Bell Plumbing North Inc

Bell Plumbing responded to my call for a blocked sewage line the same day. Ron, the service technician, made attempts to clear the line from the house. After unsuccessful attempts, he approached clearance from the street exit. Camera/video showed extensive blockade of the clay pipe, which could not be cleared with an auger. The job, which required multiple workers, took 6 days to complete: city permit, open trench and removal of clay pipe, replacement metal pipe, city inspection, closure of trench, replacement of uprooted plants in the Japanese garden, pouring of cement for concrete slab which was removed for access, clean-up. Ron paid attention to details , eliminating the necessity for follow-up calls. Additionally, he replaced an outside garden hose faucet and repaired a Grohe kitchen faucet at no additional cost. Several months prior, my neighbor was charged $12,100 by a national company for replacement of a blocked clay pipe sewer line for approximately 25 feet: no Japanese garden, no concrete pouring.

They were going to unscrew my faucet and they were going to charge me a high amount of $200. I was looking to replace the rubber in the faucet myself. It would take them less than a minute to do, and I could not unscrew it myself. They asked if they could have certain things in my basement for free.

Bell Plumbing replaced a sewer lateral on 5-April-2010 under City of Berkeley Permit 10-1093. The lateral was found to be deficient in an private inspection on 11-May-2011. In October of 2011 I called Bell. When it became clear what I was talking about, Jim in customer service hung up on me. I called back, and he hung up again. After writing a letter to Percival Agoncillo (the owner of the company) Jim called back. Jim would not fix the line but they had a "trick" that would get a sewer lateral certificate (PSL) issued by the City. For the next four months Jim and Ryan D woked on this "trick", visiting our house a half dozen times, and promising each time the issue would be resolved by that Friday. They ran video cameras through the line twice. They told me the for months the application was "sitting with the City". In June of 2012 I finally called the city myself. Speaking to the people who handle sewer laterals (John Hershberger and Dianne Aikenhead). Neither recalled any conversations with Bell, and no record of any application existed. In addition they told me the original permit 10-1093 was rough inspected, but never final inspected. --------------During all this Bell would not define what the original warranty on the work was, but I later learned they normally warrant laterals for five years. In addition the state requires: "A licensed contractor is required to give a warranty on items installed under his /her license to be free from defective installation including, but not limited to the local codes and manufacturer?s installation requirements for up to four years after the completion of a job. The claim may be made on any defect, either known or unknown, and discovered within the four-year period [CALIFORNIA BUSINESS ANDPROFESSIONS CODE SECTION 7091-a]."Jim at Bell first said he'd never heard of such a requirement, but later in the same call claimed this warranty does not apply because the property changed owners. Our complaint:-------------------Bell has not finished the original sewer lateral job, because no record of a final inspection exists with the City of Berkeley. Bell promised to obtain a Private Sewer Lateral certificate, but failed to do so. Bell led me on for months in a manner that was just plain mean.

He told me he would not charge me if he could not fix the problem with my bathtub. He came and fixed a washer on the tub, he told me it was a temporary fix and charged me n $189. I gave him 2 $100 bills and he said he did not have change. Said he would charge me $1800 to fix the problem permenately.

It was two prices, the first price was $600 but that didn’t do the fix. The overall project was almost $1700. The technician was not very responsive. In hindsight, he made a guess at what the fix was and then when called out he could not provide a solution for us; so I called another technician that we have used at Bell plumbing and told him directly that I needed him to come out failing which I would not be using them anymore, and he was able to diagnose the problem but again it came at a price. The gentleman Mohammed who works there did exceptional work. He was the one who had to clean up the mess. The first gentleman’s name was Oliver who I was very disappointed with. He broke a drain and he just sort of capped it and didn’t fix it. He hydro-flushed the line but the backup was still there. It was a poor experience. They are expensive. They were not good on quality when I used them this time. I may use them but it would be one specific technician in the future.

I WILL NOT USE COMPANY AGAIN

It is nice and they did a good job. The city paid for the work. It was fine and a good experience. I would recommend them. One guy was pretty obnoxious. They came, did the job and were gone.

They did a good job. 2nd & 3rd come back work was vary overpriced 6-2011 I WILL NOT USE AGAIN

They have changed their name to Universal Plumbing. We wanted the whole house renovated on an emergency basis. They did something wrong and we couldn?t get cold water out of the kitchen faucet. I wasn?t too happy with them. They also did a few other things that weren?t that great. We are not going to use them again.

The plumbing went very smoothly. They came right away. They were very good at completing the job. They did a great job with cleaning up. We were satisfied with the service.

They do good work and they're moderately priced. They're pretty responsive to calls. I've had a couple of emergency situations and they've come out right away. They're not cheap but they're not totally overpriced either. I hire them on an ongoing basis.

