John Baethke & Son Plumbing

Our condo has been having sewer issues for over a month now, and has had four plumbing companies and the city out three times in order to locate and repair the problem. We were getting nowhere.....lots of differing opinions and no facts. So we called John Baethke and Son Plumbers on a recommendation from the Chicago Plumbers Council. The tech arrived promptly within the window of the appointment time. After looking at all the drains and pipes on the ground floor and collecting information on the history of our flooding with sewer backup, he suggested a course of action. Although we had the system rodded and a camera put down it before, no one had located the problem. So we had them repeat what others had done. During the rodding they came up with pipe sections and small metal debris, but still hit the hard obstruction that every past plumber had hit. But now they were the first to be able to locate the problem under the street. They marked the street with spray paint and gave me a full report of where and what they thought the problem was. The problem may be solveable by the city, but if not, we will certainly call them again for an estimate to excavate and repair our sewer line. The techs who came out were knowledgeable, friendly and courteous. They worked efficiently and kept me informed at every stage. They offered great, detailed advice on how to continue with the solution to our problem. In my opinion, they gave us great service and I would definitely use them again.

The service was great. Friendly, prompt, thorough. I have never had plumbing work done before, and didn't know what to expect for the cost. The tech was here for an hour and a half. Next time I might ask around to see if there is a better deal.

They fixed the problem fine, but I would never use them again, because the way that they just approached the repair was completely unprofessional based on a laundry list of things. The water heater was only a year old and the repairman spent 45 minutes preparing 10 options for me to pursue, of which four or five of them were complete overhauls suggesting installing a whole new water heater system. I was going out of town the next day and simply needed my water heater to work. The water heater was still under warranty so the part also was under warranty and did not cost any money. So, the guy has everything taken apart and I have no other options at this point. He then proceeded to tell me that just repairing that part will be $600 dollars and knowing I am going out of town the following day and did not really have any other options so I just sucked it up and reluctantly said go ahead and make the repair, but I followed up with the owner John and asked if he could enlighten me on his pricing. I explained that I really did not understand these charges and the technician could not articulate why it is was so expensive and kept stating it was a flat rate for the service. I stated that usually a company will have a stated hourly labor rate, pricing for parts, tax, etc. and that it really isn't rocket science. He went on and on talking in circles about why it made sense for his technician to spend 45 minutes presenting 10 different options when there was one simple solution. He made no sense. I asked how it was possible for a technician to be at my home for under two hours, have a part that is under warranty from the manufacturer of the water heater and get a $600 bill for the services. He said well you know I have to send a guy to the shop to get the part and then I have the warranty paper work to send in and I have to pay my people a salary, and I said well you are really not answering my question it sounds just like a number you pulled out of thin air to me. I also let him know I thought he was really handsome on the price. If you break it down, I was charged more than $250 an hour which is crazy considering there was no charge AT ALL for parts! He kept talking in circles trying to justify the charges with garbage like having to 'bleed the system', which I know is very simple. I could drain the hot water tank myself if I needed to. I thought it was a real shame after this conversation. This guy was clearly just trying to get one over on the customer which is an awful business practice. I thought it was a total bait and switch because they take apart everything and they know you cannot put it back together and they say, 'well, here it is here are your options.' Like I said If I was not going out of town next morning I would have said hit the bricks buddy but I really did not have any options at that point. Ultimately, I was in a pinch and needed someone to get there quickly which they did, but they miserably failed from there on.

At the time of the work, the plumber told me an amount it would cost to do everything he suggested should be done. I took some items off the list, and he did the work we discussed. After he completed the work, he gave me a bill for approximately $2000. I later called the owner of the company to get an item-by-item breakdown of the bill. It took about two weeks to have a conversation with the owner. When I finally spoke with him, he would not answer my questions of how much each action the plumber took cost. He then told me he'd send me an itemized receipt. I received a few emails from him saying something had come up and he'd get to me later. He then set up a mutually-agreed upon time to call me, and he didn't call during that time. In the meantime, the leak returned under the sink. I called in a plumber from another company to tell me what was wrong. The water heater was improperly installed. The plumber from John Baethke and Sons did come out to fix it free of charge, but I have never received any information on why/how I was charged the original amount.

Their pricing is stratospheric. I expect plumbers to be expensive, but their flat rate pricing puts them in a different realm. An example: I had them out to a commercial property I own. The guy looks in his little book and quotes $1,200 to fix a few things. I am surprised when he is finished 2 hours 45 minutes later. A quality plumber usually runs about $150 per hour, but I wound up paying over $400 per hour. Yesterday, I had them out to my house. They wanted over $150 to change a toilet gasket. I asked how long it would take. The guy said about 30 minutes. Again, over $300 per hour. I understand trip charges and high hourly rates and minimums, but I thought this was gouging. I asked John Baethke if he'd go on a time and materials basis with me, and he refused. I won't use them again.

