Blau Plumbing, Heating & A/C Inc

Didn't go well. They managed to mess up the inner wall of my bathroom. Cracked the tile and wall. Have you sign a paper saying they aren't responsible. Just had the plumbing inspector here and he said in all his years he never seen anything like it. The man that did it obviously didn't know what he is doing.

We have used Blau in the past to inspect a toilet that was potentially leaking and they did a very nice job of assessing the problem. The plumber who came out on that occasion was very personable and made for a very enjoyable experience. With that in mind, I was working on a small reno project at a new house and was under a strict timeline. We wanted to replace all of the toilets and other projects were requiring my immediate attention. We didn't think twice about calling Blau to take a look at this job. The plumber arrived a few hours outside of the 12-3pm arrival window. Not ideal, but given the nature of service work, things can happen to upset the schedule. I had already taken two of the three toilets off of the floor and the closet flanges were intact, so I assumed that it would be a relatively simple job for an experienced plumber. I actually felt badly about hiring out for the work, but as stated earlier, there were other tasks around the house that needed my attention. The plumber looked that the work and told me that installing three toilets and a vanity sink was a "full day's work". Okay, not what I expected, but I was prepared to stay at the house as late as it took. After all, the appointment was in the 12-3pm window and it was now 5pm. He said that he'd need to call the office to see if he could get help. With a tight window to complete the reno and a pending move-in day that Monday (date of service call was Friday), I really needed this to be completed. Standing at my kitchen island and up against the calendar, I reluctantly accepted the quote of $1600 to set three toilets and one bath vanity sink. It was a good thing that I had left one toilet in place because I needed somewhere to be sick after signing on the dotted line. Keep in mind that I had already purchased the new toilets and they were already sitting in said bathrooms. Long story short, the original plumber was able to have a second plumber come out to the house. However, after installing the vanity sink and advising the second plumber on couple of things to watch out for with the toilets, plumber #1 went home. Wait, I thought we needed backup to get this job done? Thoroughly confused but glad to have someone working, I made conversation with a very friendly plumber#2 as I continued to do other work in the house. The "full day's work" job took only 2.5 hours and I thanked plumber #2 for his help. Unfortunately, as I would learn a week later after moving in, plumber #1 didn't quite tighten the tail pipe of the vanity faucet completely. While it didn't leak enough to run out of the vanity base, I wish that it would have because maybe I would noticed it sooner. A small leak over time doesn't bode well for those laminate vanity bases. The "orange peal" look of delaminated wood will be a constant reminder of a odd experience. Well, that and my credit card statement... Very friendly plumbers. Kind of expensive. I understand and subscribe to the notion that you should pay for quality work. In my opinion though, there may be cheaper options out there that would provide a similar level of service.

I have a well and have to have the water tested. The well was tested, but there were two things not in B&R regulation. They put a new well tap and a new well drain. I have used them before and would use them again.

There charge for the disposal & installation felt like we were overcharged. I asked the serviceman brand name it is & breakdown of what unit cost based on service time, He got real indignant ( that I would dare ask him anything) The work was already done, I am the question asker, not my husband. Serviceman left and never gave me the name. I will write to the company & tell them they are never allowed in my home again. He never gave me a breakdown of pricing. ( overall rude experience).

Excellent - Service tech was knowledgeable, efficient, professional, pleasant and neat. Work done in one day to determine what was necessary and one day to complete work. Could not ask for better service. Would call Blau again if and when needed.

Kyle was on time, quick to get going on the job. He was very polite and professional; very pleased with the result. Blau had a special price for drain cleaning(snaking) @ $85.00 for 25 ft.and 45 min of work. They charged a $39.00 truck fee. Kyle got the drain flowing within 45 min,, so my total was $124.00 for this job, Very satisfied.Thanks a lot Kyle. He answered my questions, and gave me a few good tips to maintain my drain.

I would never use them again. They are a large concern, they are all over the state, and I used the one in Madison. They fixed the problem. The problem was smaller than they suspected, but they charged me at a rate than what they charged me earlier. What was supposed to take an hour ended up taking two hours and they charged me twice as much for the second hour. They put a screw driver in the top part of the drain and bent it.

This is the second time that I used this company and I had no problems the first time. The person that came out left old parts on the toilet as opposed to using the parts from the kit. On March 17th, the old part that was left on my toilet broke again. I spoke with Samantha, at Blau. She said I could not speak with a supervisor and I would have to present my complaint in written format. I was also told that I would have to pay for them to come out again. I told them I would like them to come out on 3/19. They agreed, form 4-7pm. Then on March 19th they called me and told me that they could not come out and that a general manager would have to come out to fix the issue. I rescheduled it for April 2nd. I seem to be having issues getting them to come out and fix the work that they should have done correctly in the first place. I feel that they are not standing behind their work. They did send someone else out to resolve my issue. Steve did a more complete diagnostic. He didn't charge me and I would use them again. He tried to explain why he thinks the previous plumber did what he did. Steve believed the new parts were taken because it didnt look like it fit my toilet and why he left the old part on. He did deescalate the issue and handled it professionally.

two servicemen were polite and knowledgeable in the replacement of our gas water heater

Everything was good-very good. They were very prompt. There were two bigger vanity in a small room so we have to change -which they did to a small vanity.

