John Baethke & Son Plumbing

Ive used your services in the past and have always been very happy with the results, so I asked you to come out to give us a quote to replace a kitchen faucet and the shut off valves. I know you do good quality work and I understand that you need to make a profit but the 1900.00 estimate is just insulting! How do you sleep at night? You charged me 130.00 to walk in my door and then you insulted my intelligence by asking for an obscene price!! I should be charging you for wasting my time!!!

Poor. Visit 1: $300 Had a leaky disposall on the sink. Technician was very respectful had shoe slips and wore a double face mask. He repaired 1 section of the ultra cheap white plastic (which was improperly installed by the last plumber from a different company). He tested it and said it worked, I had him fill up the sink all the way and the work began to leak, he repaired it again. We tested in again and it didn't leak, but within 20 mins of leaving tenant checked the other side of the sink and now that was leaking. Technician (Dan Lowry) had to come back to retighten the other side which was jostled during his work. Not a great experience, but not a terrible experience. Also no breakdown of parts and labor on the invoice. Visit 2: $467 A pipe had burst in the basement during the winter storm. A different company (First Plumbing, fyi they are 60$ per visit not 90$) had come in an emergency to shut it off. First Plumbing were trying to charge 600$ some dollars to repair a ruptured copper tee. Also they turned the whole houses water off, they said to access the valve which unfortunately was installed behind the dishwasher it would cost 250$ to move the dishwasher for liability... wouldn't suggest first plumbing either. I said I'll have JB&Don come to fix it. I was expecting around 300$ again. It was maybe 20$ worth of copper maximum and a 45 minute job. They knew where the pipe was and knew the extent of the repair. JB&Son came out to fix it and said it would be 380 to repair + the 90 visitation fee. I was told by the office (Kathy) the 90 fee would get applied to the work but the technician ensured me this was incorrect. So for 45 mins and maybe 20$ of parts I was charged 470. Expensive, but not the end of the world. This is where things go downhill. After completion, the technician didn't turn off the cold water valve in the basement, didn't turn the house main water back on, and didn't check to see if the pilot light on the water heaters went out. This caused 3 days of hot water disturbance for my valued tenants. Visit 3: Attempted 2000$ charge which was denied, and was still charged 190 for off hours visit. After my valued tenants had to put up with the debacle (and a total lack of apologies from JB&Son) the next technician comes in and tells me that my plumbing was incorrectly installed and that my exhaust vent was disconnected. The charge will be 1,970 dollars to repair 1. Incorrect plumbing - I know that my plumbing was installed improperly, which is why the inline shut off was installed. The cold water inline left open by the last technician (Patrick Sumrall) and after it was closed the hot water worked fine. Glad I didn't pay 700$ to cap my lines when there was already a shut off installed. 2. Vent disconnected. The technician (Josh Hall) told me I had a vent disconnected from the wall, when I asked for pictures it shows the vent clearly connected. He said it would be fixable with self tappers and tape but that company policy is to replace the whole venting system. At most 100$ in parts and 2 hours of labor max. The charge was 1,300. 600$ per hour??? Also I asked the technician to test it with a monoxide detector. He said he didn't have one, but knew there is carbon monoxide in the area. I have a carbon monoxide detector in the utility room which was reading 'green' or non detectable. I called the office spoke to Kathy again and told her of the situation. She said she isn't a plumber but stands by their plumbers word. That this call is a separate issue from my last visit and she would call the plumber and give me a call back. she never called back and proceeded to ignore my next phone calls. Then I was charged 190$ for the off hour site visit. The technicians themselves are pleasant and punctual which is the only reason they didn't get an F. They are stuck at the mercy of the mgmt. But the management at JB&Sons are incapable of understanding the situation, non responsive when something goes wrong, and overcharging for work. AVOID Jon Baethke and Sons for plumbing work.

They wanted over $1100 to replace a kitchen faucet. Cannot comprehend why this job would be so expensive. So I refused the work to get another opinion.

We have used this company many times in the past but heard they were new owners. We have an unusual sewer line and on ocaission have issues. The line has to be power jetted to clear. We had them come out to do the work and they suggested the routing which we paid over $1500 for which was very high. They said they would guarantee the work. Three weeks later we had sewage backing up as to which I called and advised. they sent the rep back out only to advise it would be another $1500 to power jet. We sent them away and went with another company. I refer a lot of service in our neighborhood and would never recommend this company to anyone.

John Baetheke Plumbing overcharges and is not transparent on the work performed or hourly rate. Plumber was on-site 5 hours (or less), didn't use any material other than normal hand tools and charged $2,810.80 which equates to $432.43 per hours or roughly $900,000.00 per year. Absurd and totally out of line with the chicago normal charge-out rate. When I asked for detail and explanation they ignored me and ultimately when I continued to press them they did respond they and insisted I pay the bill without any explanation or detail. I would never use this plumber again and if you do be very careful UPFRONT to insist on the agreed hourly rate. Tony R.