It didn't go? Haven't heard back from provider?

Very good company and representative. I mis-understood what the voucher was for - we have a leaking toilet. So when the worker came, he explained we should ask for a refund and he could fix our problem, but it would not be covered by voucher.

I needed a small patch on a pipe to our outdoor water source - I've had it fixed in the past for under $200. I will say that the people were all very nice and professional, so I have no complaints about the people or responsiveness. My complaint is purely on pricing. $89.50 to come by and then for a SIMPLE pipe fix they offered six options ranging from $451 to almost $3,000 - to patch a pipe - a 1-2hour job. Biggest waste of $90 I've ever spent in my life. I will go to Goode Plumbing, who offered waive the visit fee for Angie's List members, and then you pay only for what they do (I didn't choose them originally because they were booked up for a week). FOLLOW-UP: I would like to amend my review. The owner of Baethke called me to discuss the situation. He was very understanding to the situation and refunded the charges. How a company handles a complaint or unhappy customer speaks volumes. Thank you Baethke for making things right.

We're not happy with them. They charged us $150 to come wiggle a handle on our tub and would not fix the tub without another $400 deposit or something. We had used them before for an emergency plumbing job, they were fine and great with that. The last one, they came out and there was a charge. They wouldn't even look at what was wrong without charging us another $400. They wouldn't tell us what was wrong.

When we moved to Chicago 2 years ago and started rehabbing our coach house, we called John Baethke & Son to install all of our new bathroom & kitchen fixtures and to repair mistakes made by previous plumbers. They are always my first and only call for plumbing issues and repairs. Always professional, neat, intelligent, and thorough. Worth every penny.

Everything is working great now! Steve came out and he was extremely polite and professional. They're not the cheapest but the quality is fantastic so it's worth the money! I would recommend them.

great - they are very professional and trustworthy

It takes a lot for me to immediately write a bad review of a company but this company was a huge waste of my time and $89. Not to mention that I took off work to meet them. - The company charges $89 to come out. I was willing to pay this due to their "A" reputation on Angie's LIst. When I spoke to the operator he said that price would be rolled into the service fees. I'm OK with that and I believe it to be standard procedure for most skilled labor workers (i.e. plumber, electrician, etc.) so they don't waste their time. Usually in Chicago I've found that number to be around $50 but I was OK w/$90. - When the "technician" looked at the issue he agreed that the toilet needed to be snaked. He then sat down to "write up" a "proposal" with 4 options. His top option was over $2,500 and included a new toilet and 5 year warranty (my toilet is 5 years old and in perfectly condition). His lowest option was $1,125 to snake the toilet. He admitted this would take him 2 hours to do. When I asked him why anyone would pay him over $500 per hour he responded that his company was a flat fee company and they charged those prices no matter how long it takes or how easy the job was. - If you have simple plumbing issues and want to pay a company to fix them at a reasonable rate go with one of the many other highly rated companies on AL. This one is a borderline scam for small residential customers. If you're a huge HOA and have large plumbing problems they may be a good option. - I declined the work and paid the $90.

Called John Baethke & Sons and scheduled an appointment for the following day. Shortly thereafter I received a call that there was a cancellation and they could have a plumber at my place shortly, which I was very grateful for given I had expressed an interest in getting the job done ASAP. Both calls were very professional as was the plumber who came out. He was in uniform, identified himself and was very friendly. I told him that I needed a trim plate and thermostat handle put onto my bath/shower. He confirmed that I had all necessary and correct parts. The job was very straight forward, but he said he'd like to provide me with "options." He provided 6 options, 4 of which ranged in price from $1600 -- $2200. To his credit, he knew it was silly to even offer those, but I think he needed to as part of his job. We discussed the last two options that were $464, and $352 -- the difference in cost being a one year warranty on the work. I was still taken aback by the cost of the work and asked him how long the work would take. He tried not to answer the question, but when pressed admitted it would take 20 mins and confirmed I had all necessary parts. Almost $350 for a job that would take 20 mins and no additional parts!! I asked him if he could do any better and he said his rates were final. I told him I'd have to think about it, but he informed me that if he came back I would again have to pay the $89.50 fee to get him out to our place. I started to feel financially "strong-armed." I was going to pay $89.50 just for an estimate, but if I wanted take the time to get other estimates and perform the work at another time, I'd be penalized by having to pay another $89.50 on top of the cost of the work. I felt like a bit of bait and switch took place. What started out as very professional, very friendly, ended up being very expensive and unobliging.

Will not pay for estimates particularly when the cost could be in thousands of dollars.

They were very prompt in their response. The man who came to see me was very friendly, down-to-earth and drew a picture of what type of work I would need (so I could understand it--he was very patient). He gave me two options for our basement, which were reasonable. I will probably contact this provider to do the work.

