorous background check process and our 6-week training program. It is our policy to hire only licensed plumbers for our plumber positions. We regret that we were unable to offer Robert a position and wish him the best in his continued job search.

One week later, on the scheduled date, the installer never arrived - apparently he had forgotten to file our folder where it was supposed to be filed, and we had to be rescheduled AGAIN.

A few days later, finally, we had our beautiful finished bathroom, completed with new installed vanity and sink. Except that it wasn't so beautiful if you looked closely. The caulking was messing and uneven, the liner on the walls didn't meet up at the joints, and the caulk on the bath wasn't done 100%. Not to mention that the caulking on our newly installed vanity and sink was skimpy to say the least, and the liner had been cut incorrectly for the pipes, so when you looked inside the vanity you could see through to the old tiles!

Oh well, we thought - at least we had a functional bathroom, and vastly improved from before. At least so we thought. Two days later we decided to try out the bathtub - two baths in one morning for our kids - one hour later there were bubbles on our kitchen ceiling directly underneath the bathroom, then drips, and then a couple of gallons of water came through our kitchen ceiling ultimately resulting in a hole 18 x 48 and the destruction of our surrounding wallpaper.

The installer came out and after much running of water and peering through the vast hole in our ceiling, announced cheerily that, yes, he had not sealed the tub properly. He claimed to seal the tub and left, promising to talk to his manager about getting our ceiling fixed.

This is the state of our situation so far and from reading other people's stories, now I'm panicking. When you tread in the tub you can feel it give way in certain spots, even though our contract claims that the Bath Fitter liner is an exact mold of the existing tub - it obviously isn't. What else is going to happen? How bad is this going to get?

The new shower is perfect and helped my mom so very much. The install, product, and quality was exactly like Wayne (Estimater) described. We are very thrilled with the finished product and would recommend Bathfitter and Wayne Allen to anyone seeking a bath remodel.

We actually saved money over other quotations and feel we received a superior product. The install took only one day and saved me money in that regard as well. I highly recommend Bathfitter and their Estimator, Wayne A (very honest and upfront) to anyone. GREAT JOB!

A week later a tech came out and said the end cap was never caulked and that should take care of it. It didn't do the job and now we have water spots on our ceiling. Last week another guy came out for about 5 minutes. He caulked the drain and re-caulked the endcap, and said to wait 24 hours before a shower.

We waited more than a day, but it started leaking when we showered and this time it was worse. I left two nasty messages and this week they will try to figure out what they did wrong.

First of all, there about 170 individually owned franchises throughout USA & Canada. So please don't judge all of us or every job by a hand full of complaints. There are hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers that aren't complaining. I have many letters from very satisfied customers.

Deborah's contract was signed on October 30, 2007. Due to our heavy work load, it was not installed until Jan. 25, 2007. Our normal time from signing to installing is 4 to 8 weeks.

It states on the back of the contract (she initialed the front that she read the back)that it is not guaranted to be done in that time frame. Unfortunately, there were some issues that interfered with the previously scheduled dates.

I received a call on a Saturday morning from our central answering service about a leak at this job site.

I called Deborah & she told me that her toilet was leaking. I said that we didn't do any work on her toilet. She insisted it was our fault. I agreed to send a service tech there, but explained that there could be a charge for him coming there if it had nothing to do with our work, because I would have to pay him for his time.

I went one step further & went with the technician. Upon arriving, we discovered that the float that controls the water level was stuck. The tank was filling up with water & flowing out of the hole where the handle fastened to the tank. The mechanism kept sticking whenever the toilet was flushed. I told her it needed replacing. I said I wouldn't charge her the $75.00 for coming out, even though I had to pay my guy. She kept insisting that we were responsible for this problem, even though we did no work on her toilet. We definitely were not.

As for the shower curtain rod, that we buy in quantity as a give away. It fits up to 60 width. She had an over size wall area. If I had been made aware at the time, I would have gone out & bought one for her that fit. Our ultimate goal is to keep our customers happy. Unfortunately, sometimes things happen that have an adverse effect on our efforts. These are the times that people mostly hear about, not the thousands of happy ones.

If my location does your job & you have a problem, let me know. I stand behind my work. A happy customer is my best advertizer!

