Andrew C.

06/05/2023 12:00:00 SA

We called Magnolia to come work on our HVAC system after or normal HVAC guy got stumped (our issue was electrical, all the mechanical parts were working - so circuit board stuff). They said they would send their Sr. Tech, Tan.

True to their word, Tan is a very experienced technitian and (I assume) electrician. He figured things out promptly and got the system working again. He didn't push for replacing anything and but did want us to install a somewhat pricey piece of protective equipement (basically a fancy surge protector) to keep our investment functioning. I have no problems with that.

Overall, I am very happy with their service and depth of Tan's experitise. These kinds of tricky electrical issues can be difficult to identify and many lessor techs would have told us we needed to replace the whole system.

Dawn C.

07/07/2023 12:00:00 SA

Response to the Owner: Thanks for responding, but you do not address the issues. Yes you sent workers on a weekend but I indicated I would wait for the installation to be completed by those who had not already shown unprofessional behavior and poor judgment in installation. Your manager refused to switch crews. Great that Sam sent a handyman, but you do not address that the customer had to insist on this being done correctly because your technician used poor judgment. Thank goodness I checked on the work and told the technician to stop.

Your technicians were unprofessional during installation and refused to apologize when told to do so by the supervisor and manager. I was absolutely uncomfortable in my own home due to the behavior of your technicians.

Yes, I complimented the repair technicians but that was before they returned 2 days later with a poor attitude, giving me a hard time about an a/c not functioning 1 month after installation. So patting yourself on the back and not addressing the poor installation, lack of diagnosis of the problem and poor attitude shows the lack of sincerity in your response.

Original review: I wish I read reviews before hiring Magnolia to install a/c.

The photos show the lack of care about doing a good job. The technician literally was installing the air handler abutting a gapping hole left from the previous antiquated air handler. If I had not insisted that the work stop to address the gapping hole the technician was planning to leave it this way. I had to call the salesman to get this addressed. The salesman was able to bring in a handyman to repair the wall so that my house was left with a gaping hole with no access to repair behind an air handler. (The manager actually defending poor work by the technician leaving the gaping hole because she refused to replace him from the job so her schedule was not disrupted ). Moreover, I contracted to have the main water line valve moved so there would be access and not blocked by the air handler, yet the technician moved it and put it behind something. The technician would not address this until I got the salesman to instruct him.

Just simply a horrible customer service experience.

Update: One month after installation my new a/c shut down. Yes, one month. The technician that came out didn't do a diagnosis to determine how water was getting into the safety. He made a quick assumption of a pipe leak unrelated to the a/c and instructed me to use a hair dryer and to sop up an water that shuts off safety monitor. A day later the a/c shut off again. I cleaned up the water and could see the a/c was continually shutting off BECAUSE there was an issue from the a/c itself with water NOT from any water from an unrelated pipe (that had been drained weeks before a/c shut off). I called for a second repair and waited for 5 hours past my appointment time. I again sopped up the water as the technician instructed 2 days prior and decided to turn off the a/c in the meantime out of fear of damaging the a/c due to all of the water that collected after the a/c was on for hours. When the technician arrived because I sopped up the water per his instruction 2 days prior he seemed to not believe me that water was leaking from the a/c and said he can't fix a problem he doesn't see!!! I showed him numerous soaked towels. This is after the a/c shut off numerous times due to water just one month after installation. The technician chastised me that if I want him to fix the unit then I should video the water, as if I should be able to tell from where the water was coming (all I had seen was a puddle of water in the catchment under the handler and the safety valve tripped). I called his supervisor who chastised me for sopping up the water and told me not to turn off the a/c sitting in water in the future. Well I guess I should not have listened to his own technician 2 days prior about sopping up water to protect the new unit.

Bottom line there was faulty installation as a duct to the a/c was not insulated and water was dripping down the unit from the duct and shutting off the a/c. The water source was not from a pipe in my ceiling as I suspected all along.

So I had an awful time with horrible service at installation at the technician, supervisor and manager level and expressed my concern about the technician's judgment at installation to which the supervisor and manager completely disregarded my concerns. I paid $15000 to one month later have my a/c shut off on a hot weekend, needing service twice. The technician responding did superficial diagnostic work and did not seem to put any effort at getting to the root cause. After I waited a second time in 2 days (with no courtesy call with 5 hour late arrival) the technician pretty much told me to call back again when it shut down again as he could not figure it out.

Diane P.

07/01/2023 12:00:00 SA

Oscar Lopez is phenomenal! He came back on a Saturday to make sure my HVAC system was working. Who wants to work on a Saturday? Oscar! He is conscientious and stands by his word. Right on time and stayed until the job was done. Now I'm finally chilling ! Thanks for outstanding service !!!! I couldn't be happier and just in time for the heat wave!

barb j.

4/15/2023

We use Magnolia a LOT -- for both Energency and Maintenance services. Have always been VERY happy with their work. Today Deon came -- very professional and polite -- gave expert advice on what to do re several different problems. No upselling.
Highly Recommend for HVAC and plumbing.

Young V.

12/21/2022

Spent 15k to install a navien combi boiler earlier this year. My Mother used to be friends with Dominic long while ago via CChurch so she pushed me to use them.
Issues with no heat. Magnolia's 24 hour emergency service is included in the Gold Plan. Called at 6 pm last night. Was told nothing was available until 8 am. When I inquired why no one was available sooner, the very disinterested sounding scheduler stated that Magnolia only has one team.
Okay.
Finally got the tech in here. He pulled the cover off the combi boiler and then said he was going to call Navien.
Two hours later and he's still sitting in his truck apparently waiting to hear back.
Called Navien and they said they suggest using NSS local and trained repair contractors. They told me magnolia just sell the units. Yikes.
From what I understand this issue should involve a failure of the 3 way valve or an issue with the thermostat.
I'm so cold and confused right now.

Will update review with nice shiny news if this gets fixed already.

Update 24 hours later. After I had a meltdown, the HVAC manager sent out a two man team who fixed it after 6 hours. They did a great job and were very professional. It also turns out that what I guessed was wrong was the problem after all. Navien combi boilers have a bad 3 way valve. So I would think twice before buying one.

Back to one star again.

No heat after all Plus two caps that are meant for the combi boiler sitting on floor in pool of water. The water is from the combi boiler being taken apart to work on the 3 way valve.
The water has seeped down into the carpet.
My cat got down there and puked nearby, i hope the water wasn't bad or filled with chemicals.
It's now 12/22 and on day 3 of not having heat.
It's about to get down to a real feel of -2 here.
Really feel silly for imagining things were fixed properly.

Tanya G.

04/07/2023 12:00:00 SA

This company is not reliable. I scheduled an appointment for the first time with window from 8am till 11 am. The technician did not show till 10.38 am. I took a second chance and rescheduled for the next day with window between 8 am and 10 am. Their agent called me late afternoon the day before the appointment and assured me that the technician will arrived between 8 and 9 am. At 10 am the technician called me to say that he will arrive at 10.39 am. These people have no respect for the client.

Gary M.

5/15/2023

Cancelation number three for my annual AC inspection.

Mayana M.

9/14/2022

One of the worst companies I have ever dealt with.

DO NOT USE. They kept promising to call back to deal with an issue and never did. SCAM.

Art H.

08/04/2022 12:00:00 SA

Fantastic!
I can't praise Magnolia Plumbing Heating and Cooling enough! We needed a gas line leak replaced so we got 5 estimates. Magnolia's quote was 70% less expensive than the others! The technician, Nelson, was the only one that informed us about a much less costly option ($760) than what the others proposed, which were all over $3000! The others were going to bust up my patio flooring and replace an entire segment of the pipes, leaving me with the cost to replace all the flooring. They claimed that Washington Gas would not pass the inspection if they didn't replace the entire line. Magnolia replaced only the portion that was leaking and did not have to dig up my flooring.

The technician was super friendly and easy to talk to, but also very professional. He was not only able to answer all my questions but also provided in-depth explanations and kept me informed of everything he was going to do in advance.

In addition to the technician being awesome, my experience communicating with everyone at the company was also great! They sent me texts and called me to keep me well informed of when the technician would be coming.

I highly recommend Magnolia and will be using them for all my future needs!

Arielle K.

5/20/2022

PEPCO blew out a transformer on our block during routine maintenance. It sent a power surge to my house and blew out my 7 mini splits and radiator system. I called magnolia and they were able to dispatch a technician the next day. I stuck with them throughout the month of repairs and their customer service continually got worse and worse even though I paid them almost 20K in totality.

First, they cannot communicate when they schedule follow up appointments. You have to continually call them to get updates. One day they simply didn't have the parts and didn't show up. I had to call them to find out why a technician had not arrived at the scheduled time.

Then, it's impossible to get a clear work order and receipt -- something that was very important given that PEPCO was reimbursing for the repairs. I had to check each document they sent and there were often errors that took multiple phone calls to resolve.

In the end, they fixed my AC so I'm giving them two stars (still waiting on the radiators) but they were SO DIFFICULT despite spending almost 20K with them.

Hilary J.

11/17/2022

Whatever you do, avoid Magnolia at all costs. Hands down one of the worst companies I've ever worked with.

We hired Magnolia this summer to replace our HVAC mini split system and signed a contract for what was supposed to be a three-day job. Five weeks later, and the work was finally completed though the systems they installed were not what we were originally told and we had countless issues along the way.

First, the brand new unit they installed on our second floor malfunctioned on day one and had to be replaced. The brand new unit they installed on our third floor started leaking almost immediately. Magnolia came back to repair it and it started leaking again the same day. We now have a permanent water stain on our wall from the water damage. When we expressed concerns about the units, the technicians both told us they were not familiar with the brand they'd chosen for us, and weren't sure how to address the problems.

The units did not come with a thermostat, which I would imagine is a fairly standard ask for an HVAC system. The technicians repeatedly promised us a thermostat but then when pushed on this said they weren't knowledgeable enough about the brand to find a thermostat that was compatible. Weeks later, they told us the system they installed doesn't actually have a temperature reader to be able to gauge the actual temperature in the space. Ultimately, they installed something that they called a thermostat but it only shows the temp at which the unit is set, not the actual temperature in the space.

Magnolia failed to communicate with the third party drywall repair vendor they hired to replace the drywall. He showed up not knowing what he was supposed to fix, and without the appropriate supplies to repair the drywall due to Magnolia's lack of guidance. He ultimately had to come back to our house three separate times -- one time arriving after 9pm.

They were also sloppy all along the way. They had to move our washer and dryer to access the HVAC system. When they reinstalled it, they did not connect the water line for the washing machine, and it leaked all over our second floor. When they reinstalled the dryer, they didn't reconnect it, so we had to move the 200+ lb dryer ourselves to do so. They then moved it again to fix yet another malfunction with the unit. Recently, we were having issues with our dryer and hired a technician to look at it. Apparently, Magnolia never reconnected the dryer duct, so the lint and dust from the dryer has been building up behind our unit for months. This cost a lot of money to address and clean out.

In addition to all of this, Magnolia was terrible at communicating. Several times, we were told someone would be arriving the following day only to have no one show up. Our primary point of contact went on vacation halfway through the project without notifying us or giving us an alternate point of contact, leaving us in radio silence for several days. The technicians were repeatedly rude to us, and dismissive of our concerns.

Even months after this awful experience, we're still having issues with our systems. Magnolia is terrible to work with - avoid!

Jason C.

3/21/2023

I would highly recommend that anyone looking at this company look elsewhere. If I could give less stars I would.

I had a combo hot water heater and boiler unit that had failed and started getting quotes for replacement on 2/27. I was looking to get a few quotes and act as quickly as possible. They said they could send someone out quickly and suggested a potentially finding a temporary repair while lining up a replacement plan. That was fine, but they weren't upfront about their fee of $109 to assess the system which I paid since I wanted things to move quickly. The technician named Tan Cao took one look at the unit and said it had to be replaced. I knew that, but he didn't even take the time to take off the front cover and make an assessment until I prompted him to do so. What am I paying this guy for? After an assessment inconsistent with 3 other companies looking at it, i asked for a quote on repair and replacement asap. He said he would do that and began to make his way out with parts and pieces of my heater scattered all over the vicinity. I asked if he could return things to the way he found them. He didn't want to do that until I insisted. Extremely sloppy, unprofessional and lazy work.

Magnolia then had a sales person named Jay Rosengarden come out to talk about replacing it. Jay knew absolutely nothing about HVAC and couldn't give me the quotes or timeline necessary. I have no idea why Magnolia event sent him. It was a complete waste of limited time I had given the issues. He called another person on the phone who he exclusively referred to as Uncle Matt. Weird, but ok. Matt knew a little more about the issues, but still had no quote. After Jay left, I followed up multiple times asking for a quote. Eventually he texted me for an email address for the quote but called me Andrew which is not my name. I followed up a few more times after not receiving a quote I gave up and eventually went with another company.

A few days later, I get a call from Ryan who askes me what I have decided about the repair. I replied that no one had ever sent me a quote and told her my experience and told her I went with another company. While she was kind and apologetic she didn't have solutions. She did ask what the company could do to earn my business in the future, and I responded with at minimum they could refund the $109 fee I was charged. She said they would happily do that. Needless to say, I didn't receive this refund.

I received another call about a week later from her asking the same question as before. I once again reminded her we had talked and she was supposed to have processed a refund. She said she would follow up on that.

She followed up today and asked again what I had decided to do about the repair...completely unaware of the first two conversations. I reminded her once again of these conversations and asked her to follow up again about a refund as they never completed any actual service. She said we get busy this time of year and can't serve everyone due to the work. I then asked if they didn't have the intention of delivering after taking my money, why would they have come and looked at it in the first place. She didn't have an answer other then sorry.

Best of all, she called me back a few hours later saying that their HVAC supervisor denied my refund after she had said she would take care of the refund on other occasions.

This is probably one of the most frustrating and annoying experiences I've ever had with a contractor. They are inexperienced, unprofessional, disorganized, will take your money and not deliver a service that's they offered to.

Do not use this company. They're the worst out there. Find someone...anyone else and you'll be better off.

Edit:
After posting this review, I received a call from Sam who says he is the Sales Supervisor. He apologized over and over and did offer to personally take care of the refund by noon the next day which he did deliver on. He promised to continue an internal investigation into this to improve.

Edit:
After posting this review, I received a call from Sam who says he is the Sales Supervisor. He apologized over and over and did offer to personally take care of the refund by noon the next day which he did deliver on. He promised to continue an internal investigation into this to improve.

Reva S.

2/24/2022

Update to below review:
Taylor was responsive to our concerns and had someone else come out, without the diagnostic fee to reevaluate. The plumber, Reggie, was great, and the banging was remarkably quieter.

---------

Called Magnolia to address a loud pipe banging in our steam heat system. There had been one area that had been just incredibly

The good: Tech was professional and thoughtful, did what he thought would help, but it did not help at all. He came out twice more, once with a supervisor, at no extra charge. Office and dispatch really nice.
The bad: For one of the visits, tech didn't show.
The real bad: It's all worse. Pipes throughout the system are
now tapping/banging when they never had before.

The original problem turns out to be not something that can be fixed without structural changes, so I'm not upset that it's still a problem. I am upset that we are left worse off.

Ryan H.

5/16/2023

Have used Magnolia for the past couple of years to maintain an aging heat pump system installed by others. They are reliable, have shown up on time and have proven to be knowledgable and capable of supporting a wide array of products. In my particular scenario, I have an older, more technically advanced dual-compressor heat pump system that requires specialized training and experience to work on. It is not a conventional system by any means, but Tan, one of their service technicians, is top notch and really knows his stuff. I have been impressed with Tan's level of service. He embodies all the good things you would want in an HVAC service technician - he is polite, humble, listens well and really wants what is best for the customer at the end of the day. He was very thorough and professional in his diagnosis of an issue recently. I appreciate that he took the time to explain our repair options and made the proper recommendation to keep the system running at optimum performance given its age. We have had good experience with Magnolia's service and will keep using them.

Dennis N.

2/13/2023

Scheduling with Magnolia is a nightmare. They either don't have a sufficient number of technicians to honor appointments and need to reschedule or they tell you that you have an appointment booked when you do not. Today was the final straw. I had an appointment booked for plumbing service and after the service window time passed with no word, I called. I was told there was a schedule mixup and there was no appointment. I am done with this company.

David R.

05/03/2021 12:00:00 SA

Good people, lousy experience. I hired Magnolia to replace my rooftop package A/C with a heat pump. On the appointed day, they tore the old unit out, lowered it with a crane, removed the cardboard from the new unit...and realized it wouldn't fit. So I was left without A/C for several weeks as it started to get hot, and they hardly communicated with me. So I walked away from them. I give them two stars---I'll reserve one star for outright criminality, etc. I talked to several people at the company and they all seemed to be trying hard, but the bottom line is that the company blew it.

In retrospect, there were warning signs. I had to argue with my rep to persuade him to take me seriously when I said the old thermostat wire only had 3 strands, which would not be enough to support a modern thermostat running a heat pump. When he realized I was right, he apologized and offered me the 10-year warranty for free. That was honorable, but the proposal listed this as a $380/year value. What it really meant is that I would have to *pay* $380/year for their gold service plan in order to keep the free labor warranty in effect: an extra $4000 over 10 years, which looks steep to me for annual service. And it took me several weeks to sign on the dotted line, during which time the rep reminded me more than once that the unit was back-ordered with a ~6-week lead time...and then after I signed the company said they could install in 2 weeks.

After the debacle, I learned about a higher-efficiency Bosch unit, so I asked if they could install that instead. The first response was no because they needed to match the dimensions of the old one as well as possible. I pointed out that it had nearly identical dimensions to the Carrier they were favoring. So then the story changed to the Bosch being too expensive. We could have negotiated price at that point, but communication was not forthcoming. The next I heard from the company was, a week later, when they called to tell me it would be a cumulative 3 weeks before they could a install new unit--what new unit they still hadn't consulted me on.

I felt vulnerable because our contract largely immunized them from liability: in a dispute, I'd pay their legal costs, and liability was limited to the contract amount. Since they were in egregious violation of the contract--they'd never installed the promised unit and left my family without cooling for weeks--I walked.

Matt G.

12/25/2022

They clearly make their money off scammy business practices. Hired them to do a maintenance check. First they tried to increase the price of the visit by $50. Then they found a bunch of issues. When I scheduled them to come back to take care of the issues, they didn't show up last minute and had to reschedule. Then my furnace broke for a completely different issue than any they had identified, and I had someone actually competent come and fix it, who let me know not only did they miss the actual issue but several of the services they recommended were not necessary. Now they are trying to charge me a $250 cancellation fee since I don't need them to come out for the original services. Scams all the way down!

James C.

06/03/2022 12:00:00 SA

WARNING!!!! Absolutely Terrible Experience!
I hired Magnolia Plumbing to install 2 pedestal sinks and 1 toilet, the previous sinks sinks and toilet were removed prior to their arrival. This job took them 2 days to complete.. I provided the fixtures and had them on site for their initial visit, which took a full day to install only one of the sinks. They claimed the faucet was missing a part, and they would need to come back, my job supervisor, arrived, he looked in the box, and found the missing piece.,this same scenario,. happened again, just minutes later, with another piece that was found on the floor in front of the plumbers.
The plumbers were pleasant to work with, however, they were ill equipped,unprepared and not fully competent. They left a leaky drain line in the sink connection, sloppy caulking job with the toilet, See Attached photo. I had to pay the tile man, an additional $200. to repair and re caulk the toilet Magnolia, would not reimburse for this. They charged $2,700. for this job, and that is outrageous in and of itself! To add more insult, they actually said, the $2,700. was a discount rate, they could have charged me $3,300! DO NOT CALL THIS OUTRAGEOUS COMPANY!

Afreen A.

10/29/2022

This is the worst plumbing service I've ever used. I used Magnolia to address a sewer gas leak in my house, spending over $1500 on the smoke test and repairs. The plumbers showed late, conducted an expensive smoke test to root out the sources of the sewer gas leak. The plumber did not notice smoke emerging from my second floor bathroom until I pointed it out to him. He attempted to replace the wax seal ring in the bathroom, but did not properly set the seal. This led to a continued smell of sewer gas and, eventually, leakage from the bottom of my toilet. I spent another $600 fixing the technician's shoddy, unprofessional work. I strongly recommend you don't use this terrible service.

Martha K.

1/26/2022

The WORST! 4 hours late, non responsive to my calls to dispatch. Tried to tell me my system needed an expensive acid wash. Told me couldn't do the work that day and to all and schedule with office. Woke up the next morning and house was 59 degrees. Called and they sent someone else that afternoon who fixed the problem by rinsing out my filter. When I stupidly paid towards the first acid wash service, Magnolia personnel took over a week to let me know they wouldn't refund that payment. But only after I had to call twice a day for three days in a row to get an answer. So bad service, untrustworthy technician who was only interested in up selling expensive service, and unresponsive billing office. Stay away!

Rachel C.

5/28/2021

I've always had good experiences with Magnolia, but this is my first time reviewing them. Over the years they've helped us with a water heater issue, replaced a kitchen faucet and fixed a toilet. We have a smaller condo so I can't speak to big jobs, but for smaller jobs they've always been amazing. I feel like they're upfront about their pricing and timing, can always seem to get us on their schedule in a timely manner, and are professional and kind when they visit, walking us through all of our options. They are a little pricier than some of their competitors, but honestly for the peace of mind we feel like it's worth it.

CJ A.

09/02/2022 12:00:00 SA

My Complex, Cameron Court in Alexandria hire this company to fix a water leak. We were TOLD the company needed only a few hours 8/25/22 to fix the issue. However, their jackhammering and digging went all day. On 8/26/22, we received a notice via email sent at 8:52 am that water would be SHUT OFF to some buildings at 9:00AM, became se Magnolia was UNABLE to finish the job the day prior. Yes, we got 8 minutes NOTICE of a water shut off. The crew, again, jackhammered and dug ALLL day. The leak STILL was not fixed. Monday 8/29, the crew was there for a couple of hours in the morning, before departing, with the leak STILL not fixed. A complete WASTE of everyone's TIME and MONEY. Right now, there are still gallons and gallons of water spilling all over our streets unabated thanks to their stellar work

Will A.

12/20/2021

We pay $400 a year for a service plan, so when the heat didn't work the first time I turned it on I called Magnolia instead of trying to fix it myself. The only issue was that the previous owner of the house had not wired the thermostat correctly. This is something almost anyone can fix on their own in 15-20 minutes. I was very surprised to find that they charge $250 for this. I am very annoyed that they didn't give me a price before doing the work.

We will not be renewing our contract or using this company for repairs in the future.

Sergio E.

6/29/2022

I paid over $600 for Magnolia to fix to my HVAC unit and it worked for two weeks. I called several times afterwards and never got a response after being told they would return to test the system. I urge other customers to not go to Magnolia. You're better off spending your money elsewhere.

Cat A.

06/07/2022 12:00:00 SA

Don't use this company if you need someone reliable in the case of an emergency! I called earlier today for an emergency appointment for sewage coming up into our house through the shower drains. Our time window was 6-8 and we were told someone would be here shortly after 7. It's 8:20 and no one showed up. We've called the call center several times and no one from Magnolia will call us back.

Rockville C.

09/08/2021 12:00:00 SA

To fix a PVC pipe that came loose in our septic tank, a work that took 45 minutes, we were charged for the Tech and helper time 2.5 hours. Below is the breakdown.
First hour including travel = $325.00
Second Hour Tech= $160.00
Half hour Tech = $80.00
First Hour Helper = $120.00
Half Hour Helper = $ 60.00
Total Sum of Above $745.00
So we had to pay for the time it took them to get here from their other job and had to pay for the time it took to get back to their next job, plus the helper was a trainee who was learning on the job, so something that could have taken 30 minutes added up to 45 minutes.
We will never be using them again and surely would like to warn everyone.

Pete G.