It was good, and the provider came out on time. There were no issues. It was exactly what I anticipated it to be.

It was fine. They were professional and they did everything that we asked them to do. There was not any hiccup so we thought that they did a great job. They did not charge us anything on top of the big deal purchase.

Steve,the plumber, intelligently assessed my problem with no water pressure in the shower and bath, worked with confidence and knowledge and neatness t o repair the job. They put surgical socks over their boots when they enter the house, and cleaned up thoroughly after completing the job. He was personable, intelligent and efficient. A delight t o work with.

The plumber came and looked at the bathroom that has the low hot water pressure and quoted us over $800 to replace the shower cartridge, a job that takes approximately 10 minutes and uses a $90 part. He said he could also remove and clean the cartridge for $312 which also took him only 10 minutes once the water was shut off. I'm not sure what a few minute cleaning of a shower cartridge consists of and how it is supposed to remove mineral deposits but I am now out $312 and my hot water pressure is much worse. For $312 I would think he could have replaced the $90 part and I would have decent hot water pressure. They are now offering to replace the cartridge for an additional $230 which I suppose I will do to get my water pressure at least back to what it was before I dropped $312 to ruin it. So as of now I'm looking at $543 for minimal labor and $90 in materials. The worker who came to our place was extremely friendly and professional he just had no authority or say in pricing (that all came from the shop). One more thing, anyone thinking about calling Baethke & son plumbing should look at the reviews on Yelp first (I sure wish I had). Over 1/3 of the reviews are 1 star, not sure how there are so many A ratings here on Angie's list. Update: In response to the company's post, for the record my complaint is the outrageous cost for replacing a $90 part. A process that took just under 15min after quickly shutting off our water. The price we paid total of $543 was something we were only offered after fighting for. When they came we chose the lowest option at first of $312 to clean it because the next option they offered was just over $800! That price was just for replacing the cartridge with a warranty, the only other option they gave us was $960 for the same part, but with a longer warranty. I could get a hot water heater changed out for that price. And my other complaint is that they said it might not work, they didn't say it could make it worse. So after cleaning and paying $312 we were left with NO water pressure with hot water - before I could at least run a bath for my daughters, after their "cleaning" we couldn't. So I was forced to take the next step. We also contacted the manufacturer and were told that to clean the part they "cleaned" the best bet is to soak it in a vinegar mixture for at least 15minutes. Not to use the "tool" they used to clean it - which took 10minutes to do and again cost $312. And their talk of removing and replacing the faucet is laughable. That part of the process took minutes. They also turned down our hot water temperature limiter both times. So both times my husband had to take apart the faucet again and fix this - luckily he knew how to. For the record Rodney was very nice and the end result is a well working shower. But for $543 that's ridiculous! We called another plumber and he quoted us $180 to show up which included a half an hour of labor plus parts - which would have come to $300 total. Not the $543 that my husband had to fight for. And certainly not $800-900!

Fantastic-professional, efficient and honest.

It probably sounds fairly simple - except that it appears never to have been done in 50 years. The basin and lines were almost filled with heavy, congealed grease and debris. The technicians spent almost 6 hours, a lot of it lying in melting snow and managed to clean everything out. I really just cannot say enough good things about this business and its employees. If you want it done right - these are the folks to call!

They said they did not service my area. I could not use the Big Deal.

The whole project took three days to complete. Overall everything went great. There were a few minor snags, but Brad and the other plumber were able to get everything done, but they stayed late to keep the project on track. The first floor bathroom was completely gutted so Brad made sure we were able to use the 2nd floor bathroom when he completed his work each day. Brad kept me up to date on everything he was doing and explained each part of the job to me before he started. At the end of each day he went over everything to make sure I was satisfied and let me know what would be completed the next day. The kitchen sink drain was cut out and a new drain was run at the proper angle. The supply lines to the second floor bathroom were replaced with copper and run in a different part of the wall (the previous lines ran up through the stairwell were they stuck out and were a nuisance. The shower and sink drains were completely removed and replaced with the proper size PVC and were connected to a different section of the drain stack in order to allow better venting. The first floor bathroom had all new drains and supply lines run. Shut off valves were installed to separate the 1st floor bathroom and allow for the finish work to be completed without shutting off the main water supply. The drains were connected to the waste stack properly (the original connections were not up to code).

I've been a customer of John Baethke and Sons for over fifteen years. Baethke plumbers demonstrate their professionalism every time they are in my home. They are punctual, they always show up. They patiently explain the cost of each task they recommend. They will help me to prioritize the work to fit it in my budget. They are very clear in showing any current problem so that I can make an informed decision about how to best spend my money. I never feel any pressure to purchase anything. The respect my home. They clean up after themselves. I will continue to recommended Baethke to my friends and family.