Bowman's Plumbing Heating AC & Electrical Inc

Classic nightmare plumbing contractor experience. Unexpected because we'd used them a couple of years ago for quite a bit of plumbing work & had great experiences. Last Oct-Dec 2014, when we decided to remodel our bathrooms, we counted on our past experiences with them more than the current negative Angie's List & Yelp plumbing reviews. That was a big mistake. Day 1 - 2 plumbers arrive 2 hours late but worked steadily on the first bathroom to install the tub, piping, & durock walls. Several issues but the primary - the piping didn't line up with one another by inches & the tub leaked! They couldn't make repairs immediately due to other scheduled jobs - Huh? They had a 50% deposit for both bathrooms, so we wanted to be patient. After a couple of weeks, one plumber, 2 hours late. He stripped out the durock, the tub & the piping to start again - leaving the house a couple of times. After 3-4 hours, he told us he couldn't stay to finish & bailed in a huff when my husband went up to find out why. The work he had 'done' was horrible. Then the true nightmare began - trying to get our money back. Despite pictures and our request for management to come & review the work done (they refused) Dana & her brothers (voices in the background) felt the work to date was quality work & only a nominal refund was due from the 2 bathroom deposit we'd placed with them. The Bowmans acknowledged that there was no piping in place, no installed tub, no walls, no tile work, no work begun on the 2nd bathroom & no other plumbers on staff. Just 1 plumber (who started mid 2013) & 1 plumber's assistant. These guys were in over their head with this job. Finally, Dana offers to call in a sub-contractor to handle our 2 bathroom contract with Bowman's - we'd 'begin fresh'. Again, we're trying to be reasonable - we agree. He comes out - on time. He's horrified by the evidence left by the Bowman's plumbers & talks to us about what's needed. We gave him a copy of the Bowman quote for the 2 bathrooms - feel pretty positive about him (& start our research on his company). Two days later & unexpectedly, we received a full refund check and a note to work directly with the sub-contractor. He in turn advises us the one bathroom will cost 50% "maybe more" than the Bowman's contract & he doesn't really like written quotes.... (

Had basement toilet and laundry room flood twice. Bowmans came twice and after same thing happened a third time, called Bowmans again. I was told by a Mrs Bowman work was not guaranteed. When I complained I had been a customer for over twenty years, but would now have to rate them very poor, Mrs Bowman replied, " Go ahead, I have my lawyers ready". This is no way to treat a customer. To make story short had to call another plumbing compamy who came and told me they could solve problem for now with a snake, but permanent solution would be to go in with camera and take a look, which they did for another $400.00. They recommended Sewer Replacement for $6000.00. Called two other companies for estimate on job and hired one for $5000.00,with a ten year warranty on parts and labor. I still can't believe Bowmans treated me in such poor manner. Would never, never use them again.

Bowman?s Plumbing was hired to rough-in a basement bathroom. A job that was quoted and should not have taken more than 2 weeks to complete took close to 7 weeks. The workmanship was okay at best. The work failed inspection numerous times on the same issue ? venting. Receiving excuse after excuse from the Bowman employee, we became so frustrated we had asked the county inspector if it were possible to arrive when the Bowman employee was present to suggest/instruct him on what is needed to pass inspection. It was noted it is not the inspector?s job to tell a trade how to do the task. It is the inspector?s job is to make sure the job is done correctly and to Virginia code. Our next ongoing frustration with Bowman?s arose after the job was considered complete (we finally passed inspection). The Bowman employee not only left a large contractor bag of trash but also threw out the installation instructions for the effluent pump that is clearly marked NOTICE TO INSTALLING CONTRACTOR: INSTRUCTIONS MUST REMAIN WITH INSTALLATION. Attempts to have the latest situation rectified with the owner, Dana Bowman, resulted in receiving the incorrect paperwork numerous times. The last time I spoke with Dana Bowman, I was assured she would look into the matter and call me back. Instead, I received in the mail a generic printout of a Zoeller product with a yellow post-it which reads ?We spoke to Zoellar[sic]. They told us this is what should have been in the box. Thank You!?. After too many attempts I shouldn?t have had to make and such a vacuous response, I still do not have a definitive answer from Bowman's Plumbing as to what is installed in my home. This company clearly lacks integrity and professionalism.

Called Bowman's on Wednesday night after our guest shower broke and the tub faucet refused to turn off. Received a call from Jack the next morning scheduling a plumber for later that afternoon at the time I requested. Michael showed up on time, was incredibly polite and entertaining. He walked into my bathroom and, 8 feet from the faucet, recognized that the cartridge needed to be replaced. 15 minutes later the job was done, and in the middle I received a smattering of training. Michael was fantastic and had a great attitude, and I would absolutely use Bowman's again due to their responsiveness, punctuality, quality of work and price.