The customer service from start to finish was awful and for this reason, I would not recommend Blau. I had a good experience with them in the past, and when I called to make this appointment, the scheduler was nice. But then when the plumber did not show up during the 3 hour window and I had to call to find out that they had made a mistake, everything went to pot. After he did not show up initially, I was given a new 3 hour window that same evening which would have been fine. But the tech then had to come twice and arrived at the 3 hour mark of a 3 hour window each time - even though I was told up front that he would likely have the parts and not need to come twice. In other words, I spent 9 hours waiting for the tech. When he did arrive the second time with the proper parts, he insisted on full payment prior to performing the service, even though we are established customers. I suggested to him that I would rather not pay until the work was performed, so that I could see that the repair was effective. He said, "well I guess I'll be on my way, this is getting contentious". I told him that I was merely having a conversation about payment, but he was clearly not equipped to handle that. I live in a nice neighborhood and have never experienced a provider treating me as though I am not going to pay for some reason, simply because I questioned the policy. I allowed him to stay and do the repair and yes, I paid upfront because I had already waited on 2 days for 9 hours for him, and it would have been much more of a hassle to start fresh at that point, plus I would have owed the trip charge and diagnostic fee. The scheduler was rude when I complained about the lengthy wait, twice. There was no communication or updating regarding the delays each of the 3 times (though the first time, they had cancelled the appointment in error so didn't know I was waiting). I did receive a call virtually at the 3 hour mark telling me that the tech was on his way. That was all. Very disappointed in Blau's decline..

The assignment led to hours of effort by two of the firm's plumbers, who in sum spent more than a standard work day trying to fix this problem. When snaking the drain failed, they replaced a section of under-sink pipe. When that, too, failed, I was advised that the drain pipe -- located in an outer wall -- probably was frozen. One of the plumbers went to my basement and tried playing a propane torch over that drain pipe where it emerged from the ceiling. That failed as well. The plumber left in the evening, advising me to wait until spring to see if the pipe would thaw on its own, and noting that he had poured some salt down the drain. If the drain remained clogged after that, the plumber advised me to call his firm back in. Which, after this awful, very expensive and totally nonproductive day, was the very last thing I would ever do. When I protested that the problem was not resolved, I was advised the plumbers had performed the work as described in the work order I'd signed. I didn't hire lawyers, I hired someone to fix my clogged pipe. Here's the kicker: I eventually hired a specialty sewer drain service to try unclogging the pipe. The task took this firm's representative less than two hours to accomplish, single-handed. He explained up front what he thought the problem was and how he planned to proceed. He was right on all counts. For this successful, efficient service I paid just $200. I've given an overall "A" to this drain-cleaning service over at its own Angie's listing. As for Blau, except for showing up on time, its attempt at service amounted to an epic fail that left me feeling very ripped off.

The work went well, but it started out as a 500 dollar job, he replaced the drain and overflow drain in the tub, ran new PVC pipe down to the basement drain area. maybe used total of less than five feet of pipe with connecters, job stated at 0900 - ended at 1100 - along the way the expense started to mount up - a few OMG's and the next thing I knew the job was up 1369.00. was not happy with the cost in relationship to the work - just wasn't within the times standards of the material and job time. Just to over priced!!

Terrible, called another plumber the next day!! Obviously BLAU claims not to know us because they got their CASH and moved on laughing all the way to the bank about what "RIP OFF artist" their plumbers are!

Stated they'd be at our tenants house between 4-6pm. I got nervous that they wouldn't be here on time and called to find out at 5:45, they stated they will still be coming. I received a call at about 6:45 and they stated it now wouldn't be until between 9-10pm. As this tenant works I said that we need to schedule another time so we rescheduled for the next am. I met the plumber at 8:30 as promised and he did give me a quote of $584 to replace the valve (rather than fix it) as well as the outside spigot. As I wasn't sure what exactly he needed to do (i'm not a plumber) but having had delays from them the previous night as well as other plumbers the past 3 weeks I decided to have him do it and to never use Blau again. The pricing outraged me, however I kept my cool and didn't say anything, as I was afraid of reprisal and felt he could leave me stranded with a worse situation if I voiced my opinion. I grew more outraged after he finished the simple job in 70 minutes (in and out)! Even my doctor doesn't charge these prices! I notified BBB and now Angies' list to let everyone know to NOT USE BLAU PLUMBING due to their extremely exorbitant pricing! They of course denied any wrong doing on BBB stating their pricing is in line, which I leave to the reader to decide, but I know I will never use them and will not ever recommend them to anyone EVER!

