McDonald Plumbing Heating & Air Inc

He was really nice and very good. He spent a lot of time answering my questions.

Installed new split unit HVAC and ducts into 1957 home. Sloppy work required extensive re-work and cleanup which turned a 2 week maximum job into 3 months. The owner, Vince MacDonald blamed be for the poor quality of the work because I was not on site to oversee the work and when I complained about it to him, he lost it, started yelling at me in my home in front of my wife and 2 year old. On top of that, the evaporator coil had a leak in it, and when I went to get it fixed under warranty about 2 years after the initial installation, I found that the warranty was not submitted to Trane correctly and that the unit was not under manufacturers warranty. I purchased a top of the line Trane unit, and it didn't have the manufacturers warranty! It should have had a 12 year manufacturers warranty but MacDonald failed to submit the paperwork as they were supposed to. I went with a different shop and got the coil (another ~$3500) replaced after painstakingly obtaining an extended warranty from a Trane distributor.

Our water heater is located in a 4 ft high space whose only door is about 3 ft tall and located on the outside of the building. Carlos from McDonald plumbing (who has worked on our plumbing before) has 20+ years as a plumber is professional and pleasant to work with. He arrived on time. He removed the old heater, checked and replaced all lines and electrical connections as needed. Some our old pipes were not copper and badly corroded. He wrapped the new ones against the cold. He also added a on/off switch that was not in the local electrical code when this building was built. He worked in a cramped space for about 4 hrs. He removed all old material. I have no comparison for price so did not evaluate that. I can say, McDonald runs an excellent business. I highly recommend them. We have a top quality water heater, installed correctly and with an extended warranty. The manufacturer offers 6 years. McDonald Plumbing adds 4 more years on parts.

caDiagnostic was only a recommendation that I get his company to send someone out to do a leak detection at a cost of $700. The plumber also told me after 5 minutes that he could spend no more than 15 minutes doing a diagnostic. I did not learn much new information other than what the water district told me. I expected someone with expertise to get closer to the probable sources of the leak. I only have one soaked section of outside ground and had already determined that it was not an inside water line.

I spoke with their office last evening to schedule a appt. I told the person that the repair is likely a wax ring, in which she responded that the rate would be $49 to come out, and a hourly after. Now the problem with my toilet is the fact that there is obviously something leaking underneath the tile, and also around the area the grout is wet. When the repair guy, Eduardo, arrived he stated that someone must be spilling something on top of the tile. I told him that this was not the case. He stated it 2 other times, and I finally stated that I live here, and I can assure you that no one is spilling on top of the tile, where the grout would be wet, and the physical tile has obvious wet spots underneath. Eduardo stated that he can replace the wax ring at my request, and proceeded to look in his book, and came back with a ridiculous price of $300. I asked him to look again, as charging a customer $300 for a simple job like a wax ring, which would take him 30 minutes is unbelievable. In fact, this is their rate to replace a wax ring. As stated on other reviews on this company, I highly encourage anyone to ensure that you know their prices before they come out. If you do, you will likely use another company.