I had my HVAC system installed by Bowman Heat and A/C in March 2014. Job was done on time w/o any issues. A few months later, we replaced company provided thermostat with NEST thermostat. AC ran fine the whole summer. We switched to heating in Nov 04, 2014 for the first time. But the heating was not working. I called the owner of Bowman Heating and explained the problem. Also since the issue occurred during the first year of warranty, It was eligible for fix without any cost. Company's owner agreed to free repair. Eric, was the technician who arrived to fix the problem. He found out that the problem was with NEST thermostat. He replaced NEST with original thermostat which I had kept in store as a backup. So far so good........ After replacing the thermostat, to my utter surprise, he asked me to pay for the service (about $200). I brought to his attention that company owner has agreed to honour no-price fix for the job as it was still under 1 year full labor/part warranty. This annoyed him. He said that since I replaced the original thermostat, warranty was no longer valid. I said fair enough. If this was the case, he should have informed me before replacing the thermostat because I could have replaced it myself. Replacing the thermostat is a simple task and customers can usually do it by themselves. Also, it was Eric's responsibility to make us aware of any possible cost/charges when he fist time showed up in my home. Now-a-days, It is a common practice by customers to replace the thermostat with more hi-tech ones. And there aren't any reports of any issues with using NEST thermostat with any HVAC system. So I asked Eric to replace it back to NEST thermostat. But he got completely annoyed. In an apparent angst, he walked down to my HVAC system downstairs and did something there to stop my HVAC system functioning. We heard some sound of opening the HVAC panel door with a force and him slamming the HVAC room door. He then walked out saying " now I have your HVAC non-functional". Call me if you want to fix it. This whole episode was witnessed by my wife and 9 years old daughter as they were terrified because Eric looked highly confrontational. After he left, I took a peep into HVAC myself to see what damage he had done. To my terror, he had pulled the wires on motherboard and left them hanging naked. We got really stressed out and scared. In a family with a little kid and during winter time, we were not only without heat but with such a terrible experience by a horrible technician. I brought his behaviour and UN-professionalism to his company's owner (Steve) attention who promised to look into the problem deeper. But apparently, Eric lied to him and did not produce the facts as they were. I have the picture of hanging wires out on the motherboard and couple of witnesses from the neighbor whom I told about the incident. I was not trying to write anything on Angies list thinking why would a company be punished for a really horrible technician. But today, when I asked the company to do their free annual inspection, they simply denied. So very likely, it can be concluded that most of the technicians in the company are highly un-professional and it is NOT a good company to get your work done, I therefore consider this as my responsibility to bring their act to anyone who is looking to get their job done by Bowman Heating and AC in sterling VA. They have given me and family a horrible experience. I wish the same is not repeated with anyone else. BE CAREFUL !

We called Bowman's out for an estimate. The day of the estimate, they repaired both lights and also installed a light switch that was loose. They were very flexible scheduling the follow up around our availability. They came back and, despite running into unforeseen problems behind our walls, they installed the circuits promptly and without increasing the cost. In fact, they gave us a discount. They were very pleasant to deal with, and they explained everything very clearly.

I called Bowman's at 7:45 on a Thursday evening and left a message on their after-hours message machine. Within 30 minutes, I had a return call and an appointment booked for 8-12pm the next morning. And this was during a very cold period in the Northern Virginia area when heating calls were probably at their highest. I have been a client of Bowmans ever since I moved into the Reston area (I have lived here about 15 years) and their support people are very courteous and pleasant to deal with.

It was an excellent experience. They're really great!

Excellent!! By far the most honest and professional company I received an estimate from. Will definitely use them!

Tom, the plumber came to the house on Friday evening at 6:30, which was great and so helpful. I have used their services before and really appreciated the fact that they were able to come work on this job after they finished another one nearby. The leak needed to be repaired before it got worse so I was really happy that they fit me into their schedule. A few days before the appointment I sent the Bowman company a photo of the leaky pipe and fixture so they knew what it looked like and what parts, etc. to bring. The repair work was done in a timely manner and Tom was very thorough. I appreciated how he explained everything to me. He was also really considerate about making sure that he had done a good job so there would be no additional problems with the leak or with other parts of the water system and pipes under the sink. Lastly he was good at making sure the work area was clean when he left. In the future I am hoping to renovate the master bathroom and will call this company to do the work.

