Hoffmann Brothers

They were prompt, cleaned up after themselves, were courteous and friendly, and resolved our problem very speedily. They honored a $50 coupon, but even without the coupon, for all the work they did, it was still very reasonable. We are very happy with them and would recommend them to anybody who was in a state of emergency as we were.

Bought Angies Special Coupon for service at $29.99. 'After 5 min Evaluation of Issue' required additional service and 'cost' which was high but conveniently there was an additional discounted coupon in the truck for $125.00 - Ok'd service and upon coming up to check 10mins later the 2 techs were wrapping up as all done. Felt gamed and to top it off a few weeks later the drain 'slowed' down again.

They made an early morning appointment for me the night before and got me in when they said they would. I know it was short notice but they arrived when they said they would. They offered to come out that night but it was way too late and we had to work early. Both plumbers were dressed in clean uniforms, shirts tucked in and boot covers over their boots to keep my house clean. I know it does not sound like much but that was a great first impression. When I see clean workers ( as clean as can be expected) driving a clean work truck (spotless) it lets me know that if they take that much care of their work truck then they will take care of my property. They were polite, professional, did a great job and cleaned up after themselves. The price was a little high but I did not mind considering they did great work. and cleaned up after. I don't mind paying a little extra for service like this.

Sales person came to bid on a mini split system first after taking measurements of windows, doors and all area and considering the construction and insulation. The cost of the mini split system was too high and would not fill the entire bill so we decided to go with a conventional system which had 66% more cooling power and a furnace which had 20% higher heat output. He suggested adding an extra vent in the kitchen for better cooling and possibly moving two vents in the front room for better cooling. The work was performed in two days as promised but one technician came back the third day for about an hour to work on the outside and tuck some wires in better. I'm getting better efficiency, more power and with a more reliable unit. The old AC compressor was 1989 vintage. On the third day I watched the technician clean up every scrap of wire insulation and piece of cable tie. Very thorough and clean job! I had one other bid which was $3,000 lower and the salesman did not even come upstairs to take measurements. Would not trust that installation even though I have used them before.

Solid company. Long history. Would use again

Arrived on time. Knew exactly what they were doing.

I got 8 bids, all from Angies' List Service Award winners. Hoffman was by far the most expensive bid. There "best bang for the buck" bid was thousands higher than the other American Std vendor's Cadillac 20 SEER bid.

I thought Rivers Plumbing Company's price was really high for some work that needed to be done. Professionalism and everything is just fine. They only inspected certain aspects of it. Once they found out what they thought was the problem their price to fix it was astronomical. I liked their professionalism and the courtesy of the tech that came out. Other than that, nothing came of the appointment which is really fine because the rest of the plumbing system of the house is fine. He seemed to be knowledgeable.

I had purchased a big deal for them and it felt like a total rip off, they just wanted to get their foot in and then try and selling more services. We ended up asking him to fix something that ended up being much more than it should have been.

Was on time. Gentleman was friendly and thorough.

They checked the plumbing throughout the whole house.

