TITUSVILLE, Fla — A Brevard County man was promised a $4000 refund from a plumbing company but after getting the refund check, it bounced. Sean Mitchner turned to Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal to help get his money back.
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Jeff Deal asked, “What went through your mind when that check bounced?” Mitchner replied, “I’ve been scammed, really.”
It turned out not to be a scam, but it did take several months to get his money back.
Action 9 learned the company is owned by a state lawmaker which surprised Mitchner. He lives in a small Titusville home with his mother. Inside, he said it feels even smaller.
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“It’s only one bathroom in this house. And it’s like… it’s rough,” he told Action 9′s Jeff Deal.
When the toilet stopped flushing properly, he reached out to Advanced Plumbing Technology, also known as APT. A salesmen showed him they could coat the inside of old pipes to make repairs instead of digging up the old ones.
Mitchner said, “He demonstrated how the product works and everything. We thought it’d be a good fit.”
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He paid a $7500 deposit up front on a job worth nearly $15,000. He claimed it was only after he made that deposit, the company informed him they discovered he had a burst pipe and that digging up through the floors would still be required.
“I would have had to replace this wall, the wall out in front, the concrete throughout the house, the tile throughout the house. That’s a lot of money,” Mitchner explained as he walked through the home.
He found another company that could trench around the house with pipes to solve his toilet problem. So, Mitchner called APT to cancel. Even though he wasn’t happy, last October he signed papers agreeing to a $3500 cancellation fee. He would at least get $4000 back.
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After phone calls and messages, he said it took several weeks to receive the refund check, but that wasn’t the end of the problem. His bank notified him the check bounced.
Mitchner said, “That’s very bad business. That’s bad business.”
He turned to Action 9 when he said he got more runaround trying to get a new check.
When Jeff Deal walked into the Clermont building with the address and suite number for Advanced Plumbing Technology, he noticed there was no business sign out front for APT.
A woman at the office asked, “How can I help you?”
Deal answered, “We’re trying to find Advanced Plumbing Technology.”
The woman replied, “They are not in this office any longer.”
It turned out the office address in Clermont listed in state records for Advanced Plumbing Technology is now the District Office for State Representative Taylor Yarkosky. Yarkosky is also an owner of Advanced Plumbing Technology.
At the office Jeff Deal asked, “Is Mr. Yarkosky here? Because he owned that business, correct?” The woman answered, “He’s in Tallahassee.”
In a YouTube video for Advanced Plumbing Technology, the state lawmaker is seen and heard saying, “I’m Taylor Yarkosky, owner of APT.”
The Better Business Bureau suspended accreditation for APT in late January due to “a less than positive track record in the marketplace and a failure to address marketplace disputes quickly, professionally, and in good faith.”
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State Representative Yarkosky told Deal over the phone that the business is transitioning away from residential service to commercial service and had some communication issues. He said the company accidentally closed out the residential account before Sean Mitchner could cash the check. Yarkosky also said he hasn’t been involved in day-to day activities the past few months and a business partner will soon be taking over everything.
But once Action 9 made Yarkosky aware of the situation, within two days, Yarkosky made sure Advanced Plumbing Technology sent Mitchner the $4000.
The state representative said this is not the norm for the business, and he wasn’t aware of the issue until Action 9 reached out about it.
The Better Business Bureau said its board will look at the suspension and consider revoking BBB Accreditation for Advanced Plumbing Technology at its next meeting in April.
Often companies will blanket neighborhoods with fliers for their services and that can be an easy way to find help. But it’s always important for homeowners to do some research before hiring any company to do work around their home. They should check several different online review sites and get at least three bids before spending thousands of dollars on a project.
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