Bowman's was very responsive and able to schedule the installation for the next day. The price quoted on the phone was what I paid. The two men arrived when expected, and finished the work as expected. They provided drop cloths to protect the floors/rugs, and everything in/around the water heater closet was cleaned up when they finished. They checked to make sure all was working and there were no leaks. They even provided a "Flood Buzz" device that warns if there is water in the pan (a leak.).They also checked that the hot air handler inside the house (which is connected to the hot water heater) was also working properly. I was very pleased with Bowman's Plumbing.

We have a leak because the plumber didn't replace the "garbage valves" found in some houses in Northern VA. The leak happened likely within a day of replacement, and we were on vacation. We came home to a water damaged ceiling and hard wood floor. So far, the company isn't taking responsibility. The plumber admitted the valves were garbage but he didn't offer to replace them during install. He never mentioned anything. More to this story...We highly recommend not using this company!

They were absolutely awful because they asked me if I wanted to fix this up, it was a part. I did not need it for what they were there for but I wanted to keep it. I had them do something because they had broken my gas fixture. They came out and fix whatever in the grill. When it did work, I called them and he said that he thinks I did not need that. I called them more a couple of times and talked to the owner of the company and he said that he will look into it but he never called me back. I never saw them again.

It was good. My wife was pretty happy because I wasn't there. They were very professional. They quickly identified the leak. They only cut 1 or 2 holes in the drywall. We have used them for many years.

They came on time delivered as promised and what was recommended works Great and saves money

Update: You are not confused by my complaint. You know exactly what you attempted to do. I am relating my recent experience with your company. Something has gone wrong with your company and you should take that to heart. Find the source of the problem. My caveat stands: BEWARE. Something has gone terribly wrong with this company. They installed my air conditioning system in 2004, as well as a new furnace a few years ago. I've never had problems with them --- until now. This time, there was deceit at every step. At. Every. Step. It started with Dean, as far as I can tell. Walk away now. If you don't, then BEWARE. They know I'm taking their actions to the Better Business Bureau. I have no doubt they will respond after reading this and denigrate me further -- further than their owner (and others there) have already done by phone. But THEY KNOW what they did and attempted to do. They also know I have proof in writing. And denigrating me here only makes things worse. My advice is to BEWARE.

They came out when they said they would come out. The cost was what they quoted. The plumber that came out was very professional, he knew what he was doing, when he didn't have the exact part he went out and got it and took care of it in a very timely manner.

The sump pump failed to kick in at night during very heavy extended rain. Water came within a few inches of the top of the pit but, luckily, did not flood the basement. I called Bowman's the next morning and spoke to Dana, who was very friendly, sympathetic and efficient. She told me she had a cancellation and could have a technician at the house in 20 minutes. She said he would check out the existing pump to see if it could be fixed, and if not, he would replace it on the spot. Dana gave me the model that would be installed if it had to be replaced and she gave me a price quote. The technician, Jackie, was prompt, courteous and professional. He was able to tell us what caused the pump to fail; and since it was the original that was installed 14 years ago, my husband and I decided to replace it. He removed the old pump, cleaned out the pit, installed the new pump and check valve, and tested it three times to ensure it was working properly. He cleaned up the area afterwards and left everything very neat. The price quoted included all labor and we were given a $20 discount for using Angie's List. In two hours from the time I called, the job was done.

They refused to provide the AC checkup until June so I cancelled my service plan. I had noticed a decline in the service and true lack of flexibility when dealing with the office staff. I had really counted on this company over the years. But this was my line in the sand so I left! I do not recommend them any more to neighbors and now to Angie's List

My initial question for the company was whether or not they did re-plumbing work. The answer was, "Yes." When I shared the number of floors (two plus a basement) and baths (3.5), the person who took the call noted, "I can tell you that we just did a complete re-plumb on a single story house, and it was $6,500. Yours will be well over $10,000." I have already received two quotes for less than $4,000 for this job. If you don't want the job because it's too complicated, fine. Say so. Don't tell me that you just gouged a customer who had a simpler job and who paid you nearly twice as much as two people quoted for my more complicated work. This plumber may be fine when it comes to simple work, and their prices may even be fine; I just wasn't particularly impressed when it came to my particular interaction. Further comments after provider's response: I would have been delighted to have you come and provided an accurate quote on the premises. in fact, that is precisely why I called you in the first place! Instead, the person who answered the telephone was VERY obviously trying to convince me that the job was going to be so expensive that I shouldn't bother you with it. I don't particularly find that to be a "helpful" response. Also, when you suggest that I "cannot complain because I didn't like what I was told" and that Angie's list is "for work done in a homeowner's home," that's just not so. At the time consumers submit reviews, Angie's List makes a point to ask whether or not work was actually completed. Then, they weight the "ding" a reviewer's comments cause to your overall company score based upon whether or not you actually completed work for the reviewer. If someone must actually pay you three times as much as all of your competitors before they earn the right to provide an opinion on your price, then Angie's List wouldn't be particularly useful in helping consumers determine which providers are most reasonably priced, would it? Respectfully, rather than trying to convince me (and the rest of the community) that a flippant dismissal of my telephone call and a price that was nearly TWO TO THREE TIMES as high as your competitors is "treating others the way we would like to be treated," perhaps a humbler apology for a flippant telephone quote rather than an honest assessment might have been more appropriate.

