McCarthy Services

My basement flooded and the hot water heater got wet, putting out the pilot light. My husband and I tried following the re-lighting instructions on the unit but could not re-light it. I used a Big Deal coupon on Angie's list that was $49.00 for a plummer service call and included $100.00 credit towards repairs. When the plummer arrived I explained what happened and asked him how much it would cost to re-light the pilot. He said $225.00. He did try in earnest to re-light the pilot several times but the unit would not come on. He left to make a call. When he came back he tried to re-light the unit again but could not. He then put his hand under the hot water heater and discovered mud had gotten into the unit. He told me the unit could not be fixed because mud had ruined it. Again, I had no problem with this. He said his company could install a new one for $1875.00 which included installation. I said I did not have that much money now but could get it in the following week. He said they would install it now and collect payment the following week. All of this was fine even though his company vetoed the arrangement. My problem comes when it was time to pay him for the service call. I told him I would call him next week and asked him how much I owed him for now even though he did not fix my hot water heater and he said $225.00 I asked him, "even though you did not fix the heater?" He said yes. My adult daughter came into the room and repeated my question about why it was still $225.00 when he did not fix anything. He said it would have been $380.00 if he had fixed it. This number was never quoted to me even though I specifically asked him when he entered my house HOW MUCH WILL IT BE TO LIGHT MY PILOT? And he quoted me a price. He also said I could ask other plumbers but they would not be able to fix the unit. My problem is I felt the deal was not a deal because there were hidden GOTCHA costs in it, I do feel cheated and do not trust this company to not run up the price on me different from their quoted price and though I love Angie's List I will not be using this plumbing company or anymore BIG DEALS in the future.

His normal charge for replacing a seal is $368 which given the simplicity of the job, taking approximately 30-45 minutes, means he was charging, taking into account the $49 charge for travel, over $300/hour,. With the Angie's list discount, we paid $268, still considerably more than it cost for the same job in Delaware. The plumber was congenial and did his work quickly and professionally so we have no complaint about the performance, only about the astounding cost per hour. Evidently this pricing per job is now a common practice of plumbers in this area who insist on a flat price rather than an hourly rate. Using ARS I found the same incredible hourly rate justified by their price per job pricing, Hereafter, I will look for a plumber who charges $90 to $100 per hour for their work and avoid plumbers who insist on a.price per job, especially when they will not even quote a price until they come out. This hypocrisy of charging per job and then refusing to quote a price over the phone is quite annoying because obviously designed to trick you into the price they drop on you once they appear on the scene,. I am not sure how McCarthy actually handles this, but ARS is very difficult to deal with when it comes to finding out just what extraordinary price they are going to assess.

Everything was excellent. They were flexible with scheduling and working with us on payment. They offered different payment options to save us money, now and in the future, with a service contract. The boiler is fixed and we've had no problems. The service technician was friendly and professional. I have no complaints.

The issue was not with the quality of the work it was with the quoted price. $250 to do a 20 minute job. the company uses 'book' prices. The book said the three different tasks cost $250. It didn't matter that both the plumber and I could see that it was only going to take 20, the quote was for $250. That's about $750 an hour. I know plumbers are high, but this is absurd.i had bought the $49 special with $100 credit. When I got the quote it was so overpriced I told the guy to leave. I let them do the job when they came down on the price. I paid the extra $50 just so I would not have to waste another afternoon. I would never hire anyone who used 'book' prices. It is just ripoff. Thus, I will not use McCarthy Services again.

Their price was better than anybody else. They charged me $400 for everything whereas another plumber wanted to charge me $350 just to install the ice maker. I said I did something wrong with my cartridges, can you show me, he said well, we will do full. He installed three cartridges and charged me for two of them.

It was fine. I didn't end up needing to fix the drain. They were good and professional.

The guy arrived two hours past the scheduled window but was very friendly and professional. We discussed what needed to be done to extend the life of my older unit. Work was performed quickly and satisfactorily. I was completely satisfied with the service, as usual. I felt like this was a lot of money, but I have nothing to compare it to. Despite being late, I would highly recommend these guys.

Agree with a previous poster that the Angie's List coupon for the Big Deal was poorly written and will request a refund as we got nothing from it. It should have clearly stated - at least in the fine print - that the $49 was for walking through the door, which is basically what the technician said, and did not cover anything being done. Not a good experience.

I must have misread AL's email about the Big Deal. I thought it was $49 for the job of installing a new faucet (provided by me) in the kitchen. Apparently not, the price would end-up being $295 and I still don't know if and what the $49 would be used for. James, the technician was very helpful in explaining and showing me the price list for their services, before he started. I canceled the call and didn't pay anything. I think the real problem is with Angie's List's ad. I think it is not clear enough. I read everything in the ad, including the small print and still was mislead. From my experience I conclude that AL must be more specific about what is covered and what is not covered by the price of the service coupon. To the best of my knowledge, this is the story.