I found them on Angie's List and thought they should be adequate as all I wanted to do was shorten the pipe for the toilet that came out of the wall. I always had shorter pipes, I know they exist. You remove the longer 3/4" pipe and replace it with a shorter one. I called Thursday morning and explained I have no toilets in my house. I removed two toilets so the texturers/painters could cleanly go behind the area. The rep was very nice and said she could get someone out that afternoon: "Carlos, our master plumber," she said. I was impressed, elated and excited to have a professional take care of this task. The rep called back in a few hours and asked if they could reschedule to the following day. I begrudgingly accepted as that meant another day without a toilet. Friday arrives and I am at the house ready to get one step closer to having a toilet again. As the tech approaches, I realize this is not a Carlos, but I have a good feeling about this company. Glen enters the house and I take him over to the toilet area. He watched me from a safe distance outside of the bathroom as I tried to explain our dilemma. Sensing he was not getting it, I (in my flip-flops) proceed to flip the bowl around to stage it near the pipe in question. He appeared to draw a blank, but then suggested either tearing open the freshly textured and painted wall or installing a series of elbows, conjuring a vision no less impressive than a Dr. Seuss Whoville contraption which he admittedly acknowledges "won't look very good, though." I'm not ready to give up. I encourage Glen to dig deep into his bag of experience. This is why I love working with professional craftsmen who take pride in their work - they've seen it all and love solving challenges... so I thought. Glen stood there perplexed with nothing to offer. He warned that we should be careful not to make it too difficult for someone to find and turn off the valve in the case of a flooding catastrophe. This is something that I have not ever been witness to, but perhaps offers insight into what I could expect, like literary foreshadowing. Ultimately I do my best to reason with him. "I just want the 8 inch pipe to become a 3 inch pipe." Nothing fancy, just shorter. He replied that it would be at least $200. Seeing my surprise he clarified that their minimum service fee is $193. "OK, I see, so how much to take care of both pipes?" I inquired. He assured me having work done on two would be cheaper. So he drew up a proposal: $381 for both! A savings of $5 to make two long pipes turn in to two short pipes. This face-palm moment cost me $50. This was the most unimaginative, unwilling experience I ever had with a serviceman. I felt cheated and couldn't help but think the lure of the weekend hastened my appointment. I am stuck another day (at least) without a toilet at my house, possibly the entire weekend. I am stuck unless I pay "emergency plumbing fees" for some after hours plumber because I wasted Thursday and Friday thinking I could get this resolved by McDonald Plumbing. I am very frustrated with this experience. I am not loving it. UPDATE: I called J and M plumbing (on a Saturday morning) after finding them on Craigslist. Free estimate. Michael jumped right into the bathroom to see what was going on. He knew exactly what I was trying to accomplish and within the hour had me dialed in with new, shorter pipes from galvanized to copper! The entire painless process only cost $160 for both bathrooms! I had him change out my sink valves too while he was in there. I can't recommend J & M plumbing enough. Plumbing License #768581

The plumber dispatched named Glen was professional and knowledgeable, punctual, pleasant, and gave thorough explanation. Everything seemed to go okay except the faucet install was difficult due to issues with the access hole in the new granite countertop which was not his fault, and also due to a complicated faucet design (Eclipse brand). Between him and my husband, they came up with resolution to solve that access hole issue. We were pleased with the work performed. I did call in the next day for a small mystery leak. He was dispatched quickly and diagnosed/resolved that leak caused by manufacturing defect in a backflow valve of the faucet and not an issue with his work. The next day, I located a small leak at the front of the trap he had installed, and he was dispatched the day following that to resolve, which he did quickly and professionally. Plumbing is not an exact science, and stuff happens. That's why my husband would rather pay a plumber than perform the plumbing job himself. Glen has a great personality, and I trust his skill. I would welcome him back to perform any future plumbing services. I initially felt the price was high, but after seeing the work involved and the quality of workmanship of Glen, I feel it was worth every penny.

The whole procedure went very well and took about 2 1/2 hours. Mr. Glen Treadway is a very professional and knowledgeable plumber. He has done work for me in the past and I've been very impressed with his work. Mc Donald plumbing, for sure, out rates any other plumbing company that I've used in the past. Keep up the good work. 5 Stars.

