Able Home Services Inc

The man on the job was very good and responsible and went further than originally thought due to additional leaks found, but the bill was very high. Their price quote format is excessive and the hourly rates are high for that area.

Excellent. Brian A. showed up on time, removed the old valve, and installed the new valve. No mishaps. Now I can turn off the irrigation system without having to make 20 turns on my knees. Price seemed a little bit high.

It was free- it was under warranty. It was prompt and they really care about follow ups. They installed the water heater sometime ago and they wanted to be on top of it - they want their service to be good and don't want their customers to be unhappy. The first day I called, they were all tied up with trainings and everybody was booked.

Dwain arrived around 9am. He is punctual and always wears the blue booties. He was friendly and neat and tidy in his work. He completed the job just under 2 hours. I kept the old fan for parts and for crafts. That means they did not need to recycle it. Because the job took 2 hours instead of 3, I bought my own fan, I kept my old one, saving them recycling costs, I felt the $536 was a bit high. Dwain said it was a flat rate cost, that he can't make any changes. $250 per hour for labor(that's subtracting $36 for the pole at Home Depot) seems a quite steep for installing a light. I asked how much the pole was that he had to purchase. He said HE COULDN'T RECALL, HE DIDN'T LOOK AT THE PRICE! He refused to tell me. I just checked Home Depot, hence the $36. When we were finished he gave me a yellow copy of the bill, then said this is the pink copy that belongs to the company that we keep at your house, it goes under your sink. I will put it there. I said "no you won't, those things go in the cupboard up here (I pointed where other appliance papers were)". He said HE WOULD NOT GIVE ME THE PINK COPY, IT BELONGS TO HIS COMPANY AND IT HAS TO BE PLACED UNDER THE SINK SO THE NEXT GUY CAN FIND IT. THAT IS COMPANY POLICY AND IF I WON'T LET HIM PUT IT THERE, THEN HE WON'T LET ME KEEP IT!! At this point I find him to be an obnoxious, overpaid little prig, fold my arms, say go ahead, stick it under the sink, then I grab it the second he puts it there and put it where I want it. I slam the front door and lock it and come straight in here to write this. Of course now I have to clean off the sticky residue from their envelope he stuck to my painted wall under my sink. Lot of nerve. The owner of a business has no right to say he is going to open up one of your cupboards and stick something in it without your express permission. Invasion of privacy among other things. I WOULD NOT CALL THEM IF I WERE YOU AND I CERTAINLY WON'T CALL THEM.

Of the 3 estimates we requested, Brain B from Able Services was by far the most informative, confident and professional. Brian B was a good listener, had creative ideas and a vision for how he could design a system to work for us (and within our budget!) He seemed more interested in educating us about our options than in pushing a sale. We appreciated his approach and the time he spent analyzing our needs and explaining the possibilities. He was also interested in designing a system that would flexible and could be expanded later when we are ready to add irrigation, etc. (A plumber from a different company wanted to replace the pipes exactly as they had original been installed in 1947. Even when we mentioned that the location of current hose bibs weren't very convenient, he didn't seem willing to brainstorm ways to get water were we actually want it.) We live in an area where there are lots of rats; when we moved in the house had been empty for several months, and rats had chewed through both pvc supply lines and black AVS drainpipe. We want copper pipes, and Brian B agreed. (The other two plumbers who gave estimates didn't want to work with copper and even wanted to argue about it, trying to convince us to use pex and pvc. Ultimately, one plumber declined to give us an estimate because he didn't want to spend the time it would take to do the house in copper!!) Unlike the others, Brian B didn't push for the materials that would be cheap and easy to install. He seemed more interested in installing pipes that work for us for many years to come. We will definitely be scheduling Able Plumbing to do this job. It's a huge and costly job, and only Brian B inspired us with his confidence and willingness to meet our needs. Brian B is why we chose Able Plumbing.