We have used Baethke for more than 20 years—always excellent service, friendly and knowledgeable experts on hand, everything done perfectly and cheerfully. We had a short list of things to do today: installing a shut off valve for the garden water faucet, switching around the connection for a new sink and moving the location for the gas connection on our dryer.

We woke up in the morning to no hot water. On my way to work I called Baethke. They were very responsive and had a tech at our house within a couple of hours. They diagnosed the problem; simply put, hot water tank had reached the end of its lifespan. By 6 pm the same night the new unit had been installed by the two Baethke plumbers, Josh and Cormac. The company had sent me texts with photos of the technicians, so we knew who to expect. Josh cleaned up carefully and was polite, friendly and professional I suspect we could probably have found a less expensive plumber, but Baethke was uber professional and responsive. We'd do business with them again.

went well not the first time we used Baetke feel comfortable with the work and workmen

I called to get an estimate to install a new tankless water-heater. Was told that just to provide us an estimate, they would charge us $180.

John Bathe Jr. himself came out for the install on New Years Day and replaced our sump pump and charged us the maximum possible for labor and provided us with one option for replacement of our sump pump. Of course it was the most expensive model, and he was charging us 1500.00 over the prices we saw on line, which we showed him, and he just literally shrugged his shoulders, plus we were made to believe this was an emergency situation, despite the fact that the damage was done and we had another functioning pump at the time. We were treated like prey instead of the good clients that we had been for almost a decade, by the boss of the company. 18m later the new expensive Tramco pump with the 10yr guarantee that Bathke installed blew up and flooded our basement again. So in a year and a bit we woke up to a basement full of water on 2 occasions. We had brand new carpets, kids toys, gym equipment, wood paneling, and everything else in guest room, gym, and kids media play room. We had over $40,000.00 worth of damage done because of John Bathke, and he wanted nothing to do with us once things went sour. Our insurance agent at Chubb suggested we invite Bathke out and have him do a write up without disclosing that we were pretty sure that he was the main cause, which ended up being the catalyst for staying one step ahead of John Bathke in this process. John came out and pointed to some complete senseless exterior spots around my house and said the ground water came in through the basement walls, which we knew to be false. John Bathke gave us an estimate for just under 2000.00 to fix what he was already liable for. Long story short, John Bathke will do anything to shift blame from his work. We ended up having to redo all of the shoddy work he had done for us over the years, and it was a lot. Lot of time and effort and people trampling through the house was just a nightmare all around. John first blamed the pump, then he blamed exterior points on the house, and then after that he tried to blame the city and the main lines. All of these steps cost us money because we had to take digital pictures from our lines to the well, etc etc etc. It was painstaking, almost as much as writing this review is for me. I have never written a negative review until now just for context. John Bathke is an amoral man, who could care less about you, your family, or your house. How do his employees operate if the message from the top is to evade when a client needs you and to not respond until the real threat of a lawsuit exists before capitulating? In the end, John Bathke wasn't going to do the right thing, so he forced our hand and we threatened a lawsuit, uber confidant a) we would win and everything would be paid for, but b) it would become public record, and that can be quite damaging, which John knows. He's no dummy. In the end, it wasn't about the money, it was about how we were treated by this man. John Bathke is a wolf in sheep's clothing. He went to ANY length, to drag this process on, to see if we were bluffing. It made me think of all of the people I am sure he has taken advantage of in the past. People that don't know how to proceed, or what their options may be. John sent out an adjuster, they didn't return calls, he had the CEO of Tramco write a letter saying it wasn't his fault somehow despite the fact the manual said the opposite. John Bathke will go to maximum length to protect himself, and to NOT do the right thing by the consumer. Do yourself a huge favor and do not hire this man or any company he is associated with. The Scottish Plumber is our guy, Jack, if you need a positive referral. He dug us out of this whole mess and never said a bad word about his competition. Wish we would have had Jack from the start.

1. He did a great job installing the new water heater in the smallest closet. 2. Excellence in rebuilding catch basin beautifully. 3. He did the outstanding job of power cleaning to drain out debris, etc 4. He installed new section of copper pipe for the outside hose faucet and installed new flanged hose faucet, new top supply faucet and water pipe. 5. New PVC pipe installed and disposer was removed.

Ron was extremely professional, on time and presented me with options to do the work. He explained what he was doing through each phase of the work, additionally he cleaned up all the mess. He was great , just like his associate Cormac who completed work for us in the past. I have used John Baethke & Son Plumbing in the past, they rebuild the shower. They are pricey, but plumbing is something that needs to be done correctly!

terrible. was the only provider that wanted $90 to come out for the estimate - which I paid because they could schedule us earlier than others. Then they proceeded to submit a quote which was 2.5x very other estimate we got, for basically the same water heater. What a rip off.

