Barrell Plumbing & Heating

Eamon came out today to diagnose an issue with our boiler which stopped working.  He figured out what was wrong, what he needed to fix it and he fixed it.  Can't get much better than that!  When he walked in he offered to put protective coverings over his shoes...who does that?? So courteous and professional.  Explained the issue to me and what he needed to do.  I'm sitting in my warm and cozy house thanks to him!   Highly recommend.

A shame the employees on site don't live up to the company promise: Serving the Boston area for over 50 years, we have built a reputation for high-quality craftsmanship and professional, courteous service.

Workers arrived at my house unannounced and demanded that I move my vehicle in the driveway so they could use it. Demanded, not asked. When I told them they needed to ask in advance the next time, they proceeded to repeat this on a holiday at 7am. When I reminded them that they needed to ask in advance, the dude working complained about needing to move a 500 pound boiler and needing the space. Normally, this would not be an issue, but his terrible attitude and lack of ownership of the problem, plus his discourteous delivery was completely inappropriate. Furthermore, he was a terrible example to a younger employee.

Why bother with Joseph Barrell when there are so many other competitors on the market? No one wants this kind of bad energy and attitude in their home.

It's never fun when you have to call a plumber - and we've had to call many over the years for our old house. This year was the worst yet!

Two weeks prior to Christmas our main drain line was clogged and the entire pipe had to be replaced inside as well as dug out in our alley. Because of the urgency we went with the first company we could get out here. Not only did they misdiagnose the problem, but they claimed we'd have to rip out an entire bathroom in our finished basement.

We decided to call Barrell since we used them in the past for smaller jobs and at this point we felt we needed to talk to someone else.

Barrell identified the exact problem. Were able to fix it in two days and surgically cut three small pieces of wall in the bathroom wall rather than  rip the whole thing apart. It wasn't cheap, but it was a lot of work over several days. We were very happy with Barrell and will keep using them for our plumbing work.

I just had Barrell fix my water heater which died. They arrived on time. Completed the job quickly, the repairman was very professional. I would use Barrell again.

I've used Barrell Plumbing at the recommendation of the property management company that manages my condo.  They are expensive, but they are willing to answer any questions to make sure that you understand what is going on and what is needed.

8 years ago, I had them replace an old shower valve in my ancient bathroom.  They got it fixed and it's been working fine ever since.  

More recently, I had a leak from the separate tub valve.  They suggested replacing the tub valve with a combined shower and tub valve.  It didn't make sense to me so I called them and they were super patient and willing to answer every question that I had.  I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be trying to match the old subway tile and that we explored all options.  

The repair was scheduled and the plumber was able to stop the leak.  I didn't have to go through the expensive replacement of the shower/tub valve.  I'm still not 100% convinced that i need to tie the shower and the tub valve together, but they were responsive and informative.

If you want to get RIP OFF call this company.
I called them as we had heat problems as the heat was working only on and off and a young man came in with a little attitude that got better as we talked.

He replaced the glass tube of the boiler as it was rusty and replace 10 air vents (one for each radiator) He went to buy the parts (not sure why they NEVER have any parts with them) and after more or less 3 hours counting the time he took shopping he asked me to pay $1,050.00 I was in shock and I asked WHY so much?!!

He said the air valves were expensive when I learned later they are $10.00
It gets worse... After paying them $1,050.00 and about an hour 1/2 after he left, we had NO HEAT!!! so I called this company again. He came back for about  one hour  and left. I though it was part of the $1,050.00 he charged, but to my surprise I received an invoice eventually for an additional $440.00 for an ignition wire replacement  

Two weeks after, I had NO HEAT again, so I decide to call a different company and they told me the ignition wire was old and they replaced it on 12/31 under an emergency call for less than half the price $200.00

STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY
The also go by Arrell Corporation, stay away from them.

I bought my house in Somerville 4 years ago and filled it with tenants. When the heater broke on a weekend, I was up a creek - so I called about twenty plumbers, and Barrell were the only ones who were willing to schlep out here.

They are pricey, I agree. This is not my problem with Barrell plumbing & heating.