5/25/2022

BEWARE. They upsell and grossly overcharge. Needed my AC repaired.
1. Was told a normal visit was $189, which went towards any repair. But for only $10 more ($199 per system) I could be a gold member. In fact, they said they were only servicing gold members due to high volume of calls. What they did not make clear was that the $199 for gold membership would not be applied towards the repair (instead gave a supposed discount for a year).
2. The phone representative automatically signed me up for gold membership for my home's second system as well without asking if I wanted that. When I realized it, I cancelled the second system, which was working fine.
3. The technician said the problem was the contactor which he could replace the next day. But he pushed to also add two other pieces of equipment to the system, including them in his write-up of the needed repair, to make the system work more efficiently. I declined the add-ons.
4. The cost of replacing the contactor with the discount was $300. It took the technician 5 minutes to do it (which solved the problem). On the internet the cost of the exact contactor is $30.00.
I do not trust them and would never use again.

Hillary F.

9/23/2021

Magnolia installed a new, top of line, HVAC and hot water heater for me in DC in early April. Included in that service, that I have already paid for in full, was that all the permits were to be pulled and the system would pass inspection with the city. It is now over 5 months since instillation and inspection with the city still has not be scheduled. I have been calling and emailing for months asking for it to be scheduled but they are unresponsive or push me off, saying it will get done. Without the inspection my understanding is my unit is technically illegal and if I were to go to sell my condo I would have major issues.

The system, that I paid close to $14k for, also keeps giving me minor error messages which I have told to magnolia multiple times and was told they will look at it when they come to do my inspection. Except, they never schedule it. While the error is a minor one, after the amount I paid I would still expect them to make sure it if functioning property and not sending me errors a few times a week.

Overall, I was happy with the initial unit and install but am VERY unhappy with the ensuing lack of follow up and finishing of what was laid out in my contract.

Jason G.

3/19/2019

I used Magnolia as a second opinion along with (John C Flood) to have my HVAC unit serviced and repaired. Even though I requested their evaluation and recommendation on a specific corroded issue pipe that I had already identified, the technician gave me a recommendation for total cleaning beyond what I asked for which was a huge amount and wildly inflated.

I originally went to Magnolia because my realtor recommended them since she had used them before. But even she was shocked at the repair recommendation of well over $2000, half of which was for issues that I did not call them out nor that needed to be addressed critically. I was able to get John C Flood to come out and do the work for a third of the amount that Magnolia was going to charge. Granted, Magnolia was recommending a cleaning to render my HVAC unit completely spotless, but that is not what I requested. They know that if they recommend a certain course of action during an inspection for the sale of the unit, buyers and agents will push for the work to be done.

Maybe it was just the specific technician, but my experience with Magnolia was efficient but not altogether positive.

They also kept pushing me to do a free plumbing inspection -- which I consented to but thankfully didn't have any problems.

Andrew L.

4/28/2018

Long, overdue review of Magnolia. At the end of it all, my girlfriend and I were extremely disappointed in both the quality of service and the exorbitant cost for repairing our condo's A/C unit.

Watching a team of two guys remove our old unit would have been laughable had it not also come with wall damage - they were literally kicking and hammering at the old unit without care for our property, because they were scared to be above the first floor.

We had to have Magnolia come back at least 3 separate times, because they failed to (1) properly install our new thermostat, (2) to seal the gaps between the wall and the new unit, and (3) the new unit itself had to be replaced. By the way, to seal the gaps, Magnolia used some sort of heat duct tape . . . so now our wall has duct tape everywhere.

Attaching one representative photo of Magnolia's precision when they attempted to seal the gap with spray foam (before the duct tape).

TL;DR: Do NOT use Magnolia.

S C.

7/24/2021

Technician Saeid Fotouri provided great service fixing our AC. He was skillful and helpful.

Lisa K.

1/19/2022

My main complaint is the cost. They overcharge for a simple gas hook up and replace a valve under the sink. $350 per hour. It's a racket. Avoid if you want reasonable pricing. One guy less than two hours. Ridiculous! Up charging for sure. Greed not competitive pricing.

Ben H.

5/17/2021

We've been in our home a few years and Magnolia is now our go to for anything related to plumbing or HVAC. From simple drain snaking to water heater replacement, their service has been outstanding. Easy and quick communication to friendly and helpful service technicians I recommend them to all my friends.

Valerie R.

6/28/2017

Thank you Felix for coming out, checking the work, explaining the product and job that you were going to do.

and thank you for resolving this matter, ASAP.

Antonia M.

11/16/2021

Plumber was scheduled to arrive between 2PM and 4PM. Called to confirm, was told that plumber had cancelled original slot but would arrive between 4PM and 6PM. Plumber no-show. No-one at the useless company was able to put me through to anyone nor figure out why the person was a no-show. Company did not do the courtesy of returning my calls. Unprofessional and unreliable.

Oliver J.

2/20/2017

All three toilets had problems flushing, and one was leaking a little water from the top part to the bottom.

Organizing was fine.... it's a big company. They come out - the guy seems relatively knowledgeable. He was really going on and on about never to use 2 ply toilet paper, which was a little crazy, because I'd assume at least 50% of people use it here with no problem at all.

Says he can do something similar to snaking it, but says we should get all new parts for the one making the noise. He said it might be easier / cheaper just to get a new toilet. Toilets are all 10 years old.

He says it will take 10 minutes to snake each one and cost $295 per toilet. ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! That isn't his fault... but non-nonsensical. A new toilet is $100 and up, and labor a $40 an hour. I would understand if the first hour was $150 and labor was $75 per hour after that.... but this is non-nonsensical garbage.

At $900 for 30 minutes work. The more I think about this, the more I believe they deserve one star. It was a waste of my time and abusive business practices.

-----

Update: Just had the owner Dominic messaging me, who said he would call me. I just spoke with a manager that explained to me that it wasn't him. It was someone in their marketing team clearly misstating who they are. Hey comment to this review... I think you should be who you say you are! The lady also said the technician misstated prices. I asked several times about the price and he said there was no discount for multiple. Companies lie, and this is one.

-----

Further update: 9:05pm on February 28 I received a an email about my upcoming appointment on February 18th. Nice!

M M.

10/13/2021

As new homeowners, we have had some unexpected plumbing needs, and we have found Magnolia to be great. We are able to rely on them to get their people out here quickly in time sensitive situations. And the two plumbers we have worked with, Duane Cunningham and Pasquale Skok, have been outstanding. Duane in particular is the reason we signed up for their membership package. Both Duane and Pasquale have earned our trust and loyalty. They are very patient with our questions and transparent about their work and pricing. They explain what they need to do and why really well. And most importantly, their work is of very high quality. Thank you!

David M.

6/17/2019

Up-charging, broken appointments, repair that didn't last and weeks without air conditioning. This is what being a 'priority customer' with a $750/yr service contract means at Magnolia.

Two of my Goodman heat pumps broke down. I contacted Magnolia via e-mail and they responded that they could get a tech out that day for $218. I called them back and they upped that estimate to be an emergency visit but they could waive the additional charge if I signed up for their $750 annual service contract, which I did (big mistake).

I told them up front, both via e-mail and over the phone, that one of the systems likely needed a new TXV/Filter Drier, and wanted to be assured they could do that repair if needed.

They came out (5/29) and realigned the fan on one unit, but did NOT have the TXV/Filter Drier needed to do the full repair. They could not repair the other unit, and estimated it needed a ~1,800 repair. It was 9-years old, so I asked to receive a quote for replacement.

The repaired unit broke down that same night (spoiler alert, it needed that TXV I told them about).

I texted the Tech, as he instructed, the next morning (5/30) about the system being down and wanting to move forward with repairs/replacement ASAP. He never responded.

I called Magnolia that morning as well, and they scheduled a comfort adviser to come out on 5/31. I took the day off of work and they were a no-show. I had to schedule a second appointment, but their quote on replacing the system was the highest I've ever received by several thousand dollars.

I've followed up several times since those original appointments about the repair, but here I am 19 days after telling them the one system needed a new TXV and they haven't even ordered it.

So I called them today to cancel my service plan and their response was that I'd have to pay them for the discount for the original service (the one that they upsold, and then broke down within hours). I asked them to call it a wash, given that the repair was a failure, they stood me up, and they've not even ordered the part for the original repair... they told me they'd come after me for the money.

Allison S.

01/11/2019 12:00:00 SA

I generally use Yelp to promote local businesses, and very rarely do I write a scathing review, BUT... Magnolia Plumbing and Heating tried to rip me off and I want to warn potential customers.

Our heater broke (on one of the coldest days of the year), and they came out right away -- hence, the one star. They diagnosed the problem -- the thermostat -- for $109. The charge they quoted to replace the thermostat was $497 (in addition to the $109 we already paid). Programmable thermostats cost about $25. So why $497???

My husband went to Home Depot and bought a thermostat and installed it himself within an hour. Don't let this company rip you off. Just watch a YouTube tutorial and save yourself the money.

Marisa S.

8/17/2018

So unhappy with the service received. We were told they were the best and in the end, my husband and I were so disappointed in the quality of service.

A few weeks ago our AC was acting up so we called Magnolia right away since it was the middle of July. We were able to get a guy to our place within a few days, he looked at our outdoor unit and suggested that he add more coolant. $500 later the AC worked for 2 weeks and broke again. This time we remembered we had a warranty on our condo and they sent out a different contractor who said it was very clear that the compressor was completely broken in the outside unit and recommended it be completely replaced ASAP.

So here I am in the middle of August waiting on the full replacement to happen, which clearly should have been caught by Magnolia a month ago. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY ON MAGNOLIA.

Paula M.

07/09/2021 12:00:00 SA

Fabulous experience with Magnolia. From their administrative staff to their dispatchers, to their technical reps and installers - every one of them was professional, informative, and responsive. My PTAC AC unit pooped out on me. They sent a tech out the next afternoon who told me the compressor was dead and i needed a new unit. The tech installer found a new replacement unit for me that same afternoon, and they installed it the next day. The price of the unit was comparable to what my neighbors have paid and it included removal and disposal of the old unit and installation of the new one. Magnolia also services my condo's drainage system and they've come out in rain or shine during all weather conditions to get the jobs done. I highly recommend Magnolia!

Grace B.

10/08/2019 12:00:00 SA

We had our annual preventive maintenance appointment on Sep. 9, 2019. We advised them of one issue which the tech agreed was covered under warranty. I never heard back from them to schedule that repair. I finally had to call to schedule to get it fixed. I also advised them of some other items that there were problems that their tech had not picked up.

Upon his return, I was advised we needed a new toilet for a cost of $900. I had someone else check it out and they were able to fix it with a new flap in the tank for a few dollars. Other items they were not capable of repairing. I called to complain and was advised someone would call me back. I never heard back from them. I would not recommend them to anyone that had more than one bathroom in their house or high-end design faucets and toilets and tubs.

Omoro O.

07/10/2019 12:00:00 SA

On Friday, June 28, 2019 I had Magnolia Plumbing assess my HVAC system for a potential leak and clogged condesate line in my home. The service I received from the Magnolia HVAC repair person, Carlos Reed, was abysmal.

As a disclaimer, my customer service agent, Jeda H. was exceptional, friendly and helped me pinpoint when to expect Carlos' arrival as he was late and did not get in contact with me to confirm his new arrival time.

Post inspecting the HVAC system, Carlos presented the prices for Magnolia's services in a dubious manner and when I asked him to clarify he repeatedly told me verbatim that 'I wasn't listening'. He was condescending, rude and talked down to me. He tried to get me to sign up for Magnolia plumbing's Gold plan, however, he offered little/no information about the benefits, features and services offered under the plan included. I was so taken aback by his unprofessional-ism and rudeness that I declined further suggested services.

When it came time to complete the invoice, he initially refused to record within the invoice what he observed in my HVAC system. I had to call a 2nd HVAC repair person on the phone (who consequently used to work for Magnolia Plumbing and knew that he was breaking protocol) on the phone and put him on speaker to 'convince' Carlos to record the details of the assessment that he performed properly.

There may be better service persons at Magnolia, please steer clear of Carlos Reed, he is completely unprofessional and unscrupulous.

David E.

11/14/2017

Run away, don't walk.

Seriously, this is a circus. They did eventually get Justin Johnson involved, and he seems to be a glimmer of hope in a field of despair, as noted elsewhere on these boards, but nobody needs this kind of grief. Go to Costco, go to Sears, go wherever. The markup on HVAC equipment can be on the order of 60% ... with that kind of margin, you should expect way better service than this.

- Disorganized quoting process, unclear communication during sales.
- Missed their start date by a week, despite me rescheduling my completely packed travel calendar.
- When they started, scheduled two to three days for the job.
- Job took more than a month.
- Melted the soffit outdoors (repaired, and well, but only after I noticed it and complained).
- Removed my UV air purifier, which was agreed to remain (replaced, but only after I noticed it and complained).
- Did not schedule electrician for circuit work, despite that being the agreement.
- Very unclear communication about work schedules and project plan updates.
- They promised a discount for all the above which never materialized. I was too annoyed and done with the process by the time this happened to care anymore. I paid and will never use them again.

On the plus side:
- I do finally have heat and air conditioning again in my home.
- Justin Johnson is solid. Sean, the guy who did a lot of the work, does good work. There are a few glimmers of hope here and there, but the overall impression was a train wreck.
- The Lennox Signature line is indeed a good unit, and works.

Just go somewhere else.

John G.

10/31/2017

DO NOT CALL THIS BUSINESS.

PRICE GOUGHING

I don't write a lot of negative reviews because I understand the impact a negative review would have on a locally owned business. My recent terrible experience with Magnolia has prompted me to write about this company. I have given them ample opportunity to rectify this issue and they haven't come to an agreeable solution. I have lodged a formal complaint with the better business bureau.

I have had my HVAC unit and heater replaced by Magnolia about 10,000$ in the past 2 years. So safe to say I was a loyal customer.

2 weeks ago during my kitchen remodel my countertop installer noticed a leak at the hot water valve under the sink. My first response and phone call was to Magnolia who promptly sent someone over. Since my girlfriend was at home and we had no idea how much valves cost. We decided to follow Dwayne's recommendation to replace 1 two way valve for hot water which was the cause of the leak and the second cold water valve because it was 10 years old and may have a leak in the future.

I was surprised at the 400$ cost of the hot water valve and 100 for the cold water valve. Since we had no idea we agreed to 500$ to replace 2 valves only.

Dwayne then proceeded to add 287$ for difficulty. To replace 2 valves ???? In addition they proceeded to also charge the 75$ fee to come out to the condo. ( apparently you can negotiate to waive that if you have work done and BEFORE they come out.)

Since I did not think 2 valves would cost 850$ I decided to call customer service and speak with Felix. According to Felix the reason why a 20$ valve would cost 400$ is to pay for the overhead, gas, electricity, employees and keep the business profitable.

The total cost according to Magnolia

1/4 Turn Angle Stop (Sweat) with 2 opening for hot water and dishwasher (400$) and 1/4 turn angle for cold water (100$) And 75$ fee to come out to the job site. Along with 287$ for difficulty??.

All of this WITHOUT reconnection of the sink or dishwasher.

My valves cost 848$ which is almost the price of a new dishwasher.

I don't think this should have cost me more than 200-300$

UPDATE 10/31/2017
So after my review I was contacted by Justin. I must confess I did not have any expectation that they would try and resolve the situation. Justin was great and after speaking with him a couple of times, we were able to reach a reasonable solution.
So in the end I paid about 400$ for 2 valves to be replaced. While not the cheapest I am happy that is is somewhat of a reasonable price.
The quality of their work has always been reliable.
Pricing was not the best but eventually they figured it out.

Iris C.

01/11/2018 12:00:00 SA

Do your research before calling this place. They charge $75 to come out. That price isn't even absorbed into the cost even if they charge you SEVERAL hundred dollars. The charge is predatory and completely took advantage of a dangerous situation (gas leak). Should've listened to the other reviews that said they are overpriced!

I couldn't get a quote out of them, yet they told me on a second call that the technicians set the price. Soooo, wouldn't you have a range for certain tasks? A gas leak is pretty common where a price range could've been offered. But considering how much they charge, I can see how they wouldn't offer an estimate. Also strange is at some point somebody from the company called and said they misunderstood the issue I was having and probably didn't send the right guy. I don't understand what can be misunderstood about a 'gas leak.'

It's my first place and it was a scary situation. Couple that with the fact that it's winter and it's the perfect opportunity for predatory pricing. Labor took a total of 39 minutes of work (I timed it because I was curious what would cause them to charge so much)! They also on't give you an itemized bill, like the kind you'd get after getting work done on your car. It's just the $75 charge for coming out and the other charge for the service/one year warranty.

I'm not even going to say how much I paid because it's embarrassing to admit to a lapse in judgement but it sure is reviving my need to only buy the necessities to pay this off.

Edit: 1/9/2018: After some weeks, I received a refund for the $75 that is charged for dispatch of a plumber. I think this makes sense considering I was charged over $400 for less than 45 minutes of work. The company in general seems concerned with customer satisfaction and they will follow up with unsatisfied customers, which I think is positive. Additionally, everybody I spoke to from the office has been very professional. While my interactions with the staff at the office have been favorable, the fact that price is set by individual plumbers seems as though prices are arbitrary.

1/11/18: I'm adding an update in response to the comment below that there is a flat rate pricing set up with individual predetermined tasks. Unfortunately, that isn't what I was told at all. I was told the price was set by the technicians. As a result, I couldn't get a quote or range for a gas leak.

Caleb R.

02/01/2019 12:00:00 SA

I can't say enough bad things about my experience with Magnolia Plumbing. They quickly came out and gave me an estimate on replacing two heater/AC units, higher than the other estimates I received but predicated on claims they would do everything needed to make the job simple. They then delayed for several weeks and attempted to renegotiate the contract after it was signed. They did not perform the full work promised and I now have two machines that leak substantial cold air because they were not sealed properly. The machines are also damaged by drywall and duct tape because they did not clean up after themselves.

The actual technician they sent out was friendly, professional, and accommodating but every time he called the central office I could overhear them telling him to speed up, do less, and avoid things I had been promised in the original estimate.

This company is dishonest and you'd be better off looking elsewhere. They employ some great contractors but then substantially curtail the ability of those contractors to do good work.

Elle M.

1/20/2020

I read so many bad reviews about this company, I was worried about hiring them. I have a high-efficiency wall-mounted boiler and there are not many companies that are qualified to do service. Magnolia is listed on the manufacturer's website as the ONLY company in the area that is specifically trained.
The company sent a tech that they said had training for my boiler, but my expectations were set very low.
SURPRISE! Jose did an AMAZING job, he was on time, thorough, he wore booties in the house as to not track dirt in, and he communicated everything to me with clarity.
Five stars. Well done.
Oh, and JM Plumbing wanted $450 to do a maintenance check-up, which is absurd. They installed the system 7 years ago and did a great job with that, but an annual check-up should not cost that much (they also said it would take an hour, which makes me wonder why they are charging so much.)

Mireille S.

12/30/2020

Magnolia is a dishonest company to avoid by all means!

Before winter I called them since the heating unit was not working in the basement. Their technician came over and told me that I need a new valve for the radiator. $ 450 and he installed a new valve. He sold me a gold plan for $ 240 that quote on paper says: Magnolia Plumbing Inc will warrant all labor performed and parts supplied for a period of one year.

For the first time I turned on the heat in the basement mid-December when it got cold - I turned the thermostat to 60 then to 70 then 80 - but nothing. New valve but no heating. I called Magnolia again and they send a technician.

After scratching his head for a while he told me that I need a new - VALVE !
If it would have been for a long time ago I would have probably never remembered, but this was only a few months ago that they put on a new valve on the radiator that was never used since installed. I showed him the receipt for the valve.

Surprised, the technician started flapping through his notes and confirmed to me that indeed the valve was changed. He went back to the basement for another session of scratching his head and after a few minutes -- full blast heat spread in the basement. $ 109 for the diagnosis he asked for. What about my gold - platinum - honorary Magnolia plan that you sold me just a few months ago for one year with warranty over parts and labor? It does not cover the diagnostic - he replied. After you sir I told him and showed him the way to the door. In the meantime - the basement heat goes to 90F and above - full blast heat with a smell of burn in the air and no way to put the heat down with the thermostat. I turned off the thermostat completely and the basement was still boiling like an inferno. I called Magnolia - Huston we have a problem - no problem the lady told me -- $ 109 for the diagnosis when we come back.

Sometimes you have to cut your losses where you can. I called a new company Cohen Last minute Service - 10PM at night and the owner Nicholas replied. He booked me for his first service in the morning. You get the owner of the company knocking at your door. Not a clueless technician.
He was devastated from my story - people are taking advantage of my mother like this all the time -- he told me.

He checked the unit in the basement: First finding - the old valve that was replaced by Magnolia and was left on the unit had no problem whatsoever - a perfectly operating valve (!) Second finding: the unit was blasting full heat because the incompetent Magnolia technician just activated the button on the valve that bypass the thermostat and left it like this without telling me. Obviously, the culprit was the wiring of the thermostat. Mr. Cohen, so honest, and so kind refused even to charge me for his time and for his help.

Some people are really saving this world with their kindness and honesty for the the rest of it.

Now if you read this story and you still call Magnolia - you probably deserve them :-)

jANE D.

07/04/2017 12:00:00 SA

DO NOT USE THEM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!! I have learned a very expensive lesson. After paying over $500 for them to add coolant to my system I still don't have AC and now they are trying to extort $600 more from me.

This all started as a free inspection of my AC. Do yourself a favor and call another company. These people are liars and cheats.

Adrienne C.

07/04/2017 12:00:00 SA

After my initial disappointing experience, the Sales Manager (Justin Johnson) & technicians (Josh and Nick), made it a pleasurable one. The Sales Manager was really easy to work with. He was responsive and forthcoming. The technicians were friendly and efficient.

I guess it's true - one spoiled apple doesn't ruin the bunch. I look forward to using Magnolia again. Request Josh and Nick for your install. They were great.

Yuri B.

07/12/2017 12:00:00 SA

I used them to service an AC unit in my apartment because they were the ones who installed it a few years before I moved in. I originally scheduled a service time a week out, but my unit completely stopped working mid-summer and so I asked if it could be moved earlier. They were able to do it the next night, but they increased the service visit cost which I thought was strange, but didn't argue.

The tech came on time, was professional and figured out the problem - although it took him a long time to do it. The price they quoted was ridiculously high, and they wouldn't guarantee the work. I later found out this was because what the stop gap they proposed would have voided the units warranty and could have actually led to much more serious problems.

Was very disappointed and won't use again.

Steven M.

11/10/2015 12:00:00 SA

I had a pretty good experience with Magnolia. I was shopping around for several plumbing jobs and they were one of the three cheapest companies out of 15 calls and 6 on site estimates (I had a LOT of work to review). In the end I had them replace my water heater, which also included installing a new shut off valve and expansion tank.

The price was right, they gave a reasonable time estimate and while a little late, gave update calls to their whereabouts. Finished the install in about 2 hours, taking the time to explain what they were doing whenever I asked. Kenny was my tech who also gave the estimates. Very nice guy and knew exactly what he was doing. I almost had him do some additional work while he was here but the add on cost for water supply hoses was way too much for what it was - $60 per hose. No excuse for that, heck I'd go to a plumbing store myself and do it myself. It's a $8 part, give or take. It just made sense to include replace the faucet supply line if your going to replace the shut off and disconnect the obviously corroded supply line.

Anyway, yes they do have a service charge. Unfortunately almost every plumber does nowadays. They are also the average at $75 or so at the time of this review. That price gets absorbed into the work price though at least. If you are a first time customer or know EXACTLY what you want, they may wave it.

Anna P.

4/25/2019

DO NOT USE.

I called Magnolia Plumbing to get a quote for a a wax ring on the toilet to be replaced. They said it would be $75 for the technician to come out and tell me what was wrong which was fine, but they refused to give me any sort of quote. When the technician came out, he looked at the water on the floor and said it would be $400 minimum to take apart the toilet to see what was wrong. I said absolutely not and was still charged $75 for them to come out, look at the toilet, not diagnose anything, and leave. In short: I said I needed a new wax ring, asked for a quote, they said $75 to come out, looked at the water on the ground, then said it would be $400 minimum to tell me what was wrong- and not diagnose anything.