We were experiencing a fluctuation with some of our lights in the living room. I called Able Services and the dispatcher (?) informed me I would be subject to a $50 charge for a person to come out and evaluate the situation. The person who arrived quickly told me I needed to sign an authorization for work, with an estimate of several hundred dollars, before he could evaluate the problem. Two problems here: 1. The dispatcher did not make it clear I was subject to a $50 charge just to show up, or so it was since the electrician required me to sign an agreement estimate for several hundred dollars before starting the assessment. The problem was eventually found to be a faulty switch where the electrical lines come to the house. But, this was after a significant amount of time in the home checking outlets. I can do this as one who has built an extension on his house and did the electrical. Once he found the problem he proceeded to tell me the switch needed replacement. Their final bill: $904.00. This for what should have been a 2 hour repair and a $50 part (I don't know the mark up because the invoice I received was not itemized). I will note the person performing this job was pleasant and knowledgeable. Also the part was delivered from another town, adding to the time to repair. My issue is the manner in which this company evaluated the problem. It was simple to identify and repair. Their approach seems to just keep the clock ticking.

I checked what he said to check and the washer is still working. Advice only and no charge. Excellent!

NOTE: In all truthfulness, this happened some time ago & I am writing it now because I need another plumber & I am still burning from the unethical behavior I experienced with them. So some of the details may be approximate: Badly. I did not end up using them. The person on the phone refused to tall me what just a clean cost. Went on & on about their basic fee which was about $200+ and included blah blah blah. I said "I you underwrite local non-profit programing and I want to support that, but I only want a basic procedure, how much is it?" They ademantly refused to tell me. I was just as stubborn, and they finally said they would have the actual plumber call me from the field. He did & we talked and he was more honest about fees, but I was still bothered emough that I ended up calling one of the rooter places and apid $60 total. A $150+ savings. And it was at least 2 or more others that quoted me clear and reasonable costs for basic services. THEN, I found out my 80 yr old mother had used them and paid the same basic fee for some stupid thing like a faucet head replacement or a toilet snaking. Spoke with 1 other close friend who had had the a very similar experience. They can charge legally whatever they want, it's the refusal to be clear about their services/cost that angered me. Plus, $200 for a verified $60 task is unethical, esp if naive or senior citizens are involved.

Michael was punctual, showed me what the problems were and carefully explained everything. He was very careful to clean up from the work. Plumbing is always more expensive than you think, but Able seems to take real pride in their work and aim to get repeat customers.

Went very well and quickly. Gave good advice on brands. Am very pressed with the excellent service.

We had a slow, gradual reduction of H2O pressure in the kitchen over many months, relieved by installation of a new main kitchen faucet, but the problem soon returned & got worse. With re-piping (we have very hard water) or other plumbing nightmare fears, we called for help. Able's plumber Michael B. arrived in the first half hour of a 4-hour service window, a first in my experience, and he was very professional. After detailed explanation of our problem, he asked appropriate questions, examined relevant parts of the plumbing, & offered possible diagnoses. He opened & cleared obstruction from the kitchen fixture, finding debris rather like tiny black gravel. He asked if there had been a water heater replacement in recent months, which was correct. He said it was common for brittle pieces of old washers to be released into the system with such a replacement. He showed me how to clear filters & aerators in event of any recurrence, and took the debris with him for confirmation by others at Able. We were charged only a $29 minimum service fee. A day later, Michael called to confirm the consensus opinion at work. This was a very efficient, inexpensive, and satisfying experience.

SERVICE MAN WAS A BIT ARROGANT BUT DID A DECENT JOB, I SHOULD HAVE JOINED ANGIES LIST EARLIER TO READ OTHER ELECTRICIANS REVIEWS. ABLE ELEC. WERE VERY EXPENSIVE.

Bryan dis connected the old leaky pipe that we had to turn off at the street to keep the water from pouring out . He put in a new valve and explained every thing to us and gave us the the total in writing before he began the work. he finished in less then a hour. he cleaned up and turned the water back on ..thank you Bryan

Dates were set. Plumbers showed up as scheduled. Work was finished on schedule and workers left work site clean and in very good shape. A faucet was broken but they came back and replaced at their cost. I will hire them again next time I need a plumber.