I bought the Angie's list special which provided, for $39, an inspection and a $59 credit towards work done. It was also supposed to provide a year's service contract. Details of the service were never sent to me, despite the plumbing tech who did the work promising that they would be in the mail to me in a short time. I also had to ask for the $59 credit after paying the bill in full and realizing it had not been applied. The man that installed the PEX and shower fixture did a poor job, particularly with the shower fixture. He did not seal it and I had massive leaking after showering that evening. I called for him to come back and ended up making myself available for his early morning visit (even though I see clients late at night and thus am not up early). He didn't show up and didn't call. When I called Crystal in the office, she said that she forgot to call me to cancel. (He had something come up that was apparently more important). He did show up a few days later and caulked it, only after I proved to him it was leaking. (He simply turned on the shower in the middle of the tub, which did not address the spot that was leaking. When he went out to the truck, I moved the shower towards the leaking spot and water gushed down to the basement. At that point he was able to see the leak. A sixth grader could have figured it out.) I called again after it continued to leak after the silicone seal. I spoke with a fellow who said he had just been hired to handle customer service. When I called back a few days later, I was told he'd been let go. I asked to speak with the owner and talked, instead, with the manager. He sent someone else back out, who packed it with plumbers putty and so far it is holding. I forgot to mention that when the PEX was installed, my hot water faucet stopped working. The tech shrugged it off, stating that because he couldn't access that part of the plumbing it wasn't his job. I had replaced part of the stack because another plumber a few years back put wax in the cleanout and I wanted that sealed and a new cleanout installed. They did install a new cleanout but didn't do anything about the old cleanout (even though they had said they would close it up). When the new guy came out to fix the leaking shower and we showed it to him, he said that the wax sealed cleanout didn't need to be closed up. Really. Perhaps you might have mentioned that before you charged me $350 to cut out that part of the stack. I am still finding pieces of PEX trash here and there in the basement. Cleanup was not thorough (although in self disclosure my basement is a messy place overall). All in all, this was a dreadful experience. The only reason I gave it a D instead of an F was that the PEX has held up and is working fine.