When I called back to talk to a representative they were unbelievable rude. The woman said over and over again Did you, or did you not agree to pay the $75 for them to come out. She must have said this 5 times on the phone- as if I didn't hear her the first time. I was under the impression that I was going to pay $75 to see what was wrong. Not $75 for him to look at the water on the floor (which I told them over the phone), and tell me it would be $400 to see what was wrong. When I told the woman that I called two other plumbers to get a quote and they gave one to me right away (who also DON'T charge to come and give you a quote) her response was well then, why didn't you get one of them to do the job? (She's right- I DEFINITELY should have gotten one of the other plumbers to come out instead) The woman wasn't apologetic, didn't care about a word I had to say, and also didn't care about their horrible reviews online.

The plumber was honest and very nice- but the woman on the phone was extremely rude and I will never use this company again because of her attitude and comments towards me during the conversation. She was insulting and used metaphors about cars and mechanics as if I've never had work done on my car before.

Lesson learned: Read the reviews online before you call this company.

Warren H.

12/10/2020 12:00:00 SA

Had them come out for a diagnostic. Scheduled service which seemed pricey. Called around and confirmed. Called to cancel and they tried to argue cancellation fees which were a lie and when I called them out on it they immediately backed down.

Shaun T.

06/01/2019 12:00:00 SA

I bumped my water heater expansion tank and caused a crimp in the 90 degree copper joint and needed to have it repaired. I got a quote from Airmasters to fix it for $150 dollars but they couldn't come out till next week and I needed to have this fixed sooner so I called Magnolia. Humberto showed up and within 3 minutes he gave me a quote of almost $700!!! I could literally buy a whole new water heater and have someone else come out and install it for less than this company wanted to charge. The repair for about $30 worth of parts and 30 minutes worth of work so a fair price would have been $175 to $225 depending on how long it took them... not nearly $700!

The best part about this horrible company is they charge you $75 to come out so they can tell you they are raping you and there is nothing you can do about it so I'm out $75 and they didn't touch my system. I would avoid these vultures at all cost.

I called Magnolia because I had used them to fix my AC last year. The tech told me I needed a new motherboard and he charged me about $1,300 for it. I told my property management company about the repair and they told me it should have cost closer to 400-500 dollars.

I can safely say they've screwed me over for the last time. From now on I'm getting a quote over the phone rather than from one of these conmen.

Ross S.

7/13/2019

I called Magnolia plumbing to service my furnace when it went out this past winter. The service personnel didn't honor the time window I scheduled and I ended up rescheduling multiple times. When the repair person finally did show up, he did not spend much time troubleshooting my furnace (maybe 2 minutes, tops) before quoting me an eye-popping $1300 bill. This was on top of the bill for the service call. I declined the service and another plumber fixed my repair for $160 bucks. I do not recommend this company. The company gets by on availability, branding, and web presence. Everyone I talked to who dealt with Magnolia reported similar issues with price gouging and poor service/workmanship.

Brian S.

8/24/2019

Scheduled an appt. between 4-6pm. Received voicemail at 1:45 that a tech was free sooner and could I be available earlier? I called back at 2:30 and told rep I was 20 mins from home and was leaving work now. Great! I'll tell the tech you'll be there in 20 mins! Arrived home; nothing. 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm.....nothing. Called the customer service rep two times asking for an update. Was told two times the dispatcher would call me with an update. Didn't receive a call until 7pm informing me that the brakes on the truck aren't working and won't be able to come today after all. Re-scheduled for next morning. When tech showed up and I expressed my frustration, he replied: Don't get frustrated with me! We're busy!
Try another company that will treat with you basic respect.

Terrel M.

9/24/2016

I had Magnolia Plumbing come to my home to install a kitchen faucet I purchased and to fix a valve problem between the bathtub and shower. The tech quoted me over $600 to install the faucet, over $600 to fix the valve, and over $350 to replace a chrome ring around the bathtub drain. As any sensible person would, I declined to pay these exorbitant fees for such simple work. They then charged me $75 for the 'service call'. After they left, I installed the 'designer faucet' they claimed would require such a high fee in less than 20 minutes using an adjustable wrench and a screw driver.

I must assume that this is a scam to make $75 for a 10 minute visit without doing any actual work. Clearly, it shouldn't cost $600 to install a simple faucet. I've had faucets installed in the past for less than $200. I've also replaced the chrome rings in sink basins in less than 10 minutes, something they wanted the equivalent of a car payment to replace. I highly recommend avoiding this scam and I will file a report with the Attorney General Consumer Complaints Division and the Better Business Bureau.

Carletta G.

10/14/2016

Making the appointment was super quick and efficient - I explained what I needed and it was scheduled easily.

True to word, they called before coming. I had a main tech and an assistant and he was fantastic. Personable, explained everything he was doing and didn't try to sell me things I didn't need.

Would 100% use them again.

Jay S.

12/17/2019

So I called Magnolia up today and I talked to a lady and I was even will to give them a shot to give me an estimate for heat pump replacement and she said we don't service northern Va. and I said well you should update you service areas because it specifically says sterling Virginia on there website not a third party website. She also couldn't even tell what manufactures they offer a tech can tell you that she said all I can tell you is we sell a lot of different bands just the kind of person that should be answering your either she is not good at her job or the company should have a little cheat she to say what brands they offer or the best option train the person that answer the phone basic info they should know working in this industry.

Daniel B.

10/01/2019 12:00:00 SA

Horrible service and borderline predatory pricing. Magnolia does not honor appointments, will attempt to upsell you services in excess of 3x market rates, and are generally rude and unpleasant to deal with.

We scheduled a repair with Magnolia for a Tuesday from 10-12, they did not show up. At 4pm, they notified us the tech would not make it that day. The next day the tech arrived, informed us he did not know how to fix our unit, and could not find a leak. He refilled the freon and the system broke three days later. We scheduled a follow-up appointment for 12-2, the tech did not arrive until 3:30. He found the leak the other tech had missed and informed us it would $3,600 to fix or $12,000 to replace (and he strongly suggested replacing because the unit is old).

A simple call to another repair service determined that our unit was under warranty and would only cost time and materials to repair. They said under no circumstances could a replacement unit cost $12,000. We do not typically write Yelp reviews, but want to warn others of this fraudulent business.

Kasey F.

12/09/2020 12:00:00 SA

This company is the worst. They never come during their scheduled time and oftentimes cancel during the appointment time. I've had this happen multiple times and then the schedulers give me attitude when it takes time to find another appointment time, as if I am supposed to be available at any time to sit at home and wait for them to cancel on me again. Unfortunately we bought their service package so we are stuck using them for another few months but after that I will never use them again. Horrible and rude service!

Lisa H.

1/24/2021

Shout out to Magnolia plumber Paris Green, who provided first-rate service for my clogged kitchen sink. Prompt, efficient, knowledgeable, careful, took the time to answer my questions and give good advice.

Dan H.

8/15/2020

Overcharged me so outrageously, I felt violated. I would never use them again nor ever recommend them. Carlos is a conman

William C.

10/29/2016

Darrell L. was very friendly, professional, and helpful. He completed the required services in a timely manner and helped me learn more about my new home. I highly recommend Darrell and Magnolia.

The dispatchers were also in constant contact to update me on arrival time.

Warren A.

3/15/2018

Careful this company allows their technicians to price the job. The amounts I have been quoted have been SKY HIGH. First of all I do a lot of contracting so I know when prices are high or not. In January I needed an HVAC company to go to a tenant's house to see why the heat was off. A breaker needed to be switched to the on position on the HVAC unit - that was it. I was charged $678.65. The bill should have been closer to $250 maybe 300 because it was after a hours.
Then in February a toilet backed up. The technician came and stated it would cost over $1,000.00 to snake the toilet. Knowing that was a rip-off I declined. The situation turned into an after-hours emergency and I still had the work done for $350.00 at 3:00 a.m.!
RIP OFF

Michael B.

4/30/2019

Crazy high pricing and poor business practices.

My experience: I knew exactly what I needed because my main sewer gets clogged with roots about every year and a half, but Magnolia refused to quote me over the phone. They charged $75 to come look at my situation, and in two minutes the guy explained it would be $1000. This is for work that takes me 2 hours with rented Home Depot equipment, but I was just ready to hand over to someone else. I would hate to have these guys show up and feel like I didn't have options, because they are predatory.

Charles F.

3/19/2019

I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the posting from Billy V., which has come at a perfect time. By way of update, after receiving my fourth consecutive electric bill for $600 this winter, I decided to call out a different local HVAC company to look at the items installed by Magnolia - the electric heat strip and the heat pump.

Regarding the heat strip, unfortunately they found that after not installing the unit when I was told Magnolia would last September, being dishonest about the need for an additional 240V electric line (which cost me additional money to run after our renovation was completed), and four subsequent visits during which your team members left my house without any heat saying that there was a bad ground in the air handler and that would be a new separate install charge, I was stunned to learn from the new company that currently only one of the two 5kw coils is actually now working. Short answer, it was still never installed properly despite the months of headache and numerous visits.

On the heat pump, which Magnolia had subcontractors install, Sam did come out after it was installed to address an issue of a constant loud rattle sound that began after two weeks of use. He deduced that it was overcharged with refrigerant and drained some, eliminating the rattling. When the unit froze over a week later, Sam was able to next determine that the unit was wired incorrectly from initial installation, and that the defrost control board was fried. A week later living on 5kw of electric heat, the new control board was finally installed. Unfortunately, the new team just found that because all of that refrigerant was initially (possibly incorrectly) drained by Sam, the unit is now short-cycling, which means we fall back on our only 5kw worth of heat strip for our house, driving up our electric bills dramatically.

Billy, the money spent to hire a second company to double check your team's work was the first good money I spent on HVAC during this project.

On your other three points, I am sorry I inferred that Magnolia fired the comfort specialist. I don't root for anyone to be fired, but to think that you were still sending him out to homes across the DMV area up until the time he left the company, I am concerned you have a lot more problems out there.

And when all of the issues were found initially, Sam did make a very generous offer to fix everything without labor. What did he offer? A completely new system for $18,400 with a 10% discount - a pretty typical M.O. from the comments on upcharging I have read in other reviews. As an alternative, he offered a second option of just a new heat pump, a new trunk line, and to re-do all of our duct work for $11,985 with a 10% discount. I went to the home depot myself, and for $200 and a weekend of work, I re-configured all of our flex duct myself. I ended up negotiating the purchase of the trunk line and the still-not-fully-functioning heat pump from Magnolia for $4,600. That means that $6,000(!!!) of the second estimate was for labor that Sam promised not to charge me to make up for Magnolia's initial errors.

Finally, you mention the two ducts that should have been installed during our initial work last September. I have no option but to now do those at cost to me. Unfortunately, I already paid Magnolia for them under the initial contract, and your team decided not install them when promised, telling me after I paid that they were not needed. Well, they were needed as Sam now agrees, but those rooms were renovated in the interim. After all of this nonsense, there is no chance I am going to let a team from Magnolia loose on our new floors and walls to cut holes to install those two ducts. Another example from my initial post about how I will be paying for the correct job for years to come.

Billy V., in summary, when told by you and your management team that Sam needs to make a bad situation right, he can actually be non-combative. I understand when something just doesn't get installed correctly the first time - it happens to the best of us, but the frustration for me comes from the fixes to those errors being completely botched as well; all while my family lives in a house where the temperature barely crested 60 degrees for the entire winter (our work was supposed to be completed in September!). A Magnolia warranty isn't worth the paper it is printed on. You can understand my frustrations and concerns all you want, but I stand firmly on my initial rating, and wish it could be zero stars. My hope is that it might be helpful for other families who may consider using Magnolia in the future.

Mimi F.

6/18/2019

They are not 24 hours as advertised!!!!! I had an emergency and they didn't have but one person on call!! I'm very disappointed!

Kevin R.

8/15/2016

The service tech was nice and diagnosed the problem and was able to fix it same day which was great. I do understand that there is a premium baked into same day service (especially on a 100 degree day in Washington DC) but like many other people here, the charge for what needed to be done was egregious.

I needed a new capacitor and hard start for the unit. Parts, which I researched in hindsight, can BOTH be purchased for less than $100 TOTAL. Next time I will know what to look for, for grand total of almost $800 for parts, labor and the service call, I will definitely try someone else first next time.

Stephanie H.

7/27/2016

While they did fix the issue with my A/C unit, they charged a ridiculous amount for the labor and part. I needed a capacitor which normally costs around $10, and I was charged $341.56. That is quite the markup for labor and parts.

That is on top of the $89 service fee. If they do come to your house and perform a diagnostic, do some research and see if you can fix the problem yourself first, once they tell you what the problem is!

Maynard M.

01/03/2019 12:00:00 SA

Nelson Jovel was fabulous. But $425 to snake out a 6' kitchen drain is absurd. The work was good; the price obscene. Ask for a quote before making an appointment--they won't give you one, but ask anyway. Shame on Magnolia.

Debbie T.

07/03/2019 12:00:00 SA

Plumber that was assigned to our job was fabulous. Marvin was professional, but also personable. He diagnosed the problem and gave us options for the repairs. In the end he replaced the hot water heater and his work was quality work. The new hot water and his instructions on using/maintaining was informative. Many thanks to the management for hiring employees like Marvin.

Kate F.

7/22/2020

Carlos Reed from Magnolia came to our rescue last Sunday to fix a leaking air handler in our AC system on one of the hottest days of the summer - he was professional, thorough and diligent. After nearly five hours and a trip to Home Depot, we were relieved of the heat. He also followed up the next day to make sure the leaking had stopped. Many many thanks to Carlos and the Magnolia team!

Mila S.

8/27/2020

I had my bi-annual inspection in May 2020, and I had the work they suggested done. 6 weeks later a pipe they had suggested a cleanout at some point in 2018 overflowed. Cleaning this pipe was not mentioned in the current report in May. Since they did not flag the issue in May, I feel they should have paid for an emergency call to Roto-Rooter to deal with the issue since Magnolia did not respond to my emergency call whatsoever. They refused to pay one cent for their oversight. They were very rude, unprofessional, and provided shoddy service. Plus they're twice the price of better companies! Do not use them!

Alex M.

8/26/2019

Did not even show up for the appointment. Would give zero stars if I could. Very unprofessional--do not use!!

Ellen M.

06/01/2016 12:00:00 SA

I am so unhappy with this company today that if I could give negative stars I would.

I smelled gas in my basement near the furnace in October and I called them. They came quickly and the gentleman who did the work tightened the joint that was the source of the smell while I was there. He checked with me, do you smell gas anymore, I said, No. Should you put some mastic over it? I asked, since it was the only joint leading to the furnace that did not have blue mastic on it. You do not need it, he assured me. He kindly checked out my furnace and charged me for the seasonal check up since he was out there already.

Fast forward to this Spring. I had an energy audit and the energy expert found a gas leak at the same joint! I could not smell gas but he showed me that soapy water bubbled slightly when painted over that joint! The group refused to do anymore work on my house until I got the leak fixed. Since it was the same joint as before and since I had talked to them before, I called Magnolia.

On the phone, I explained the problem. The person on the phone insisted I pay 89.00 for them to come out. I pointed out a) they were to have fixed the leak in the first place and had not and b) they guarantee their work. She insisted I pay for this trip, claiming that the prior work was 7 months ago, as if that should make any difference, gas pipes should last for decades! I asked to speak to a supervisor, she told me one was not available but would call me back.

About 2 WEEKS later and no call from the Supervisor, I call, concerned that I had a slow leak in my house, the other contractors were waiting and Magnolia owed me the work under their guarantee. We can come out tomorrow between 10 and 12 , they told me. If we do not find a leak we will charge you. Just come out and fix this, I told them, certain they will see the leak that is there..

Today, they did not come before 11:30 but did call then to say they would come between noon and 2. At 2:40 they pulled up in front of my house. I greet them and usher them to the leak. The fact that I would under contract and have lost an entire day's worth of work by this time is on my mind but I am polite.

The 2 gentlemen who come could see quickly the tape the energy efficiency contractors had left to identify the gas leak. Still one asks, where is the leak? I insisted they swab the joint with soapy water. The one guy does and I see it foams. Where is the leak, he asks, again. There, I say, do you see the foam? No, he says, there should be new bubbles. Without waiting more than a minute, he swabs a bunch of other joints, none of them foam, just the one that is leaking GAS, as far as I could tell. He offers to tighten that joint.

I leave the room. He comes to fine me in about 10 minutes. He claims not to have found any leak but to have tightened the joint anyway. He asks for the 89.00 fee. I refuse because THERE WAS A LEAK and now that he has tightened it, it should be sealed. I insist that he put the mastic on over it to be on the safe side, which he does. When he leaves he tells me that they insist I pay them the 89.00 because he does not believe there was a leak.

I explain that a) there was one. Not only did I see it but energy professionals saw it, as well. b) those other contractors will be inspecting this work to make sure there is no leak at this point. c) if Magnolia would like to bill me i would be happy to take that bill to DCRA to file a formal complaint about this service. Obviously, he did not give me his card as he left. We were both civil to each other but I was furious.

I do mention that I will be replacing my whole home AC unit this year and that I had arranged for an appointment with Magnolia to see if they could do the work. I admit to him and now to you that I am having some BIG second thoughts right now.

Anne C.

08/07/2018 12:00:00 SA

I rarely write Yelp reviews. I generally think people and companies deserve the benefit of the doubt. But my experience with Magnolia just this past week was bad enough that I feel like it's important I warn others. I own a condo on Capitol Hill and last Wednesday the AC stopped working. Anyone who has experienced a DC August knows this is an emergency situation - but I also know that companies have to do what they can in busy times like the summer.

My tenants called Magnolia on Thursday, gave them my credit card number because they require a deposit, and scheduled an appointment for a tech to come out later that night. The tech was late - but fine such is life. The next day I figured I would hear from someone first thing - it was a Friday and I know once we get into the weekend we are looking at a less likely scenario where a fix can be done quickly. I had to call Magnolia to get them to have the tech who came out call me.

I got a call from the tech late Friday morning. Without much explanation, he said the unit's motor and circuit board were broken and because I had a nice unit it was going to be very expensive. When I asked for a quote he told me $2800. I thought this sounded REALLY high but I was also mindful of my tenants sitting with no air. The tech said he needed to contact Carrier to see when he could get the parts (he couldn't even tell me when they could fix the unit). I asked that he send me a written detail of the problems and I asked him to have someone call me to explain in detail what was going on as I had had Magnolia out to service the unit 2 years before for a pricey fix and I wanted to see what was going on.

While I waited for a call back, I called my brother-in-law who works in HVAC in the Philadelphia area to see what his thoughts were (I'd have had him do the work except he lives 200+ miles away and has 4 kids - hard to get away.) When I told him the issue and the price, he laughed and said that I was being taken for a ride. He told me the parts should cost - at most - $700-$800 and the labor a few hundred dollars on top of that.

By this time hours had gone by and I had heard nothing from Magnolia. I called THREE more times that day to try and get a hold of someone to talk to and each time was told by a customer service rep that someone would call me. I heard from no one.

By this time I was ready to move on to other service providers. I went back to Yelp and found Logan Mechanical based in Maryland. I contacted them Friday night and their technician was out by 8 am the next morning. He diagnosed the same problem that Magnolia did but said he needed to talk to Carrier to determine cost and that he would contact me first thing Monday morning with an estimate.

Which is exactly what they did - I got a call from Dexter with Logan at 7 am on Monday. He quoted me $1200 for the job and he had a technician out to service the unit before the day was out. I couldn't be happier.

By the way, it's Tuesday and I STILL have not heard from Magnolia, which I find unbelievable. They charge for diagnostic visits (Logan Mechanical did not) so I'm waiting for that to show up on my credit card. The slow service I could have forgiven - even if we are talking about an AC problem in August. But the lack of communication and the insane markup I find to be a real issue. And I intend to let my network of friends and fellow residents on the Hill know about it.

Really truly buyer beware with this company.

Update: Magnolia charged me $154 for their diagnostic fee. Still haven't even called me to discuss what they would have needed to do.

Alex G.

10/18/2018

NIGHTMARE experience with these people last winter trying to get them to replace a small heat pump/AC. Dragged on for months, leaving me relying on space heaters in my apartment through the frigid winter ... wrong parts ordered ... wrong installation manual ... multiple visits and work days lost ... $8,000+.

And after it was all over?

Three months later: started using the AC and found that it leaked condensation through the ceiling.

Eight months later: just turned on the heat again for the first time this fall and found that it's not working correctly.

Oh, and also their plumbers are so incompetent that they couldn't fix a malfunctioning toilet after three visits.

Katie M.

5/25/2019

I was very disappointed with the customer service at Magnolia. On three separate occasions this week, I called them to address a gas issue with my water heater, at the suggestion of one of their other techs servicing our first floor unit. I called Wednesday evening and was told that dispatch would call me back, and never received a call. Thursday I called again to try to set up an appointment. We set an appointment window and I was told that I would receive a call when our tech was 30 minutes away. 30 minutes PAST our two-hour appointment window I called Magnolia to get a status update, and they told me that their tech was running behind and they would just have him call me when he was on his way. As a working professional I told them that wouldn't work for me, and asked to reschedule for the following day.

So now we're at Friday. Again, 30 minutes PAST our two-hour appointment window I received a call from Magnolia saying that the tech was on his way and would be there in about 30 minutes (an HOUR past our original window). Ok, great, after two days of trying to get something set up he's finally on his way. JUST KIDDING! 45 minutes later I call for an update, and am told that he's coming from Baltimore, hit traffic, and would probably be another 45 minutes to an hour before he could arrive. Obviously upset because we've now spent three days rescheduling meetings and rearranging, without any sort of outreach regarding delays from Magnolia, we ended up having to cancel because we couldn't wait around for another hour or more for the tech to show up.

Overall, very disappointed with the lack of communication from Magnolia about our appointment. I would feel less upset about this experience if they had let us know they were running behind so we could also adjust accordingly. It's challenging to remain available to meet the tech when you're also balancing a full-time job. Instead we just sat in an unproductive limbo for two days hoping that he might show up at some point. And even when I asked Magnolia about their policy for notifying customers of delays, they seemed unwilling to take that extra step saying there's not really anything we can do.

We've used Magnolia for a while, but after this experience plan to go with another company moving forward.

Richard P.

12/19/2017

Magnolia came back and redid the camera work and more thoroughly explained the process. So believe they stand behind their work.

Phill C.

6/29/2018

Call for AC system that was tripping breaker. (10 year old system) Technician spent about 20mins troubleshooting them immediately went into salesman mode. Repairs were quoted at about $2600. Technician pushed to have the whole system replaced ($6400) because repairs would be covered for 1 year, but a new system would give us 10 year coverage. He went on to tell me stories about customers that opted for the repairs only to have their systems replace within the one year. Seemed kinda fishy so I called another company. That's another story. Didn't use them either. Finally got an honest hvac guy to perform the repair for $700. The kicker is Magnolia's repairs were for outdoor components. Actual repairs were done on indoor components...

Ash L.

09/11/2018 12:00:00 SA

This rating is purely based on the service and support I revived from one individual (Saeid) and hence might not be a representation of the company as a whole. So if you can ask for Saeid to support you. Extremely professional , very knowledgeable and available. Appreciate the hard work.

Chris T.

8/21/2015

I have had two great experiences with Magnolia and signed up for their service agreement as a result.

First, Magnolia helped us with an emergency call out when our AC stopped working a couple of weeks ago. They were the only company to call back at 10pm on a weekday night. William came out spent an hour finding the issue and got the system up and running. Very grateful for this speedy service in the middle of DC summer when we have a 6 month old.

Sam came as a follow up to help us try to find the nature of the issue. First of all, I got an appointment same day of my call. Second, Sam arrived early which is virtually un heard of. Third, Sam was very helpful - explaining to me what each part of the HVAC system was meant to be doing, how it should be performing, what things we should be doing to keep the system running well. Sam also turned our system onto high air flow - it had been on low since the system was installed two years ago and we always wondered why the air flow was so weak. He also put on a 90 degree pipe end on the end of our condensing pipe so the water wasn't going directly into the foundations of our house.