My water heater would not work. Able Plumbing came out within two hours (another company said it might be able to come in 24 hours because we live in the country). The service technician, Michael, replaced the thermal couple and my water heater was fixed! Also, I might add, the woman I spoke to on the phone was very polite! From start to finish, I had a wonderful experience with Able Plumbing. They were prompt, courteous, and reasonably priced.

Very nice young man explained everything to me. Very professional and friendly.

They originally charged me $760.00. They worked for two and a half hours and installed a $100.00 part. So I was very angry. I sent their response card in. They called me and adjusted the price. It was still very expensive for what they did.

They unwired to see where the fault was and by doing that they found out that the back door outside light switch had a fault in it, and was all charred inside, it blew up at some point, and they repaired my front porch but I did not know what was wrong with it, as they did not tell me. They were very nice and personable, and they were quick, and I have used them before, and they came out once after hours, as my washer erupted on the floor, as the pipe had broken, and they came and fixed that right away. When I called them for the emergency, they were here within half hour or forty five minutes, I found them to be very prompt, and for the electric problem they came in sooner than they were expected to, well they were very good. I don't have a whole lot of basis for comparison, because I have not used so many companies, the price may be a little high, I don't know what the prevailing prices are though,

They originally wanted to charge me over $300 for the job. The job took about 15 minutes and was a very simple repair. They overcharged me, and I will never use them again.

They did the work in one day. They brought a large crew. They had to crawl underneath. There was a settlement because of the faulty plumbing and the original owners received the money but they never replaced the plumbing. They could have fixed it for $2,000 but we had to pay $4,000 after we bought it. They came the day they said they would come. While they were here, we added on connecting the dishwasher and running a line to the refrigerator so we could have the icemaker. We didn't like paying all that money.

First visit to inspect and access details. Was a little disappointed it wasn't done that day. Second visit, extended gas line to opposite side of the house. Removed previous gas line from under the house, and plugged up the hole for me coming into the house. They also "capped" a line that was not in use under the house. (don't think they had to do that, or tell me) The 2 man team was very prompt, courteous, and neat. Always like a company that requests feedback on their service with a post stamped evaluation form!

They serviceman was very quick and efficient. Our old plumbing was completely inadequate, and everything works extremely well now. Overall, I’m happy with their service.

They were referred to us by a friend. They were prompt, very professional, and did a great job. They also gave us a five-year guarantee. We would use them again.