The installers showed up at 8:30 in the morning to install the new heating and air system.? First thing he did was look in the attic and tell me I also needed to have the duct work replaced.? When Darryl was here to do the maintenance on my old system a few days earlier he never checked the duct work he just said I needed a new system which I did since mine was 28 years old.? The installers went ahead and installed the new system but they were here until 5:30PM because they could not get the fan to shut off on the inside unit.? They called to have Darryl come out at 7:00 the next morning to correct the problem which he did.? The installers put one of the pipes and I don't know what it is used for right in front of the filter drawer making it impossible to replace the filter.? Israel the installer told me he would order a filter vent for the wall to hold the filter since I could not open the drawer in the unit to replace the filter.? After they left I noticed I had 3 gouges in my bedroom door and a 4" scratch on the front of my washing machine.? I called Dan Mayer the HVAC Manager and told him about it.? He said he would make good on it and would come out and take pictures.? He never did.? ? I called the McDonald office a few days later to check on the wall filter vent and spoke with Mary Spearman who knew nothing about it.? She put me on hold and I assumed read the paperwork because when she came back she said she thought?she?had one in stock and would take care of it.? Dan Mayer called me on 6/10/14 to set up the appointment for the duct work.?I asked him why no one checked to see if I needed to have the duct work?replaced when he sold me the new system.? He said they make a mistake.??I had to make another phone call to Mary Spearman to make sure she had the wall filter unit and she said she did and that it would be installed when they came out to do the duct work.? The installers showed up at 8:30AM and were finished by 11:00AM.? Gabriel had to cut my wall to make the wall filter vent fit and for some reason did not have a filter to put in.? He said he would order me a reusable filter that I could rinse off and reuse.? He also was surprised to find that Israel had put a filter in the filter drawer in the inside unit?considering that I could not?get it out or replace it.? He said a technician would come out and bring me the new filter and cut the other one out of the drawer.? Again I had to make a couple of calls to the McDonald office where once again Mary said she would take care of it.? It took 2 1/2 weeks to get the technician out to remove the filter from the unit and bring me the reusable filter.? I found it interesting when they were installing the system they were able to come out right away but for something that they were not going to charge me for it took 2 1/2 weeks.? Once the technician was here he discovered that when Gabriel had cut away part of my wall to install?the wall filter vent he didn't cut enough out because it would have damaged the wall so he couldn't get the filter to fit.? So instead of having a reusable 24x12x1 filter I have a 24x12x1 disposable filter cut down to 22x12x1 and taped together with duct tape.? On July 11th I called Dan Mayer and told him what was going on.? He said he wished I had called him first with the problems I was having and I told him I had and that he didn't return my call.? He was going to speak with the technician that put in the taped up filter and call me back.? It has been 9 days and I have not heard back from Dan.? When Dan is selling you a new air and heating system?he comes across has your best friend but once he gets your signature on the dotted line he is done with you and will not return your phone calls.? I am very unhappy with this experience and even though I paid $139.00 back in December for their McDonald Value Plan I will not use them again.

Aaron was very professional and apologized for being late (his previous call had held him up) and went right to work. He showed me the reading on the bad capacitor (I would have asked, but didn't have to) and showed me the reading on the new one.

McDonald Plumbing arrived to provide an estimate for the work described above very simple plumbing work with nearly no parts needed save a misc piece here or there. After approximately 1 minute the plumber stated that this was a very big job and that it would likely cost approximately $1,000 due to a number of vague reasons he didn't explain thoroughly. The plumber was told immediately that we would not pay this amount for the work but he provided a written quote (not itemized or detailed) of $908. We refused to have them perform the work but were required to pay the fee for providing the quote (nearly $50). We had another plumber out the next day who completed the work very quickly and professionally for $325 and even came out the next day for free to test the fittings and make sure there were no leaks or problems. We called the company to ask about the reasons for such a high quote and to request that our $50 fee be returned based on the unreasonableness of their estimate. We were told after waiting more than 3 days that the estimate was reasonable. It turns out that they wanted to charge nearly $400 to hook up a dishwasher (screwing in one hot water supply line into an existing fitting and tightening one hose clamp), $175 to install a garbage disposal, and $300 to install a kitchen faucet. We asked to speak with the owner to discuss the issue and offered to go into the store at any time that was convenient. We were told that the owner would not see us ever. McDonald Plumbing then offered to refund our $50 if we agreed to keep quiet and not tell anybody about the negative experience we had with their company. UPDATE - 6/26/2014 This is an update to my previous review of McDonald Plumbing. Even though I was informed that I would not be allowed any contact with the owner of this business, Vince called me yesterday and we had a conversation about what occurred during the visit, events following the visit, and his rationale for the charges in the estimate and the estimate fee. He stands by the estimate and believes that it is the going market rate for an establishment of that size and he believes that the price reflects the professionalism and quality of information that the plumber provides. He did ask me if the plumber that visited my home to provide the estimate offered any value or information about my project. I told him that he didn't. I feel that he may have been disappointed about that fact, or he didn't believe me, it was hard to tell. He did offer my $49.50 back at the beginning of the call so long as I signed a release that I would not write a negative review. I told him we were past that point. We discussed some of his business practices and I reflected back to him how that is perceived by current and potential customers. One piece of information that I shared with him that I truly hope he heard is that it seems like he doesn't trust his customers, and at worst he doesn't like his customers. I took ownership of the fact that I did make a mistake by agreeing to pay for an estimate, and I have learned from it. There is no going back for me on that count. At the end of the call he decided to send me a check for the $49.50 without the release form and that my reviews will be something I will have to live with. Yes, I suppose I will have to live with them. I told him that I feel the issue is closed and I was past the refund given everything else that happened. I still don't know whether I will receive the check, nor do I believe I will cash it.