Very well, excellent technician. In and out within a reasonable amount of time. Very knowledgeable. Explained what he was doing.

I have used Blau for both simple and complex plumbing for approximately 20 years. Their arrival times are estimates but they generally are good about calling and are responsive if you call to check on the situation. I recognize that they need to prioritize true emergencies and was the beneficiary of that prioritization years ago when my sump line froze. There are only two problems with Blau: they tend to be a bit pricy and not all of their workers are competent. I have learned to check who is coming. This past time I had Theo, whom I have worked with many times before and trust implicitly. His work, as usual, was impeccable and he is easy to have around.

Reminded me of dealing with a really sleezy used car salesman. Initially, he quoted $700 to fix it when he first came, then came down to $500, but I still declined. I will never let them in my house again. Lots of reputable plumbers out there, no need to settle for these guys.

The plumber from Blau arrived, we showed him what needed to be done, and he said he needed some time to check out the basement and write up an estimate. He said he would come upstairs when he was finished. It ended up taking him close to a full hour! He eventually came upstairs and presented us with an estimate for $1440 to install the water softener (i.e. run the drain line). He also presented us with three additional estimates for completely unrelated and unrequested work, including a chimney liner!?! When we told him we didn't want to pay $1440 for a simple water softener installation, he seemed irritated and proceeded to lecture us on proper installation procedures and highlighted how Blau would “respect our home”, pointing to his boot covers as an example. After he left, I went downstairs to look around. Much to my surprise, I learned why the plumber from Blau spent an hour in our basement… He was apparently busy plastering bright orange stickers over every one of our basement appliances and service areas. They were everywhere, including the water heater, the electrical service panel, the furnace, and the pressure tank for the well! What made it worse is that he purposefully covered up all of the stickers from other installers and service providers. We no longer had any way to know who had installed or previously serviced anything in the basement. When we tried to remove the bright orange Blau stickers, they would not come off, and there was no way so see what was underneath. It must have been some seriously strong adhesive (see photos). So much for “respecting our home”! We obviously chose not to go with Blau, and another plumber performed the same installation for $300. The $300 installation was excellent and has been 100% problem free. In summary, we paid $29 and wasted our time for the privilege of having Blau advertising plastered all over our basement. Never again will we call Blau or allow them into our home.

David was very knowledgeable, thorough, and professional in his interaction with us. He took his time answering all of our questions and provided us with valuable information to consider prior to making a decision on the replacement of our current A/C unit. Blau made two contact phone calls with us prior to David's arrival to let us know when he could be expected and he arrived in a very timely manner. The charge of $59.95 for this service was a coupon price offered in a home advertisement mailer and the price was honored by the technician.

The process went great! Could not have been easier! Another contractor hired for an entirely non-related issue was in our basement a few months later. He immediately noticed the water heater and asked who picked it for us. We trusted Blau to get us a good one. This other man told us we had the absolute best water heater available. It is available only through plumbers and out performs anything we could have gotten through a big box store. Even Blau didn't brag about that. They just came quickly, efficiently did the job and left with a very reasonable bill.

Terrible, not reputable in any way

In October 2012 we noticed a strong gas odor coming from our water heater. We called Blau because they had originally installed the water heater and we also had a service warranty as well. When their technician came he said the warranty sticker was in error as Blau never provides warranty for our brand of water heater (GE). He then called the Blau office and told us they would honor the warranty if we provided more room ventilation. They quoted us $374 to install the vent and further emphasized they would not repair the heater until the vent was in place. (They also quoted us $83 to have the rust vacuumed out of the water heater.) $374 seemed excessive for the vent so we put in the vent ourselves for about $70 - a fairly simple process of cutting through some paneling and screwing in the vent. After calling Blau to let them know we put in the vent, they said it would be 10 days before they could get the part -- mind you we had a gas leak. The evening the technician came to install the control value he had great difficulty putting it in, but finally did and left. A few hours later the gas smell was really bad so I called Blau's late night emergency number and told them about the odor. They said the odor was probably because they had to release some gas while replacing the control valve. Something told me this wasn't right and I didn't want to go to bed with the odor, so I called WE Energies repair line and they came out --- this was about 12:30 a.m. - and said the piece was not put in correctly. The guy twisted the part and it went right in. WE Energies just couldn't believe we had such poor service. We would not recommend this company to anyone because 1) they refused to honor warranty 2) in lieu of warranty they overpriced minor repair. 3) They did a poor job of repair, putting us at risk 4) They did have the right to redo the repair first, but due to the prior experience with them we called the utility company 5) It is better to pay a premium to hire an ethical company than one who is disrespectful of customers' property and safety.

prompt, well-done, polite, came back immediately the next day to finish19

Good communication and scheduling by Kathy prior to the appointment; Elliot was polite, explained the procedure, and cleaned up when he was finished.