I was so impressed I decided to sign up for the regular service agreement with Magnolia.

Based on these first two experiences with Magnolia, highly recommend these guys.

Bhavana C.

12/26/2012

Total rip-off...they came to look at my tankless water heater and said it would cost $2350 to replace (this would be include the cost of a new unit - which they said would cost $1200-1500). When I said that seemed like a ridiculous amount, they claimed that it was actually very good and I wouldn't be able to find a better deal elsewhere.

Well, we did. We ordered a new unit from the water heater company for about $600, and got another plumber to install it for a couple hundred dollars.

I understand the utility of ripping people off a little bit to make a profit, but you can't charge someone over double what the job actually costs. Ridiculous.

Wish I could get back the $89 they charged to come assess the situation -- which involved them calling the water heater company because they weren't savvy at all about the model we owned (even though I had told them the model of the water heater in advance of the appointment).

Unless you have an extra $1000+ to burn, go with another plumber who will give you a fair (or at least a non-exorbitant) price.

Jeff H.

4/13/2016

Two hour appointment scheduled between 10 and 12. One star added for being ontime...arrived about 1130.

I paid them the $75.00 service fee and sent them on their way. The job, replacing an outside hose bib, could have (best case) been done in 30 minutes. Worst case, two hours if they had to cut drywall to get at the pipe from inside.

Before touching anything, I was quoted a flat rate of $557.00 - about double what a fair rate would be.

If I had known (buyer beware) that I should have asked for a flat rate quote over the phone, I would have and saved the $75.00.

I'm not made of money, nor do I think I have chump written in my forehead.

Don't make the same mistake that I did.

Liz A.

09/03/2017 12:00:00 SA

This company should be reported to the Better Business Bureau. I called them for an AC issue. Long story short, they gave me a quote for over $1,300 to fix it. I paid them their $109 service fee and asked them to leave. One line item was a $375 line item to vacuum water out of the pan. We live in an 800 sq ft condo and I removed the 15x15 inch pan, took it to the sink, dumped out the water, and put the pan back in. Another line item was for a $509 evap coil clean that the next company charged $83 for. My total with the company that ultimately fixed our AC was $229. Magnolia is an absolute scam.

Neil B.

9/25/2015

Terrible experience. Condo unit had a yearly HVAC inspection - Magnolia brought a plumber for a complimentary inspection. My tenant was in the Condo and the plumber claimed the kitchen faucet was leaking. She never signed any agreement for work to be completed, the plumber then insisted she sign a work order and charged over $900 to fix one leaky faucet.

I spoke multiple times with a manager, Real Cipriano, at Magnolia who apologized and promised to provide a $100 reimbursement. Not ideal, but at least it was something. The refund was never sent and Real refuses to answer emails or phone calls. On top of all this, exactly 30 days after the HVAC inspection was completed the AC Unit died.

Tony P.

5/15/2018

Our AC died on Saturday, May 12, 2018. I called Magnolia because they advertise 24 hour service. A woman took my information and a description of the problem and said I would receive a return call shortly. The temperature that day hit 90 degrees. Magnolia did not call me that day or the next day. On Monday, I called another service in disgust, and they came out a few hours later and fixed the problem. It is now four days since I called Magnolia and still no return call. I'm never going to call them again.

By the way, the last time Magnolia worked on our AC four years ago, the technician told me that my system would soon need replacing. It was 11 years old at that point. When the technician from a competing firm came out yesterday, I asked how long my now 15 year old system could go and he said indefinitely. I told him what the Magnolia technician said 4 years ago and he said, that's a guy who wants to sell you a new air conditioner. Anyway, you get the point.

Edison W.

12/27/2017

Good quick service.
One very recent night, the fan in my heating/air conditioning unit in my condo unit was not coming on. I could hear something working but no flowing air. Since temps in Wash DC were going to be in teens/single digits I thought I better get this problem fixed pronto. I called Magnolia and they were able to dispatch Sam the Service Guy to my condo within 30 minutes. Within the hour and with the replacement of a (flux) capacitor thing-a-bob that made the fan motor work, air started to flow!
Kudos and thanks to Magnolia for the quick service.

Alex P.

04/12/2016 12:00:00 SA

Called Magnolia to schedule an appointment for a leaky tub. Really quick and easy to schedule an appointment, staff was friendly over the phone. For this reason only, they received two stars.

Magnolia charges a standard $75 service call fee just to come to your home to inspect your issues. A team of two arrived at my home, on time. They proceeded to go into the bathroom and grabbed a large bucket, which I supplied and filled it with water. One of the plumbers places the bucket on the tub and notices separation from the grout where the tub meets with the tiles. He points that out to me and said, that's it. I had asked him if they do grout work he responded back, no we only do heating and plumbing. OK not a big deal, right? I pay them the $75 and do the grout work myself...

A week goes by and I continue to see the stain on my ceiling get bigger and bigger, by this point the ceiling from where the tub is located is bowing. So I call a another plumbing company, he finds the issue immediately. Apparently the clay from where the drainage and tub meets started to dry away and water was seeping through. Charged me $40 for the fix. Since then I've had no issues at all.

I find it ridiculous that Magnolia charges their customers a service call fee, regardless if they fix the problem or not. In this situation, I felt BOTH plumbers were too lazy to further inspect the issue. They just decided to charge me a $75 fee and go about their business.

John K.

4/22/2018

Outrageously expensive. Charged $200 just come a give a quote on three leaking toilets. Then gave an estimate of $900 to fix the three. All that was required was to change the fill Valve and flapper in the tanks. One toilet was kohlrabi (the fill valve costs $10 from Ace and the flapper cost $5 from Ace). The other two toilets for Toto. The fill valve for both of them cost $15 and flapper $7. The total time it took including cleanup for me to replace the fill valves and flapper on all three was 1 hour.
Magnolia plumbing are terribly expensive. There are other better and much cheaper options available. Roto rooter and three other plumbers came over and gave free estimates and charged 60% (~$300) to fix all three toilets.

DONT USE MAGNOLIA!

Angela S.

11/03/2017 12:00:00 SA

This company just lost my business. I had no problems with them 2 years ago but in the past year there have been multiple scheduling issues- I call for an appointment and no one shows up, I call to see what's going on and am told that the appointment was never made. Or I'm told that the service already occurred on another day. I have an annual inspection contract but when I schedule I'm told that there is a fee for the inspection, etc, etc.
I don't know if the scheduling staff is incompetent or if the company is actively trying to scam me into paying twice for the same service. Regardless, I am not hiring them again.

saeed s.

9/18/2019

Avoid this company by all means.They are a rip off they charge 2 1/2 times more than normal.and when requiring about the service their response are very unprofessional. Stay away!!!

Chris T.

09/08/2017 12:00:00 SA

They are very expensive. We had bathroom toilet issues, one is fine but the second still doesn't work well. I wasn't home for visit but came home to $1300 bill. We could have put 2 new toilets for the cost of this experience. It's so hard to find a good honest plumbers and other services.

Talek M.

12/23/2019

Installed equipment worked for a few months. Repeated warranty calls failed to diagnose issues. Cancelled appointments or simply no-show. Technician didn't understand the equipment they sold, repeatedly found unrelated problems - always another excuse. Could hear supervisor on the phone telling tech to make excuses and blame something else in the house. They are professional and reliable for small repairs but never buy serious equipment from them.

Tra H.

8/27/2015

Updated: after the snafu with the customer service people on the phone a couple of days ago, we got a technician to come see our unit. He was actually wonderful! He was efficient, knowledgeable, and took his time to explain to me everything that was wrong. The motor needed to be replaced, and he mentioned that he could come back the next day with the replacement and so the installation, which is quite fast. I was grateful since we have been without AC for a few days. Updating from 1 star to 3 thanks to the great service offered by the technician. Why do they always let people who suck at customer service work at customer service? I wish I had just been able to reach the technician right away, none of the nonsense below would have happened...

Ugh terrible! We had to use this company since the landlord use them. I called at 7:30 to ask for someone to come by and fix our AC. Ok, our technician will get back to you. An hour later, nothing. So I call back. The same woman with the nasty attitude picked up the technician will get back to you. Still nothing. An hour after that (so at this point I had been waiting for TWO HOURS), someone else picked up and immediately re-read the number they got for me on file. Sure enough, they were off by one digit. I was LIVID! That should have been the FIRST thing they check for when I called back the first time! AGH! Now we have to sleep in the 85 degree summer heat because miss attitude was terrible at her job! I would never use these people if it were up to me.

Brenda C.

3/30/2018

I want to edit, I did get a call this morning saying the tech actually did quote me a higher price that wasn't accurate and Magnolia has refunded my $75. I've already had the work done by a local plumber for $200. but I'm very glad that Magnolia made the attempt to make this better. Thank you.

Marisa C.

7/19/2017

The worst contractor we've ever dealt with - uncommunicative, not on time or budget, and doesn't stand by their work. First off, spent about 16k on a terribly-managed project to get functional AC in our house - months behind and thousands over estimate. Then, after expressing concerns about the placement of a mini-split unit (4K-ish) two years ago, and receiving reassurances that it would work perfectly as installed, the unit is now spilling water all over our floor and they want to run a $550 diagnostic test to find out whether there's a leak - to be followed by another $500-$1000 to actually fix it. This is of course not covered under our 1-year warranty, because their installation (not the unit) is expected to last precisely just more than one year?!

p.s. There are also 150-ish reviews of this company with terrible ratings that yelp has deemed unacceptable, but that seem to mirror our experience.

Olivia M.

12/24/2017

Worst service provider experience we have ever had. By far.
Please don't use this company--avoid the stress and wasted money.

Without going in to all the details, this company failed to show for 2 scheduled appointments, wasting our time off work, with no notification or warning. They failed to call. Communication was non existent and when we did finally get someone on the phone she was rude and hung up on us with no call back number provided. Total rip off BS waste of money. This company is shady, stay far away.

Lema S.

02/05/2020 12:00:00 SA

Charged $109 diagnostic fee only to fail to tell me that they would need to cut two holes in my wall which would cost an extra $500 to fix. Was promised a $405 discount by the HVAC supervisor but he failed to keep his promise (bait and switch). New HVAC failed to keep my place warm. Thermostat gave incorrect room temperature. After having a new tech come out to check HVAC it started working better but he swore the first tech did everything correctly (I don't believe this). Water heater stopped working days later so tech came back out. When I asked him to explain to me the problem a second time he gets an attitude saying I already told you. The only reason I went with this company is because my condo board listed them as preferred vendor but their service is disastrous. Advised my board to remove them from our preferred vendor list.

JB F.

11/20/2014

Sam M was my service tech and he and his partner were real pros. Took time to analyze issues. Offered me several good solutions. Discovered some other issues I was unaware and solved them also.

Very professional, good communications, friendly.

The entire Magnolia team from dispatch to techs were great. Highly recommend.

Sophia P.

03/08/2021 12:00:00 SA

I called because my main sewer line was clogged, first problem started when I talked to customer service. They quoted after hours prices even before it was after hours. The technician arrives in a timely manner, listened intently to my problem and concerns. Then he solved the problem and gave me suggestions on how I could get to the reason that I continuously have problem with my sewer line clogging up once a month. A camera view of my sewer line was the possible way to finally find out what keeps causing the backup, something they offer their customers for free a service job. It 's really a problem with offering a service that you can't deliver, customers like me have a right to be unhappy because you have not done what you said you would do and wasted my time four times rescheduling an appointment, only to call me to say other more important jobs caused the technicians inability to complete one simple task at my home.

N C.

9/18/2015

AWFUL COMMUNICATORS. Had a 16k contract with them to rebuild inoperable HVAC system. The work that was performed didn't match the contract, or they didn't perform it, then no one told me of the changes from the contract. No status updates were provided to us as issues were found. What was quoted as a 3-4 day job took a month and a half before it was finally done. Techs missed appointments to do work (and we only got a call from Magnolia after it was missed, not before), or once a tech just showed up without an appointment. The sales folks don't talk to the techs or vice versa, and no one talks to the customers. The customer relations folks were always professional and apologetic, but then things just continued going wrong.

UPDATE MARCH 2016: After living with the new system through a summer and a winter, I should say the new system if amazing efficient. I'm saving almost $100/month in the peak periods.

H B.

01/03/2017 12:00:00 SA

After $1700 I am still sitting in a house that is 60 degrees. I have called several times and no one returns my calls. I contacted the person who did the repair he told me I must not have flushed my radiators (I did). I had to call Amex to stop payment. I will never use them again. Calling another company to try and get heat in my house.

Heather W.

02/02/2018 12:00:00 SA

Magnolia now pressuring me to pay the remaining amount owed even though they acknowledge that repairs are outstanding. Their contractor has failed to make the repairs on 3 separate scheduled appointments, the most recent of which was last week.

I'm sure you have received prices for the repair work that is needed.
Why don't you pay the balance minus the expected repair cost and send us the invoices to confirm the amounts after the repair is complete
This back & forth has been going on for a long time.
We very much would like to get paid on the job so we all can move on.

James D.

11/30/2016

OVERPRICED!!! The work is good, and the technician is efficient, but the company charges a ridiculous overhead as well as the highest estimate pricing (a.k.a. the charge for just showing up) I've ever come across! If you're in a pinch, then by all means go for it, but I can't stress enough that there are far more reasonable plumbers and plumbing companies in the DC area worth calling first.

Matt H.

11/01/2017 12:00:00 SA

Insane. I just spent 15 minutes trying to talk a real person and no one would pick up. I called the Commercial side and they picked up immediately, but just transferred me back in the queue. (I was told by a computer that I was first in line and had to wait 7 minutes.)

Then I tried to book an appointment online. The service pretended to be a real person named Michael but when it gathered my information it just said it had to call my cell. I got excited until the phone call just turned out to be a connection to the same 7-minute queue. (Again I was first in line).

Ryan P.

7/28/2015

Had someone come out on 5-22-15 to find out why my A/C was not cooling down the house properly. He thought I had a short in the wiring and tugged on it and said it was fine. He then charged me over $500 for rewiring the whole system which he did not do. A month later I call to complain and one of the managers came over and said it's been running fine but said because I have an older house it's always gonna be hot on the top level. Never offered to refund any money which I was wrongly charged for.
So I payed $500 for them to tell me it's just an older house and nothing is wrong with the system! How have they been in business for over 60 years??? Worst company I have ever dealt with! They screwed me over and I would advise all to run the opposite way!

Roberto G.

10/01/2016 12:00:00 SA

Perfect service. I called them for a plumbing job. They answered my call on Saturday at 3pm, and the guy (Humberto) came after 3 hours. I guess it's a good response time considering that I called other 4-5 companies that are supposed to provide 24/7 service and nobody answered and returned my call (still waiting). The guy made a clean job, he was respectful, he provided me with a quote before to start, in a few words he was very professional. I cannot say if it was too expensive, of course I paid the overtime, which makes sense, but I cannot compare with other quotes, considering nobody else returned my call. I will recommend them for sure.

Teneisha B.

08/03/2019 12:00:00 SA

DO NOT USE THEM, I REPEAT DO NOT USE THEM!!!

First of all, I wish I would've read the yelp reviews before ever calling this company but we live and learn right. I called magnolia plumbing to find and fix a leak coming from the ceiling on the second level of my house. They send a young lady named Rebecca Flores and although she was nice enough, she was not a licensed plumber or plumber at all for that matter, but a construction worker with only one year of experience at that. Anyway, on the third level of my house, there is a water heater a bathroom and a furnace so any of these could possibly be the cause of the leak. The furnace literally had water around it but the leak on the second level of the house appeared to be under the bathroom. So Rebecca told me it was the toilet after drilling 3 smalls holes in the ceiling and flushing the toilet and seeing that the ceiling leak. I wasn't convinced I thought it may be the furnace. So I turned off the AC and Rebecca repeated the same process with flushing the toilet and then she confidently said: it's definitely the toilet. I was still unsure so I asked her could she cut open a small portion of the ceiling to be sure. She said, it's best not to cut open the ceiling because water seeks to the lowest level so the leak may not be coming from something over that spot and also it's $300. Rebecca told me I really didn't need to get the ceiling cut open because she was pretty sure it was the toilet and then she said I quote I'm trying to save you some money. She said that the wax ring needed to be replaced and possibly the flashing. I asked her AGAIN was she sure, and she said yes, she said this kind of thing happens all the time. So I had the work done for an absurd $484.
The very next day the ceiling was leaking worst. I was highly upset I called Magnolia and I let them know exactly how I felt and I requested a refund but they said they will send someone else out, and I had to specify to them to send a license senior plumber. Before magnolia people came out again I had a real plumber from another company to detect the leak. The first thing the real plumber did was cut open the ceiling where it was leaking and from there you can see the ducts from the furnace was above the leaking ceiling and was the cause. The toilet pipes were literally on the opposite of the house and had absolutely nothing to do with the leak at all. Magnolia people came and saw this. This time they sent 3 people including Rebecca and they all look and took pictures and saw that the work that they did had absolutely nothing to do with the leak. They misdiagnosed me.
I called Magnolia General manager Rick and explained to him at this point I didn't want them touching anything else in my house because now I can't trust that they know what their talking about, the only thing I want is my money back because they misdiagnosed me, despite the fact I did everything I could to avoid that.
Rick said they will not give me my money back because they fixed a leak even though it wasn't the leak I called about. Rick refuses to acknowledge that they misdiagnose me even with evidence. Rick refuses to answer my calls so I have to text to explain myself. They have not as of today offer any type of solution. They refuse to give me even a partial refund. Even if I actually wanted them to send someone else out they said they will charge me full price to work on what they should've been working on in the first place. All because Rebecca Flores miscalculated the reason for my leak and Magnolia refuses to acknowledge that I am $484 short and I still have the same leak from 2 weeks ago and no word from Magnolia to try to resolve the situation.

David T.

5/20/2015

I'm 0/2 on plumbers in DC. Magnolia got the job done, but at a super hefty price, and with rude, unprofessional service.

First visit, plumber was an hour later than what dispatch told me. When he arrived, he complained heavily about traffic and parking. We live in a metropolitan area. Sorry. He looked at the leaky toilet for about two minutes and then made a long call to his sales rep mocking the toilet. Immediately the answer was an $1150 replacement, because he didn't know if he could fix the problem.

Took nearly four days for the plubmer to find a part and several calls back to check on the next steps.

Second visit, once convinced to do a fix on the toilet, plumber is again over an hour late. Makes a quick part replacement and voila! Toilet fixed. It took all of 15 minutes and was only one part, but somehow cost $580. The plumber was again super aggressive in pushing for a replacement toilet and refused to provide a warrantee on parts or labor. My landlord since resolved this with the owner, who said the part and labor would have a 1-year warantee.

Overall a somewhat frustrating experience, poor customer service, but my toilet works so that's worth at least a star and a half.

Steph F.

11/06/2019 12:00:00 SA

Called Magnolia in the morning for two non-emergency issues - leaky pipe under the kitchen sink and running toilet. Rebecca Flores came in the afternoon, diagnosed the problems and gave me options and costs. She then fixed both problems efficiently and professionally. I would highly recommend Magnolia, and in particular, Rebecca. Many thanks!

E A.

11/13/2016

Magnolia was recommended to me by a friend and they delivered. Firstly, Jennifer took my call and was helpful and answered every question I had. Darrell was the technician dispatched and he was timely, professional, very knowledgeable and most importantly-- honest. I have a recurring flooding problem and to the best of his assessment, it wasn't something that could be fixed within my unit. The cause is happening outside of my unit. I really appreciated all the time, information and patience he provided because it allowed me to figure out my next step towards resolution. The dispatch call costed $75 which is pretty common. Since I didn't have any work done, I can't give feedback on whether or not the prices would be fair. I did sign up for their annual HVAC inspection service. I'll post an update when they return and complete the work.

Nadia B.

08/06/2019 12:00:00 SA

Very dishonest company. Financial abuse if one is elderly.Be careful and check other companies.

Greg Q.

5/27/2014

I never thought that I could be so impressed with a HVAC repair company. Magnolia had to come out last week to take a look at our AC. Everyone was extremely professional from the person taking my appointment to the two technicians that they sent out. They gave a two hour window, called when they were on their way, and got to our house about 20 minutes into the window. They had the right equipment to resolve the issue during the first visit. Everything works great now. They even called after the appointment to check-in on how things were working.

I will definitely be using these folks again. They really were great!

Jen G.

5/15/2014

Last year our AC went out during a massive heat wave and Magnolia was the only one we could get to our condo to fix it. This year, when our unit went out again, we called Magnolia and they gave us an appt right away. Their staff is very professional, prompt and considerate. Russ came out to our place yesterday and he was super informative about the issue and was sincere about the need to replace our unit. He let me know he would have someone call me to set up an estimate visit so we would know exactly what to expect as far as costs, etc..
Our AC is working wonderfully now - just in time for what I'm sure will be several heat waves this summer in DC.
I highly recommend Magnolia Plumbing. Every time they have come out they have been great!

Ted B.

12/15/2018

Had Magnolia (specifically, Jermaine Wingfield) come to my condo to install a below sink water purification unit on December 5. It's the kind of job that should take a professional an hour, maximum. Magnolia charges $75 for an initial inspection, so when Wingfield showed up on the day, I expected he'd have all the parts. It took him four hours to install the unit, and he made a huge deal out of minor things -- I'm not sure I can connect this piece of pipe to that piece. . . . Oh, I know, I'll use hose clamps! -- as though this was some sort of amazing idea. He managed to break the unit while installing it, and didn't have the wrench he said he needed to tighten it into place, so it was leaking even when he left (even though the water was supposedly turned off). I bought the wrench, but he'd installed the unit in a corner so the wrench wouldn't fit. And now, now only does my sink leak, my dishwasher (which was working fine before he started messing around back there) does too. Oh, and my neighbors caught him snooping around in the packages in the entryway, after which several things they were expecting to receive unexpectedly 'went missing.' He's incompetent, a bad plumber, very slow, clumsy, and probably a thief. Avoid him and this company at all costs.

Rob L.

08/01/2017 12:00:00 SA

I would not recommend this company. We called to have them fix a malfunctioning AC unit, and they sent a technician. Despite charging $109 to do an assessment, the technician did not provide a breakdown of what needed to be done or, more importantly, how much it would cost to complete the work until AFTER he had already completed the job. In my experiences with other companies, they complete an assessment and then provide a quote before doing the actual work. That didn't happen. After draining a clogged pipe and installing a flood detector, the technician told me that it would be $750 for everything. I assumed I would receive an invoice--again an assumption I made from my dealings with similar companies and life in general--but before I had a chance to review the cost breakdown, they charged my credit card that I had provided when scheduling the service. The technician also left a solid half-inch of water at the base of the unit and told me that it would evaporate over time, despite being in a closed, dark closet.

I called immediately the day after the service and was told I would receive a call back the next day. Fast forward to three days later and I had still not received a call back, so I went ahead and called again. The first time I got through and explained the situation, only to be hung up on by the person I was talking to. After a few minutes and no attempt to call me back, I called a third time. The same person eventually picked up, but was combative and repeatedly interrupted me while I tried to explain my concerns. She ultimately told me there was nothing she could do for me, and that they charged what they charged because they had to stay in business. After finally receiving an invoice, I compared the flood detector they installed with prices online, only to discover that they charged me about 6 times the amount for the exact same part had I bought it anywhere else.

I understand that this is DC and everything is more expensive, but to charge $750 for an hour of work to drain a pipe and replace a small external part seems excessive. That said, the AC unit is working fine. If you're willing to pay an exorbitant amount for basic service and terrible customer relations, this may be the place for you!

David D.

8/14/2015

Miserable experience. They canceled on me twice without telling me.

If you have a 2 hour appointment window, call them to confirm your appointment at least an hour before your appointment, because they won't bother reminding you or showing up!

