Ultimate Plumbing, Inc

We were referred to this company by a friend who had an excellent experience. One of the selling points (and the reason we agreed to one of the higher priced bids we'd received) was that they are in and out in one day, and there's limited cleanup required afterwards. Our initial experience was marred by the fact that the water heater they put in leaked. It took them a few days to come back and replace it, so we were without hot water for a while. We had a problem with the water volume in our shower, they replaced the valve for an additional fee. It wasn't until years later when we had a problem with our drains that we discovered the job was not completed. They did not perform the redrain even though we had paid for it. We attempted to contact them (as the work has a "lifetime warranty") and received no callback or contact from them at all, finally having to hire another plumber to fix the broken drainpipe. Were we not outside the statute of limitations we would certainly be pursuing litigation over this job. If you do hire this company, it would behoove you to pay another plumber to inspect the job upon completion and insure that it complies with your contract.

First of all, and understand this occurred a few years ago, however, I have just become a member and am still frustrated at this company and wish it be known about their terrible and unprofessional service in order to avoid any others falling into the trap by using this company. Between both apartments, Ultimate Plumbing, after receiving reviews and beating others with pricing, appeared to be the favorable option. Ultimate Plumbing was given the contract. On the day in question, two Mexican workers, one only spoke English, appeared and started work on both apartments. Throughout the morning I spent most of my time on the sofa due to illness, only to be aroused some time later, coughing, spluttering and eyes full of water, I could see no further than my hand as the room was filled with smoke, I could not even reach the phone or locate cell phone. On my knees and hands I crawled to the front door, opened and ran outside, still unable to see properly. It was obvious there was a fire. Proceeding down the stairs I was confronted by the two workers, the one that spoke English advised me everything was in hand and fire was out, naturally I had some heated words to say, at that moment in time, the supervisor from Ultimate Plumbing arrived and asked if I would like the fire brigade called, this being a no brainier, I angrily stated "What do you think". The workers stood with their hands in their pockets doing nothing. Approx 5 minutes later, four fire engines arrived with Police, decks were cut open, holes made in walls, doors ripped open and water all around, eventually the firemen completed their work to their satisfaction and departed leaving me with a mess and in a worse state of health that started out that morning. Many calls were made, arguments on the phone with those who claimed to be owners, both workers attempted to clear up some mess of below apartment of which I was also overseeing on behalf of neighbor. Photographic evidence was taken, to the displeasure of the English speaking worker who attempted to prevent me from taking. Within approx 30 minutes, Ultimate Plumbing sent one Electrician from their own company to attempt in replacing electrical wiring etc, I stopped this process. Time passed and eventually the Owners appeared and walked around talking in Spanish of which I could not understand, they left without saying much and never gave the whole incident the attention it deserved. During events, I gathered as much information I could, finding out that the fire was started in between the apartment below and mine above when welding pipes. There was no evidence of any water extinguishers around or any connected fire hose, this is required by California Law when conducting such work. In conclusion, the below neighbor could not reside in his apartment for a considerable time due to damage and reapir work. My apartment received extreme smoke damage, holes is floor/walls and all linnen/clothes etc required cleaning, House totally gutted and re-painted. Ultimate Plumbing was none responsive on many occassions towards my neighbor and myself, they were rude, ignored many calls and did not keep any agreements made, for what they were worth. In addition they attempted to cover up the damage and repairs by sending their own workers to do the work. Conducting my own inquiries and contacting appropriate insurance company/personnel, I was commencing with legal action as Ultimate Plumbing had no intention of contacting their insurance company, this I was advised by telephone, they felt there was no need to do so?. Eventually, and as my insurance company was on their case, they sent an insurance representative, then and only then we saw action. Both apartments received an amount of monies to make good the apartments, there was no official apology or any alternative compensation from Ultimate Plumbing. With contracts being signed we agreed to allow the company to complete work, however, I was still forced to make payment for said. All in all, I could have died on the sofa from smoke inhalation had I not awoke, both workers knew I was above yet never bothered coming to see if all was OK. The owners are extremely rude, office staff telephone etiquette leave a lot to be desired, not all workers speak or understand English, and the event lasted over one month to make things right. We were lucky the entire blocked did not burn down and that there were no deaths due to the incompetence of Ultimate. Hopefully no other shall endure these services.

