Einstein's Plumbing & Heating Inc

I am a member of Angie's List since the beginning and believe its a great way to vet service providers. I am out of the country for a few months and on the recommendation of other Angie's List members used Einstein Plumbing and Joe Collings when my heating flow started malfunctioning on different floors in my house. Joe has a nice web site with Linda Grey, formerly of the TV show Dallas on it, and was very nice and response on the phone when I called him on Skype to tell him that the heat pumps in my home in Brooklyn were going out, and that I had had an electrician there to replace the thermostats and test the computer board that regulates the water flow (I have a gas fired hot water heater and all floors are individually pumped). Joe showed up on time saying he would charge $189 just to walk in the door. I agreed to that. However I soon got an email from my person on site that he wanted to charge $877.00 so I immediately phoned him. He said there was air in the pipes and that had broken one of the four pumps I have. He wanted to install a "top of the line" pump and told me my pumps were cheap. I found that odd, since later he said my installation was well done, as I have a top of the line boiler. I asked him for a breakdown of why he was charging $877 to change a pump and take air out of the line, and he began what I found a bizarre and irrational rant about how his insurance rates were going up, he just got hit with a $300 increase in his policy, the cost of gas was going up, electricity was going up (although when I pointed out that gas and electricity had actually fallen in the past year and a half he paused and did not comment), and what did I want a breakdown of services for anyway, did that included every form he filled out, his administrative people, every nut and bolt? I was stunned. I asked him what his price per hour was and he said "$250 an hour" and then he added most plumbers charge $350 and hour but hide the cost in their markup. I asked him to tell me how much the pump cost. He came up with the exact same figure he charges for a site visit of $189. I said his site visit and the pump came to $388, where was he coming up with the figure of $877?. He then said he did not want to work with me, I was asking too many questions and he was going to leave. I was on the phone with him from out of the country, the heat was not working, he had found the problem and he had opened the pipes and was saying he was going to walk out and charge me $189 and leave the job unfinished, (in the dead of winter) especially because I did not want to install the :"top of the line" pump and wanted a breakdown of services and cost, a procedure I find normal and standard. At that point I mentioned Alladin Plumbing, a competitor of his who has received great reviews on Angies List, and I had used them before (they were too busy that day to come over) He said he knew them for, and for whatever reason he immediately changed his attitude , said he would charge $520 and 8% tax. He said he would bleed all the pipes on all the 4 floors to get the air out, check the aquastat, and tag the pipes which lead to the boiler. I agreed because the job could not be left hanging like that, I could not wait another day or two to have another plumber come in and finish the job, especially since the weather forecast the next day was for the monster blizzard that knocked out Washington DC, Philadelphia, New Jersey and would impact NY. I had to have the boiler up and running during such an emergency. I then received an email from the person who was supervising Joe that he had left, only bled one pipe, but had replaced the pump. Joe did not bleed all the pipes as he had agreed, nor did I receive word he checked the auastat or labeled the pipes. It was only after discussing with him the price differential between $520 and $877 for changing a pump and bleeding a pipe, and mentioning I knew his colleagues that I was able to get the work done. It was a horrible, horrible experience and I strongly caution other Angie's list members not to hire him. He has an engaging phone manner, but on the job becomes a dishonest, price gouging tradesman who brings in irrelevant details, like the price of his insurance going up. to inflate the job, and then resorts to storming off with a job half done to get his way.. Contrast this with Alladin Plumbing who get there, give you a reasonable estimate, get the job done and don't resort to hysterics or blackmail. Too bad for me Alladin was overbooked that day and I had to get this lemon.

They came and did the job. It was cheaper than we thought it would be. We were happy with it. We had a problem with our shower head. The water was not getting very high. It was only in the shower. It was not in the building. Something was blocking the shower head. The guy came in and replaced the charger or something like that. It had been installed upside down.We had a new bathroom installed. He said that was why the problem had occurred. He replaced it quickly.

We have had a very leaky faucet for years. Nobody has been able to fix it for us. He came by and diagnosed the problem. He said that the faucet was rusted on the insides. So, we had to order in a new faucet. We are getting it fixed by him. When he came out, he was courteous and punctual. He advised us that we need to get a faucet, the parts of which are easily available. We took his advice and we have ordered something with a lifetime warranty. He hasn?t done the actual work, but did look at the problem when he came out last. He was very responsive. He came right away and diagnosed the problem quickly. The only problem with him was he was on the phone a lot. We understand that it was a business requirement. While he was here, he went online and checked the status of the faucet manufacturing company. He determined that the manufacturer of the leaky faucet has been out of business for several years and there were no parts available. We are calling him back for the installation of the new faucet. UPDATE (2/15/10) It now works beautifully!

They came on time, and they were good. It was an emergency situation, so they were willing to come out at a very short notice on a weekend. It was positive as far as I was concerned. Given the circumstances, I didn?t think that their rate was unreasonable. There was no way for them to quote before they got here. We had no time to deal with that. The quality of their work was good. He was the owner. He said a lot of his men were out or he had fewer men out as it was on the weekend, and he was willing to come out on his own. I would call his firm again if I need a quote in the future.

The guy who came out was nice and professional, and did an excellent job. The guy who runs the company was really nice and professional too, and he definitely knew what he was doing. They were great, and the only reason I went with another company was because of the price difference.

see above

Joe Collins calmed our fears over a major construction job to repair a serious leak into our basement. Despite a previous plumber's diagnosis, it was unnecessary to pull out the sink and dishwasher or break the wall and floor to repair the drain. He capped off the old drain, installed a new drain line and reconnected the dishwasher with minimum damage to the sink cabinet and basement ceiling. No more leak! While he was here, he also replaced a damaged radiator valve with a leaking live steam and a rotten vent pipe in the basement. He also repaired two leaky faucets. All in three cheerful, good natured hours! And this was after 2 1/2 weeks of waiting for a response to my frantic calls to the previous plumber from NATCO who had diagnosed the need for those major repairs.

The work we did failed to solve the problem. It was worthwhile installing the pump though, so it was not all a waste. The pump will be useful if ever there is a BIG flood. Dealing with damp conditions in basements is not always easy, and multiple ''fixes'' can fail, so I don't blame them for not correcting the problem they tried to correct. The next thing we have to do is more invasive, we need to break a wall to fix a pipe which seems to be leaking slowly on the inside. The one suggestion I would make though, is get a written estimate before the work starts. This company is honest about price, that was not the problem. He did not clean up the mess though, and left me with a big trash hauling job (disposing of discarded heavy pipe parts which was the trash generated by his work). I had assumed this was part of the price, included in his quote. I think the price was high for the work done. He is a competent plumber though. Make sure the estimate, specifies who is responsible for trash.

EINSTEINS REPAIRED THE SUMP PUMP THAT WAS BACKING INTO THE SEWER SYSTEM. WE HAD A MUDDY MESS HERE. THEY CLEANED UP ALL OF THE SEWAGE THAT WAS AROUND THE SUMP PUMP. THE PLUMBERS WERE REALLY HARD WORKERS. THE JOB WAS DONE IN ABOUT 4 HOURS.