My Plumber Heating Cooling & Electrical

My Plumber called to sell me on their $49 HVAC inspection. I took them up on it. The service tech arrived and instantly said, "You know since you have two AC units it's going to be $49 each." Not happy, but not a huge surprise so I agreed. Tech: "And you know that this is just a visual inspection, right? Inreally can't tell you much without opening up the units." Me: "That's extra? How much?" Tech: "$120 each." Me: "Hmmm, so the $49 inspection I was sold is really going to cost me $240. What do I get for that?" Tech: "Well, it's actually a service plan that gets you 3 inspections, priority service and 20% off any work we need to perform." Me: "And that's for a year of service? Tech: "Well, no, it's actually $20 per month with a minimum 6 month commitment." Me: "So it's really a $480 annual service plan for the two units and that really just these 'inspections' and not actually any work?" Tech: "It's a good idea to keep these running in top condition. I can tell that you need refrigerant in both units." Me: "So is that included in this service plan?" Tech: "No." Me: "So how much more is that going to run me?" Tech: "$330 per pound and you need two pounds. And I can see that this small motor in this unit is about to go." Me: "And how much more is that?" Tech: "$548." Me: "Well, if you're selling me a service plan with priority service why shouldn't I just wait until that motor goes out and then place a priority service call rather than dumping $548 to replace it today?" Tech: Mumbo jumbo about how the world will surely end if I don't have that work done today. Me: Lots of unhappy words about bait and switch and the $1300+ price tag for the $49 inspection. Tech: "I get a commission -- about 6 bucks -- on the service plan. If you buy the plan today I'll do the work for you for $500 cash." Me: "How about this. You close the unit up and you're done here today." ADDENDUM (8/21/15) The service manager just called me and very genuinely apologized for what went down and offered to send a different tech out with a field supervisor to look at our units. I declined the offer (already have someone else coming out) but I do appreciate his follow up and attempt to make things right. I want to believe that this was just a rogue tech and not the way My Plumber trains its people.

The technician forgot to turn the water off, so when the pipe was cut, water sprayed everywhere. He was able to get the water turned off before too much damage was done. Also, when they serviced my HVAC system, the first guy did not show up. When I re-scheduled, the tech who came out did not really explain what he was doing or why. I requested that he not be sent out again.

Mike arrived early in the promised time window, having called ahead to tell us he was on his way. He listened to our description of the problem, saw the backup,and checked to see how the pipes were connected and where they went. He then gave us an estimate (flat rate) to fix the problem, and we authorized him to do the work. He was very polite and pleasant, worked neatly and cleaned up afterward, was careful to check that the problem was really fixed before he left. (The company provides a 90-day warranty on their services.) He did seem to be "selling" the company's service contracts and some products, but not a hard sell. I think he could have finished more quickly if he hadn't been quite so chatty. As for the price, it seemed high to us, but this company was the only one of four that I called who could send someone out the same day we called (Tuesday), and I didn't get prices from any of the others. (Others were booked up to Friday or next Monday.) We needed to get the drain open so we could cook, do dishes, and use the washer. I expect that their costs are higher because they have enough plumbers to respond to all calls the same day, which probably means they often pay people to be on duty with no work to do. That would certainly increase their overall costs.

They weren't punctual at all. The plumber's price was high. It was a lot of money for a little piece. They weren't responsive; you have to call them multiple times.

We had a major rain storm the day before, to where a lot of stuff got into the outside drain in the basement walkout and caused the water to build up and start to spill over and I had to bail water! I called my usual plumber the next day, but they couldn't send anyone out for two days (I didn't call the emergency line) and suggested I call MyPlumber. I checked out their site (nice) and their reviews here (worrisome) but went ahead because I was desperate, my usual plumber I trusted suggested them, and they had a "call before noon and we'll be out same day" guarantee. I called them up and got on the schedule easily, and because I was a first-time customer, they waived the visit fee. When the technician, Edgar, came out, he looked over the situation and started working on the quote. One thing he did that hadn't been done the last time I needed the pipe cleaned as far as I recall was to check the sump pump. It looked old in there, and he later confirmed it was an old plastic pump and should be replaced. He gave me a quote and fully explained the pricing options for various work options, including adding a service plan to check not only the plumbing but the HVAC. It seemed like the value would come back, so I went for it. The work was done in a couple of hours, and Edgar was cool to answer my questions as I had them. They put a 90-day guarantee on the blockage clearing and two years on the sump pump. The new pump is iron with a 1/3 horsepower motor, which sounds pretty good...I'm no expert. But I like the service plan idea, and I like the responsiveness I got as well as more same-day service hours with the service plan and waived visit fees. I'd definitely use them again.