On Saturday morning, April 13, 2013, we were doing laundry at our house in South County. At one point, my husband went down to the basement to switch loads and noticed some water coming up in to the basement from the drain on the floor in front of the washing machine. The water was pretty clear, and had soap bubbles on top of it, so we thought maybe the problem was related to a hose in the washing machine. However, we soon realized that it was not the washing machine, but actually a clog in the sewer pipe that ran underneath the basement floor. We figured that this problem should be addressed as soon as possible, so my husband started calling some different plumbing companies to try to get someone out to check on it. Given that this was a Saturday, not many places had plumbers available to come to our house. So, we eventually stumbled across Rivers Plumbing. They sent a guy out to try to help us. When the plumber arrived, he went downstairs and tried to send the de-clogging tool down the drain through the basement floor and under the house. However, the drain was too small. So, the plumber went outside and tried to send the cable down through the sewer clean-out spot on the side of the foundation. We thought this would work, but he ended up not being able to get past the clog. When the plumber reeled the cable back in, parts of it were covered in mud, and the sharp end used to break through clogs was coming back shiny. The plumber indicated that this meant that our old cast iron pipe under the foundation had probably broken, collapsed and was completely blocking water flow from the drains in the house. He proceeded to tell us that we could not confirm his suspicion without sending a camera down there. But of course, he did not have a camera on the truck that day. He tried calling another plumber that was working to see if he had a camera that could be brought over, but apparently no one did. Here?s the kicker: the cost of this guy coming out to unclog our pipe on that Saturday was a $260.00. If he would have had a camera that day, we would have been charged an extra $25 for him to use it. But, since he didn?t have a camera, we were told that they would send someone out on Sunday at 9:00AM who did have a camera, but that would cost another $250 or so. Given that we could not do any more laundry, flush the toilets, take showers, or do any dishes, we figured that we did indeed need someone else to come out the next day to try to diagnose the problem. We paid plumber #1 $260, and sent him on his way. Sunday morning rolled around and we waited and waited for someone from Rivers to show up. I don?t remember exactly how late plumber #2 was, but it was at least an hour. So, when he showed up, and started trying to get the camera down through the sewer clean-out outside the foundation, he informed us that the camera was going to cost $250, plus the fact that he was there was $160, plus it was an additional $100 something per hour for his services. We thought it was a rip off, but then again, what are you supposed to do when you can?t perform your normal daily activities? This wasn?t something that could be ignored and fixed later on down the road. Needless to say, plumber #2 could not get the camera past a certain point in the pipe, so he went in to the basement to try yet another entry point. He decided that it would be best to remove the cap from one of the cast iron stacks in our basement, and put the camera down through there. However, the cap couldn?t be easily twisted off. Instead it had to be BROKEN out of there. I told my husband that the plumber better have a replacement cap for that sewer pipe before taking the original off. Come to find out, he did NOT have a replacement, but we?ll get back to that shortly. After several tries, the plumber was able to get the camera down the pipe and we were able to see some roots in there that were causing the clog. We were informed that we would need to have our basement floor jackhammered out and the pipes replaced. At this point, he gave us the option of having him try to clear the clog, so that we could sparingly use some water in our house until the repair could be made. Or, he could use additional equipment to ?locate? the clog, and mark its location by spray painting an ?X? on our basement floor. This would cost an additional $125. We specifically asked him, ?If we pay you to locate the problem, then will we have to pay to have this done again when someone comes out to actually do the repair? Or, will they rely on your measurement?? He told us that if he located the problem, then whoever came to do the repair would rely on it, so that we wouldn?t have to pay for this twice. Maybe he didn?t understand our question, but that turned out not to be the case. After having him locate the clog, we told him to try to clear it. So, he put the roto-rooter tool back down through the stack, and began trying to clear the clog. This resulted in a huge mess of raw sewage getting splattered all over everything in that room in our basement (washer, dryer, furnace, walls, shelves, clothes hanging on the line, etc). Moreover, the plumber did not even offer to help us clean it up. It was absolutely disgusting! At this point, the plumber began packing up his tools, hauling them back up the stairs and out to his van. He then came back inside and said and informed us that he did NOT have a replacement cap for the sewer stack with him in the van, but that he would run to Home Depot to get one. He tried to give us the bill for his services at this time as well. We told him we would not pay until the sewer pipe had a cap on it. He left for Home Depot, was gone for over an hour. When he got back, he had some kind of rubber plug that did not fit. He was going to try to cut it and wedge it in there somehow. Furthermore, he tried to charge us like $30 for it, for drive time and the part. We told him we weren?t paying for it. The plumber left around 3:00 that afternoon. He told us he wouldn?t bill us as much as he should. We ended up writing another check to Rivers Plumbing that day for $535, resulting in a total of $795 in one weekend, and an open sewer pipe in the basement. Once he was gone, my husband went to Home Depot, and bought a PVC cap that fit perfectly on the sewer stack. It only cost $3.00 and some change. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday that week, we had guys from another company come out and actually do the pipe replacement. Contrary to what Plumber #2 told us, the new guys did re-locate the problem ? only to find that Rivers? measurement was off by about 7 feet. This repair cost us a little over $4,000. Given that we felt like we had been severely taken advantage of, my husband called Rivers plumbing on that Tuesday or Wednesday while the repairs were taking place. He explained to a lady in the office what had happened, and how the mess occurred, and then the plumber leaving an open sewer pipe in our house. She was very friendly and apologized over and over. She told my husband that she would talk to the owner to see what could be done, and follow up with him in a couple days. Two weeks went by, and there had been no follow-up call. So, my husband called back only to find out that whoever he talked to originally had up and quit one day. So, he rehashed the story with the new guy, and once again was told that a discussion would be had with the owner, and his call would be returned. Eventually, my husband did talk to the owner, who was apologetic and offered to refund $385 of our $795 total. As of May 17th we still had not received the refund check. On May 18th, we left for Florida for a week to get married and have a honeymoon. When we returned on May 25th, we still did not have a check. My husband called back on Monday, June 3rd and we were told that the check had been mailed Saturday, June 1st. As of Monday, June 10th, we still do not have the check. I followed up this morning, and spoke with a very friendly lady. She informed me that the owner had been on vacation last week and that he was due back in the office this morning, and that she would talk to him when he arrived. She promised me she would call me back by noon to let me know the status. She called shortly after noon, and gave me a laundry list of reasons why the check had not been mailed on June 1st. She assured me that it was mailed today, and said she would call me to follow up on Thursday. We shall see what happens.

Rob showed up on time and explained how the process worked. We went over the pricing, signed the papers and he was at it in no time. A short time later Rob emerged from the basement and the job was complete. He explained what blockage he found and explained the do's and don?ts of what should actually be sent through a garbage disposal. Rob also offered up some free monthly maintenance "do's" that should limit the need for him to return in the future. In and out in no time. Overall, we were extremely pleased with the work performed. The $50 Angie's List coupon that River's Plumbing offered was the icing on the cake. *****Highly recommend this company*****

It was one of the worst experiences that I ever had. They wanted to charge me more than $200 a piece for parts for two toilets that were running. I could have got a whole new toilet for that. I would not recommend them at all.