Raznorodni R.

1/28/2018

Incompetent, horrific and cheating. Just several words that come to mind when I want to describe my experience with this company.
Magnolia Plumbing has been servicing my water heater for many years and since I live out of state and rent out my unit I haven't had a chance to replace them as a service company. No more!!!

I called Magnolia to to determine the reason for water pooling in a water heater pan. My credit card number was requested by the scheduling department and I was assured that no charges will be placed on it without my authorization. The technician did come on time and called me to tell me that the water heater was leaking and needed to be replaced. The water heater that Magnolia installed 4 years ago. But wait, now they claim they didn't have a record of every replacing my water heater
so they didn't want to take responsibility for the replacement and warranty. Well, 4 years is way too soon for a water heater to be replaced so I did bother this time to call another company to get a second opinion. Surprise, surprise, the water heater was not leaking. It was a pipe above the water heater that was dripping water into the pan. Fixed in 10 minutes, done.

Now the interesting part. I was not only charged for an incompetent service call but my card was charged additional $421 for no reason. After I placed a call to Magnolia I was told that, they had no record of it. How convenient. Why don't we cheat our customers into buying a new water heater, charge their credit cards and then claim we don't have a record of it. Great way to get some money out of our customers hoping they are not going to review their credit card statements.

Save yourself time, energy and money and go somewhere else. The bombastic statements about quality of work the company puts out and the I regret you were disappointed messages from the owner obviously do not do any good to the customers.

Genelle F.

6/30/2014

Russ did a fantastic job. He was very professional and got the job done quickly. My AC is working again and I'm happy. My only issue was that it took a couple of tries to get through to customer service and make an appointment.

Updated review:
So I had another HVAC issue. The customer service issue was pretty quick and efficient this time!..so I'll bump it up to a 5. Gary, my technician, did a great job. He was very friendly, professional, and knowledgeable. I will definitely request him again if I have another HVAC issue in the future (hopefully years and years from now)...

MV P.

5/19/2019

I paid top dollar for a new system in 2015. Sadly it has been nothing but problems since then. The magnolia answering service has been rude and unresponsive. Dealing with their own employees is better, but they have not been able to fix the problem in 4 years. I am very disappointed.

Carter M.

03/11/2019 12:00:00 SA

Humberto and Kevin were prompt in their response and did excellent work following a clog in our main drain. We called multiple other providers with minimal or no success in getting ahold of anyone. Magnolia was responsive, explained everything they were going to do, transparent about the cost, and worked extremely hard to ensure no damage or spillage happened during the service. His team also installed our backflow prevention valve several months ago and did a high quality, efficient job while ensuring our home was minimally disrupted. I can't recommend Humberto, Kevin, and the rest of their team enough!

Steph F.

06/06/2019 12:00:00 SA

Carlos Reed (HVAC technician) was great at explaining everything that was broken with my heating/AC system and giving me the options with a pricing break down.

Marybeth M.

12/16/2014

I don't know where to start.

I am a renter, and my three roommates weren't home when the plumber (Magnolia) arrived. Our landlord had called Magnolia; given the ratings, I would never have done so. This was later at night (8:30 or so), so I get that the plumber probably is not excited to be working.

The first red flag was that after I opened the door for him, I was asked, Tell me what's up. No handshake, no name introduction. I still don't know his name. When I started explaining my problems to him, he would cut me off half way through my sentences. I wasn't rambling, and I get that he might have an idea of what's going on, but it was rude. He then explained (politely) what was wrong-- the main line was clogged and he would have to snake it. I told him that my landlord had done so. Again, in the middle of my sentence, he starts calling my landlord, asks to see the front of the house, and walks outside without saying a word to me. I then proceed to listen to 15 minutes of him shouting on the phone. At this point, I had looked up Magnolia and was wary because of some of these reviews.

After I stopped hearing shouting, I went outside and asked him what he was going to do. He again politely explained the drain to me. I asked him how much it would cost; he said $535! I had done some quick research about main line draining, and I had not seen a single estimate above $250. I realize that he does not set the prices, but I said, Wow, that seems like a lot...everything I saw was around $250, hoping that he could offer me some explanation. Instead, I received a grin and, Not at Magnolia! Quite frankly, this completely proved the intentional overcharging discussed in other reviews.

I went back inside and communicated with my landlord and roommates about the cost and how uncomfortable I was feeling. I then listened to another 15 minutes of the plumber outside shouting on the phone. He came back inside and asked me to sign a paper. I was very uncomfortable doing so for two reasons. 1) This paper was an invoice with spaces for prices, etc. but with NO prices listed. My landlord had told me he had got them to a lower price, but I wanted confirmation from the plumber before I signed my name to anything. 2) He walked in and said, I need you to sign this. A plumber should be clear about what you're signing and what the next steps are. When I asked him to explain what I was signing and expressed my concerns that I didn't know the end price, he exploded and began to wave his arms around.

This is normal! I should never have even come here! My boss is yelling at me and your landlord is using us, and I'm just in the middle! I really hate people telling me that I'm stupid! (That last part was a theme.)

Please note that I tried to be extremely friendly throughout the entire interaction. I understand that he is not in charge and may be stressed by his boss. That was my initial reason for being friendly. However, my reason for being friendly and playing the ditzy woman after he shouted at me was out of fear. He was a man twice my size who does physical labor for a living, who has just demonstrated that 15-20 minutes of conflict with his boss will lead him to shout and wave his arms at a customer who has NEVER raised her voice.

Note: I'm not saying that he would have been violent. He seemed like an egotistical guy who doesn't understand customer service. But...I have my physical safety to worry about. Finally wrote down the price, scribbled his notes, and left (or so I thought). Came back 10 minutes later to plug in his machine again because he decided to double check the drain to make sure everything was cleared-- something that he didn't do when found the initial clog was found because he was too angry to do so.

I get it, I'm a renter. The plumber was stuck in the middle between me, my landlord, and his boss. But guess what? At the end of the day, I have to pay for the service. Don't ignore me, don't shout at me. I asked perfectly normal, polite questions about the service I was paying for. I don't think the plumber was a horrible person, as he did respond to some of my questions about what he was going to do politely (although his obsession with saying the word tampon over and over and over again was really weird-- I get it, some people are stupid and flush tampons! You don't need to repeat it 10x!). But he either has restraint issues or is treated terribly by management and is at the end of his rope. In either case, it reflects poorly on the business.

Conclusion: Rude, unprofessional, sometimes scary, overcharges (they were going to charge over $500 for something that is only 20 minutes of work and is quoted significantly cheaper everywhere else). Never again.

Patrick B.

10/19/2018

Magnolia came highly recommended by my neighborhood blog, so I set up an appointment, even though the cost to just show up was going to be $147. The appointment window was 8-10 a.m. later that week. They called the night before to confirm the appointment. On the day of, I called at 7:52 to ask if I would get a heads-up call when they were on their way. I was second in queue with a wait time of 1 min. I waited 9 min and hung up. I called again to select the option of having them call me back, by hitting the # key. I did that and nothing happened....the recorded messages just kept playing. They did not show up on time. At 10:23 someone called to ask if anyone was home. I was already on to my next commitment for the day. I am not impressed. I should have read the other negative reviews on Yelp. Maybe I dodged a bullet.

Yael N.

09/10/2019 12:00:00 SA

The worse company ever
We scheduled an appointment with them for a job in our bathtub, they gave us 2 hours window of when they will come. 5 minutes before the end of the 2 hours they called to say they won't make it because they got stuck with some other work. OK, it happens.
The second time they didn't show up and didn't even bother to call and cancel so we called them. They said that our appointment with them was pending in their system, although they scheduled with us the time a final time.
So we scheduled a 3rd time.
20 minutes before the end of the 2 hours window, we called to see what was going on, since they were supposed to call us 30 minutes before they arrive.
First, it was, Yes, I see there are busy today after I explain it was the 3rd time we scheduled with them it was They will arrive in 10 minutes. Then it was, But we don't actually give the service you need.
Why bother scheduling with us 3(!!) times if you can't even fix it. Why make us waste 6 hours of our life for nothing.
Never ever again will I be trying even to use this company. And I would definitely not recommend it for anyone!

Robert C.

04/12/2019 12:00:00 SA

I have been using Magnolia for my HVAC and plumbing needs for about a year now. They've been great at diagnosing and fixing the issues at our property. Saeid has been especially helpful with our HVAC needs; so much so, that when I call to schedule our semi annual maintenance or repairs, I request him specifically. He is very knowledgeable and helpful in explaining things to me. I would highly recommend Magnolia and especially Saeid.

Jamie A.

07/11/2014 12:00:00 SA

Pros
-Came out to my house the next day to help with my plumbing emergency
-Professional and courteous on the phone and in person. Respectful.

Cons
-Arrived two hours before the appointment when I wasn't home and called multiple times asking if tech could come in early
-Tech refused to take the coupon I had printed from the company's website, even though I asked when making the appointment if I could apply this particular coupon
-Requested to be reimbursed for the coupon with the manager; he stated he would reimburse me and never did
-Price for service seemed high; I got a second opinion from another company who did an excellent job for literally HALF the price and no exorbitant consultation fee (also came the next day)

Would not recommend. Not trustworthy. I can't attest to the quality of their work, but I know it would be overpriced.

Mike H.

8/23/2019

I called Magnolia to come look at the AC unit in my condo which had stopped cooling. They looked at the unit and told me I needed a brand new AC unit and then proceeded to send me a quote for $9,400!! Luckily I got a second opinion. The second company came in and diagnosed a simple electrical problem and had the system working again in 15 min for $150. After this experience I definitely will never trust Magnolia again.

Izzie S.

05/05/2016 12:00:00 SA

Felix S. w Magnolia is wonderful!! Super professional, thorough, really knowledgeable. Had a great experience with both Phone reps.

Jimani M.

09/05/2014 12:00:00 SA

I had another more professional plumbing company come out and they confirmed that Magnolia Plumbing DID NOT even snake the drain properly. They got out loads of stuff in the drain that would have never built up within a week. I should have been down there with the Magnolia Plumbers to see exactly what they were doing.

This is really sad. If you want a great plumber please use Steven's Plumbing instead which is very close in proximity to Magnolia Plumbing. THEY ARE MUCH CHEAPER TOO! They didn't just come on time, they came early, properly diagnosed the issue and did not charge me an arm and a leg like Magnolia Plumbing did.

Meg S.

8/24/2016

My experience with Magnolia was great on every front except the price, which was so incredibly high that I will never use them again. My company provides construction management services and has hired Magnolia on jobs several times. Unfortunately, I didn't find out until too late that we've recently stopped using them because their pricing has gotten out of control.

My job was very simple: my kitchen faucet needed to be replaced (which also required removal and reinstallation of the garbage disposal). I already had a new faucet, so Magnolia was only providing labor. The plumber arrived within the given time window and was polite and professional while doing his work. The entire job took about one hour and ten minutes and I was charged over $530 in addition to the $75 up-front service fee! (For comparison: a friend recently had the same work done in Raleigh, NC and was charged $100 total.)

(Note: Magnolia's prices are based on a flat fee per job rather than an hourly rate.)

When I called the office later to discuss the fee, the only solution Magnolia offered was that I could sign up retroactively for their annual service plan for $125, which gives a 15% discount and waives the service fee. I declined, since a 15% discount on their prices is still way above market value.

I wish my circumstances had allowed me to decline their services after hearing the quote, but I hope my review will help others to make a more wallet-friendly choice when selecting a plumber.

Rahul J.

6/18/2013

My landlord called Magnolia to fix a leak in my garbage disposal unit. As the unit had a crack, it had to be replaced - quote $660 for a $80 unit (I checked the prices online and my old receipt). This is for a 30-60mins max. change job (that's what it took last time and confirmed online) - this unit was replaced 2 years ago at $250 all inclusive (by a licensed, insured, bonded plumber) so I politely DECLINED to ripped-off and paid them their $75 dispatch fee. So that's about $550 labor for 30mins work? =$1100 /hr or at best $550 / hr?. BTW don't buy the this is what the book says is the price BS - OLDEST TRICK IN THE BOOK.

$1100 an hour for plumbing? This is not brain surgery. This madness has to stop. Contact an independent plumber or a handyman for small uncomplicated jobs like this. Even though my landlord was paying for this job, I could not let her pay these outrageous charges. Similar situation with someone who wanted $200 to hang a lamp...handyman did it for $50.

AND YES, the plumber who fixed it last time was licensed, bonded and insured. We called him right back and got it changed for $275.

Stefanie S.

8/27/2016

Do yourself a favor and don't call. I submitted a contact form online early Friday morning and received a call on my cell to schedule a same day appointment. Great, I thought. No AC and needed someone right away. He showed up and charged $89 only to be told to turn off system and that he would be back next day between 10-2. It's 100 degrees in my house, and no way we can stay home. I asked that he call my cell when he was on the way so we could be home. He said sure, no problem. Well, no call. Just to be safe WE called to check status. Was told he would arrive in 20 min. We arrived home in 15 min and waited. No arrival. No show. We call again and was told he left. How can that be? We arrived within 15. Apparently he waited 15 min a left. Hard to believe. No repair. Out $89. And now we are calling other companies to repair.

Dan B.

11/03/2017 12:00:00 SA

I'm revising my rating based on my followup experience with the company. The day after posting my original review, I received a call from someone in the customer service department. I was expecting him to threaten litigation or something for the bad review (not really, but was expecting the worst) but the rep acknowledged that the tech messed up, the quote should have been a much more reasonable $289, and that they were following up to make sure this type of mistake doesn't happen again. They also refunded the $134, but I was more impressed with the fact that they owned the mistake without trying to offer explanations or justifications. Given the followup experience, I'll probably give Magnolia another chance in the future, but will be wary.

Ian W.

10/17/2015

The positive for magnolia is that they are 24 hours and their staff are generally nice and agreeable.
The downside is that their business model drives their prices sky high, forcing them to charge $75 as soon as they walk through the door.

We've used them for heating and HVAC in the past and had some questions about pricing but this last experience highlights the issue.
All we needed was an uninstall and install of a dishwasher. When we called they refused to give us pricing, instead citing that these jobs are too complex to quote over the phone. There is of course a $75 standard fee for showing up.
The technician shows up and says that the job will cost $460 + $75 visit. Magnolia I think does this because many customers operate on the sunk cost fallacy, but a sears installation costs $170. We end up just paying the $75 and moving on but the experience speaks to how elevated their pricing list is, which to me is the biggest issue.
We have other examples from a string of heating issues we experienced as well.
The company's justification when I ask is that they are larger than other local providers so their overhead drives up costs. This seems to stand at odds with my understanding of economies of scale.

In closing. Fine to use as a company but get ready to pay more than you should.

Lucrecia R.

12/05/2017 12:00:00 SA

When calling Magnolia make sure you use the right terminology. I have an old furnace that has been working perfectly for the past 18 years because I get it service yearly. In early October, I requested maintenance/service on my furnace, to me that means, just that, maintaining the furnace such as: cleaning the furnace burner and heat exchanger, check the pilot assembly, vacuum and brush the blower blades, clean the flame sensor, ensure proper airflow and vacuum the unit.
Inspection is a quick check to give reasonable assurance that the furnace is working properly and operable. I did not ask for an inspection because I know that my furnace works and it has been working fine since I get it serviced every year. So I paid $147 for them to tell me what I already know, that I have an old furnace (but still works) and I needed to replace it along with the hot water heater which also works perfectly. I called to complain about this and about the fact that I requested maintenance/service not an inspection. At first I was offered a refund, later when I called to check on the refund they told me it takes 7-10 days and for me to call back. I called back again and they tell me the charges stand you're got an inspection (that I did not asked for) and no refund is due. Needless to say I will never use their services ever again. I end up using the same company I used last year who also agreed that my furnace is old, however they performed the service I asked them to perform, SERVICE/MAINTENANCE.

Mike C.

11/25/2017

Had a great experience with Darrell Slayton -- came out on short notice to repair and replace a wax ring. Did a great, professional job on that, then the old gasket on the toilet had some issues after putting it back together. Darrell came back the same day to promptly take care of the leak. Friendly and efficient work, thanks!

Rebecca F.

08/06/2015 12:00:00 SA

I've used these guys twice now and while they're not the least expensive game in town, they're also two of the things that matter the most: reliable and helpful. I found it easy to schedule an appointment with them, easy to reach when I had questions and my technician - who walked into a job unexpectedly long and arduous - was outstandingly patient and spend a great deal of his afternoon trapped in my laundry cubby behind my washed and dryer without complaint. Thrilled to have someone I can trust to get a job done. Would highly recommend.

Michael W.

7/31/2015

Sam M. did an excellent job diagnosing my A/C and replacing my unit. He answered my questions well and made me feel comfortable with the work done. Sam and his team were quick to do the work and kept everything clean and nice. While the cost is a little higher, I am comfortable with knowing that it was done right and is properly warrantied.

Nancy F.

01/06/2018 12:00:00 SA

I do not enter reviews but I have wasted almost 4 hours sitting at home waiting for someone to repair my heater when I had an appointment scheduled for a 2-hour period today. I had a contract on my home so Magnolia has completed work for me before. They will not be doing work for me again. They repaired my heater last winter and it needs repair again. And yet, now, no one even shows up.

Sharon M.

2/23/2018

Excellent service from Tran and Ebony. Ebony called to coordinate an earlier appointment which cancelled out my wait time. Tran was very nice and very knowledgeable of my old furnace. After fixing the issue, he cleaned the furnace and made the furnace operate and sound so much more efficiently. He also gave me some tips on furnace, checked for carbon dioxide based on a concern I had. Everything was ok and I was more than satisfied with his service. I would call Magnolia again to check on my furnace in the future.

Carol L.

07/10/2018 12:00:00 SA

I pity anyone who calls Magnolia Plumbing needing help with their AC. Our family was charged $2,600 for leak repair and that repair failed within days in sweltering summer. We have had multiple repairman come out with various conflicting explanations and 5 weeks later we still have no reliable working AC. Horrendous. A neighbor warned us that they also had a terrible experience and we should have been more cautious. My husband has been so patient and wasted countless hours on phone calls and talking and meeting with staff. Why can't this company just be honest , return our money and admit the obvious: you are not fixing our AC problem, you are only extending it.

Jeanne R.

5/17/2018

We have been disappointed with Magnolia's AC capabilities. On their 1st-ever maintenance service call, they changed the terms of their contract and had us ordering the wrong air filters. Their technician then charged an additional $1400 for us to find out the next warm day that our upstairs AC unit is now inoperable. After admitting responsibility for a misdiagnosis and overcharging the system on a cold day, we receive a token refund and promises of a more qualified technician to complete the original maintenance service. Instead we get an installation quote of $13k for a new system we don't need. With many unanswered calls along the way, we've given up on Magnolia.

Mike S.

8/21/2015

Had an AC issue related to condensation not properly pumping out of our unit. A call at 7:30 am had our tech (Sam) to the house by 9:30. He proceeded to quickly diagnose the issue, switched out the pipe that was causing the problem with a transparent setup that had a safety switch, and then measured the system. While the main problem was fixed, he also felt the system wasn't running correctly, and found that our freon was just a bit low. Extremely professional, very fast, and ultimately reasonably priced. This was our second experience with Magnolia (the first being with their plumbing team) and I am so happy with each interaction that I will never use anyone else again. Highly recommend.

Morgan L.

2/19/2016

I am disappointed in this business, after one good interaction with them and one extremely poor one. Their prices are outrageous, and they are unwilling to negotiate even after I paid the $75 fee and called to confront them with many other more competitive pricing options available from their competitors.

Initially, we had them come to replace a dripping faucet in our shower. The technician who came to our house was friendly and professional, he took apart the shower handle and valves and discovered he needed a different part, and so returned a day later to complete the job. The price was steep but not far above what we'd expected, living in a large city. Overall, a 4 star experience.

So, when our garbage disposal broke, we called them back and Felix came the next day. He pulled out his price book, and quoted me $549 to replace it. The disposal itself costs $85 (we had looked it up beforehand), so I told him this seemed outrageous, more than double what we'd anticipated paying. He showed me the price in the book, at which point it magically became only $504, still far higher than I felt this job was worth. He told me there was no way he could negotiate pricing, but I should try calling the company. I did this, and was told that the price is non-negociable, that they can't account for what all those other plumbers are quoting me for the job, but that I should be assured their pricing is competitive. Unfortunately for them, this is just not the case, as calls to 3 other plumbers assured me, and even with the lost $75 our total replacement cost will still be below their outrageous quote. Over the phone I was offered the discount price of only $469 if we are willing to become members for only $125 more. Obviously I will never be doing business with this company again, and I suggest you don't either.

Sara H.

6/17/2015

Magnolia had Kenny H. come out and assist me this morning to replace my hose bibs which had been damaged despite winterizing due to this horrible past winter! Kenny was fantastic - personable, quick and high quality. Kenny was very patient when he walked me through after he fixed my hose bibs - tested them with me and answered all of my questions in a very clear, concise and not confusing manner! Magnolia and Kenny were fantastic! I would recommend them in a second - just as my neighbor recommend them to me!

Yoav K.

4/30/2016

After years of dealing with dozens of horrible (and or expensive) plumbers in the DC area....Magnolia to the rescue! Antoine showed up within an hour of calling (on a Saturday afternoon) and was quick, professional, and didn't try to rip us off.

Lee M.

5/17/2018

Buyer beware. They charge a $75 dispatch fee that does not get applied to the cost of the repair. When they quote the repair price they conveniently neglect to mention the additional charge. It cost me $200 for them to light a pilot light. Took 20 minutes. When I called to question the charge they said they'd get back to me and never did. I called twice more and was told that they wouldn't credit the $75. They did offer me a gift card for future use but I would NEVER use them again. Other HVAC companies charge $130 for the same service with no dispatch fee. You can do better.

Barbara G.

3/14/2016

My previously raving review is marred by the fact that we've had trouble with the furnace they installed for the past 4 months. They've come out no less than 10 times before finally getting to the bottom of the issue. They said our chimney needed servicing but couldn't they have detected that visit number 2 or 3? Won't be using them in the future.

Eric W.

4/24/2015

I had a kitchen job (faucet and valves), called Magnolia in the morning and they got me an appointment in the afternoon. All communication was very clear and timely. Jim B. was performing the service and he gets 5 stars. Work was done well and efficiently. Jim is very personable and good to deal with. There were no surprises and we're happy to have everything working as it should.
The only reason I'm not giving 5 stars on the review is because of the price. I knew it wasn't going to be cheap and I can't say I can compare it to another plumber, so I'm not sure what price I could have gotten elsewhere. But all work was done well and in a timely fashion so no complaints. I'll pay for no hassles and no surprises. Thanks, Magnolia.

Bree R.

05/11/2015 12:00:00 SA

My husband & i recently had a GREAT experience with Chris at Magnolia. He came on time, fixed our issue & was communicative through the whole appt. When we came back home later in the day, the AC was off again - I called Chris and he came right back (even going to Home Depot to get supplies) and fixed the secondary issue. He even checked out the diagnosis that another company gave us (that our units were mismatched wrt coils & that we should buy a new compressor....) instead of telling us we needed a new (5k +) compressor, Chris fixed our issues for $300. He was great & we would certainly use Magnolia again!

Tito L.

4/22/2015

Sam M and his team were excellent professionals when checking out our HVAC unit. Showed up early and diagnosed + fixed the issue in less than 30 minutes.

Sarah F.

10/16/2016

I had another air conditioner repair person come and we found this company intentionally tampered with the air conditioner in order to damage it and get more money. Other people have had similar experiences. Do not use this company.

Ira T.

05/12/2015 12:00:00 SA

I had a higher efficiency Lennox central air installed by Magnolia and was very happy with both the work and the unit.

I have an older Adams Morgan row house and by its nature doing work in older homes tends to have its complications.

Magnolia replaced my original 16-year old air conditioning system that had never been installed right, with a new more efficient Lennox model and the work involved hiring a crane to lift a new unit to the roof, replacing the old one and replacing an attic air exchanger, then connecting up to the old ducts.