VERY EXPENSIVE.John arrived on time the following day as scheduled and completed the job in 3 hours. He wore booties in the house and cleaned up his debris. He did not have a dolly to carry the old tank out which was filled with water and very heavy. The new tank was a Pro flow 20 gallon. Additional materials included a new guage and pressure switch and about a foot of copper pipe and a new shut off handle. It all look and runs well so far. (a few hours) The primary NEGATIVE with My Plumber is COST. The total cost from My Plumber for the parts, service calls and labor was $1670.Conveniently, their invoice DID NOT LIST PARTS AND LABOR!! Completely unprofessional. I will be requesting that itemized Bill. Will report back. THE ABOVE MENTIONED PARTS TOTAL ABOUT $300. An online search for 20 gal pressure tanks will show this, generally about $240 for the tank itself. The switch and gauge are less $50 (we already purchased them at Home Depot). Therefore, My Plumber CHARGED $1370 JUST to INSTALL the pressure tank! This should be about $400. They said originally that the cost of the service call was $179 which included the first hour and which would be credited to any work done. None of this was itemized on their bill. AFTER this review, My Plumber responded that they would contact me regarding their " flat rate pricing" . (See response) This vendor did not respond to my request for an invoice breakdown of materials and labor. They have not contacted me or responded to my emails. My advice: be very careful about their flat rate price. Make sure it reflects the cost of the various components.

They were friendly, efficient and on time.

I purchased a complete heating and cooling system over 3 years ago from My Plumber. Spent a fair amount of money so I expected service/maintenance would be something they would honor and appreciate. Not the case. Within the last month, I have tried to schedule service at least 3 times (April 21st, April 30th, and May 8th). None of them worked out. I will mention only one, involving one of their service guys. The service was scheduled between 8 and 2 PM on April 21st (a 6-hour window). The service was for a complete AC checkup as advertised on TV ($49) and replacement of the filter on my humidifier. That is what I had set up with the scheduler at My Plumber. I received a call around 11:00 saying that the service guy was on the way and to give him 30 to 45 minutes to arrive. Two hours later, no service guy. I called My Plumber and was told that the service guy was just turning onto my street and would be there momentarily (my street is only a block long). 45 minutes later he arrived. It took 3 hours from the time of the first call letting me know they were on the way for the service guy to arrive in front of my house. Once at my home, the first thing the service guy asked me was ?Why am I here today?? I thought this was an odd question so I asked if he really didn?t know what my service call involved. He said ?that?s why I?m asking you.? I?m beginning to feel uncomfortable so I restate what I had told the scheduler, that I wanted a complete AC checkup as advertised on TV and a replacement of the filter in my humidifier. The service guy then told me that the ?complete? service checkup that I ordered for $49 only required him to turn the AC on and off. If it worked, that was all he was required to do. However, if I wanted him to check other things, that would cost in excess of $100. Now I understand his opening line (why am I here today?) and this whole job and his purpose involved nothing more than the old bait and switch. I then asked him to leave my property because I didn?t want to deal with him anymore. As he was leaving, he turned and asked if he could leave some information on other services they provided. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I asked him more strongly to leave once more. I reported this debacle to the company and their office staff was sympathetic, but ultimately unable to control the people who actually do the work. We tried two more times to schedule the service call but to no avail. Either the technician didn?t show up or he didn?t show up within the allotted time and I couldn?t wait any longer for him. I wasted a total of 15 hours waiting on them to show up to provide maintenance on a system I purchased from them. And the only one to show up I asked to leave after only 5 minutes because I didn?t trust him. My suggestion for anyone looking to use the company is to read carefully all of the reports submitted by members and come to you own conclusions. Good luck.

I WILL SEND MORE AFTER COMPLETED.