I only used this company because they were the only place I could get to me quickly in my time of need. I would never ever use them again though because of their high prices. They may do good work but they charge an arm and a leg. The prices really turned me off from using this company in the future.

The first part was done very well. Cutting the concrete of the side walk and into the house and laying the new 1" line to the shut-off valve. And a pressure regulator and refilling the ditch with dirt and cement on top. The pipes and its branches to faucets, water heater, in the basement were done pretty fast and did not always follow my layout instructions I gave, as work progressed. I did not stand by, all the time. So now I have some pipe branch-offs and a valve at spots, which are just not practical.

The workers came to the house to perform the work but did not have the supplies and the supervisor had to leave the workers while he went and got the supplies. In the mean time I called Bell to ask about payment arrangements since it was my Dad's house, he is on a fixed income and would not be able to come up with 3600.00. They forwarded me to the contractor doing the work, initially he would not agree to terms until he found out I was going to get another estimate. Got another estimate,in San Francisco, work was less expensive and they did not have to open a wall but discovered the pipes were terribly clogged, which was causing the backup and the leaks and needed to be snaked out. Once the plumber did his work there has been not further problems and the cost was less than 300.00

Work done on a non-emergency basis. Only got two estimates; this one was lower one. Next time Ill get at least two more estimates. Bell performed very well. Office staff and manager were very professional. Just wish job was cheaper!

My toilet was stopped, so I called Bell Plumbing. Jorge arrived and went to work on the problem. He used his plumbing snake on the toilet for less than 5 minutes before concluding that there was a hard object blocking it, and my only option was to buy a new toilet for $800. I declined, and he said that I could just pay him for his visit - only $129 for his 5 minutes of work. I objected and he said, "OK, fine, but $89 is the very lowest I can go." So, I paid him. Then a plumber from another place returned my voice mail and I told him what happened with Bell Plumbing. He asked if they tried to sell me a toilet. "Why yes, how did you know?" I asked. "I used to work for Bell Plumbing, and that is the standard scam." I called Bell and complained. My charge was lowered to $40. My landlady had her maintenance guy come over. He was also unsuccessful with the snake, so he removed the toilet, took it outside and removed the clog (just toilet paper) with tongs. So, no new toilet was needed.

Service Tech was very personable but would not return calls.

I would be extremely careful dealing with Bell. After leaving the house early, my wife called saying we had a serious backup in all of our basement level drains. She called Bell, who tried to use a "hydro-jet" (i.e. a high pressure water hose) to clear the block. Water blasted out of every drain, causing about $3000 in water damage. The Bell person then said our sewer lateral had collapsed, but they would replace it for $7500. We called the plumbing sub-contractor who did the renovations (Bright Plumbing.) They explained that Bell is essentially a sales company, and after they "close the deal" will call a real plumber. Bright Plumbing found they had left a t-pipe open when they did the work, and that a rat had crawled into the pipe and blocked it. They replaced the pipe at no charge. To this day, there is nothing wrong with our sewer lateral.

Came in the middle of the night and repaired the problem.

THIS PLUMBER DID A GREAT JOB. THEY WERE VERY PROFESSIONAL, AND VERY EASY TO DO BUSINESS WITH. THEY CLEANED UP ALL OR ANY MESS THAT WAS MADE, AND LEFT MY BASEMENT THE SAME WAY THEY FOUND IT. I WAS VERY HAPPY WITH THEIR SERVICES.

THEY DID A REAL GOOD JOB. THIS COMPANY IS VERY PROFESSIONAL AND PLEASANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH. THEY CLEAN UP ANY MESS THAT THEY MAKE AND THEY DO THE JOB IN A VERY TIMELY MANNER. I AM VERY SATISFIED WITH THEIR SERVICES.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS COMPANY WAS PRETTY GOOD. I WAS SHOCKED WITH THE PRICE OF THE SERVICE. THE WORK WAS PERFORMED VERY EFFICIENT. I DO NOT HAVE ANYMORE LEAKAGE PROBLEMS.

THIS COMPANY IS AN EXCELLENT COMPANY. I WAS PLEASED WITH THE WONDERFUL WORK THAT WAS PERFORMED, THE WORK WAS DONE NEATLY AND EFFICIENT. THE WATER HEATER IS JUST RIGHT NOW.

THEY WERE REALLY GOOD FOR THE FIRST TWO JOBS. THEY WERE RESPONSIVE, QUICK AND VERY RELIABLE. THEY REPLACED A WATER PIPE FROM THE HOUSE TO THE METER. THE LAST JOB WAS QUESTIONABLE, I AM WAITING TO SEE IF THEY FINISH THE JOB.

I HAVE USED THIS COMPANY FOR SOME TIME. THIS COMPANY ALWAYS RESPONDS TO MY CALLS. THE COMPANY HAS COMPETITIVE PRICES, AND MONTHLY DISCOUNTS. I WOULD RECOMMEND THEIR SERVICES.