Pulling down the old heat exchanger, replacing it with a new one and working out kinks can always be a challenge and getting the heat exchanger into the attic turned out to be a little more complicated and take a little more time than we first envisioned.

But unlike my first installer from 16 years ago who disappeared for weeks when the going got a little tough, Magnolia's people offered no protests or complaints and showed up every day on time, even when the expected two day job took a little longer.

When I had some concern about some noise I heard, they rushed to resolve that too.

I couldn't have had a better experience with Magnolia.

The only thing that made me even happier was that the work was completed on a Thursday of a relatively cool week in DC in which I needed no air condition and on Sunday when the temperature approached 80 something outside, I came home from a weekend trip, and could hit one button and have working air conditioning.

Donald T.

4/26/2010

I called to have a septic tank pumped. (Northern Virginia) First, it took nearly a week to schedule. I called mid-day Tuesday. First, they need a minimum of 48 hours to schedule. That brought us to Friday. But on Friday, they told me, they do truck inspections at the beginning of the day. So I figured I'd play it safe and go for the following Monday. The truck was supposed to show between 9 am and noon, but the woman on the phone--Tracy--said that it should be much closer to 9 am, since it was (I believe) just the second appointment of the day.

At 10:30 on Monday--no truck yet--I called to check on the status. I was told that another truck had had a flat tire, and my truck had to help out with it. But that was all complete, and the truck was on its way. Should be there by 11:30 at the latest. At 12:10, no truck. I called again. Tracy was on the phone with another customer, but the guy I spoke to said he'd pass Tracy a note. He came back on and said the truck should be there within 45 minutes. I said I was skeptical, because at 10:30 I'd been told it was on its way. He got very defensive and said, Those things happen. He asked if I wanted to reschedule (I'd already taken 3 hours off from work.) I told him I'd reschedule . . . with another company.

Joseph Y.

2/25/2015

Sam M was my service tech and he did a great job. I came home from work to find that my furnace wasn't working and the temperature in my house was 45 degrees. Sam came out at almost 9pm to check on my furnace and diagnosed the problem within minutes. Sam was able to get me a quote the next day and make the repair in an efficient manner.

Aaron S.

3/24/2018

These guys misdiagnosed the problem, they quoted 2600 to fix a boiler system. Replace valves and circulation pump (which he claimed had failed). Needless to say I got a second opinion. The new guy took some voltage readings and determined that the aquastat had failed. I replaced the aquastat and it works like a charm. Not sure if it was incompetence in the bad diagnose or intentional bloating of repairs and price. Either way, avoid this company.

Meg G.

09/06/2010 12:00:00 SA

Labor Day's here again... and certain people not only do their job well, but keep a pleasant demeanor while working. If the technician who came by to help out with a potential AC disaster is any indication of how Magnolia Plumbing serves their customers, then this company should have an excellent reputation in town.

Growing up in Houston heat with ceiling fans in almost every room certainly spoiled me. Central AC was something I knew I had to monitor much more during the summer months, but when the optimal temperature is never achieved - it's time to make a call. It turned out that I didn't have as much of a problem as I thought. I got a lesson on how to fight the DC humidity and conserve energy - without going for broke, in the meantime.

Melissa S.

4/13/2018

We used Magnolia a few years back and they were terrible! They will take your fee and do nothing in return! Go with anyone else, most give free estimates they do not!

Jonathan M.

01/10/2015 12:00:00 SA

Chris and Josh are excellent service technicians. They are professional, knowledgeable, efficient, and they save me thousands of dollars over the competition. I highly recommend Magnolia. Ask to have Chris.

Angela D.

09/03/2015 12:00:00 SA

My air handler was leaking water at 1am on a weekend. I submitted an emergency request online. Magnolia called me around 8am to schedule an appointment. Technician arrived within the window specified. Great service.

Kimberly P.

12/06/2014 12:00:00 SA

Shot out to Samuel James M, who very quickly and efficiently fixed my HVAC in December. The back story: Washington Gas replaced our neighborhood's gas lines. All is good, but my furnace would't start again. After confirming that gas was getting into all of our units, they told me it was a coincidental appliance problem and I had to call a contractor. Sam came and diagnosed the problem quickly. Instead a full stream of initial gas, there was probably a small stream resulting in low gas pressure into the system. After the flame didn't ignite, the system shuts itself off as a safety precaution and needs someone to open up the panel board and turn it on again. The HVAC repair was able to do this in a few minutes on a diagnostic fee. I just wish Washington Gas would pay the bill!!!

Ariel L.

2/26/2015

If I were rating Kenny only, it would be 5 stars but I has issues with my appointment when it was made with the schedulers at Magnolia. I was given a 1-4pm time range, took off from work, and no one ever came. When I called back I was told an account was set up but no work order was ever submitted. Then I was told someone would be over by 5pm, which didn't happen. After another call, I was told someone would be over by 6pm. Because of the hassle they waived the dispatch fee.

Kenny came over and he was excellent. He was professional, thorough, and had a good sense of humor. He was patient in answering my questions and explained not only what he needed to do to fix the 2 broken pipes in my kitchen, but also recommended what the necessary long term changes I would need to make to make sure I wouldn't have the same problem again.

I am happy with his work and despite the scheduling mishap with the office, I will use Magnolia Plumbing again.

Aaron B.

12/15/2014

Called for a kitchen faucet replacement and they came out the next day. On the day of the appointment, the company called and wanted to send the technician out early. Yes -- early. Typically, you wait until the very end of the scheduled window and are lucky if someone makes it. Not with Magnolia. The technician finished the job in about 15 minutes. I thought the charge was a little high ($400), but I compared it to other companies online and it appeared to be in the ballpark. And it's worth paying a little extra for prompt service. I will use this company again.

Marcus D.

12/10/2015 12:00:00 SA

Pros: 1.They came out same day. 2. The dispatchers were great. They were very pleasant and they were essentially in constant communication with me about the location of the technician. 3. The plumber was knowledgeable and friendly. Also arrived in the given time window.

Cons: Pricing was very high. I needed the job done that day and am confident it was done well, but generously allowing for parts and business overhead, the hourly rate for labor would exceed the world's leading neurosurgeon. And that was after negotiating down.

I would consider using them again if I had to, but next time I'll look elsewhere first.

Hampton S.

07/03/2010 12:00:00 SA

Called one evening for assistance in reconnecting a rewired washer/dryer unit upstairs in my new place. As I was the victim of what became my Personal Katrina in my old basement unit in Dupont when the neighbors failed to connect theirs properly (I built levees out of bed linens and towels), I wanted to make sure it was right. People on the phone were very nice and professional; I was called back within an hour and had someone here the next morning who went all-out to make sure everything was OK, including cramming himself into the back of the laundry room through a sliced hole in the drywall and the (unsliced) studs in the wall.

Pricey, but I know everything works properly, and still cheaper than a flood of water through my floors and ceilings.

Mike P.

9/14/2015

They are way overpriced!! Better finding another HVAC Contractor. They like to trick people and show people the problem but itself is not the problem, It was something else

I also asked for for quote for AC Unit and Furnace system. They charged 2k more than other companies that I asked for quotes.

Susan B.

04/07/2016 12:00:00 SA

Terrible experience. People very nice, but diagnosis was wrong. Magnolia wanted to do unnecessary replacements of valves for $2000. Another plumber repaired the issue for $173.

Had slow leak in shutoff water pipes in basement. Magnolia said 2 valves needed replaced + recommended replacing 3rd valve that was not leaking, but was old. Estimate if I did the repairs immediately - $1959.92. He offered 15% discount if I purchased Service Agreement of $175 - would make the total $1715.93.
Also had dishwasher issues - he said needed appliance person to fix, but he offered to diagnose. When he couldn't pull out dishwasher, I stopped him
Next day, another plumber arrived, who I had used many times in the past. Fixed the issues for $173.
Said no valves needed replaced. Leak was only in one spot and he repaired that spot.
He also diagnosed dishwasher issue - without pulling out dishwasher.

So instead of paying $2000, I paid $173, which included the service call.

Joe R.

04/07/2015 12:00:00 SA

Michael B. was my plumber. He was on time, pleasant, knowledgeable and fast. I went from a broken, improperly installed water pressure regulating valve installed by the builder to a new one and water back on within an hour. Was it expensive??? Yup. Ever hired a competent plumber lately? But, am I complaining about the end result... Nope! Great job Magnolia and thank you Michael. Two thumbs up!

Nick C.

3/14/2017

I had to update my review. I'm a property manager and have largely stopped using Magnolia. While they do good work, it seems like they are always recommending full replacement of HVAC units. It seems suspicious to me. Anyway, if I'm going to go the replacement route I can save a ton of money by using a smaller company.

Mike I.

05/05/2016 12:00:00 SA

Please be careful !

I called Magnolia to have a backflow preventer installed on the water feed to my unit. I asked that the plumber come prepared to install the device. The plumber came and informed me that I needed a check-valve and not a backflow preventer, charged me $75 for the visit and scheduled another day to complete the installation. He provided an estimate for the work which was over $450. (I assumed that this was a complicated procedure so I agreed for the plumber to come back and installed the device,)

The plumber came back two days later and installed the spring loaded check valve in approximately 45 minutes. It turned out to be a VERY simple installation. He stated that I HAD to pay based on the initial estimate. With the initial visit charge of $75 and the added cost for the 45 minute check valve installation, I paid a total of $542.33.

An estimate should be based on labor, materials, and overhead.
Online I see that the brass spring-loaded check valve sells for less than $50, Considering that the work took 45 minutes, the labor charge for this work was $492. $492 for less than one hour labor for one plumber is an unreasonable sum to charge.

I have contacted Magnolia several times concerning this matter and have not gotten any response.

My wife and I are retired, senior citizens, living on a fixed income.

S S.

5/20/2017

Stood up twice. These guys don't even show up for appointments. I tried twice to schedule an appointment and was stood up both times. They never called to say they were running late or anything. Just no show. I will definitely find another company.

Michael W.

1/17/2018

Use only as a last resort. They are expensive and will use every trick they can to drain more cash out of you. My experience is outlined in my letter to Magnolia below to which no response was received.

November 10th I contacted your company regarding a whining sound coming from my boiler. Your initial evaluation, which is attached, outlined the replacement of $2,978.22 in parts to repair the boiler. The circulator pump was changed out on November 22nd as it was determined to be the cause of the whining. Cost was $958.53. Your invoice is attached. Other parts were to be installed at a later date to be determined. The next day the system failed. I had no heat on the 23rd. On the 24th your technician arrived and determined the problem was an ignition module. This part was not identified in your initial evaluation on the 10th. I was charged another diagnostic fee of $109 and $600.63 for the part. On December 8th the boiler failed again. On December 9th another technician arrived from Magnolia, was unable to resolve the problem due to lack of parts, and charged a diagnostic fee of $109. Your technician recommended replacing gas valve and ignition assembly.

Following the above chain of disappointments from Magnolia, on December 10, Spartan and Allied Service evaluated the boiler. Both companies informed me the boiler was beyond repair. Furthermore, they told me that I was fortunate the safety system on the old boiler was tripped to prevent further operation. The boiler was clogged to the point of burning up if it continued to operate. I replaced the boiler on December 11th.

The repair events surrounding the boiler caused me to feel that I was overcharged for repairs that would only lead to a known complete replacement of the system in the near term on your part. Magnolia charged me with $1,886.16 of diagnostics and repairs when a new boiler was what was required. Your last technical diagnostic evaluation supports this. Aside from the money, the lack of concern over the safety of my house and family is alarming.

Mc H.

01/03/2018 12:00:00 SA

They are NOT reputable! Had problems with their billing. They consistently tried to overcharge my family. Had to call 3 times to get service on our 1 month old heating unit. I feel that their technicians try to take advantage of their customers. I cannot emphasize the poor service my family received.

Karen A.

12/28/2017

This company is far beyond unorganized or incompetent; they employ predatory, unethical business practices.

After paying $10,000 to Magnolia since May of this year, I still do not have heat. I had a new AC/Heating system put in on May 6th, 2017 and since that time have had 4 service calls to fix the new system and have been given different reasons each time as to why the heat isn't working. I was scheduled for a 5th service call this evening but the tech was a no-show (this is the 2nd time a tech did not show). I did not receive a call from Magnolia so called to inquire. Waited 45 minutes for the on-call supervisor, Monique, to call back only to be informed that a service tech could be dispatched but the cost would not be covered under my warranty - If I agreed to pay additional money, a tech would come out. I have a 1-year warranty for the new system that has not worked. I spoke to the head of installation, Katie, who now claims that Magnolia did not install a heating system, only AC - mind you, they have come out 4 other times to 'fix' the heating system under warranty.

I have contacted a lawyer and am submitting a complaint to the better business bureau.

May 3 - $109 for diagnostics
May 6 - $7,685 for AC/Heating Unit
August 15 - $1397.73 Diagnostic and Repair for 2nd Unit

Paul M.

6/18/2014

I want to break down my review

Ray the Supervisor - 5 stars
Sam the technician - 5 stars
Christy the Dispathcher - 1 star

I had called 3 times to make an appointment and confirm the appointment, but Christ kept messsing up so the appointment was on the book. Sam and Ray went out of their way to make it right. Coming out to my place very late. Sam, in fact, went so far above and beyond he single handly made this company a 4 star. It should be 5 stars if not for the dispatcher.

William C.

6/16/2017

Standard competent HVAC service. Not the cheapest and nothing about the service blew me away, but they got the job done. Would use them again if my go-to folks are booked up.

Thomas N.

11/10/2017 12:00:00 SA

Insanely expensive, but I think probably average for the industry unfortunately. $425 to run a snake through my bathroom sink.

Jeff W.

7/20/2014

Called out on a Sunday. Took care of the problem and got me back up and cool agin.

Mike K.

4/30/2014

I needed an emergency plumber at 7 pm because, well, let's just say a simple plumbing project of mine went awry. Carlos came and was very friendly and replaced two faucet shut-off valves in no time. Yes, it was super expensive ($500), but in an emergency, when there's water leaking all over your bathroom, it was worth it and I would call them again.

Martin S.

8/30/2014

I moved into a new place as of two months ago, and the other night the plumbing under my sink decided to detach and water ended up all over the place. My usual person for house repair is out of town so I decided to see what I could find online. Magnolia had some good reviews, some bad reviews, but overall nothing different from the rest. I decided to call the same night and they had someone come by the next day. The guy made it to DC NE and put the piping back together. He even explained to me how I could put it back together in the future if needed. That was nice, though there was a $75 charge for him to drive out here and work for 5 minutes. Apparently the pvc piping under the sink was not level, so too much water was being held back instead of continuing to flow normally to the galvanized pipe and away to wherever water is supposed to go. After his diligent work, he went back to his truck to write me a quote to make the fix. He came back with a quote of $598.00. The break down was 1) $346 to re-pipe a single kitchen drain (about 2-3ft of pipe) and 2) $252 to access kitchen cabinet to repair.

On the first point, I've replaced all the piping in a bathroom before and it came out to a similar price. How can replacing such a small amount of piping come out to the same price as replacing all piping in a bathroom?

I probed the plumber more on the second point. 'Access kitchen cabinet to repair' meant removing the backboard of my kitchen cabinets. I asked if he would replace the kitchen cabinet's backboard and he educated me in that plumbers do not dabble in cabinetry, so no. I would have to do that myself. This is $252 to cut out my cabinet backboards so the plumber can work. I can do that part with my $13 handsaw.

I let him know that I would have get some other quotes and possibly give him a call back. I'm not even sure if I actually need the repair, as his analysis may just of been as wack as this quote. I only recommend Magnolia if you don't mind spending more than half a grand on simple fixes.

Olivia L.

05/01/2014 12:00:00 SA

Magnolia delivered on both knowledgeable and exceptional service. Geovann and his team were total professionals; I will certainly call on them again.

Lesley B.

09/03/2015 12:00:00 SA

Awful experience! Will never use their services again.

I had a non-working toilet so I called to make an appointment. The appointment scheduler informed me that the dispatch fee was $95 plus $60 for every 30 minutes worked. If necessary to send a second technician, the per hour fee would increase. Sounded okay so I scheduled an appointment for the next morning.

Two plumbers arrived, diagnosed the problem, and determined that they needed to replace a part in the tank. They told me they would have to come back with the new part tomorrow because they didn't have it on the truck and they had another appointment to get to. I specifically asked if I would be charged twice (for dispatch) and they told me No, don't worry about today. We'll just do it all tomorrow. They were here for about 30 minutes.

They ended up coming back, unannounced, later that afternoon for 5 minutes to check the make of the toilet (not sure why they didn't just call?).

They show up the next morning with the new part and install it. Toilet working! Took a total of maybe 10 minutes. They go out to their truck to prepare the invoice, come back inside, and inform me the bill is $940.

I have no idea where that amount came from - I think they just make up totals. I called to speak with the guy in the office. He informs me that he can waive the fee for the second technician but it will still be $655. Okay thanks - but I shouldn't be charged for a second tech to begin with since I was told they would only send one if necessary for the repair and one of them just stood there watching the other guy work.

I ask for further explanation of the total and the guy says he's going to speak with the owner's son. He calls back 2 minutes later and says The owner's son says it's still $655 but tell me what you feel comfortable paying. Umm I'll pay the amount that I was originally quoted when I scheduled the appointment. We finally settled on $395 (2 dispatch fees, 1.5 hours of work for 1 technician, + parts) - still overcharged. The guy on the phone acted like he was giving me a huge deal well I'm waiving all these fees for you.... After I paid and the techs left, I called the company asking to speak with the manager/owner/owner's son and was directed to a voicemail.

The only positive thing I have to say about this experience is that the technicians were very friendly! I actually felt bad for them while I was disputing the bill (as they were standing right next to me when I was on the phone); they said this happens all the time.

David S.

11/23/2016

Wow, not the best reviews. Needed them for a last minute fix. I guess they smelled blood in the water and were going for the kill. Quoted $1,175 plus the $89 to diagnose. Too rich for my blood. Got a second opinion, work was completed for $110 all in. I do not recommend.

Dan C.

03/01/2017 12:00:00 SA

Great company. I hired them to replace my HVAC system based on a diagnosis by another company. When they showed up to replace the unit, they inspected the current system and determined that no replacement was necessary. I appreciate the honesty, and will now use them exclusively for HVAC. It is rare that you find a company with enough integrity to do the right thing, even if it means not making as much money.

Emily M.

7/16/2016

When you live in DC, its always hard to find professionals like plumbers and electricians willing to brave the traffic and parking. However, this is not a deterrant for Magnolia. I recently called because of a flood under the kitchen sink and someone was at the house within 2.5 hours (and this was after 5 pm). The issue was solved the next day when Joseph came back with the replacement park. I think prices are reasonable for this area. Joseph is friendly, on time, keeps you posted of his arrival time and knows his stuff. Very satisfied. And if you anticipate a lot of plumbing issues, the annual contract is a great deal.

Danny N.

9/14/2015

Pros: they will show up
Cons: Rip off: they (tried to) charge me $1000 for a $200 job.

Mary B.

01/09/2017 12:00:00 SA

I have never written a yelp review before but I need to tell people how horrible this company was to me and another resident in the building. Magnolia's caused severe wall damage that they took several months to fix and delayed fixing it as long as possible. I had to keep calling and nag them to come and repair the damage. Finally, they did so. Each of the repairmen who came (they had to come multiple times because they failed to complete the job, or the first time they did it wasn't working) were several hours late. I had to reschedule multiple times because I took days off from work and they simply failed to show up. I have never received such horrible service. I only started receiving help once I threatened to report them to the Office of the Attorney General in DC.

Cynthia K.

04/05/2014 12:00:00 SA

Our toilet was leaking so we called Magnolia Plumbing. Felix came out and he was super. He was not only personable, but was also very professional, and extremely knowledgeable. Without Felix we wouldn't have a working toilet.

We will definitely be using Magnolia Plumbing in the future and if it's possible to request a service pro, Felix will surely be our go-to-guy.

Shannon E.

04/12/2013 12:00:00 SA

I highly recommend Magnolia Plumbing because they came out very quickly when I had a leak which flooded my bathroom and threatened to flood into the kitchen. I called them and their emergency response came out with in 40 minutes which was impressive as it was after 9 on a Saturday evening.

The two guys who came were highly professional and the pricing was simple and easy to understand. When I got the final bill there were no sudden surprises or incidental extras. The work was finished within 2 hours and I was able to clean up the mess from the leak before going to bed so Sunday morning was waking up to normality.

I highly recommend Magnolia Plumbing.

DC Guitar L.

10/19/2010

I used this company because the home owner I rented from had a home repair insurance policy. The policy was good. Magnolia was not so good. It's an old house, but looks very fancy, and may give the impression that there is money in the pocket of the owner. As a renter, the money was not in MY pocket. We had several repairs needed over time. I used to be a contractor, and I know how to diagnose most problems. I retired from actually getting in there and doing the work. Every time these guys came out they made each situation seem worse than it was. They attempted to have me accept more work, higher prices, and repeated returns than was needed. I either turned down the work order, or showed them how to fix it.
They obviously thought I was a dumb rich homeowner. Wrong. Experienced, know how guy, who is not going to let them rip off the actually homeowner. I worked with other plumbing companies and got better service.

Dan D.

2/25/2015

Woke up to a leaking water heater tank. As a new home owner this is something I never had to deal with before and the pooling water on the floor had me freaked. I did a quick search online for local plumbers and found Magnolia to have the most ratings so I went with them. Ended up needing a whole new tank which Magnolia provided. Here is the kicker.... the cost.

They would not give me an estimate over the phone even though I asked for a ball park for replacing a water heater. They said someone would come out and it would be $75 for an estimate. I thought that was insane so after complaining they agreed to waive the fee if I ended up going with them for the work.... the pool was getting bigger.... so I agreed.

Plumber was out within a few hours... nice guy.

As i said before, entire tank replaced. New tank - $480.

Total bill - $1700!!!!!

It literally took this guy less than 2 hours to drain the old tank, turn the water/gas off, cut the lines, remove the old tank, put the new tank in, resecure the lines, turn the water/gas on. I am a pretty handy guy so after seeing what this guy had to do for the install i was disgusted with myself for paying that kind of money for the job. I have absolutely NO IDEA where over $1000 in labor comes in for less than 2 hours of work. It came with a 10 yr warranty which i'm sure accounts for some of the cost but they said if the tank breaks they will replace it for free but I will still have to pay for labor. I'll get a 15% discount since I am already a customer but the cost would still be around $850!!!! FOR WHAT?!?!

Live and learn is part of first time home owning I suppose but this company is boarder line STEALING from unsuspecting people in tough spots by charging these outrageous prices. I have since spoke to several other plumbers who are also at a lost for the kind of prices this company charged me.

DO YOURSELF A FAVOR..... GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!! The kind of prices this company charged for the work is unjustifiable.

Hopefully there are some others that were as inexperienced as I was going into this that read this and realize they have other options and don't find themselves taken advantage of the way I was.

P S.

06/02/2008 12:00:00 SA

Absolute incompetence - worst vendor I've ever used for anything, bar none.

Plumber came out because the washer-dryer upstairs was slowly leaking - it was very late, so he said he'd turn off the water and come back to really fix the next day. Seems he didn't actually turn it off right, so instead the ceiling under it flooded and collapsed, filling the basement with several inches of water.

Complete and utter incompetence, then they hired a special insurance investigator who's only job was to lie and pretend that their guy wasn't to blame - ended up costing my landlord $10,000 in repairs and legal fees. Astounding, and seriously the worst company I have ever encountered.

Gretchen O.

3/20/2011

I called Plumbline Plumbing to come out today to fix it, and it cost me a hundred dollars, on a Sunday. The Plumbline man stayed for almost three hours working on my hot water heater until it was fixed, and is going to call me tomorrow with an update. Funny how Magnolia was going to charge me 145 just to look at it and offered a 2500 repair, and the Plumbline man got the job done for 100.

Mark S.

