Schwartz Plumbing Company

I had to follow up with them to make sure they upheld the terms of the manufacturers warranty in our contract. There was one gentleman who knew his specialty very well, and there some professionalism.

The run down: We went with Schwartz because they had the tankless hot water heater we wanted (the Navien NPE-240A) and they could setup the recirculating system we wanted. We did a lot of research and the Navien NPE-240A with a recirculating system seemed to be the very best way to go. It has the lowest long term operating costs, the best output, newest technology, and is just a great product. The price of installation through Schwartz was a little high, but we wanted a recirculating system, so we decided to go for it anyway. We had the Navien installed inside in our laundry room, rather than what the technician initially suggested of having it installed outside. I would suggest inside installation to everyone if possible... though the Navien can be installed outside, we believe it is much smarter to install inside if possible (weathering, access, aesthetics, etc)(though it did cost us an extra $100 to have it installed inside). Installation day was ok (01/31/14), it wasn't bad, but the secondary plumber that was helping the main installer was obviously new and needed a lot of help and correction from the main installer. My guess is that they send out a master plumber and an apprentice. They removed the old tank, put in the new one, ran some additional pipes for the recirculating system, and tested. After installation, the system had to pass code (a rep from town of cary came out), and he found that some of the exhaust needed an additional pipe length installed. Not a big deal, Schwartz came back out, added some more exhaust pipe, and it passed code. A few months later I told a friend about our new hot water heater (impressed with the Navien NPE-240A, not Schwartz). I told them that we used Schwartz because they were one of the few plumbers that we found that carried Navien. My friend had Schwartz come out and do an appraisal... it ended up being approx $4300 for an outside installation (ours was $3600, WITH an additional $100 for inside installation). I emailed Schwartz about the discrepancy and they responded with "I got your note and with all due respect, We had to raise our prices due to an increase in operating costs". Ok, no problem, that's the end of that, prices go up I guess. Then a few months later, I found a leak coming from the attic (where the old hot water tank was). It was a water spot on the ceiling right below where Schwartz had done their work. We saw the leak in July (our original installation was 01/31/14), and I called Schwartz to see if that was something they could check on. I explained that I had a new installation a few months ago, so the receptionist looked up my account, and said "Sure, we can send a tech over to check on that for you!, when would be a good time?" We scheduled the tech to come out 07/18/14 at noon. The tech was in a hurry that day, and called me to meet him early. I hurried over to the house, and met the tech a half hour early at 11:30am. Once there, the tech went into the attic and within 1 minute, he said that it was not the old hot water heater lines, but something with the HVAC and proceeded to leave. I asked if that was anything they could help with, or if they had any suggestions and he just said "you need to call an HVAC guy". Ok... fine, no problem. I thanked him for checking on their setup (since I did spend $3600 with them), and as we were walking out he said "ok, that'll be $79.95"... What??? I told the tech that I was never informed that they were charging to come out. Instead of listening, or trying to talk to somebody back at their office, the tech just started to get annoyed, and became bossy saying "well, I've gotta get paid somehow". Since he wasn't going to call the main office, I called them. I told them (the same receptionist) that when this was scheduled, they just said "oh sure, we'll send somebody to check on that for you", never mentioning it would cost $80. If they had mentioned that just checking on their work would cost $80, I would have never scheduled work with them in the first place. I would have called somebody I was sure could actually fix the problem, or at least diagnose it... or do something... anything. But apparently, Schwartz will charge you $80 to say "call somebody else". The tech was getting pretty mad by now, so I went ahead and paid him... I paid $80 for somebody to come out and say "call somebody else" (side note, the guy was there for a total of 8 minutes). So, I figured that I could work this out with a manager or the owner, and I just let the tech leave (in a hurry). I told the receptionist that I wanted to speak to someone and she said that the only person I could speak with was driving home from Virginia right now, but would call me when they got back. Ok, fine. I was starting to get pretty disappointed with Schwartz. I waited 3 days and never heard from anybody at Schwartz. I decided to call back again and leave another message. After 5 days I finally spoke with someone. I'm not sure if it was a manager or owner, but they pretty much said... too bad, we're keeping your $80. I reminded them that I was never informed that I would be charged $80 to have someone just "check". The manager then went back and reviewed my original installation and decided that it had been too long to consider this any kind of follow up call. The original installation was on 01/31/14, the leak check was on 07/18/14... That is less than 6 months. I told the manager that I wanted to post this issue to review boards and the BBB, and he just said "well, do whatever you want". I asked if they even cared that they were trying to sneak an extra $80 out of us after we spent $3600 with them... The manager just tried to get me off the phone. So, long story short... The Navien NPE-240A is a great tankless hot water heater, just DON'T get it through Schwartz plumbing. Though they do decent work, Schwartz plumbing is apparently just a money hungry company that doesn't actually care too much about customer service after they've been paid. They don't even mind telling you too-bad, so-sad if you have a problem, or that they're jacking up their prices. After checking into this, I have found that Schwartz has no warranty or guarantee at all . I looked on their paperwork, and their website, and the only thing I could find was "Schwartz Plumbing truly stands behind their service guarantees"... yeah right. UPDATE FROM MEMBER: Since Schwartz has updated with a response, I would like to clarify some obvious points: First, the call was 5 months, 18 days after installation (01/31/14 - 07/18/14) ... that's not "almost 7 months". Second, and most importantly, ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS TELL ME YOU WERE GOING TO CHARGE ME A $78 FEE. I'd already paid $3600 for the system, and I thought there was a problem, so I called you guys back to check on it. Nobody mentioned anything like: "oh hey, if we don't find anything, then there's a $78 fee". Simple as that. Instead of an angered, defensive response, this would have been a much better approach: "yeah, we probably shouldn't charge past customers an additional fee if they have followup concerns, or at very least we should tell them about the fee up front" The bottom line is, if I knew there was another $78 fee, I would have never even scheduled the followup call. NOTE TO MEMBERS: If you want to know if a company cares about customer service, take a look at how their owner responds to past customers.

