TLC Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning

First, I had new furnace and swamp cooler installed. They had a man, Gabriel, who I thought was knowledgeable, excellent, honest, and committed to good service at the lowest cost. I was very satisfied with his work. But then for some reason either he left or was fired. Plumbing services were a different story. I just bought the house; it was a short sale and the house had been unoccupied for about 16 months. I bought it in May and no one was there until I went to stay for a few weeks in July. My first water bill was minimum charges, but the next one, with no one there, was $199! The city rechecked the meter, confirmed the usage, and then told me I needed to call a plumber, thus I called TLC. They did get right on the problem, got a specialist in that day to locate the leak (it was in an old irrigation system that I didn't even know was there!). They got their people out right away to fix the leak; I was shocked at the cost of over $800. But they assured me the leak was fixed. The next water bill was $508, but included the time before the leak was "fixed." But then the next bill was $282 -- all incurred after they had "fixed" all the leaks! So, I called them again and they again got right on it. They then discovered more leaks - two toilets running and the main shut off valve not functioning. They fixed these and charged over $600! [This compared to two toilets fixed in Florida for $160.] And, this was AFTER they had assured me there were no more leaks. Now, the leaks do all seem to be fixed, water usage is normal, but if I need a plumber again, I plan to use someone else, as I think TLC is just too pricey, and I don't think they were sufficiently thorough in making sure all leaks were repaired, costing me hundreds of dollars in water bills.

Called TLC and technician stated it was after hours on the weekend and hourly rate was $142. He came within 1 hour, identified the problem and completed the repair. He was very professional, knowledgeable and friendly.

Arnie from TLC first came to perform duct inspection as part of my house purchase back in December 2012. He was on-time and friendly, and at the end of the duct scoping provided me with a DVD of the inspection videos. Parts of the ducts turned out to be rusted, and Arnie helpfully provided some references to companies that perform duct restoration. Unfortunately, as I started to request estimates for duct restoration and sending companies the videos from TLC, I was told that those inspection videos did not include a distance measure into the ductwork, making them not very helpful for getting accurate estimates. I later learned from my realtor and one of the duct restoration companies that the equipment used by TLC to measure distances in the ductwork had been malfunctioning for a few weeks back in December 2012. I called TLC and requested them to redo the duct scoping free of charge. The woman on the phone talked to a supervisor about my situation, then told me that I *WOULD* have to pay out of pocket for the re-inspection. I insisted that I shouldn't have to pay, since TLC's equipment malfunctioned. She then put me on hold again, and after about a minute, said that TLC would perform the re-inspection free of charge. A few days later, Arnie showed up again at the house and re-did the scoping, and the new videos now contain the expected info. Overall, I'm pleased with the work TLC performed, but am a bit dismayed that I was initially told I'd have to pay for the re-inspection. If I had to pay, I would have given TLC a much lower grade.

The technicians were professional and knowledgeable but I don't recommend the powder "drain-o" they sell because it clogged up my drain. We have black goock in some of our drains and I thought we wanted a snaking to clean them out. We haven't had any major back ups but we have 2 drains that have black goock and one toilet that seems slow to flush and can back up. They installed new flaps and made the toilets a bit less water saving so they use more water to flush. We don't notice a difference though, and the technician/plumber said it might be because the toilets have mineral deposits built up. He sold me a can of powder "drain-o" for $30 that he said has no harsh chemicals (it's called TLC Lynzyme treatment), and I should use it on the drains every week to month to clear them out. It was out of stock but I paid for it and he said they expected it early next week and would drop it off. A week later I still hadn't gotten it so I called and the woman said it was sitting on her desk meant to be delivered to me. I said I would be in the neighborhood I can pick it up when is she there? She said until 4. I stopped by at 1145 and the office was closed for lunch until after 1. I was able to get a hold of her on the phone and someone dropped it off later that day. I tried it on the drain as directed, a scoop in the drain and let it work overnight when not in use. It did NOT say to run water. Next morning the drain was clogged. I dumped some baking soda and vinegar. No luck. I called TLC to see if I should run water after applying. I got routed to Albuquerque, then she said she'd find a plumber for me to talk to, but I realized I had the first plumber's card and cell phone so I said I would call him. I called him and was routed to the office voicemail, left a message asking for better instructions on how to use it. 5 days later I have not had a return phone call. I used a wire to unclog the drain. Another issue I have is it has no list of ingredients and no WARNING label about what to do if it gets in your eyes... it's not supposed to have harsh chemicals, but I'd still expect a list of ingredients. It looks like saw dust. We also put 3 scoops in the toilet as directed and haven't noticed a difference but some of the saw dust particles seem to linger in the bowl even 4 flushes later. We don't plan on buying another can.