1/28/2011

Got a tech to my house quickly, which is the only reason I went with Magnolia. Took forever this tech to diagnose the problem with my heat. Was told that they would be in to replace problem unit on a Friday. When no one showed up Friday, after I'd taken off work again, I had to talk to several managers just to get someone to show up that weekend. When I spoke with customer service they tried to schedule me 4 days later. Heat worked for a week and then completely stopped working. Called to ask if there are any guarantees regarding their work. They said if there is a problem they waive a diagnostic. Also, was supposed to talk to the manager, Michelle, who never returned my call, but who had one of their unfriendly customer service reps call to TELL me that they could schedule me in three days with a take it or leave it attitude. All the time I have no heat.
So, first their techs don't seem terribly competent. Second, they don't really guarantee their work. Third, they don't care how many days you take off work to meet with their techs or what your situation is. Goodbye 600 dollars. I've previously used a tech from Aspen Air and had good results. Don't just go with them because they can send someone quickly for your diagnosis. My advice, wear a sweater and wait for someone better.

John D.

4/17/2014

The service technician, Russ K., is a real pro: straightforward, efficient, clear. The prices for AC parts, however, are grossly marked up.

linda o.

08/10/2011 12:00:00 SA

We have a 100 year old home, and purchased a new faucet fixture for our clawfoot. Called Magnolia because I have seen their trucks around town. Technician was as nice as he could be, and then he handed me a $850 bill for about a half hour of work. I realize as a home owner you have to suck it up when it comes to paying for services you cant DY....but I wont be calling these guys again.

A C.

4/17/2016

They quoted me a rate to disconnect then reconnect two hvac on the roof. The reconnect I get a call saying the roofers had bent a pipe and it will cost 600 dollars more, Okay I say then tell my roofer they bent the pipe. The roofer comes back two days after repair and takes some pictures, of an old pipe that they say was bent. I call magnolia and get in touch with Réal Cipriano who says he will look into. after a month of calling and little being done he finally gets back to me saying they called the repair the wrong thing and charged to much. I talked to the repairman on the roof and he said there was a bent pipe. The repairman lied and the company covered it for a month before admitting there might be something wrong and giving me some money back. Do not trust them.

Roberta L.

12/27/2016

I called Magnolia to see if they could fix my outside water faucet. I was charged $200 for the visit and diagnostic. Then the tech said it would cost about $1500 to fix because they would have to go in the crawl space and get an air test for that and on and on. So paid my $200 for nothing. I found a repairman who fixed it for $350 and it is working great. Magnolia is a RIPOFF!!!!

Elizabeth B.

12/16/2010

Earlier this month, my husband and I arrived home to discover a large pool of water seeping from underneath a baseboard onto our basement floor. When I reached down to sop the water up with a bundle of towels, I found that the water was hot. Uh-oh, I thought. We must have a problem with the radiator system--not a good thing this time of year. I immediately searched on Yelp for a company that could provide emergency plumbing assistance. I tried calling Plumbline Plumbers first, but since no one from that company could help that night and I wasn't particularly impressed with the person who I spoke with on the phone anyway, I called the next best/most rated plumber on Yelp, Magnolia Plumbing. The person who answered the phone assured me that someone could come out that evening and gave me a quote for what the visit alone would cost (I think it was $145) and said that the plumber would tell me each additional cost as he did his work. I agreed to the $145 visit and waited.

The plumber arrived within about an hour and a half. The guy was pleasant enough, but was unable to do much that evening except for diagnosing the problem, ripping out some drywall, and turning off the water to one of the hot water heaters, which was the source of the problem. Each of the services that he provided (cutting into the drywall, etc.) were listed on a menu and were not cheap. I felt as though if we were being taken advantage of, it was not because we were ignorant of what the price should be. The company has set prices for each service, so it might be helpful for a potential customer to ask what certain steps would cost before agreeing to someone from Magnolia making a visit.

We decided to move forward and let the plumber from Magnolia return the next day and complete the job, which consisted of replacing the broken hot water heater. A tenant of ours lives in the unit that houses(and uses) the hot water heater, and we did not want the person to be without hot water for long; we needed the job to be completed quickly. One of the things that particularly bothered me about the plumber was that he asked us to cut into the cabinet so that he could replace the hot water heater. He was charging us $1500 for the replacement of the tank alone, and I do not know why cutting into the cabinet was not included in that service. I am still irked that we had to perform this task ourselves, considering the price. My husband broke the blade on our power saw; I wish that we could have gotten a discount for that alone. Still, the job needed to be completed that day, so we agreed. Ultimately, the plumber replaced the hot water heater and seems to have been knowledgeable and to have done solid work. In the future, though, I do not know if we will use Magnolia Plumbing. I might consider using the company again if there is an emergency and have no other option. I will find someone else, otherwise.

After our plumbing emergency, I called Magnolia just to see what a boiler inspection would cost, and I was told that the company charges $147 for the inspection, $65 for a diagnostic (which one might expect would be included as part of the inspection--but no), and any additional cost for parts and time if a repair needs to be made. I also called a company called Spartan, which quoted $89 for the first 30 minutes and $65 for each additional 30 minutes + parts + time. Spartan included the diagnostic in the inspection. I think that if I decide to get a boiler inspection in the near future, I will use Spartan for the job.

Chris M.

7/21/2009

Called Magnolia due to a couple small bathroom issues. They were courteous on the phone. I called around 9:15 AM on a Tuesday, they said someone could be out between 1 and 4 pm that day. At about 10:30 they called and said a plumber was available at 11 if I wanted them, which I agreed to. The plumber arrived just before 11, provided a bid and took care of the running and leaking parts.

After providing a bid (and even sort of suggesting that I might do one part of it myself) he got started. The guy was nice, helpful, and explained what he was doing. All told he was done and gone in 30 minutes.

Everything was fine except it was incredibly expensive. $150 to replace the flapper ($2 worth of parts and 30 seconds of time). Replacing parts of the sink was even more, but did require a lot more time and careful attention. The landlord is paying, not me, but I would be pretty upset if I had to pay that much for such simple work myself.

I recommend them if you're not price sensitive.

David P.

01/03/2018 12:00:00 SA

Their technician came out and looked at our broken furnace. To his credit, he gave it a quick cleaning which got it going. He charged almost $250 for this even though he only worked on it a few minutes. He then offered his diagnosis and an estimate for the work that would need to be done for a more permanent fix. (He spent more time writing the bill and estimate than he did looking at the furnace.) It involved a chemical cleaning, and replacing a flame sensor and ignitor. It came to over $2,500. 20 minutes after he left, the furnace stopped working again. In desperation, I tried to get him to come back to replace the parts he suggested. Fortunately, my multiple calls to the dispatcher were blown off and I found someone else. That other guy spent two hours thoroughly diagnosing the problem. He actually took the furnace apart and looked at all the parts. He told me my ignitor and flame sensor were fine. It was something else entirely. He fixed it - and provided the piece I needed (a compressor, I think), and charged less than Magnolia had charged for their 15 minute off the cuff misdiagnosis.

Mark R.

5/13/2014

First, I can't fault Troy for giving me some bad news-- we need a new A/C unit system ($6K). So, I won't shoot the messenger - LOL. He actually showed up AHEAD of the scheduled time, which was great for me. Arrived at 11:30 am or so instead of 12-2p. I watched him work through the problems with the fan, etc., and, because I was asking him how he was things, he explained as he went. He was nice, friendly, courteous, funny and competent. All in all, a very good experience. Thanks!

Carrie A.

06/06/2008 12:00:00 SA

Although the other review is a little terrifying, we had good results with Magnolia Plumbing. We called because of a leak in our bathtub faucet that was working its way through our living room ceiling. I had originally scheduled the appointment for a Friday when my girlfriend had off, but when it became clear that the problem was more serious than we thought, I was able to reschedule quickly (called Tuesday morning, they were out in a couple of hours). The plumber arrived 10 minutes past his scheduled window, but given our last minute change, that wasn't such a big deal. He fixed it quickly (and I thought at a reasonable price), and seems to have solved the problem (1 1/2 weeks later, no leak!). I would definitely feel comfortable calling Magnolia again.

caroline r.

6/27/2014

This was an incredibly disappointing experience. Christie, the dispatcher, is the main reason. It is unfortunate that I couldn't even get to the SERVICE part because Christie was so daft. Not helpful, defensive, and down right rude, she was horrid. Magnolia, if you want to have repeat customers, ensure that your front line, customer facing staff is not a person with an awful attitude, terrible customer voice, and incapabale of communication.

Jason and Anthony, my technicians, were quite nice - they did come out onetime, but Christi failed to give them pertinent information about accessing my building and so they were unable to get onto my unit to look at the HVAC. Jason and Anthony said that they were sorry, they walked me through a couple different options, and said that Christie would find us some time the next morning to get back on the roof. After a pleasant experience with them, the only reason that this is deserving of one star, I returned a call to Christie, to be met with an even shorter attitude, strong language and a tone that was clearly Im right, you're wrong, go the heck away from her. unfortunately, magnolia's technicians seem nice. It's a shame that the company can't get their act together and get rid of this awful customer serve rep. do you know how many people are looking for work in the DC/Metro area? Get rid of her and hire someone who can do the job, is KIND, and who knows how to speak to other humans.

Sarah B.

3/20/2010

I called Magnolia for a spring Air Conditioner cleaning/maintenance. I called on a Thursday afternoon and they said someone could come out on Friday (next day) between 9:00am-11:00am. At 9:03am, Jerry came to the house. He was polite, knowledgable, funny and quick. He also gave me tips on what I can do to help prolong the life of my AC unit. The service was $89 and well worth it (check their website for coupons!!).

I'll definitely be called them again.

Peter L.

9/30/2015

Magnolia is always reliable. Many people say they are more expensive, which may be true, but you know they're going to show up and do a good job, so it's worth it. And, they're always friendly and responsive.

Sally B.

11/22/2016

I called to ask about getting inspections on a home under contract. Wanted to know what type of inspections should be done on a 1900 home in DC. Kiesha (do not know how to spell her name) told me they would come out and then recommend what should be done. I told her I wanted to speak with her supervisor (she is the supervisor), her manger, (she is the manager), then asked for a plumber or an HVAC person to speak to directly. She told me they do not work that way. Road blocks at every turn. She told me that this is how Magnolia works. She would not have anyone call me or help me other than herself, and she told me she was not a technician. Appears that Magnolia has gotten to big for their boots.

Allison G.

3/28/2010

We've had Magnolia plumbing out for three jobs and have been very happy. They're not the cheapest, but they do good work, are very professional and reliable.

They work on a flat-fee system. They have this huge book and they look up the cost in the book so you can choose whether or not to approve the work.

After the first time Magnolia came to do a repair, I called them back because we thought there may have been a leak problem following the work they did (long story - it wasn't them - just the discovery of yet another plumbing problem in our new-old house). The field manager and another plumber were on my doorstep within an hour of my call. They definitely stand behind their work.

We've called them a couple of times since and we'll use them again in the future. I just hope it's for a project and not another repair!

Rachel M.

09/03/2015 12:00:00 SA

Magnolia provided good service as they came out to our house to take a look at the gas lines in the basement. They located a leak and quickly put a patch in while they came up with a quote for replacing the lines. They gave me a quote on the spot and set up an appointment for a few days later. The servicemen were very professional and worked cleanly and efficiently. While they are on the higher end of the price range, the service was worth it as I could see the quality of their work and professionalism.

Sara D.

8/24/2015

I woke up with my a/c not working, called Magnolia and within 1-1/2 hours Sam arrived. He provided topnotch service in every respect. He and his helper were courteous, friendly, and patient. It's clear Sam really knows his stuff. He explained everything to me, was careful to let me know potential costs every step of the way, and fixed my system very efficiently. *AND* he gave me his cell number in case I have any problems. You can't ask for more. I'm definitely calling them again next time I have any kind of problem with my plumbing or my HVAC system.

Robin E.

7/17/2016

Sam Musser was great and you can't beat a business like this that's open Sat & Sun. For me, that's invaluable. The folks I dealt with over the phone were good, too. Still wondering how they picked the name Magnolia, though.....

Melissa T.

9/30/2012

We just bought an old house, and our inspector said that we would need someone to come and fix our boiler before winter, because the pressure was too high. Reggie came from Magnolia, and he was fantastic. He came on time, kept the work area clean, fixed the pressure issue plus one additional problem, and went around the house to bleed the radiators so that we'll be ready to go when the weather cools. He also showed me how to bleed the radiators myself in the future.

It honestly felt like I had hired an independent person instead of a larger company, because of his attention to detail and the care he took with our boiler. If we ever need help again, we'll call Magnolia and ask for Reggie.

Four stars instead of five due to the price.

Roberta M.

04/06/2015 12:00:00 SA

Everyone at Magnolia was great, friendly, professional and most important, competent. Great problem solving by Sam M. the HVAC technician and excellent, thoughtful customer service. Recommend Magnolia!

Stephanie K.

02/02/2012 12:00:00 SA

I've used Magnolia twice for plumbing emergencies and both times have been very happy with the experiences. Customer service is wonderful; they explain over the phone what to expect when the worker arrives as far as billing, payment, and figuring out the source of the problem. Rates are reasonable and the technicians are friendly and professional. I don't wish plumbing/heating/AC issues on anyone, but if you ever have them, call Magnolia!

Robert G.

3/27/2014

Magnolia charged an very-high price to replace an old kitchen faucet with a new one that I supplied. The plumber took about an hour and a half to do the job, plus a screwing in a soap dispenser that came with the faucet and replacing the cold-water shut-off valve (which he supplied), and the bill was $767.

KG F.

6/30/2015

Had to contact Magnolia for an emergency service late on a Saturday night and technician Sam actually made a painful situation bearable. Turns out, he actually had to repair a problem created by another service provider who serviced the AC unit earlier in the week. They actually broke something and just left the problem necessitating an emergency call when my downstairs neighbors complained of a leak. Even the dispatch line was professional and kept me updated on the status of the technician's arrival and were up front on costs. Magnolia will definitely be my first call next time.

Allie J.

08/02/2011 12:00:00 SA

Magnolia called me claiming my landlord requested service for my apartment. I told them I didn't know anything about it and wanted to talk to my landlord first. They were calling me multiple times a day demanding that I schedule something and I kept telling them I wanted to talk to my landlord first and then would call them back. I have continued to get calls from this company for over two weeks, sometimes multiple calls on the same day or on weekends. The customer service reps are snippy with me when I ask them to stop calling and just wait for me to talk to my landlord and then call them back. They make it sound like this is my only chance to get my AC serviced. Harassing me is not going to make me want to do business with this company any sooner!

Rob C.

5/27/2016

Magnolia Games...

So as a heating, HVAC and Plumbing Contract holder for my nearly 100 year old home, here is why I'm leaving Magnolia after having them service my house for several years....

Today (May 27, 2016). As a contract customer, I have an system check scheduled for today from 4-6pm. I made the appt Monday and I called and checked in at 2pm to let them know I'm home and they could come earlier if they wanted. At 4:00 when I call to see how the technician is doing, I get hold for 4 minutes and they then tell me that they are Sorry, it's for next Friday. I tell them very frankly that is not true and this is there little game to make it look like it's not their problem. I'm sure they're making more money somewhere else with that person rather than taking care of their contract customers.

Over a year ago... Father and son team come in to check my boiler for it's annual checkup. I've got a hot water radiator system that has been around for ever. The system is running two weeks into the chilly weather with no problem. Father comes down, tells his son to go to the truck for something. The father flips the power switch and then he takes off the cover and pokes his screw driver in there. Few minutes later, he turns it back on and it does not work. Now his sone is back too. I tell him the system was on and running when he turned it off and that I haven't had a problem in the last 2 weeks. He claims he did nothing. I ask him why does it not work after HE touches it. I proceed to tell him to fix it and I'm not paying for his mistake and I give him a few minutes to confess to his son. After a few minutes and him checking to see if they have the part, he finally works out a way to say he was able to fix it and he won't charge me. That he may have had a spark as he was checking the system earlier. Just another frustrating moment by a Magnolia person who may have made a mistake but chose to cover it up and possibly stick me with the bill. Imagine someone out there not so savvy. They are probably ginning up repairs through incompetence or malice.

Over two years ago... I need to get a new air conditioner and it's a complete system replacement due to new coolant, high pressure hoses, etc. I have special guests coming to visit and can't afford to botch this. I get their quote and then I get competitive quotes because I was specifically told that they will match prices (by the technician who priced out the install). Well, he decides later they're not matching any quotes. I get a.little hot about it because their price is nearly $1000 over. The temps are hot, I've got Magnolia on the schedule before my guests arrive and they are screwing me over. So I say proceed, but then the Magnolia guy feels like he doesn't want my business now. I had to go to the Magnolia family to get them to tell this idiot of there's to do the work and be nice to the customer. They did the work and we got it all done, but the process with this idiot was exhausting and I had guests arrive the next day.

I was hoping that these might be onesies and twosomes, but at the end of the day, to include today's schedule FUBAR to cover for their staff, it is a pattern of ignorance, lack of competence and scrambling screw-ups to go with lying to their customers and their management. Not to mention they never, ever had the best price or the best service. They were fair to middling at best.

Eric G.

6/17/2015

Had Reggie D. come over and fixed my HVAC quickly and efficiently. He was nice and entertained my questions well. No complaints but would've been nice to suggest taking off shoes before coming in but i understand it's a pain when going back to the truck. Overall would definitely recommend him and Magnolia plumbing.

Mark C.

4/21/2015

I have used Magnolia Plumbing couple times over the past two years. The staff has been great to work with on my AC and plumbing issues. Michael did great job today in fixing my broken water pipe. I would recommend Magnolia as your one stop company for plumbing and HVAC.

Sus B.

8/28/2017

I made an appointment under the premise of the service indoor air quality - air filtration systemdue to some smoke smell in my unit that I wanted to resolve, and I made sure I told the woman that called that's why I was calling. The technician came, looked at my heating/cooling unit and said there is nothing they can do and that there aren't any filters they can replace because that particular system doesn't use filters and pretty much told me they don't deal with air quality issues. Which Then I made the conclusion that I need to purchase an air purifier. After he took the payment and left I spoke with my building maintenance and he told me that in fact those AC/heating units do have filters and he showed me where they are ( turns out they were so dirty and needed to be changed). So I basically paid a diagnostic fee for wrong information and made an appointment under false pretenses I wish they would have told me when I explained my issue over the phone that it's not something they deal with rather than let the technician come out regardless.

Emillio S.

05/09/2018 12:00:00 SA

If I could give Magnolia a zero rating, I would do so. I am truly unsatisfied with the professionalism and level of service. I will never use them again nor recommend their services to anyone. If anything I will be contacting the Better Business Bureau. My experience started on Monday May 7, 2018 when I called to request service on my hvac system. Fortunately they had an available appointment that afternoon between 2 and 4pm. I adjusted my work schedule to be home during that time. I received a call at 1pm calling for early service, to which I declined. At 2pm Tan Cao arrived to perform diagnostic service as my water pump hvac system was not cooling. He stated the system was low on freon and needed to be charged. I agreed with this service and told him to proceed. This was estimated to be $225 per pound. Tan Cao offered to add some type of leak detection to the system as well. This was estimated to be $425 per pound with no guarantee that would resolve a possible leak, I declined. Tan Cao then requested me to provide him with a key to enter the building which I said absolutely not. I found this to be very odd and should have just sent him away right then and there. After the freon, the system was running and cooling properly. He then stated that the run capacitor needed to be replaced. He not once showed or explained to me why this part needed to be replaced after multiple requests. There was no test performed and of course he took away the original part. The system was in fact functioning properly before this point. He attempted to sell me a higher rated capacitor and physically much larger than what the system requires. The capacitor is literally shoved into the unit so much that the cover panel does not close properly. Tan Cao told me this was a $283 part. Tan Cao did not have the proper part on his truck and stated he would have to return the next day, to which I agreed. Tan Cao insisted on installing the over sized part and stated he would charge me for the original equivalent. I later discovered this to be at maximum a $20 replacement part. The system was still cooling and running as normal. Tan Cao then told me that the system needed to be flushed. I asked why and he stated bad water coming from the building. Upon taking the waterlines apart he created a complete mess and left water in the catch pan under the unit. The water coming from the building riser was clean water. He then showed me a bucket of water which clearly had added soot to appear as though the water was filthy. I know this to be true because as I was cleaning up the mess after he left and there was black soot wasted everywhere inside the closet from him fumbling around as I watched. This procedure cost $240. The total repair cost was over $1000 which in my best judgement was totally unreasonable as my system only needed freon. I was clearly taken advantage of during this service. There was a complete mess left behind and significant water damage to a few storage boxes close to the hvac unit. Today May 9, 2018 I received emails confirming my service appointment from Monday, the team that would be taking care of my service request, and an email for this review on some other site. I have contacted Magnolia on three different occasions since Monday and have yet to hear anything regarding this mater. I will never recommend this company and will be filing a complaint with the BBB accordingly.

Matthew N.

03/06/2015 12:00:00 SA

Our old heater/air unit system was beyond further patching. Our utility bills were mounting as the old 15+ year old unit tried to keep up with demand.... So with winter here and rebates available to help, we decided it was time to get a new system.

We decided on getting 3 bids, and references, and then work from there. Cost was an issue as we are living within a tight budget. We found Magnolia on the INTERNET along with 2 other companies. (we checked yelp, and google, and review buzz as well as a few other). Our salesman was Mike. We found him to be friendly, timely, knowledgeable, and value minded. He kept focused on apples-to-apples comparison and sent us a proposal with all the information. He answered all of our questions in an understandable, forthright manner, without sales pressure. After review, we trimmed potential vendor list down to the top 2 competitive vendors, Magnolia being one, so we had our 2nd interviews and final negotiations. We ended up choosing Magnolia as the most competitive, especially with the extra value promised. The project beginning-to-finish took 2 days (the very 1st day we had heat back on and running for that evening)
Josh and Chris were the installers (***** the best). They...
1) were professional in work ethic, dress, courtesy, timeliness, and clean-up
2) made sure we were aware of all that they were doing, equal to stipulated contract
3) were knowledgeable and professional in taking time to explain as well as answer any questions we had or may have had. (I would hire all 3 of these guys in a minute if I was still working).
Magnolia made sure we were happy before we made payment. We would use this company again without any doubts.

Trish M.

03/08/2015 12:00:00 SA

Backed up kitchen sink in an older home with funky set up for garbage disposal. Jim the plumber had to try a few things, but he snaked it out and all is fine. Only negative, he came over an hour late outside the window time and it was pretty pricey. Was a weekend, not scheduled in advance job.

Dc C.

3/24/2018

I would never use or recommend Magnolia again. My heat pump began having problems during one of the coldest weeks of year. Repair person missed designated window and then did not correctly identify the problem but rather indicated it was a different costly ($400+) problem. His repair didn't fix problem (did turn on while repair person there, which apparently was possible because it been off before he arrived). Called Magnolia to have someone come back but also called another company for a 2nd opinion. That company correctly identified the problem. Magnolia never provided quote for the correct specific repair but only to replace heat pump. Magnolia's quote for replacement was thousands higher than its competitor. Spent days (during very cold week) without heat trying to resolve with Magnolia, but Magnolia basically only offered to deduct price of initial, unnecessary repair, but didn't offer do anything else to try to make right or meet competitor's price). Ultimately went with competitor - still saved thousands even with wasted cost of unnecessary repair (not even a token offer to make right). When I provided proof of the correct problem, Magnolia said I didn't give them a chance (not true) and kept the entire cost of the unnecessary repair. I would never use Magnolia again because it was unable to correctly identify the problem and unwilling to resolve its mistake.

Janice N.

06/05/2016 12:00:00 SA

Contacted Magnolia for AC service and an appointment was scheduled. The date of the appointment, I received a call about 20 minutes after the end of the scheduled arrival time to inform me that they would not be able to get to me and wanted to reschedule to a later date. Appointment reluctantly rescheduled to 2 days later. On the next appointment date, I called an hour before the final time to arrive to confirm that someone would be coming only to discover that their records showed the appointment was not scheduled for that date but on another date. I had repeated the date and time back to the service rep when the appointment was rescheduled and confirmed that I had the date correct. Don't know how they mixed it up. Needless to say I was done and scheduled an appointment with another AC service.