When the guy who did the job left, I asked him to try the faucet and for me and make sure everything was ok, he told me that he could not run the water at this time because the glue behind the tub had to dry first. I also asked him if he was a plumber also and he said no. Well of course when I tried it 24 hrs later, the shower faucets were leaking and would not stop, they were working perfect before they touched it. I called terry and the office several times. Terry came over and like he did with others told me the same old story, the house is old, the faucets are old, they cannot do anything about it. He told me I had to call a plumber to have it fixed. I told him that this was his responsibility, the faucet worked just fine before they touched it. Like I said, I cannot afford to call a plumber at this time. Why do they even touch plumbing if they are not qualified to do so? I have not heard from anyone so far, I left another message on their answering machine at the office. It looks fine on the outside but don't look behind it. They are not a reputable business, so buyer beware.

Please let me note that I am a well established, professional 35 yr old who is on her 3rd home. I'm also a business owner of 10 years who is from New York City. Somehow my newly married status (of 6mo) suddenly makes me a baffling idiot! I didn't realize that I would be teleported back to the 1950's! Beware that if you have a coupon - it is only good if you agree to use their services ON THE SPOT. They may even offer you another discount if they can plant a sign in your yard. AGAIN- only if you SIGN ON THE SPOT.

As soon as I told the sales woman that I would NOT be making any final decision today - her demeanor completely changed. Sales lady went from happy, lovely & personable to pit bull salesman selling snake oil. If Bath Fitter is such a great product then why do they have to pressure the heck out of you to buy? The bath/tub replacement was 6k. Last time I checked this is a decent sum of money. Who hands over a check like that without considering options & getting other price estimates? Awful, awful & frustrating experience for this female homeowner.

In August of 2007, the bracket for the hand held shower came loose, and I called Bath Fitter and spoke with Mark. He said he would send someone to check it out. The installer who came to the house said that this happens frequently with this particular bracket. He said he would explain to Mark exactly what the problem was. Mark called the next day and proceeded to inform me that Bath Fitter was not responsible and that I would have to contact Moen (the manufacturer) and get a replacement part. I questioned Bath Fitters lifetime warranty and was informed that my wife and I must have misunderstood the sales reps. Bath Fitter is responsible for the acrylic products only, not the plumbing, the installation or the hardware used. The total job cost $7000, maybe $3000 of which was acrylic. As of today the shelf is about to fall off from the wall of the shower.

Lack of response to flooding: Shortly after the workers left my home, I noticed my bathroom toilet leaking. It has not leaked once in the past six years, so this must be related to the BF work. I have called BF four times already, and have not received one call back. If they had a dram of skill in the area of customer service, they would have called pack ASAP and deployed a plumber to my home. I am waiting to hear back, while pots catching water are sitting on my bathroom floor's sopping tile.

Although my complaints do not warrant a BBB investigation, it speaks to the poor level of customer service and ineffective operations at Bath Fitters. Tubs installed in a day? Perhaps their new ad campaign should say: "Tubs installed within 3 months, if we get around to it. And, have towels and a mop ready to clean up after us."

On January 9, 2008, Bath Fitter installed a bathtub and through the negligence of the installer, the drain pipe was broken causing significant damage and resulted in my having to hire a plumber to fix the damage. Upon entry to our apartment the installer immediately addressed his concern about being able to install the tub. My husband was told that the shelving units in the tub would need to be BROKEN in order to place the tub liner in the tub. I immediately called Terry Strafford to voice my concern. He called the installer to correct the problem. After prepping the tub and installing the liner, we learned that the drain pipe was broken. The installer packed his tools and left the premises (leaving a mess behind). Terry Stafford began to spin a web of lies to me. He insisted that the installer did not speak to him until after the tub had successfully been installed. He also insisted that he properly informed us about the possibility of drain pipe breakage. When Terry was in our home he did tell us that the pipe could break, BUT he also told us it is an easy fix and nothing to worry about, 1 in 30 chance of happening. He claimed the installer has a conversation with the building Superintendent confirming that the damage was due to old pipes. My husband, Leo, was present during all conversations and this was never discussed. It is obvious that he is not properly educated to answer questions regarding this possibility. He recanted his sales pitch and tried to sell me the idea of this happening because it is an old building. To the best of my knowledge, Bath Fitters are never installed on a NEW tub in a NEW Building. They are installed over tubs that are in old buildings.

Wall damage: from the second floor to the basement. Ceiling: instead of doing the whole thing, it's half done and nothing painted. The money involved to repair it myself will be costly. And I owe $1900.00 on the tub. What a joke.

I told Bath Fitters, before I purchased the enclosure, that I had a mold problem in that bathroom. They promised me that with their product I would never have to worry about that again. Well, after water getting between the two tubs I am seriously worried.

I wish I could rip out the whole thing.