Excellent repair accomplished. Was told how to avoid problem even how to correct it myself!

It was fine, quick. He explained some of it to us since we'd had the problem before. The bathroom was a bit dirty when he left.

Was very prompt and it took less than 20 minutes for him to fix the problem.

TLC installed a quality product in a timely manner. I would recommend their services.

After discovering our radiant heater would not stay lit late one cold holiday night, we left messages for 2 Angie's List plumbing and heating "A List" companies. TLC called at 7 am the next morning and were here by 9 am to replace a thermocouple (simple repair). We asked the tech (Sean?) to check the main panel while he was here, and he determined all was working well. The early bird got the worm, and we got fast and affordable service. Their customer service followed up with an email to see if we were satisfied. What a concept!

I’ve used them couple of times. They responded fairly quickly and took care of the problem. I was satisfied with their service.

The TCL plumber Seth was on time, polite, clean, neat, and skillful. He snaked the kitchen sink drain from the roof, thus avoiding any mess inside the house. There is a slight extra charge for working from the roof, but it is worth it in our opinion. He brought in a new blanket (like a tarp) that he put down to protect the carpet in the bathroom, which it did. He got the clog out quickly. He pointed out some buildup in the chrome J-trap below the sink and suggested that we have it replaced. Since he did not have the needed part with him, we did not replace this part then.

You can't even tell where they made the repairs. Excellent jobs

They came out and gave an estimate, along with any discounts or sales that applied to us. When we hired them, they ran into some delay with PNM, but they started as soon as that was done. Beware, when adding to your circuit breaker box, make sure there is room out on the main circuit, because if they have to change that it costs extra from PNM. Luckily, our street-box was large enough to carry our extra need for the air conditioning. They replaced 2 furnaces, removed 2 swamp coolers, and added 2 air conditioners (different sizes). All went well, and they cleaned up well too.

l selected TLC plumbing from Angie's List and was totally satisfied. I got a 10% discount too. The person who answered the phone when I called was courteous and flexible. Tom showed up on time and was helpful, polite and efficient. He called before he came and someone from TLC called me within 30 minutes of Tom's leaving to make sure everything went smoothly. Excellent service! Would totally recommend!!

It was a workday, the last one before winter break. I had already done my workout so I needed a shower. There was no hot water. I went to the garage and checked out my tankless water heater and I could hear that it was trying to do something but then quitting. I called the group that originally did the installs in my new house. The warranty expired in October and the young lady who answered the phone told me that they only did warranty work. I thought that was odd. Anyway I have Angie's List so I looked at the providers and found TLC at the top of the list. I called them and the person I spoke to originally told me it would be up to five hours before they could come out. I figured my work day was shot. An hour later a tech called and said he was on his way. He checked out the unit, figured out what it was and cleaned the filter. Then we tested each and every shower and sink to make sure hot water was circulating. It was. He explained that the scale in the filter caused a water circulation problem. He explained also that they could take care of cleaning it out annually for about $250 a year, or I could have him come out once for that amount and buy the pump myself. As long as I own the pump and have the vinegar solution I could pay just an hourly rate for about $105 or do it myself. I'm calling now to see if they can come out while I'm on winter break and do the cleaning and show me how it's done. I like that he took the time to explain everything and offered options. I'm going to ask him to look at my A/C and heaters and tell me what I should do to keep them in good order. I'm in no way mechanically inclined and have worried a bit over the fact that all of my new appliances probably need maintenance of some kind. I feel confident that I can trust TLC to give me the straight story and that they won't try to take advantage of my lack of experience with these matters. Oh yeah, the original company I called ended up calling back later to tell me that they do work and not just warranty work. I was happy to report to them that I had found the company I wanted to work with. :)

the workers were very profrssional and very polite

The job went very well. Dan showed up when agreed to and did and excellent job.

