Time/Cost of Circulator Pump

That price of over $1,000 might be fair, but it depends on your location. The New York metropolitan area demands much higher labor costs, and wholesale parts often cost more from a New York supply house with higher overhead. In contrast, a small town in Wyoming typically has much lower labor rates. For that reason, it would be better to replace that dollar amount with “$$$” or something similar.

When I was in business, I had a policy called “You Never Pay Twice.” That policy covered the second minimum labor charge, which was typically a 0.5-hour fee just to show up. Since the leaking relief valve was probably a few years old and had never been exercised or “operated” as instructed by the manufacturer, it may have already been defective. That means the next person who touched it—whether it was you, the cable guy, or the plumber—was likely to cause it to leak. For that reason, I agree that you should pay for that repair.

However, because the leaking valve was discovered after the system was improperly vented and some of the radiators were not heating properly, I would have deducted more from that repair under my service-call warranty.

For example: if I replaced your circulator for $10.00 and you later called about uneven heat, and I normally charge $6.00 to correct uneven heat and replace a relief valve, I would show the combined total as $16.00. I would then offer a $3.00 discount under the warranty portion of my “You Never Pay Twice” policy.

You would need to agree to the initial $10.00 before I started the working on your circulator, and to the additional $3.00 before I replaced the relief valve the next service call. All pricing would be agreed upon up front. If you declined the $10.00 repair on the first day, then all you would owe is the minimum service fee to show up, diagnose the problem, and provide a written price quote which might have been $0.98

Of course these prices are from the early 1800s before circulators were invented, but you get the point. I cant tell your contractor how to run his business, and that is why I no longer recommend the company that I sold my business to. They are more interested in how much they can charge and less on actual customer service. They would rather replace a perfectly good oil heating system with a Natural gas or Propane system then to actually do the proper maintenance on an oil heater.

I might start with a query about if they have any guarantee on the work they do on a service call.
Call from another phone (caller ID and all) and ask the question anonymously as if you want to use then for a needed repair.

Then ask about what the statement "All Good At This Time" means on a service call ticket/invoice

Seems like "All was not good" since the following day the system did not heat properly and it did heat properly several days earlier, my guess is that opening the piping system caused air to enter the radiators. There is a statement: Filled Boiler (which means adding water) as part of what you paid for on the first day. and since you already paid for that (adding water) why do you need to pay for that again on the second day. Just because they changed the name to Bleed Radiators which also is adding water to the boiler.

I can guarantee that the air in the radiators was a result of the "Taco 007 circulator pump" job. That bleed radiators should have been done the first day and if they wanted to charge additional for that on the first day, then it should have been included. I think that they are not the type of company that admits their mistakes and would rather loose a customer than refund you any money.

Asking management the tough questions may get you a few dollars refund, and if not find another plumber.

But that makes an assumption that all those things were done. And if they were done then the second service call would be unnecessary. Can't make any money if you don't get callbacks that you can charge more money for.

I’d keep an eye on the boiler pressure also. A weeping relief is often caused by pressure over 27 psi.

Pressure increase can happen when a fill valve that hasn’t been used in a while is activated to do a purge, after a repair.

Hopefully the expansion tank was checked also.

A thorough repair would have changed the circulator as needed purged all zones and done a complete check of all devices. This was not done. Service companies need to do this for customer satisfaction not to mention the dreaded call backs that occur when a service call such as this one was not thoroughly done. It avoids all of the finger pointing.

I hate call backs and do everything that I can to make sure I don't go back.