Secondly the end cap was not placed on my tub, so I have a hole at the end in which the original tub can be seen. Thirdly, right below my bathtub is my kitchen and now I have started to notice that when the tub is being used water leaks down into my kitchen.

I have called numerous times to confirm a date for someone to come a fix these problems. However, when I am given a date for repair, no one arrives, nor do they call to explain. I have been strung along since October. My parents had a Bathfitter installed when the company first came out, and their bathroom looked nice with no problems, so I thought I would try it for my only bathroom. It is obvious from my experience and reading the negative experiences of others that the company has gone downhill.

We keep chalking the tub but the chalking never seems to set. My sub flooring is damaged and my cellar ceiling has falling down.

I took the opportunity to research the repair by other contractors, and replacement cost againest Bathfitter's costs. To repair the wall properly the labor is $450-$600, plus tile for $600 for a suitable replacement. This is the price for Bathfitters walls alone, with no extra cost for the window. I found direct replacement shower valves for $70.00, shower grab bars for less than $25.00. To replace the bath tub, since the tile will have to be removed and to repair the wall will cost $1,400.00, The liner cost $1,300.00. Tim has called and informed me that they will repair the wall with tile, and restick the liner. The fact that he tried to have my mother in law pay for anything, and the fact that he was gouging his prices gives me no comfort in his offer. It is not our fault that the liner was not installed correctly and ruined the tile. Now the tile is ruined, and the walls must be repaired. So she wants to install a new tub. I have a copy of the estimate, and the email requesting refund.

We had a tub installed that does not have the proper end cap. They promised to call numerous times for a completion date but have not done so. We made several trips to their office and spoke to the salesman and manager .

We paid for the job that was never completed.

All employees, including installers and office staff are grossly underpaid with expectations from management to take on extreme work loads. I was the unofficial manager of the office, even recognized in those terms by the branch manager, but was not rewarded in any manner for my skills or services. (Customers would call and ask for me, 'the manager' by name!). Installers are paid a measly 7.8% commission rate on installations, which usually average around $1,000.00 but keep them working on the job until around 7-9 pm. You do the math.

It was common for the local branches to hold Help Wanted Open Houses that are advertised in the newspaper every 2-3 months, in which they hire off-the-street installers and salesmen. The reason behind hiring people with little to no experience is so that Bath Fitter can train them with Bath Fitter's guidelines... A recipe for disaster.

Not only is the turnover rate absolutely outrageous but installers are only required to complete 6-8 weeks of training - only 3-4 of which are used in a hands-on training facility! When our location was desperate for installers, our branch manager approved new hire installers to work after only completing the written course training portion of 4 weeks. Desperate times call for treading a thin legal line, apparently. When questioned by me and other staff regarding the decision to allow this the branch manager responded by saying 'who's going to know besides us?'

The people who knew ended up being the angry, disatisfied customers who's bathrooms were left in damaged, leaking, shoddy condition for WEEKS waiting for resolutions. Sometimes these were customers only bathrooms with children or grandparents residing in the home. The manager would instruct me to handle all complaint calls and 'use my best judgement' to resolve them. I dealt with a laundry list of complaints on a daily basis and it only kept growing as I made my exit from this company.

Just so you have an idea, I can recall installers breaking 50 year old porcelain antique bathroom floor tiles and our company never reimbursing, replacing, or repairing them because they were 'too old.' (So what? Does that mean these customers are not entitled to compensation?) That complaint still had not been resolved by the time I left the company.

It's an everyday occurence to have a liner installed crookedly. Of course it is usually the 'fault of the homeowners floor tiles for not being straight.' Yes, that unfortunate excuse was actually given. Never the fault of poor craftsmanship - OR Bath Fitter. This, not to mention the terrible caulking jobs with large gaps, leaking walls, liners with bubbles behind them...these bubbles must be due to the fact that the walls are not perfectly level, right? Laughable.

There was an ongoing issue with a customers home in which the plumber that BATH FITTER provides (not one the consumer choses) actually broke a water pipe behind a wall and did not say anything and just left it that way. A few hours after the installer completed the job, the homeowner's kitchen ceiling light directly below this bathroom was flooding with water and his entire kitchen ceiling needed repair. This went on for WEEKS and WEEKS with Bath Fitter trying to escape responsibility. 'Oh, it's the plumber's fault, not ours...' The branch manager finally agreed to send out an installer to repair the drywall and ceiling of his kitchen - an 18 year old, fresh out of high school, green handed kid with NO experience in the realm of home repair.