Quality of work was very low. Only one worker spoke english on a regular basis. (Others did but would go to not speaking upon problems). Crew was short at least one person every day. job went six days. work did not pas permit inspection by City of Glendale. When i insisted upon more workers to complete the job on promised schedule, the owner of the company screamed and cursed at me on many calls. Owner of company thought the inspector and I had a plot against him to have the work not approved. The forman of the job followed the Inspectors car down the street cursing and yelling at him. They made the improvements the Inspector demanded. In the time since the work was done we have had several Pipes come loose from being poorly secured. I have had them repaired by others as Ultimate was so bad- from the workers to the owner.

They did an excellent job. We had three bids and they were the ones that we were most satisfied with. They came in at the same price as they quoted. They finished the work in the time they said. It only took three days. They were very professional and knew exactly what they were doing. At the time they worked with us not one person in their crew, other than the supervisor, knew how to speak English. That was fine with me, I didn't really care. I like how they were self contained. They were able to work under the sidewalk and our driveway. They didn't have to rip any of it up in the process. However, they had to breakthrough the tile in our shower. It didn't matter to us because we needed to get it fixed due to the damage that was done to it from the earthquake. Their work was beautiful. They repaired any other problems that were present when they were finished.

The job went nowhere except the court. Two hours of work translated into 45 hours of court time and energy and I still have not received my deposit money back in full. Please note my earlier comments above.

They guaranteed that they would come out to do the work. They still haven't given me back my deposit money. I gave them a check for $1700 and they still have it.

I was SO happy with this work. I was very scared about such a big project, but their proposal came with insurance certificates, and multiple letters of reference. The quote was extremely clear to me, and I was impressed with the guy who came out to talk to me. I was also very happy that they suggested I redo the outgoing water pipes as well, especially after I saw them (the 70 year old pipes were severly damaged). My mother is bedridden, but she was not disturbed by the guys working around her. They promised they would be done in 3 days and they wound up finishing the drywall installation by 2.5 days. They actually were able to correct something a previous plumber had done as well. The only thing after that was we had a couple of minor faucet leaks due to the improved water pressure. I did not realize how bad it had been before. I'm very glad my friend recommended them.

EVERYTHING WAS VERBAL. Process appears premeditated. Unlicensed salesman. Ambiguous proposal. No time did they ever asked for signed papers. Sales likely said "Hick on a Stick-Stick it to'em". 7 May 07 Down payment. Crew began. 2 long days. SEE MESS PHOTOS. Foreman said "no contract to fix". First post-project contact by phone 7/14 to collect payment. Told us "$8600+ job - we got 20% discount". NO RECORD ANYWHERE. Sit down meeting arranged to correct defects/make progress payment. 7/17 sent mgmt rep unannounced for more money. $1300 legitimately held back till resolution. Made him mad. Heated exchange but no resolution re defects. More written /verbal dialog futile. Continued broken promises. We will go to small Claims Court Aug 07. Also countersuit and civil action.

Working with Ultimate Plumbing was a nightmare. They didn't show up on time. They completed the repipe and initially I didn't realize the problems...that lasted only a day or two. The first problem was the clunking sound when I would turn on the bathroom sink or shower. Ultimate came back and found that they incorrectly installed the pipes under our house and needed to properly secure them. Ultimate also installed my Jacuzzi tub, well they didn't install the tub stopper. How can you use a Jacuzzi tub without stopping the water from flowing down the drain! When I called to ask them to come back and install the stopper, they told me they would charge $225 to do the work. Amazing! I actually had the owner yelling at me about how he didn't make any money off of my job (I assume due to the poor workmanship that needed to be repaired). Anyway, I paid the extra money. This was the worst contractor experience of my life. I would never recommend or hire them again!