Everything went very well. The employee from Hoffmann was timely, dressed appropriately, courteous and competent. The only reason I didn't score an overall "A" is because of the price. It seemed very high to me. I was charged an hourly fee, and, the employee had to travel to a supplier to get the items needed. I would think they would have the items in their truck. So, I was charged for the time it took for him to go to the store, pick up the items needed, and return to my house. It has been several months since this occurred, so I am not sure of the total price. I entered what I thought it might have been. I will check my records and correct it, if I am off, by a large amount.

We had ground water coming up from the drain in the basement floor. My husband tried mopping it up, and even using a shop vac couldn't stave off the water. He didn't want to call anyone because he was concerned that being Sunday it would be quite expensive, but our furnace, air conditioner, and hot water heater are literally inches from the drain and I wasn't going to have it causing further problems, so I called Rivers Plumbing after checking out Angie's List and found they were close to home, had a 24 hour emergency service, and were well rated. I was told it would it would be about an hour, and because it was Sunday and after hours there would be a 75.00 fee. Very reasonable! Sure enough, Robert called in about an hour, and asked a few questions to try to pinpoint the issue. He arrived at the time stated and looked at the drain. Asked some more questions, had me run water and flush the toilet to see if that could be causing the problem. It wasn't. He asked if we had a plunger, which I retrieved for him and voila! The water started receding and you could hear it draining away. We will need to dig up the floor and replace the pipe, which we suspected long before he confirmed it, but the quote was far less than I had expected. We're having an issue too with the shower in the remodelled bath and I asked him to look at it. A bad diverter. So I will get a new one and have them replace it. The bill for the entire evening was 75.00! I was extremely pleased with the responsiveness of the company and we will be using them in the future.

We had "The Big Deal" coupon for $29.99 for a plumbing service call PLUS a $50 credit. Total cost was $294.00 minus the $50 credit. Paid $244 onsite. Keep in mind, I had already paid $29.99 for the service call coupon. The total was $273.99 to install a valve. The job took less than ONE hour. Oh and the $50 credit.....If you add that back in, the cost would have been $323.99. REALLY? I felt like the coupon was a "bate and switch" tactic to lure customers in. The job was assessed when he arrived and the price was given to us before the work was started. No doubt, we absolutely could have refused the service, but I had already taken the day off and wanted my ice maker fixed. When I set up the appointment by phone, they could not give me a price. "We will assess it when we arrive". Uh-huh. The serviceman was very professional, did quality work and cleaned up after himself. In summary, the quality of their work was good, but their pricing was off the chart ridiculous!!!

They were very nice and they seem knowledgeable. It's just that the repair wasn't done the way I want it to be.

I thought they were punctual and did a good job. I thought they were a little pricey, but it was an emergency so I was willing to pay.

Plumber was friendly. He seemed to be a bit rushed and became frustrated when a minor repair took longer than expected; I could hear him cursing. He was not rude to me at all. Later in the year, we had a plumbing emergency. The service was worth every penny because the "off hours" fee was waived and we received a 15% discount. The quoted price was in line with what we encountered with other companies. I thought it was well worth what we paid.

Went very well. Work was done efficiently and was cleaned up afterwards. They had to make a hole in the wall to do the S valve in the bathroom but already had told us that they didn't repair the hole. Had everything inspected and all passed inspection 1st time. Job was completed on time.

I was very impressed with this rep. He spent a long time and the price was reasonable. He also discussed some home air purification options with me that I asked about, even though he was not a "comfort specialist" and that was not his area of expertise. So, overall an excellent experience.

Make sure to get two or three bids before agreeing to the work as they do not charge by the hour but by the job according to the plumber.

Technician was on time and performed inspection in an efficient and thorough manner.