Branches rarely made good on promises to compensate customers for bills they incurred from repairing damages our company made to their property - like the steam cleaning bill from blood on white carpet and not removing shoes leaving scuffed and scratched floor tile despite being 'required' to lay down a drop cloth.

Some customers file complaints with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and as soon as Bath Fitter hears of these complaints they are immediately addressed and the situations rectified. Most of the time Bath Fitter attempts to settle issues before complaints are filed, but that only strings trusting consumers along for a waiting period of up to months before the office makes good on their promises.

The salesmen, or 'estimators,' are paid only an 8% commission rate on sales. The are not given an hourly rate and usually have around 6-9 calls a week. Of those calls, approximately 30% will sell. Most of the salesmen estimate on a part time basis because of this and therefore it is not their primary means of income. They are instructed by every level of management to make each sale a high pressure sale wrapped in a low pressure atmosphere. They are told to hike the price to an outrageous level and then charm the price down. For example: 'Well, Mrs. Mathers, this package is normally around $7,000 (completely made up) but if you decide to purchase your liner system from me tonight I can lower the price to about $3,000.' Most estimators that I've met could care less about Bath Fitter as a company and even less about their 8% commission rate. There are absolutely no incentives for salesmen, excuse me, 'Estimators' to go out and make sales.

If you haven't picked up the trend yet, my main point is that a company's only as successful as the management and employees it hires. And from my experience Bath Fitter fails in both aspects. That's why I left. I wanted no more ties with a company of this negligence. They have unhappy employees and hidden, cowardly management. I have spoken with many Bath Fitter employees who complain of the very same things I've written here, which is so unfortunate because this company has the potential to be more lucrative and successful than it is. I'm shocked that they have been in business this long.

Of course there are those 'couple thousand satisfied' customers that they keep telling me about...hmm. From my experience these customers are satisfied - only after Bath Fitter takes responsibility for their managerial and costly in-home blunders. Do you have the time, money and patience to do business with a company like this? You'd be better off doing the project yourself. Bath Fitter is a total scam.

SInce I had only paid a small deposit to hold the date, I did not think that would be a problem. She said she had to talk to admin. Two days later she called to say they had ordered my tub and I could not get my deposit back. I demanded to talk to the owner. Sue Leonard called me back the next day. She said my tub was ordered weeks ago, which was not possible since they only had my check for 7 business days. I explained the small deposit to hold the date only, but she did not want to hear that. I asked for the purchase order and date it was ordered and delivered. She refused to give me that. Had the estimator not asked for the small deposit to hold the date, I would not have given her a deposit or signed the contract until the first week of September, and would have avoided all this.

I was mislead by the estimator regarding this small deposit and I requested my deposit back from Ms Leonard. She was rude and not willing to discuss the situation or negotiate returning some of my money. I am a single person and that $250.00 is alot of money to me.

The company responds:

In order to maintain our customer's good will, we returned her $250 deposit to her on September 29, 2007.

We believe that there was an unfortunate misunderstanding between Ms. L and our staff. While we will occasionally take a less than full deposit to reserve an installation date and give our customers time to move funds around to complete the payment of a full deposit, our contract clearly states that it may be cancelled only within three days of signing. Ms. L signed the back of her contract that carries the Terms and Conditions of the sale of which #1 is the cancellation clause. However, Ms. Loper didn't inform us that she wished to cancel until 10 days after signing. By that time, we considered the job sold and her custom-made goods had been ordered.

Because the matter was not clear to Ms. Loper, we decided to refund her deposit and we trust that this has brought the matter to a satisfactory close.

Where does one turn- Better Business?

On 1/11/06 Dave (Asst Mgr from Bath Fitter) came to my home and told my wife that the shower basin had to be removed, drain repaired, kitchen ceiling replaced & possibly the flouresant ceiling fixture which also may have water damage. He also stated that he would call my wife later in the day to set the date & time repairs were to be made. He did not call therfore I went to their store on 1/12/06. I was told that Dave had an emergency & was referred to Antoine. I explained what Dave had said & I told Antoine that I did not want anymore patchwork. He advised me that he will come to my home with a repairman at 8:30 am on 1/13/06 to review the problem.

I also told him that because the shower basin was raised to accommodate the shower doors they also installed, the material appears to be disintregrating under the basin & going down the drain causing it to clog. It also clogged the bathroom sink therefore neither the shower or sink is useable.

The initial cost was $4,000.00 charged by Bath Fitter but now after being repaired twice, I have a ruined kitchen ceiling, possibly ruined kitchen light fixture & extreme inconvenience not having a usable main shower & bathroom sink.