I've used them in the past, but I probably won't use them again. I had them check out a toilet, that I had to repair myself after they left. They didn't seem knowledgeable about the type of valve I've installed in that toilet.

I called them to schedule an appontment for them to come out. They showed up and they wanted to charge me $450 to clean the drain in my kitchen. I decided not to use the company.

When I called to claim the Angie's List deal they tried to add a $39 dispatch fee which was not mentioned in the deal. I had to go back and forth with the scheduler to have the fee waived. The tech arrived in the beginning of the service window and was pleasant to talk to. He confirmed the faucet needed new O rings and quoted $252 minus the $100 from the deal. I know pluming companies charge a lot for service but to me that price is outrageous for 15 minutes of time and $1 in parts. I passed on the repair and feel the company either always charges outrageous prices or jacked the price up to compensate for the deal.

The gentleman that arrived was courteous and friendly. The problem was a leak. It took him all of one minute to point the leak out to my husband but not to fix. We then told him we had a problem with our trash compactor, which he unjammed, and then was done. We had purchased the special for $49 that covered the visit and $100 credit towards any work, we were also told that since we were military we got and extra 10% off. It still ended up costing us $191. I may be wrong put that seems rather high considering what he did. For the leak he told my husband that we should recaulk the base around the tub and that was it.

The vendor showed up on time, was knowledgeable and friendly and fixed the toilet successfully. What more can we ask?

I took a day off from work and the plumber was available after the 4 hour window for service, but I would have to leave to make another appointment before he would be done, so I cancelled.

Used a deal for $99 ended up costing $145 even though we had already purchased our own supplies. Toilet seems to be working great.

That turned out okay as far as the technical aspect of the service. He did jack up the prices really high. I had to pay an additional $600.00. He put a new rubber seal to a leaking toilet. He also replaced another plastic piece too. Total it took close to 2 hours, but he did come on time and he was a nice guy.

Setup of the appointment was very easy, talked to the office on Saturday, they had a technician available for the following Monday. Time window was 1-5 pm, pleasantly surprised when the technician showed up shortly after 1. He checked our furnace first which is what we had scheduled the tune-up for, disconnected a cable stub that the company which installed the furnace had apparently left on the unit without disconnecting it. The technician disconnected the wire because it was a safety hazard, especially with a little child in the home. Very nice to perform this extra safety measure without extra cost. He then proceeded to check our A/C system as well because he was already at our house and wanted to make sure we are ready for the warm season. After he checked the system he pointed out the part which was likely to fail soon and gave us a quote for replacing it (completely without any pressure to have his company replace it for us). The technician not only checked our heating system (disconnecting a cable stub which had been left dangling live by the contractor which installed the unit) but also our A/C. He was courteous and was very good at explaining what he was doing which is something I really appreciate as someone who is not very familiar with how these systems function. Definitely a great experience! I will keep the company on file for maintenance and service calls. Thank you Angie's list for a great deal!

Installed the products, explained their purpose and how they work.

My tenants reported that they had leaking issues in 2 toilets. The company sent out 2 technicians to my rental property to evaluate the 2 leaky toilets. After the 39.95 diagnostic fee, they proposed over $350 to fix the issues that they found. I informed them NOT do do anything, and I ended up fixing the issues myself. One issue required adjusting the flush handle and the float, which was a 10 minute fix. The other issue was more complex, and ended up NOT being the flush valve problem that they had indicated. Instead I found that the washer between the tank and bowl had gone bad, and just ended up buying another toilet. The C Rating on Price is for the exorbitant amount they they were going to charge just to adjust a handle and float.

Very neat and professional.

Friendly repairman showed up on a Sunday to repair our stove. Very professional and reasonable rates.

They gave me an arrival window in the afternoon of about 1-4 p.m. I waited and waited, but they never showed up or called. Finally, I called them at 4:30 and they said they wouldn't be able to make it. I asked if they were going to call me to let me know and they just said the tech was on another job. This was my first time trying out their services and I don't plan on using them again.

The service was fine. The technician was very friendly and seemed knowledgeable. The only downside was that he did not have a part that was needed with him and it took him a while to get it and bring it back so the whole process took longer than I expected. Other than that it was good.

They arrived on time and explained everything well. They did not try to over sell their services to me. They seem knowledgeable. The young man was learning so I did not expect him to know that much. He was in training. The other man that came out was already with the business for a number of years. My house is old, so it’s nice to have someone to work here who is knowledgeable. I had a good impression of them and I will use them again. I think that they were very detailed in going through their checklist and in explaining things to me. My questions were important. I cannot think of any negative thing to say about the company. Their punctuality was great. The special was reasonable and whatever I had to pay for extra was not that much.