Jim Dandy Sewer & Plumbing

We were thrilled that Jim Dandy was available on short notice. But we were horribly disappointed with their service. Not only did the venting not pass inspection, the inspector insinuated that we should look into legal action. When we let Jim Dandy know that their work wasn't up to code, they rearranged the plumber's schedule to fix the work. And per their request, I ordered a re-inspection, which we flunked AGAIN. (And Jim Dandy was a total no-show.) Basically, we had to kick and scream to get the work done up to code and pass inspection. And it still took a week afterwards for the plumber to finalize the job. I would NEVER use them again.

Originally Larry was supposed to call to schedule. That never happened. Felix gave the estimate. He was extremely helpful and had many good ideas. He thought the job would take one day. Is $3,800 a reasonable price? To be generous, let's assume that materials cost $1,000 and assume it takes two days (20 hours) instead of one. That's an hourly rate of $140/hr. We passed on this one.

They seem to have a problem getting their scheduling correct. I called and made an appointment for the next week, and they didn't show up. So I called and they had somehow lost my appointment, which is the second time this has happened to me. They rescheduled for later that day, and showed up on time. I think you need to make an appointment for the day of or the day before, because they only seem to have a problem keeping appointments if you schedule too far in advance. Once they got to my house, they did an excellent job.

This part of the service call went well. I previously reported on this company on Appliance Repair - Large on 1/9/2007. This is the continuation of that experience. My rescheduled appointment was for Thursday. On Wednesday evening I had a call on my answering machine that Jim Dandy was sending someone that morning. I left a message saying this was their second mis-schedule and I expected someone to be there in the morning. Thursday morning, Jody the scheduler called and said they would be coming. My information ''had been entered twice'' and that was why I had a call the day before. It had snowed overnight so I was doubly unsure if they would show. But they did. If the scheduling wasn't such a nightmare I could more happily recommend this company. I will likely try elsewhere next time I need plumber type services.

Overall, it took them three different specialists to do the work. First, I requested and got a plumber who was drain specialist. He worked on one toilet and called another worker to find help with Moen kitchen faucet. The other worker thought that this was a broken cartridge issue with kitchen Moen faucets. Anyway, all my jobs are done.

I had a little trouble getting the scheduling right with them, but when the plumber did come out he was on time and professional and easy to talk to. He explained what he was going to do, and when he was finished, showed me the work and told me where to look for problems if they should occur. I was glad to see that he finished earlier than expected. He left a slight mess, but my basement is dirty anyway so it's not really that big of a deal.

They were very prompt, friendly and they did an excellent job for about $1600 less than another bid we had gotten.

Like I said, they did not even show up or call.

The cleaning and video were great. You get to keep a video of your sewer. Now that's some fun TV! Unsure about the equipment used to do the depth readings, we're not completely confident in the depth readings. Next time we might go with a plumber that specializes in measuring depths. We used the Angie's List coupon.

When I called Jim Dandy at 9:45am on a Friday, they said they would have someone at my house by noon, and that is exactly what happened. The technician "Brian" was friendly, neat and offered lots of good advice. We appreciated that he was very up front about the pros and cons of fixing vs replacing. He gave us recommendations for a better toilet brand for the future, and how to get a good price. He included a note on our invoice so if we needed the new dishwasher installed, it could be a continuation of this service. (cheaper than starting again). But also recommended very fairly that we should find out what the price from Sears or wherever we buy it would be for installation, so we could comparison shop. I felt that Brian could be trusted, was fair and open, and I'd definitely call Jim Dandy and ask for him the next time.

Came out several times to "fix it" and each time there was a different person, it was as if they started over again. The problem was temporarily fixed and then it started to flood again. The company did not respond to phone calls.

There were problems with crediting my deposit, until I showed the check had cleared. There were problems with scheduling and problems during the installation. I needed to remind the installer twice of the job specifications to have all the work performed. The job site was left a total mess with no cleanup and a large spill of PVC cement. The plumbing job, however, was properly finished and substantially less expensive than another estimate.

Unfortunately Jim Dandy was an hour and a half late past the two hour window and they did not call. I called a half-hour after the two hour window had passed and was told they had no idea how long it would be. The tech arrived an hour and a half late. I called Jim Dandy and asked for a discount. After quite a bit of conversation and apologizing on their part, they waived the $50 fee to put the camera down, by my request. The tech was professional and informative, but I really felt that I deserved the discount after waiting three and a half hours.

We had to guarantee to pay a 4-hour minimum. The entire job took 4 1/2 hours. We were very pleased with how much work Corey was able to do in that amount of time.

They had good communications as far as appointment and arrival. The service guy was very professional. The work created a leak where the down trap enters the wall. I didn't discover the problem until the following morning when the water found its way to the kitchen floor. We did the quick repair ourselves rather than have to wait around the house for a follow-up visit. I was not sure if we would be charged for the follow-up.

He arrived at the time we schedule, diagnosed the problem quickly, and worked diligently. He even recommended to us ways to save money on any necessary followup calls.

We had a very backed up shower drain. We tried everything short of a snake and nothing would clear the clog. We called Jim Dandy and they were very prompt in setting up an appointment. Don showed up on time(same day in fact). He was very knowledgable and got right down to business when he showed up. It appeared to be a very difficult clog to remove but he did it within half an hour. Drain works perfectly now. No complaints.

Delbert was on time, friendly, and efficient.

Bruce Melton was great about getting estimates to us in a very timely manner and working with us to make adjustments before work commenced. We were impressed with his problem-solving about laying in a new line rather than making a repair to the old one that was probably more cost effective when all was said and done. Our neighbors are impressed with clean-up and today all we have to show are some missing raspberries and a concrete patch in the driveway. It was an expensive repair but in conversations with friends who've had similar work it was a fair price, and we have the video evidence and a decaying root cluster to show the work was all justified. A sewer line installation is just going to be a significant cost, but you can't live without it. It comes with living in an older home in Seattle.

They did an excellent job. The employees were very professional and I like their work ethics. The price was good and within my range. I called on a few minor things and they came right back to fix these issues. I had them do some other minor jobs.

The overall experience was top knotch. I was impressed the technician suggested a less aggressive approach that would protect older pipes. I also appreciated his suggestions for avoiding the problem in the future. I was a bit surprised by the billing rate and method. (It could be that this is a very standard practice but my experience with plumbers is limited.) The clock starts from the time the truck arrived to when he pulled away. I was not informed of the rates or the billing process but I did not ask either. I would bring these guys back again without question.

Prompt start of service. Cost was high (night/weekend) but I was warned. Time required to complete job was longer than I anticipated. Technician seemed experienced and competent.

Very positive experience. All the plumbers, drain cleaners, etc. were friendly and effective.

He was very prompt to come out for the job. He got in there, did the work, and got out quickly.

I called Jim-Dandy for an estimate on some rough-in plumbing for one of my rentals. Sales person(Larry) never returned my call. I called again a week later and he agreed to meet me at the property the next day. He never showed up or called to tell me he couldn't make it. Too bad, because, based on Angie's List, I was going to give them the job without getting any other bids! If they didn't want the job, a simple phone call would have been appreciated.