Contractor Charging Labor Costs on Warranty Work??

[Amber Forkey]

Recently I had a water heater replaced in December of 2022. In April of 2023 the unit had to be replaced again (a $1,700+ Bradford White model). 

Tenant called me about water spraying out of the unit .

Quick version... the contractor that installed it "couldn't get to it for a few days" so I had to call another to come out and look at it. After much talk and going back and fourth on what the options were with the new contractor, it was decided that replacing it had the best outcome for all parties involved and it was taken care of the same day so the tenant was happy. 

As far as the reason why it failed... nobody could really give me a solid answer. One person told me that in was installed improperly, another told me that hard water may have had something to do with it. So I'm unsure what the exact casue of failure was. 

Anywho.... the contractor who did the install finally got out to do the warranty on the unit and now he's charging $200 for his time. This new unit now resides in the basement of the home which has a brand new unit already installed so it's a very expensive backup. The new contractor I hired said they could not do the warranty on it because they were not the original installers of it so that's why it played out this way. 

Is this a normal thing to charge for? Has anyone dealt with something like this in the past? Any insight is much appreciated.