They did a fantastic job! The new line looks great. The staff was very professional. The job was completed quickly. We passed inspection easily.

This all took three trips. I have no problem with the first trip for the tub and shower. Good work. However, the toilet was checked the first trip and not fixed. Still leaking, I called them back. The plumber replaced the shut off valve. Had to call them back because it was still leaking and they now replaced the supply line. He said that he probably should have just replaced that the last time but he didn't have one so did the shut off valve instead! So that charge of $225 for the shut off valve shouldn't have happened? Then wanted to charge me and additional $175 for a trip the third trip that should not have been needed! I think I will look elsewhere for a plumber from now on.

Very professional, on time and most importantly very clean and did not make a mess. I would use them again anytime. Quality work at a reasonable price.

Called them with a plumbing emergency on Saturday and when I asked if they had someone who could come out today the very short tempered employee said "I have someone for Monday". When I repeated about having anyone today he again said "I have someone for Monday". Thanks for the courteous responses and ready availability. Emergency response... me thinks not.

In April of 2013, we had a water leak from the refrigerator. Jackie from Bowman's plumbing came out and found a faulty connection between the water line from the water heater to the tubing from the refrigerator's ice maker line. He advised me to put in a copper line, since he felt the plastic line was too prone to damage and that this would prevent further leaks. He estimated $435.00 for the work. I approved it, the work was done. Jan 5 2014, we had flooding onto our family room carpets that appeared to be coming from the fridge. The flooding leaked down into our basement, also flooding the finished portion of our basement carpets. We turned off the water and had Jackie come to inspect it on Jan 6 2014. He found that the source of the leak was from the connection from the copper tubing to the plastic tubing from the refrigerator. He told me that I needed to hire an appliance company to fix the connection. I explained to him that I wasn't happy that we spent $435 to fix and prevent this problem and less than 10 months later, have the exact same problem occur again. We had to pay $635 to have a flood damage company come to fix the water damage to the carpets, walls, and basement. And now to get told that I need to have an appliance company fix the connection, which is really what he should have advised me to do in the first place. He disagreed with me. If he If he couldn't get a good seal from the copper tubing the the plastic tubing from the fridge, he shouldn't have done the work. I told him I wanted to speak with the manager. Then things got worse. I called the office two days later and Dana Bowman returned my call. She listened to my explanation of what happened and why I wasn't happy. She told me to look at my contract and read the fine print where I signed where it states that there is a 30 day warranty on work done. This was true. She stated that since it had been 10 months since they had done the work we were clearly outside the range of the warranty. I told her that 10 months wasn't satisfactory, that it should have lasted longer than that. If a good solid connection between the copper tubing and the fridge line couldn't be performed by the plumber, he shouldn't have done the work at all. We'd spent over $1,000 to fix this problem and the resulting damage and it still isn't fixed. I then told her I was disappointed because I had used Bowman's plumbing for many years (at least 6) and had always been happy with the work done previously and had recommended them to neighbors. I'd used a different plumber, not Jackie, and had never had to contact management before. She then told me I was wrong, her computer, which is never wrong, shows that April 2013 was the only time we'd ever used her company. This is not correct, I have a number of invoices from over the years that show otherwise. Nice way to treat your long time customers. She told me she'd talk with her brothers, who were the owners, and see if they thought there was anything they should do to amend the situation and she would get back to me later that day. I told her I hoped they would amend the situation and that I'd post the outcome on Angie's List. She told me she didn't appreciate me threatening her (?!). I was surprised by her angry reaction and told her I wasn't threatening her, I was hoping that they would make the situation right so I could post a good review. She replied that sometimes customers post reviews when they hear something they don't like. Yes.... customers tend to report when they are happy and when they are not, which is why it's good to treat your customers well. She never called back (our conversation was over a week ago). Lesson learned. If you expect to have your plumbing problems fixed beyond 30 days, find another plumber. Update to Ms Bowman's response: The refrigerator was not moved since the repair done by Jackie in April. The leak was from a poor connection put in by Jackie. I have an answering machine, you had ample time to get back in touch with me if you intended to. I know what the outcome was going to be. I was a long time customer and used to recommend your company frequently to my neighbors, but no longer.