We noticed water coming from behind the sheet rock at the kitchen drain. We called TLC Plumbing to repair the drain. The technician arrived at the promised time and investigated the leak. He noted the old plumbing behind the wall failed due to age and needed to be replaced along with the old drain pipe in the crawl space under the house. He provided an estimate and due to the cost we decided to get other bids. We were charged for the visit. We avoided using the sink will other bids were received. While some bids were lower, the extent of the work was to-be-determined and price adjusted. Consequently, since the TLC bid was near the low end of bids so we decided to use them. We called back and they scheduled work for the next day. The work was completed in one day by two friendly technicians who keep us informed of what they found and did. Since the work was a bit less than estimated the price was reduced somewhat and the cost of the previous visit was also reduced form the cost. The technicians cleaned up after the wok both in the house and in the crawl space.

Our kitchen sink drain was draining very slowly. Our house is 22 years old, so this can be expected. We've had the drain done once before a couple years ago. I called our old company, but he had gone out of business, so I got on Angie's List and found TLC with good reviews. I was concerned that with the holidays, we would have a problem. I was amazed and pleasantly surprised when I called at 7:30 AM today (12/20/12), to be connected to a real person who set me up with an appointment for one hour later! Our Technician Oscar called when he was on his way and arrived 30 minutes into the 2 hour window that I had been given by TLC dispatch! Oscar was very professional - he took care to not create extra dirt from his machinery. He quickly and expertly got our drain working again with his machine. He cleaned up the area thoroughly. He professionally and accurately took care of the payment, gave me a card and we were taken care of in less than an hour. Interestingly, because of the holiday season, I offered him a tip. He turned it down, firmly. He told me that TLC pays them well and that as professionals, they simply won't consider taking tips. Remarkable, eh? TLC's business card is definitely on my "white board" of reference numbers to call when there is trouble at my house.

Overall the job was done well however it took far too much involvement effort on my part. The challenge is the technicians seem to work largely independently and coordinate their service efforts and the estimation and sales portions of the repair. In my case it requred no less than 12 phone calls to get to a solution including two rescheduled appointments. In one case I took off an afternoon when the service was to be performed only to find out 30 minutes before my appointment that the supply house where the technician was supposed to get the compressor was closed for inventory. This cost me a day of vacation. Then few more phone calls and another appointment and the job was finally complete. Overall the work was done correctly but there was too much need for the customer to drive the TLC technician to get the work completed. In almost all the communication I had to iniatiate the contact.

They were fabulous. They came on time, knew what he was doing.

My heater never came on the morning of 12-15-2012 and I finally realized that the pilot was not on. I tried but could not get it to stay lit. So I called TLC and was given a number in a message. I must have written the number down incorreclty and called the wrong number of a woman that has had this happen before. She gave me the correct number and I called and got ahold of the after hour service people. I gave the lady my information and a while later Chris called. I told him the problem and he seemed to think it was not a problem. He said he would call when he was on his way. He did call later and said he was close. But I didn't see him. Apparently he had entered the next calls address into his GPS and went there which was close to me. He took care of that customer then called and explaned and came over. It took him less than 10 minutes to pull the old part and put a replacement in, fire the pilot up, then had me fire the heater up. Then he went to write the call up. It took him about 20 minutes to come back but he had been on the phone getting more calls. It wasn't a problem for me as my heater was now working.

Very professional, very timely service. Perhaps most valuable: accurate identification of source of odor problem that others had misdiagnosed -- meaning that by having the RIGHT work done rather than the WRONG work, we saved $400 of pointless expenses. Be aware that they accepted the "Angie's coupon" for 10% off on labor ONLY for the minor work on furnace; did NOT accept the coupon for the major plumbing work, on the grounds that it was a "bid job" for which they had already bid low to get the work. Not unreasonable, and professionally handled, but good for Angie's members to know. Overall, highly satisfied with their work and professionalism.

They had to come back only once to reseal some ductwork. They were responsive and performed as expected.

Went very well, they came, they fixed the unit and left with the system in good order.