Cormac was prompt, professional and fully explained to me what the problems were and options to fix them. The repair to the hot/cold water valves was thorough yet quick. The only lag time was waiting for my high rise to shut off the water to the building before we could start the repair. For the damaged copper drain pipe, he assessed ALL of the drain pipes and noticed that they hadn't been installed properly. Cormac spelled out my various options and immediately provided me with estimates for different repair options. I did not move forward with the repair at the time because we were in the midst of deciding if we were installing an entirely new HVAC system, but once we are ready, I will call them back. While the prices were higher than expected, I felt assured that the repairs were done correctly and with care and attention. So many repairmen just fix what is broken without taking the time to look at the bigger picture. I've used many plumbers and have never been satisfied and have wondered if they had really done the job right. I shouldn't have to feel like that after I call a professional to do a job he's trained to do. I felt like I could throw any plumbing problem at Cormac and he'd know just what to do. I would recommend them to anyone who wants a repair to be done correctly the first time.

Excellent. Inspections were performed, the work was explained in detail and options were provided. This is the 2nd time John Baethke has done work for me and in both cases the work is beautiful, clean, flawless and thoroughly tested. Their workers have been personable and helpful. They have given me reason to have a very high degree of confidence in their workmanship, knowledge and skill. They have earned my repeat business.

The whole experience with Baethke was great. The people I talked to were polite and knowledgeable. They send you text messages to confirm your appointment, remind you of your appointment, and provide the name and picture of your technician. This company is great with technology and they provide good service. We've used them twice now and will definitely use them again. An added bonus - our latest tech, Cormac, was great with my toddler. It was comforting to have someone in my home that wasn't irritated by my young child and engaged with him.

I really liked the Baethke approach. Our plumber, Ron, did a great job of not only identifying the issues, but laying out all of the available options. He was punctual, provided an accurate quote, and completed the job in the estimated time frame. He was courteous and easy to work with. Will definitely hire them again if necessary.

Hired them because I heard they do good work - although expensive. Good stuff: Plumber came out the day after I called - did a great job. Explained very clearly what needed to be done. Gave us a range of options. Pipes run clear now. (Whew.) Bad stuff: Really expensive (double what other plumber would have charged for same time). After work was over, he discovered we had a sump pump motor that needed replacing. (Why was he checking our sump pumps? It was in an area of our basement he didn't need to be in.) Said it could be a serious situation if it wasn't replaced right away. He may have been right, but I hate stuff like that. We had already paid way more than we had planned. Don't go nosing around, looking for extra work, and then using scare tactics to upsell the job.

Smoothly. Impressed he was able to get the parts he needed delivered to him on site. Everything looks great.

My usual plumber was unavailable, and I now regret not reading the negative reviews. My experience mirrors many of the D reviews. On arrival and following inspection, I was presented with multiple options from $2600 to $350. The high options included catch basin cleaning, camera inspection and routing. The $350 option included replacing the leaking p trap, with no resolution of the slow drain. To get the drain routed would be $890. This is not my first rodeo though this is the first time a plumber has used a flat pricing model. I was a bit shocked and let the technician know so. Initially I told them I was done and I'd pay the $89 dollars and live with a slow drain. There were a few calls back and forth to the office and they offered to do the job for $400. Still more than I expected but I agreed. Haven't used the drain yet, so I can't comment on the thoroughness. Time spent from arrival to departure 3 hrs, with 1 hr spent evaluating, negotiating and calling the office multiple times.

They had to fix the leak and put a cutoff valve in there to the water line and some new piping. I still felt that it was pretty expensive. They didn't impress me in one way or the other its just there was a problem and he fixed the problem. He seemed to know what he was doing.?It took a couple of hours. The pricing was way out of line, again I could be wrong and that's just what it costs. I was expecting $200-$600 and it came to $1,200. I was just shell shocked. He did tell me upfront but still I didn't anticipate that much for a plumbing job. He came out when he said he was coming out.

They were excellent and mitigated a seemingly impossible to find sewer smell in the basement. It was a big job, and they worked tirelessly to get it done in the promised two days.

Called after hours and talked to a real person. Got a call back in about 15 min. and set appointment for next AM. Cormac the plumber was on time and I showed him the problem. He told me what was to be done and gave me cost. He did the problem. He did the work to my satisfaction and asked if I had questions, I would definitely have him again. Everything was clean when he left.

They fixed the leaks in record time for a very good price.

I had bought an annual plan that included quicker response times. When we called to look at the leak they couldn't make it for 2 days and were rude when we asked for a faster response time