I think that because I already had a service contract with them, that they were able to accommodate me right away. They sent Darryl out the next day. Israel came the following day and installed the complete unit in 2 days. I was told that an independent party would be out to inspect their work but no one has called me yet. The new unit comes with a one year service contract so that should extend my current service contract by one year. I will give them an over-all A as soon as the inspection is done.

It went very well and the work is very well satisfying and very clean.

They were available in the middle of the night and they closed a unit.

The water flow in my kitchen was low so I bought the Angie's list big deal to see what was causing it. I set up an appointment for the morning so I wouldn't have to wait all day. I was called an hour before the appointment saying there were emergencies that took priority over my appointment so they wanted to come later in the day. I had other appointments so we rescheduled for another day between 2 and 4. On the new appointment day I called some time between 2 and 3 to make sure the plumber would be arriving during the window - once again I had to be pushed back. Technician showed after 5pm. He was courteous, flushed the water heater, and found the problem for my flow issues. A couple days later I received an estimate to correct my problem. I understand emergencies happen, but bumping me twice on two separate days is just too much for me to be a repeat customer.

Did not use this company; see comments above.

Prior to flushing the system the journeyman plumber picked up the phone when speaking with me. He then proceeded to call his friend back. He then told me that he did not want to flush the water heater as he was worried that flushing w=the water heater would crack the tank as we had not flushed the system since purchase a few years back. He eventually flushed the system and told me that the water should be hot but the water was warm. Overall he did not seem to know what he was talking about. He did not present things in a professional manner and for the lack of professionalism the prices quoted were expensive. I would not recommend this company to others nor would I call on them to perform any work.

He had to get under the raised foundation of the house and work on the bathtub drain issue. He was very professional and would definitely use McDonald's again.

We have them over quite often. We have a service plan and they come two times a year. Their price is always on the high end but they do good service.

The experience has been excellent. It couldn't be better. The employees were great and the whole process was just wonderful. They were good about everything they did. Everything was great. They were not the cheapest but they are the cheapest in the long run because they won't have to come back. We have used them for plumbing in the past.

I've had a good experience with them. I've been using them for years. They've been doing my plumbing since 2000. The heating and air conditioning was very expensive because they had to put in all new duct work. They are always very prompt and very professional. I had a couple of issues with the heating and air conditioning. The compressor went out after about a year and they replaced all of that and they were good with that. I am very, very happy with the person that I have do my plumbing. I always request him. The person that does the maintenance on the heating and air conditioning is outstanding. Their price is higher than some others but they take care of all the licensing.

The experience was excellent. I have a service warranty on certain products and my air conditioner was one of them. I also purchased a maintenance agreement to service the equipment I bought from them which covers twice yearly seasonal checkups and maintenance in advance of summer and winter. I am very pleased with them. When I call them and I have a problem they come out; I don't have to wait a week. They came out one day to fix a plumbing problem for me so they are very reputable and on time. I have no complaints with them and think they are top grade. Their specials are very good. They have put in our water heaters, furnace and air conditioning. We feel they are very reliable and they stand behind their products.

We paid to have the water heater drained; he refused to drain it because there was a little white stuff around the place to drain it.? He said we needed a new water heater.? We were having problems with a recently replaced Kohler toilet, and he said we needed a new toilet.? He said we should replace the hoses to the washer every two years and said we needed new hoses.? It was a total waste of money.? We are very unhappy with this "service."

They put in a system that is designed for twice the size of what my house is. Now when it blows, it blows papers and things all around. It makes a lot of noise and vibrations in the house as well. I realized after all this that all I needed was a new condenser. I also found out that the contractor charged me an illegal down payment of 20% which I paid as at the time I was unaware of the legal stipulations (which I was notified by another contractor after the fact upon showing him the paperwork of this contract).

Matched components to home specs for new AC. Replaced water heater with city building code updates. City inspector expected perfect work from McDonald crew and found what he expected.