Where do we start? DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY if you know what's good for you. Calling Tom Simenc and Vic Simenc criminals may seem a little harsh, but trust us, it isn't. Besides them showing up whenever they please, Able Plumbing & Electric engages in pressure sales, told us if we didn't hire them they'd charge us $50 for a service call anyway, lied to us about a book of prices they said everyone uses (that's price fixing and it's illegal), and gouged us charging twice what someone else may have charged to install a few light fixtures. Because they lied and said everyone gets the same prices, because they said they were going to charge us if we didn't hire them, and because they don't allow consumers the legal 3-day contract cancellation time period, we felt stuck and used them as we're positive others have been roped into as well. EVERY SINGLE THING THEY DID WAS CHOREOGRAPHED WITH PRECISION TO RIP US OFF. The installation of the light fixtures was simple, there really isn't much to comment on there, but they charged almost $1,000 for 2 1/2 hours of work and that IS something to comment about. Everything from how much they charge, to lying repeatedly about standard prices, to charging us if we didn't hire them (that HAS to be illegal), to sticking advertisements under the sink without asking (yep, that's right, Vic sneaked into our kitchen where he didn't belong and posted a pouch with Able's name on it under our sink, and on the bottom of that pouch it states "DO NOT REMOVE" as if it's some kind of official document -- trust us, we removed it), right down to the comment card they make you think is anonymous but isn't. Vic, the company 'President' (oh brother, does that sound arrogant enough for you?) masquerading as the Technician, hands you a comment card at the end and tells you you can submit feedback anonymously but then he writes the invoice number on the top of the card while he's talking about something else hoping you don't notice! DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY if you know what's good for you. Also, their web site GUARANTEES their work, and yet when we told Tom Simenc, Vic's brother and 'Vice President' of the two-man company, that Vic never showed us how he wired the garage light and that we needed to know, they stopped emailing. Oh, emailing, that's ANOTHER issue. We filed a complaint with the California Contractors State License Board and during that time emailed Tom Simenc many times, most of which he claimed he never got (oldest lie in the book -- how stupid does he think we are?), except when we told him that we were about to send in our completed complaint form the next day, THEN he replied! Vic and Tom Simenc prey on people, lie, charge you for service calls if you don't hire them, then pretend they don't know what you're talking about. DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY if you know what's good for you. After this horrific experience we searched online for complaints about Able Home Services (Plumbing & Electrical) and found only negative results. We wish we would have investigated them before, but that's why we're submitting this report. Hopefully others won't be sucked in to their deceitfulness. There are similar negative comments about them on YELP online. Have we mentioned our suggestion is that you DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY if you know what's good for you? They are overcharging, lying, unprofessional, crooks, and now we're asking the State Attorney General to investigate them. **UPDATE** DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY. We already filed one report on Able Home Services (Plumbing and Electrical) but it appears they signed up a second time on Angie's list with a different address and phone (same website address so same company) in order to make it seem like they were a different company than the one who got an F grade. Read the previous complaint and you'll see these guys will try ANYTHING to deceive. We came back to write another report because we discovered yesterday that Able Plumbing sabotaged our kitchen sink pipes when they were in our home doing ELECTRICAL work back in September. They put more than one of their huge stickers under our sink, defaced our garbage disposer where we can't take the giant sticker off without leaving the white glued back on it, and they had no business even being in our kitchen. Now we know why they did it. While they were under our sink they loosened some pipe fittings so we would have a slow leak over the past several months. We have NEVER had any leaks, we had a thorough home inspection done prior to buying our home (which hadn't even been a year last September when Able Plumbing was in our home), and the neighborhood is barely over a decade old so the pipes still look brand new (eleven or twelve years for a house is still very young). Able Home Services messed with the rings on the large black main pipe as well as one handle at the back that shuts off any water leaks from the dishwasher draining, and they could all be tightened by hand, that's how loose they were! We now have soaked wood at the back of our cabinet under our sink that we're drying with a fan. The wood isn't spongy at all thank goodness, but that's because it's only been a few months since they set up the very slow leak. Once we tightened all the rings (three of them so this was no accident) and the one handle, we ran the dishwasher, poured five-gallon buckets of water down each side of the sink, and have no more leaks. Again, all it took was tightening everything BY HAND, and ALL of that was checked less than a year before Able Plumbing and Electric showed up -- my fiance was standing in the kitchen when the Home inspector checked the pipes. NO ONE except Able Plumbing has been under our sink since, so we KNOW it was them who sabotaged our pipes in order to drum up more business. When they refunded half of our money after we wrote our first review here and complained to the BBB, they told the BBB that they'd give us some of our money back only if we agreed to stop filing complaints against them and telling people online how bad they are. Well, this is a NEW problem that they caused that was just discovered, besides, we don't like being threatened. If they were honest people who did good work they wouldn't care what anyone says about them -- and they wouldn't have to sign up for a second listing on Angie's list hoping no one will read the first one. So now we have to contact the State Attorney General. We knew Able Plumbing was committing fraud before but once they decided to refund part of our money and my fiance talked with the owner over the phone who said he was going to change the way he does business (pretty much admitting all the things he had done), we decided to give them a chance to do that. We can't now -- not with what we discovered yesterday. We not only KNEW our pipes were in great shape from the home inspection but we asked neighbors on both sides of us and across the street after finding the problem yesterday, if they've had any problems with any of their plumbing and no one has. No one else here has had Able Plumbing inside their homes though.

Very polite, professional, both man on phone and plumber. Arrived in 20 min, I knew what he was doing, explained process well.