Mark M.

12/05/2014 12:00:00 SA

The plastic bearings in the dual shut off valve for my hot water and dishwasher disintegrated and washed up into the faucet. Carlos was great. He was patient as he walked me through everything that was wrong and showed me all the steps he was taking so I could fix it myself in the future if something else happens. The prices are a little high, but you have to pay for good work and good service. Thanks!

Lv H.

11/10/2014 12:00:00 SA

I came downstairs to discover water everywhere and it had leaked through to my basement bathroom. I called three plumbers and one called back (Stevens) to say that it would be a while. Magnolia called back and gave me a clear timeline to expect my plumber. I was fortunate to get Felix S who quickly diagnosed my problem and went to his truck to repair the issue. He explained some other issues that I had and then gave his number in case I needed something else. Magnolia Plumbing is by far the best to call when you need a plumber. When water is leaking through your walls and light fixtures-you just want service. And Magnolia and Felix S Deliver!

Sara D.

6/19/2015

This is specifically a thumb's up for the Magnolia Plumbing employee, Sam M. With our Air Conditioning not operating last week, on a blistering hot day, Sam arrived at the time agreed upon and had to contend with my crazy dog, getting up on a roof via a rickety ladder, and squeezing into some tiny spaces. He fixed our system , but then it was not operating again two days later. Sam came out again, found a different problem, toiled away and fixed it all again. He spent time to explain in detail what the problems were, and we were not charged for this second diagnostic because we steadily give Magnolia our business as needed. I waited a few days to write this just to make sure our system would remain opting for some time. Sam was a super friendly, courteous and efficient professional!

Matt S.

12/23/2012

Haven't tried these guys for a normal scheduled appointment, but when my heat went out and I needed it fixed same day, they took down my information and said they passed it to a technician in the field. Three hours later I called back to find out what was going on, and they said that they would have the technician call me to give a time estimate. I never heard from them. Very unprofessional in my opinion.

Horace G.

9/18/2015

I was charged $532 for the installation of a new thermostat after being led to believe on the phone it would cost about $150. Classic bait and switch.

Movie G.

4/30/2012

RIP OFF ALERT!
These people are very nice and will rip you off. They'll charge you $75 or more just to visit, and that will not credit that towards any work they do. I hired them to fix a leak in my shower, only to have this plumber hook up a water test that leaked gallons of water down through the ceiling of the floor below, damaging the ceiling, table, and carpet. Guess what!? After all of that he tells me we don't fix leaks like this.' ! Crazy, eh! He wanted $400 for that! They are laying off employees and closing divisions, poor customer service, and basically a scam for overpriced plumbers. They give the entire industry a bad name.

Wes F.

11/21/2014

Michael was on-time and fast. And a very nice guy. I would recommend Magnolia to a friend.

Mike C.

8/18/2015

Our toilet had a leak and we reached out to a plumber who attempted to fix it 2x and he failed to do the job...I went onto Yelp and came across Magnolia PH&C and thought I would give them a try. I had a schedule set for this past Sunday (8/16) to come between 2-4. I got a call from them around 3pm stating that their guy is having problems on a job and would not make it to my house, and would reschedule for Monday (8/17). The employee came on Monday, was prompt and checked the toilet. He said there was no leak, but in order to really know he would have to take the whole toilet off to check and that would cost $380....COME ON! That was not his price but the price Magnolia charges according to their book. Even though the worker was courteous and gave us some helpful tips on other matters with our plumbing there was NO WAY I was paying that price. The worst part....I was NEVER told about the $75 travel fee they charge no matter what. So I paid $75 for someone to drive to my house, look at my toilet and give me 10 minutes of advice....Do NOT use this company as its just a rip-off. I am a very calm-mannered guy and the prices and the travel fee got me heated....Find yourself someone off thumbtack or craigslist and they will do a better job at 1/3 of the price Magnolia charges...Good luck!

Lindsay G.

07/06/2014 12:00:00 SA

Good experience today with Magnolia -- called a little after 7am this morning and they were able to get there by 10 even though today was a Sunday. Geovonn was courteous, knowledgeable, and quick in resolving a plumbing issue with my toilet. Would use them again in the future.

MaryBeth M.

09/04/2017 12:00:00 SA

This review is overdue as Magnolia provided service at my condo in late June 2017, but I wanted to express my sincere appreciation for fantastic customer service in every way. This was my first time using Magnolia. The staff answering the phone and scheduling were very helpful, and they were able to send someone out that same day which was greatly appreciated as I had water backing up into my condo from a clogged HVAC line. The problem had been going on for several days and was misdiagnosed by another company who incorrectly told me that the issue was with my hot water heater. I was about to go out of town and needed to get the repair done right away. Duane Cunningham was a wonderful technician. He had a pleasant cheerful attitude in less than ideal circumstances. He was able to quickly diagnose the problem correctly as involving the HVAC line, not the hot water heater, and offered to speak to the original company's supervisor by phone (who had come out to clean the building lines and therefore needed to come back to fix this clog) to explain what he had found. He then took the time to talk about the issue with the other company's technician who arrived on site. He also remained pleasant and patient even as I locked myself out of my condo, and we had to wait for a locksmith so that I could pay him for the service call. I hope to not need a plumber again anytime soon, but I will be calling Magnolia in the future instead of the other company. This situation was very stressful and frustrating (the original company ended up sending out a total of 3 different staff for 5 service calls over 3 days and finally completed the work late in the evening before my trip) but having Magnolia and particularly Duane involved went a long way in making a bad situation better and was the reason that the problem was properly identified to be fixed. Thank you.

Phil R.

10/08/2010 12:00:00 SA

Do Not Use Them. They have a new system where they charge a la cart

Guy was at my house and charged $900. for a little over two hours.

They suck!

Tracy M.

1/15/2011

I had a fairly large clog in my bathtub that I couldn't get rid of. I called Magnolia and 9am. By 10am, Greg had arrived. He had some difficulty getting the clog cleared, but managed to do it within an hour. I was happy with the quick response time. Greg was pleasant and he got the job done. It was a little more expensive than I thought it would be, which is why it's only 4 stars instead of 5.

J S.

05/04/2014 12:00:00 SA

I contacted this company as I thought I had several problems in the house that needs fixing. They were very courteous and helpful in setting an appointment that worked well with my schedule. They sent one of their technician, Geovonn, to provide an estimate of the work needed. He was very professional and thorough in his inspection that it turns out that I did not have a many issues as I thought. The few remaining items, he provided me with an estimate and explained the steps they will be taking to resolve the problems. I dealt with many plumbers in the past and some had an attitude while others were trying to create additional and unneeded work. Tis company and Geovonn were professionals, honest and thorough with their work. I would call them again.

Nicole G.

06/02/2015 12:00:00 SA

From one home owner to another, do not use this company!!! It seems that their goal is to charge the most amount of money possible and do the least amount of work, using the most inexpensive materials. They also do not stand behind their work. Use a small plumbing business that cares about their work and will stand behind it. In 2012, Magnolia installed a water heater in my condo.
One morning about a few months ago, I noticed that the floor of one of my bedrooms was saturated with water. The water was a result of a leak on the water tank. When I looked at where the leak was coming from, one of the pipes was all rusted and calcified (I was told by another plumber that this was the result of a slow leak over a long period of time). I called Magnolia right away (around 10 am) to have someone come out. They said that they most likely couldn't get someone out to me until the next day. I did my best to hold back the leak in the meantime but by night the leak had gotten worse and I called their emergency number. They did send someone out but said that they would charge me $134 (they did reluctantly reimburse this after many, many phone calls and emails). When the man came and looked at the tank he said to me more than once I shouldn't say this, but your tank shouldn't be doing this. He couldn't do anything that night to stop the leak. The tank continued to leak through the night. He came back the next day and replaced a small PVC pipe that was causing the leak and I was charged $262. Since then I have had a Master Plumber come out who owns a small business. He was appalled at the work he saw. I was told the quality of the materials used were poor (PVC vs. copper, etc.) and that the tank was a ticking time bomb. He said it was only a matter of time before we had another leak. When I sought out Magnolia to make this situation right, they gave me the run around. The people I talked to said they would get back with me and they did not. I had to make phone call after phone call and each time I had to retell the situation. Needless to say, they wouldn't take responsibility for the damage caused by their poor installation. I have incurred many costs related to the initial installation including having the pipes on the tank replaced with copper and a pan put under the tank, which by Virginia state law should have been there to begin with.
The only thing I can say now is that I am more educated about plumbing and I would never, ever recommend this company to anyone.

Cindy C.

12/06/2014 12:00:00 SA

I have never felt so disgusted after reading an estimate for plumbing work. Magnolia estimate for labor to replace my leaking garbage disposal: $345. I found another plumber who did it for $90. Magnolia estimate for labor to remove faucets on double vanity and install new ones: $978. I found another plumber who did it for $180. Magnolia labor estimate to repair leaking tub faucet: $226. I decided to replace the leaking washer myself. Magnolia estimate for installing new flaps for inside 3 toilet bowls: $241. I decided to replace them myself. The total Magnolia labor estimate for replacing one garbage disposal, installing 2 sets of sink faucets, replacing 3 toilet bowl flaps, and replacing the washers in 5 leaky faucets: $2,677. Shameful.

Michael G.

05/04/2011 12:00:00 SA

After Magnolia failed to show up for the first appointment, I rescheduled. After they failed to show up for the second appointment, I was told that I had been rescheduled for an entirely differnt day and time. Would have been nice to have been notified.I will not bother with Magnolia again.

Deborah H.

06/05/2014 12:00:00 SA

I've had good experiences with Magnolia's AC staff. Today, Troy was prompt, polite and efficient. He checked the system and gave me good advice on what I should do and when.

Amy Z.

07/08/2014 12:00:00 SA

Solid service - Sam and Sam repaired the HVAC and I didn't feel like I was getting ripped off. Easy payment - my only complaint was their timeliness (arrived at 9:30 for an appt between 8 and 9).

DC B.

4/22/2014

We have had a contract with Magnolia's HVAC division for more than 10 years. If the installers of our system had been as personable, professional, and responsive as Allen and Troy, we would not have gotten to know these gentlemen quite so well. As it is, we look forward to their visit in the spring (a.c.) or fall (heat) and to their honest assessment of a situation that needs to be corrected (or not). I agree with the reviewer who mentioned the overpriced HVAC parts-- but Allen and Troy were a reason to keep coming back to Magnolia and we will miss them when we sell our house. They are top notch.

Mark S.

12/01/2014 12:00:00 SA

I don't trust magnolia. At first I thought it was bad customer service. When I found it impossible to get through to the customer service phone line to schedule the follow up visit to install the part Magnolia had to order I called John C Flood. I had no trouble getting a person on the phone right away and setting up and appointment for the next day. SUNDAY. John C Flood showed up on time, unlike Magnolia. To my shock they told me there was nothing wrong with my furnace. The part magnolia insisted had to be replaced at a cost of $412.00 was fine. So now I'm left thinking Magnolia ripped me off. I've left voice mails and emails asking Magnolia to return my calls, to no avail.

Babbi W.

11/18/2014

Horrible service! I was very specific about the problem when I scheduled the appointment. Given the lack of experience of the plumber who I quote, I've never seen this before they should have never scheduled this appointment. $75 down the drain

Craig S.

5/14/2014

I've used Magnolia for a couple of years, to trouble shoot and repair a major problem (coolant leak in my AC unit) as well as regular/seasonal maintenance. The office is great about staying in touch regarding appointments, including letting me know when the technician is on their way. The service team is conscientious and shows up on time which is a huge plus when staying home from work to meet them. I trust their work and recommend their services.

Ryan M.

9/24/2014

Scheduled an appointment for plumbing work between 4-6pm and then got a call around 6:30 that all of their techs were on emergencies and couldn't make it out, after i had already gone home early from work to meet them. I told them if they could get someone out that night, fine, but otherwise I'd call someone else. They did finally get someone out (around 8:30pm), but then he tried to charge me the evening rate. He didn't seem to understand that he was only there in the evening because they failed to make their originally scheduled time. Finally, after talking to his supervisor, he was able to give me the regular rate, which still seemed outrageous -- $275 to snake a clogged garbage disposal. Won't be using these guys again.

scott s.

04/03/2010 12:00:00 SA

excellent workmanship and very responsive/reliable, albeit a little pricey. i give them four stars (because of pricing).

i had a mystery leak in my ceiling. i called magnolia around 3:00 p.m. and the nice lady on the phone literally said we can be there tomorrow if you like. sweet, sweet salvation! she gave me a timeframe of 730 - 900 a.m.

at exactly 7:30, mangolia was at my door. i described the situation to danny (my mag man) and he set to work within seconds. before doing so, however, he pulled out his massive price guide to show me exactly how much the service he was proposing (a simple diagnosis of the leak) would cost. i agreed and he started in. within about 20 minutes he had found the source of the leak, which would require the replacement of a portion of one of the pipes leading to my hvac. he then told me he was happy to do the repair if i wanted him to (and again, pulled out the price book to show me exactly how much it would cost), or he could leave and i just pay him for the diagnosis. not wanting to deal with having to find another plumber, i agreed to let him do the repair for the price quoted. i am fairly certain that i could've gotten off cheaper by calling another plumber to come out and do the fix (as the other guy would probably charge by the hour, saving me a little bit off of magnolia's price). but i honestly didn't want the hassle just to save $100 or so, and therefore asked my mag man to step to it.

within about two hours, he had the job done -- he completely drained my water heater and hvac, running the hose outside and saving me from having to water the plants; he then cut out the offending bit of pipe and constructed a replacement, finishing up by installing the same and then firing up my water heater all over again.

to boot, he was very careful to cover all exposed areas underneath the leak (he was working in my den's ceiling) with drop cloth, which literally left my floor and furniture in precisely the same condition as when the mag man arrived.

i am completely satisfied. like i said, i know they are a little pricey (and therefore get four instead of five stars), but i would call them again in a heartbeat if i ever had the need. i think you'll like working with magnolia!

JULIE D.

4/21/2011

Outrageously expensive ($350 / hr of work under a kitchen sink) for basic services not requiring special materials or effort. Please request a quote and shop around ahead of time. We are in Georgetown, so often see hourly rates quotes in the $90 - $150 range and chalk it up to our zip code as we show them the door. Be wary with the quotes and break down the time and material before agreeing.

L T.

07/01/2013 12:00:00 SA

Rarely is a company so bad (or good) that they merit my energy to write a review. Magnolia is such a horrible company.

My AC went out on me after a power outtage in my neighborhood.

I needed to contact someone quickly so I reached out to a number of companies including Magnolia. Magnolia got back to me right away and scheduled an appointment for the following day.

The service folks showed up on time. They were friendly and professional. Because of the electrical issues they couldn't complete the diagnostic.

I had the electrical issues resolved and had them come back. They were prompt and showed up on time again. The same service guy arrived.

He told me that my compressor and even the condenser had to be replaced and that I also had acid in my system. He couldn't give me an estimate. Someone else does that.

The next day the estimator came by. He spent about 20 mins here. He told me he would send me the estimate later that day. The next day I contacted him since I hadn't received the estimate as promised. He said he needed additional information for me for the evaporator. I thought this was strange since we had only been talking about the condenser.

Well, he finally sent me the estimate the following day and I was absolutely shocked. I had thought in my mind that it would cost $1500 at most to replace the condenser. Their estimate was $3901. I wanted to know why it was so high. I also asked why they did not consider that my condenser is still under warranty and therefore I could get the parts for free. I also wanted to know how much of $3901 was for parts and what was for labor. The estimator told me in a very rude way that he doesn't break down his estimate. Really? You give someone an estimate of nearly 4 grand and you don't provide any justification for it. I was in total disbelief. I knew this wasn't right. I also asked about the fact that my unit was under warranty. The guy told me that my manufacturer would not give me a replacement since I had acid in my system. I told him thank you but I will go elsewhere. I lost my $89 service fee.

A couple days later while talking to a friend about this, she told me I should give her guy who is license and verified and does work on her properties a call. I did. He came by and did a real diagnostic that did not last mere minutes and determined that I needed a couple parts but I did not need to replace the entire condenser nor did I need to replace the evaporator coil. He arranged to swap out the parts with my manufacturer for free. He had no problem doing so with the manufacturer. I have AC now and it only cost $750 and not the outrageous $3901 that Magnolia wanted to charge me. What a ripoff.

Ben B.

06/06/2014 12:00:00 SA

Think Twice...
Magnolia was scheduled to arrive between 12:00-1:30 to pump two septic tanks. Took a half day off work to meet the tech at the house. No show at 1:30 so I called dispatch at 10 of 2. May have been my imagination, but he sounded a bit surprised and then told me The driver will be there no later than 3:30. That time came and went and when I again contacted dispatch (at 3:50) I was told to expect the truck in 20 minutes. Hmmm, that would have been 4:20pm. Truck pulled into the driveway at 5:45. I understand (in this case literally) sh*t happens, but there was zero communication from Magnolia - all communication was me calling them. Really!? In the age of cell phones is there any excuse. When I spoke to the evening supervisor (Tony) I politely explained I had lost a half day at work, was not going to make my 6 pm meeting and if there had been some communication on Magnolia's part as to a realistic arrival time, I would not have sat at the house twiddling my thumbs all afternoon. I asked for some compensation. Tony said if the driver could fit both tanks on one truck he would do something. They ended up knocking $50 off the bill. It was something but let's remember - we aren't talking building a nuclear reactor here. We are talking about pumping septic tanks. A lot of companies out there can do that. For me, the big sell would be good scheduling, arriving on time, and if unable to do that, communicating with the customer. Will go elsewhere next time.

Ada A.

6/13/2010

I had Magnolia install two split Panasonic AC units in my old row house. One worked perfectly but the other was defective. It was the manufacturer's fault - not Magnolia's. Yet Magnolia sent workers out dozens of time to get the unit up and running, ordered parts and finally arranged with the manufacturer for it to be completely replaced - no cost to me for anything. They even followed up a year later to make sure it was all okay.

Shawn A.

11/13/2012

They showed up to my home 3 hours late. They were to put in a toilet (I had already bought the toilet from Home Depot). The guy said it would be $411, then near the end said it would be a little more. Then charged me an extra $254 than what the he said when he got here and acted like I should be lucky they didn't charge me for overtime.. Do not use this garbage dump of a company.

C F.

3/17/2013

Our story is much too long to go into every detail however I will have nothing to do with this company in the future because I believe they are dishonest. Prior to an out of town trip, we had a problem with our boiler, I called them and they sent someone over who said we needed a new part. The service man went to his truck, called the office and returned to tell me the repair would cost $975 but they would have to order the part. I questioned if the entire valve assembly needed replacing and was told yes so I said to go ahead. We had friends staying at the house and I had informed them of what was happening so that they could let the Magnolia person in to do the repair while I was away. When I returned a day after the replacement valve was installed I found they had installed the valve handle backwards. I was in the wholesale plumbing business for 25 years and so then I called a distributor and told him what had occurred. He told me that the entire valve assembly didn't need replacing. Even if it did his price to me would have been $179. He said I only needed the ball cock which costs $85. So I had paid $975 for them to replace an $85 part. That is overcharging a customer.

I then called Magnolia, spoke to Michelle and told her what I had found out and that I was severely overcharged on a job that didn't need the part they said it did. My greatest problem began with her as she never returned a call unto days later if at all. She made promises she broke regarding the timing of the credit That they agreed I was due. It wasn't until over a month after the work was done that I called and left her a message ( she only once answered her phone in person) saying that if I did not get a returned call that day I would have to elevate the dispute. That afternoon someone in accounting called to say they were sending me a check that day. I am on the road again as I write this so still don't know if they mailed the check or not but for their sake hope they have.
Never again will I deal with these people. Reasonable profits are fine...robbery is not!

Ms C.

3/17/2013

THE WORST! I would have given Magnolia Plumbing negative stars if it was an option. I will skip the Horrid details but in my experience I found them to be dishonest, incompetent, and impossible to deal with. There are many other firms out there, I recommend you skip Magnolia.

Amy B.

6/26/2013

DO NOT USE THEM! I read all the reviews (most of them for plumbing services, I called them for HVAC) and it didn't seem too bad, mainly that they were over priced. I thought I would give them a try since they were available next day to come out and clean my air ducts. They wouldn't give me an estimate over the phone, and I knew there would be a diagnostic fee, but I went ahead anyway. BIG mistake. Not only did they lie and tell me that they could give me an estimate and get the service done the same day (the technician said now way they need 3-4 hours), but they quoted my $910 to vacuum out my air ducts!! To give you an idea I had 2 other quotes before them, one for $270 and one for $350, so their price was almost 3 times that. And in addition, they calculated the cost out of a book based on the number of vents you have, so they DEFINITELY could have given me a quote over the phone if I just supplied them with the number of vents. The technician was a nice guy and felt bad, but there was obviously no way for him to help me.

Total rip off, I'm a new homeowner and needed a reliable HVAC/Plumber service, and they definitely just lost my business.

Dave W.

7/24/2013

be very careful. I had a service call on a blower that was under warrentee - I informed the tech that the unit was new and should be covered. He told me it was not and the part was $650.00 I called the office to inquire and sure enough it was now under wanrrentee and the cost was now $325.00. I called another company and they came right over and the cost to repair was ONLY $15. THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF.....

Telithia A.

7/18/2012

**Retraction** Well, two days ago I placed a review on yelp bashing Magnolia for the work they did in my home. Within those two days, Tony a manager with the company made sure that I was taken care of from the incident. He called me several times to try to work out a deal because he knew that I was devastated from the incident. I was extremely surprised by his action. I have never dealt with a company that gave such a personal touch to customers. To be honest, I was I done with Magnolia once this happened but the aftermath greatly changed my mind . Currently, I am using them to finish the work and I am extremely happy about this descision.

Vince G.

4/22/2013

Stay away from this company!!! Myself and my family have had a few dealings with this contractor and found them to be incompetent, expensive and simply do not have the best interests of the consumer at heart.
On one incident, they came in to fix a clogged drain. After about five minutes of plunging and snaking the drain of the sink, the plumber proceeds to tell us that the wall has to be opened up to cut open the drain and get at the problem. We would have been left with a much greater expense and a hole in the wall! They conveniently said that they also had contractors that would fix the wall.
On another incident, the heat was out at the house. They had stated the thermostat was bad and should be replaced. As the installation was proceeding, we were informed it would cost $350!! Oh, this did not fix the problem! It turned out that when they were at the house on a third visit, they had miss wired the heating portion of the heating/cooling system and it had to now be fixed by them.

I would do zero stars on this rating, but the yelp site does not seem to allow it.

There are many other companies in the area that are actually reputable. Stay away from this company as they really do not seem to care about the quality of their work and the customer value.

Thank you

Sarah K.

7/14/2010

This is a review of the HVAC division, so I cannot speak to their plumbing services, but it was a terrible experience from start to finish. Our AC went out on a Saturday afternoon (the system would kick in, run for two minutes and then trip the breaker). We called on Sunday to request a service call. They took our information and said they would call us Monday morning to let us know when someone could come out. We had to call back on Monday and they had no record of our previous call. We got a technician to come out on Monday afternoon. After 10 minutes of testing, he declared that the compressor was shot and needed to be replaced. He gave us a quote the next morning of $1,600 (which was labor only because the compressor was under warranty). We decided to have another company (S&W Controls, FIVE STARS) come out and take another look for a second opinion, and all I can say is thank goodness. Not only did Magnolia diagnose the problem wrong, they did not even do the correct testing. The problem was a burned wire in the circuit breaker box. The fix? Strip and clip the wire, reinsert and hello, problem solved. To add insult to injury, the technician from Magnolia LEFT WITHOUT RETURNING OUR KEYS. I will never use them again and will advise everyone else in my condo building to do the same.

Magnolia Plumbing Heating & Cooling