Alex did a great job, worked fast, was respectful and listened well, and overall I thought the price was very reasonable.

Very prompt..in fact early. Fixed leak and explained why the leak occurred. Showed my husband the problem. Was very professional.

I can't remember why I called Schwartz that day, but I believe it may have had something to do with my toilets doing "phantom" flushes. In the process of inspecting my water service, the technician discovered that the water pressure inside the house was higher than it should have been. To remedy the problem, he replaced a 3/4" pressure reducing valve. As a bonus, he even checked and relit my propane water heater; the pilot had blown out in a recent storm. After patient instruction, I was able to relight the pilot myself if needed. The technician was professional, knowledgeable, and delightfully human!

We got 3 estimates from companies rated highly on Angie's list. Out of the 3 companies, Schwartz not only gave the lowest estimate (the other 2 both gave ~$2,300 estimates) they also were the only one who provided the replacement model name and number in their estimate. Although I never specifically asked for the replacement model information, I found it quite interesting they were the only ones to do this. I would definitely recommend them. They came on time, and were done within 4-5 hours. The quoted price they gave over the phone was their final price, there were no hidden fees added. One of the companies I did not go with called me back a couple days later to ask why I did not choose them and he was surprised by Schwartz's quoted price. The only issue I had was they did not clean up, leaving our storage room very dirty and wet. This was not a major issue since it was easy to clean, but if I have to be nit picky, it is just worth mentioning.

I have used Schwartz Plumbing for a number of jobs (replaced water heater, faucet repair, unclogging, etc) and they have been great each time. In the last case, I had a toilet that was functioning poorly. I called Schwartz, and they polite and efficient, were able to make an appointment for me that worked with my schedule. I received a reminder call the day before, and the technician called well in advance to remind me and let me know he was on the way. As for the actual repair, he clearly walked me through my options and when I decided to replace it, he did it exceptionally fast (had the whole toilet removed, replaced and the work cleaned up in less than 20 minutes. I was incredibly impressed!

While progress reports weren't forthcoming, when I called to see what was status of finding the specific spicket required, was very pleased with the promptness of the plumber -- he came when he said he would! Very professional -- would use them again

This company replied promptly to my request for service, scheduled in a timely manner, did a thorough repair in a short amount of time, and the company member who worked with me was friendly and explained his repairs. The price was a little higher than I thought it might be, but the quality of the materials he used was very good. A month after the repair, I am very glad I had the repair done.