My house flooded & after several plumbers were too busy I called MY PLUMBER which was available the next day. They showed up & plunged my down stairs toilet. They charged me over $600. They called me the next day to check on the service & I complained about price (I had already removed the toilet before they came and did not have them reinstall as I had to replace the floor). They said, "OH that price includes snaking the entire sewer line", which was not done. They sent a Rep out quickly which snaked to the street and there was a major blockage. After much discussion and assurance from the Rep I accepted his estimate and he went to work. I had just paid $5000.00 to have my front yard sodded 3 weeks earlier. I had not even mowed the new grass when all this happened. When the Rep. told me they would have to dig a trench, He apologized that my beautiful complete and green lawn was going to be damaged but assured me that MY PLUMBER will do the job as neatly as possible AND restore the area with new sod and it was going to be as beautiful as it was before they started. The Rep stayed all day, after getting my OK, removing stone wall landscaping and plants in preparation for the next day of digging so that hardscape would be out of the way and not unnecessarily damaged. A crew showed up the next morning. The crew dug a trench to the street and placed all the dirt next to the trench from one end of my yard to the street, six feet tall, on top of the remaining sod. They were coming back as soon as the sewer line was replaced. The sewer line was replaced the same day so the backfill was to happen the next day. In the meantime, on the advice of the Rep., I called the county to report a problem with the sewer line in the street. The Rep. said it would be a problem for me in the future. The county came to investigate but wasn't concerned because, according to the County, this was a common practice of MY PLUMBER. The crew, doing the backfill, did not come back for a week to 10 days. It rained for 2 days and the mound of dirt washed throughout my yard ruining two thirds of the freshly laid sod. Then the crew showed up on a day I wasn't home and backfilled the ditch up to my house. Right up to the bottom of my outside spigot. I could not even hook up my hose. Nor could I replace the landscaping that was removed and ruined. I called MY PLUMBER and spoke with the manager who said that he would come to look at it. He did, again when I was not home, and said everything looked fine to him. My yard looked like a bald headed man with a Mohawk haircut. This is not a joke. After many phone calls, I finally was able to negotiate $3000.00 from the balance which is what I had to pay to have new sod laid. I ended up paying a total of $11000.00 + dollars just to rid me of this most stressful situation. I had new sod laid which didn't take and now it's still only about two thirds of lawn with a 7" valley in the middle from the improper backfilling job. MY PLUMBER did not completely surround the new line with gravel as promised. The reason I'm writing this review now is because MY PLUMBER called me last week to inform me of a special they're offering past customers for duct and furnace cleaning. I wasn't interested in purchasing a new furnace, I already have one, so I made sure that they will never call me again! Actually I still have details not mentioned but these bad memories are starting to haunt me. You can fool me once and it's shame on me. Try to fool me again and it's shame on you! Anybody that wants to use MY PLUMBER's service needs to talk with me first.

They did what had to be done. But they were really rude. My husband was trying to figure what was going on and at one point they actually said could you stop talking.

The hot water heater stopped working on 8/2/2014. I took them some time to come but they had to replace both heating elements. It was covered by the warranty. The plumber had to give me a lecture about me causing the heating element failure because I turned the temperature up on the heating elements. I tried to tell him I did not know how to do that. It was installed that way. Well this joker of course had his own ideas and I wasn't going to change his mind. He still fixed it and it was covered by the warranty at no cost to me. Again in March of 2015, we had no hot water. I call these guys because of the warranty. I got the same joker who started giving me a lecture about it being an electrical problem and I needed to hire a electrician. I did not have much confidence in this plumber but I had a electrician out the next day. He could not find an electrical problem but the heater was working before he got here. It has stopped again for one day since they but came back on. Since I keep getting the same stupid plumber, I am going to hire another plumber to come and look at the water heater. I would never deal with this company again. To make things worst, I also recommend this company to my daughter for plumbing work when I first had the water heater installed. She has a story far worst than mine on dealing with a company that has mostly incompetent people. I am encouraging her to add her experience to Angie's List.

They were here promptly. They did what they said they'd do.

They came out pretty quick replaced about 6' of 3/4 copper on both the cold & hot side of the heater plus the hook-up to the heater, replaced the cold side old valve with a new ball valve shut off and we asked them to replace the old main house water shut off with a ball valve. Total material costs about $100 (generous estimate). Tech took less than 1 hour to complete. Have no problem with the work or quality. BUT total costs was $1042.00 After you take in to consideration the materials looks like My Plumber is making almost $1,000.00 per hour. They charged $79.00 for the come out evaluation which we didn't have to pay because they did the work. they call it a discount!! Now I know there are costs of doing business but this appears to be outrageous. My guess was it was fair at $500.00. Called and talked to them about the price. They told me they don't charge for materials just by the job. Said if it took them six hours to do the job it would have been the same price. Really what kind of logic is that??? WILL NOT be using MY PLUMBER again.....Don't know to many jobs that make or pay $1,000.00 per hour!!!! Thinking about a career change to plumbing at those prices...........

