Water Heater Mistake

[PeppermintP2]

On July 29 I realized that my AOSmith Water heater was leaking. I phoned a local plumber, and asked him to fix it. I told him it was an AOSmith, and that it might be under warranty. He said he deals with AOSmith, and would be happy to get a new one if it was under warranty. As I waited for him to arrive, I called AOSmith and found that my water heater was still under warranty. They advised me that I would only have to pay for the labor.
The plumber came, installed a new water heater, and everything was fine. I did not pay anything, as I was to be billed for the labor, but I gave him a copy of my original water heater bill - to bring to AOSmith (total$600, it was about 5-1/2 yrs old)

On August 13, the same plumber called to tell me we had a problem. He said he realized that he installed a Bradford water heater by mistake. He said he could 1) take out the Bradford and install the warranteed AOSmith for $490 (but it would only have a 2 month warranty on it, since only 2 months were left on my warranty), or 2) we could keep the Bradford and pay $980.

I phoned several local plumbers to find that the cost of installing a water heater was $300 at most. I told the plumber this, and he said he gets $99 for the first hour of service, and $88 for each hour after that. He says he had been at my house for 3-3/4 hours, I didn't watch the clock, but that could be right. In any event, that only comes to $341. He says that he is charging me to pick up the water heater from AOSmith and a paperwork fee (the difference is $149 for this service. The trip to where he gets the water heater is about 20 mins.

This is a problem since I will have to take off from work once again because of the plumber's mistake. I spoke with a plumber who is an AOSmith dealer, and he is willing to put a new AOSmith in for $300 - and leave the Bradford water heater on the front porch for the first plumber to pick up. What can I do in this situation. He expects me to pay a paperwork fee, but who will pay for my 2nd day off.

Thanks so much for your help.

[PeppermintP2]

I need an answer fairly soon. Thanks Again!!!