Great! We had been unable to remove the old handles due to rust which had formed underneath them which caused them to stick to the countertop. Schwartz removed them easily and installed the new ones in a very short time.

The hot water heater replacement, alarm addition and hot water circulation system went very smoothly. No problems whatsoever. We are ecstatic with the hot water circulation... hot water at our taps almost at once!!! Adding the garage sink was another matter (note that this was done by a different person than those who handled the above). First, the individual cracked the sink while installing it and had to put in a replacement. Next, he broke the drain pipe behind the wall. This required cutting a large hole into a wall-papered wall inside the house to get to the break and repair it. I was then left with repairing the hole on my own. In fairness, the individual did own up to what happened and repaired it working very late into the night. All is fine now, but I expected a better experience than what actually transpired.

Overall the service was great and we're happy with the results. The only reason I give a "B" for Quality is that they had some problems putting in the recirculation line that ended up being due to mis-measuring (a little "jog" in the outside wall was not accounted for on the inside measurements), which led to the job taking a lot longer than expected and a workaround that is now going to require some additional drywall repair. The followup from Schwartz Plumbing has been good... I needed to have them come out to check the recirculation line function after some other work being done on the house required turning the water off for a day after which the hot water system was not operating as expected. They came out right away and were able to diagnose and fix the problem quickly.

I am leaving my original comments to help educate other Angie's members. GET A QUOTE from these folks before you hire them so you are not surprised like I was. The owner agreed I was overcharged, saying the technician failed to discount the second, third and fourth jobs, and provided a $200 refund. The single plumber worked for two hours, start to finish for the four small jobs. So the hourly rate ended up being almost $250 an hour. For one technician. I did not ask for an estimate because when I have used this company before the pricing was nothing like this. They have gone to flat rate pricing per job, rather than billing by the hour. I will not use this company again and strongly suggest others get firm estimates from them before hiring! To replace the guts in the toilet with parts $175. To replace each popup drain assembly $175 with parts. To replace the sink sprayer $145. I got a small discount for supplying some of the parts.

Our hot water heater is in our attic, so we wanted to go with a tankless or hybrid water heater when it was time for a new one. We contact 5-6 plumbers and Schwartz was by far the most responsive. They clearly detailed our options and are obviously very experienced with the newer technologies. Initially, the hybrid made some odd noises and the temperature did not remain constant. Schwartz came out the next day and made adjustments, and the problem was resolved. Last year, they recommended we change a part as failures of this part had been reported. They made the change with no charge for parts or labor. I'd recommend Schwartz without any reservations.

They did a good job. They came as same prices as other people we looked at. They come out as our normal plumber whenever we need them.

It went very well. Adan arrived on time. I thought my main water shut off was broken. He showed me that it wasn't and what I was doing incorrectly. Now that my water was shut off, I needed to address a problem with my sink faucet. He provided me with a number of options. I will decide which is best for me. Once I decide, I will DEFINITELY have Schwartz perform the work.

Project went as expected. No surprises. Crew arrived and completed the job on time and budget. They were professional in appearance, work and result. No problems.

Our old water heater had a leak from the tank and I knew it was time to replace it. Called around asking quotes and finally decided on Schwartz because they use Rheem brand. Price is on par with other companies. I called Schwartz in the morning and they were on site at 9am. Everything went smooth and by 1pm, I got hot water again. They cleaned up everything, offered a few tips regarding maintenance and were easy to talk to. I'm a satisfied customer.

It went okay. They did a reasonably good job. They were knowledgeable. They did an overall good job, just a few hiccups along the way. I would consider using them.

It was more than usual and it was little more than they would have come out for just one thing. They charged us a little more. They are reasonable and they are available. They have someone to take care of it and they take care of it when they come out. They have what they need to do with them. They know what they are doing.

As stated above................never heard from him with an estimate or plan

Cleaned up after himself, brought extra paper towels to help, explained what he was doing along the way and what to expect

OK, the weather (not their fault) caused a postponement. The hot water heater went in OK. Nothing to it. Time will tell how good the product is. They fixed all the commodes. But they didn't replace the handles because they didn't have that part. They used quality parts and were some nice guys.

Very prompt, professional, and friendly. Answered all my questions.

The service was terrific. They have always been prompt, and done great work.