Had a garbage disposal problem late in the evening. Water was leaking through the flange. Called My Plumber and they dispatched Ariel about 20 mins later. He quickly diagnosed the issue and offered me a fair price (which included a military discount). Ariel was friendly, professional, and courteous. He completed the job quickly and explained what he did. Way to go My Plumber! Would definitely use them again. From the call center to the service, this company does it right!

The basic plumbing work all went fine but it's what they've done afterward that's been the problem. They won't stop spamming or calling us for more work. We've moved on to other plumbers. They won't stop calling us even though we've asked them to stop. This is unprofessional and also against the regulations against Do Not Call.

Very well. Will definitely recommend this company.

My Plumber spent 3 full days replacing all old polybutylene (grey) pipes and shut offs throughout my house. This required making holes in walls to remove old piping and replace with new pex pipes. Plumbers were very considerate and tried, to the best of their ability, to make holes in walls which were not noticeable. They did this directly behind washing machine, toilets, inside vanities, and inside closets, to avoid breaking walls in family room, living room, bedrooms, etc. Have had no problems with pipes since installation.

I have spent some time researching whole house UV sterilizers. I picked the one that provided me with the best assurance of destroying pathogens without costing me a fortune. Now I had to get the unit installed. I did call My Plumber and asked for an "experienced" plumber to do the install. He spent about 30 minutes assessing the situation and trying to understand my goals. The defective, inadequate UV system was removed. The new model was installed without any difficulties and is working well.

He took out the old faucet and replaced it with another one of better quality. He was very pleasant and cleaned up after

I had a slow leak from an old pipe in the basement and sent a picture of the problem to a few plumbers to get estimates. I wound up going with My Plumber because the previous homeowner had recommended them. The nozzle was on a small copper pipe, next to a pressure reducing valve. Because of the pressure reducing valve, all the plumbers assumed it was part of the boiler system and would not even come out to see it in person. My Plumber agreed to come out, but warned that it could cost several thousand dollars if they had to drain the whole radiator system to fix the leak. When the technician arrived, he said that he couldn't actually determine for sure whether the pipe connected to the radiator system (it is in the opposite corner of the basement from where the boiler is, and the pipe is different from those connected to the radiators). For all I know, it is a remnant of old plumbing that doesn't even need to be in the house. This house is old and quirky like that. It turns out that a nut on the on-off nozzle had come a little loose, just enough for water to leak out. I could have fixed it myself for free, but wanted a professional plumber to take care of it since I'd just moved in and wanted to ask some advice and get an estimate for removing or relocating those pipes anyway. For a fix that took less than 30 seconds, and about 10 minutes of advice (which boiled down to "you could remove or relocate this plumbing, but I don't know where it goes, and it will be very costly to do anything"), he charged me $155, which was reduced to $148 with a senior citizen discount. When I asked why the charge was so high, he said it was because he had to use pliers to tighten the nut. If I'd have known he would double the charge just for touching his tools, I would have told him to leave the minute he explained that the nut just had to be tightened. Throughout his short visit, the technician was also condescending and abrasive. His explanation of the process of removing the old boiler system and why it is an expensive project was helpful, but the telling part of the experience for me was how I felt the second he walked out the door: I'd been scammed. I have worked with many plumbers and other service providers in the past, and none of them left me feeling swindled like this. If you only take one thing away from this review, let it be this: My Plumber is a rip off. Do not even bother calling them. I spoke with the previous homeowner about a plumbing concern months later and she commented that they always seemed like a rip-off to her, but she thought that was just the industry standard for plumbers.

They don't charge trip fees. The technicians have been good and have made an effort to not make a mess and have worn bootie covers when in our home. It's a good value for the money and they will tell you what the prices are ahead of time.

The good: customer service was friendly and accommodating, service tech was prompt and courteous. The bad: they quoted us $954 for what the service tech indicated would take around 2 hours and that required they provide only minimal pvc pipe materials (we already had garbage disposal and faucet for hook-up). That means they are charging $425 per hour for plumbing services, not including travel time, which we felt was outrageous. After declining to have them do the work even though it meant living without a kitchen sink for 3+ more days, we have contacted other plumbers who charge much more reasonable prices ($150 per hour) and scheduled one of them to do the work.

It went well. Joie Leffler made a recommendation for improvement, quoted the correct prices, and knowledgable about what he was doing. I was impressed with his professionism, he arrived on time, assessed the problem correctly, and explained the issue,

The first serviceman snaked one of the two lines I mentioned that had overflowed. When the second overflowed again second serviceman came back and snaked the second.