Hi folks, I tried google and am at a loss, so I'm turning to you good people.

We just had our hot water tank replaced and the technician shifted the copper pipe that connected to it by about 3.5 inches to make it fit. Will doing something like that make the pipe more prone to leaking?

To be more specific - the pipe that feeds water to our hot water tank used to be level from where it left the wall to where it bent down to connect to our old water tank. The new water tank is slightly taller than the old so the tech just lifted the end where it connects to the tank and connected. Now the pipe that was level is no longer level. It's probably between 5 and 10 degrees away from level now. And there is a slight flat patch on the outer side of the bend just before it connects to the tank. Will lifting or pushing pipe like this weaken it and make it more likely to leak? We just had one flood, I don't want another.

The pipe shouldn't have been that loose, that it could've been moved that much without stressing a joint. I would have the person back to properly connect the piping or show you that the pipe is not being stressed.

That does not sound good at all.

Occasionally I have to open up a wall to repair a copper pipe leak. It is almost always at a fitting and, more often than not, I notice that the failed fitting was under stress because the pipes were not aligned properly but forced into position.

yeah, to be safe you could ask the tech to bring along a flexible water heater connection and install it to make adjustments to the existing pipe...
flexs can be gotten in female end for the water heater nipple connection and the other end push on for the copper pipe connection. 15 minutes work and no worries...

The reason we carry fittings on our trucks is so we can "adjust" pipes that do not fit and not have to force them into place.

Sounds like he was in too much of a hurry to use an extra fitting or two. It should be fine and he will probably not be too receptive to you if you try and call him back on it since it is working properly and not leaking. I'm not saying it's right, but he will be able to argue that it's also not wrong.

As a home owner I wouldn't like sloppy work like that even if there is no stress on any joint. Besides every time I change out a water heater nine times out of ten there was a need to replace the cold side shutoff valve anyways and that makes it necessary to redo fittings.

It has become so expensive to call out a Pro and believe it or not there is not a lot of profit at $90 per hour for the Owner of the company. Take a look at an old Reeves Guide to learn about costs if you are new at the business. Not even mentioning the economy...

Those "gurus" who advise contractors on how to set their prices are so out of touch with reality, it is not funny. $300.00 or more to replace a toilet fill valve, $350.00 per hour labor costs, ridiculous.