They did fix my heater in a hurry, and I give them points for availability and being willing to schlep out here, even if I am being charged ~$100/hr of their driving time. I asked the guy at the time if I needed to replace my heater - and he said it was fine, its not an old heater, it should work great.

However, my problem is that my heater broke again the next year. And the next. And each time I called Barrell plumbing, because workmen with any sense of professionalism should warranty their own work. Each time they schlepped out here, charging me ~$100/hr of their driving time, and decided that they needed to replace a different part of my perfectly fine, not too old heater. Each time I wound up paying them over $400.

This year my heater is broken AGAIN, and after having Barrell plumbing come out to look at it for the last three years, I refuse to be suckered by this company again. After having the SAME professionals come look at my heater three years running, work on it, and then tell me everything is fine, I must believe that their shoddy workmanship has contributed to my heater failing every year for the past 3 years.

Barrell Plumbing gets 2 stars because they WILL 'fix' your heater in a hurry. But if you want your heater to stay fixed, I do hope you get someone else to look at it after they do.

At first I was fairly happy with their scheduling and customer service.  I called and was able to schedule an estimate quickly and easily.  I wish I didn't have to schedule almost a week out, but I understand companies get busy - that is usually a good sign, right?!

Well, fast forward two weeks later, several phone calls, a handful of messages and I cannot get my quote to save my life!  All this company has done is wasted my time!  I took time out of my day to meet you for the estimate.  I have called to follow up on the estimate and inquire why my quote has not been delivered when promised over 5 times.  It is a rather extensive quote - so it is not like it is not worth the time and money.  Just bad business practice.

Save yourself the energy and time - find someone that wants to do that work.

Plumbers - they have you by the cojones, simple as that.  When our disposal died (and by died, I mean it didn't even turn on, just flat out decided to call it a day),  I sent a few emails, made a few calls, and the folks at Barrell were responsive and kind.  We set up an appointment , Joe A. showed up, fixed the disposal, and then charged me an insane amount of money, including travel time.  I said but you were only here for an hour (an hour which included plenty of chatting, phone calls to the office, etc).  I begrudgingly wrote the check (again, they have you by the cojones) and headed off to work.  

Anyway - being that I can't keep my mouth shut, I sent an email to the folks at Barrell and asked about the billing.  The following morning I got a phone call from Carl in billing apologizing profusely.  He also said he would discard the check I wrote and re-bill for the work less the extra hour we were billed.  Given this is a plumber, one hour is a significant chunk of change.  Needless to say, I was plenty happy with the results.  I would give them five stars, but the fact I even had to go back and question the bill warrants four stars.

I have used Joseph Barrell for 14 years.  (pronounced Bar-Rell) and only because finding a good honest plumber who doesn't charge an arm and a leg is so difficult.  Barrell's has a very mixed group of workers, some nice and efficient, others useless and inexperienced, but one thing always holds true, whatever the job past changing a washer, they will have to go back to the office to get a part.  Even when you make it clear exactly what the job is, they never carry anything to do the job: you pay for them to travel back and forth.  I have had them work on three properties and it's always the same.  They are very trustworthy and I would let them (and have in fact) have a key, but seriously they are extremely expensive.  They are better/cheaper than Winters but that's the best I can say.
About 12 years ago I paid for 3 hours of labor for a high tank toilet the 22 year old couldn't fix.  Then about 4 years ago again I got a very inexperienced guy to fix a radiator.  He did but didn't check the new valve and it began flooding my kitchen.  When I phoned I was asked, after I explained, if this was really an emergency and the woman was very rude.  I said look ask him to come back there's a waterfall!  I have hundred's of dollars of repair to be done for that mess.
Reasonable question is, why do I hire them?  Because when they are willing to do a job (which they aren't always) they usually manage to get it right, they show up when they say they will and even though they play this going back to the office surcharge game, they charge what they say they will.
Sad that it's hard to find better.

Our water heater tank started leaking at around 8.30 last night. By 9.30 Barrell had a plumber in place draining the tank to prevent further basement flooding.

By noon the next day, Barrell had 1) confirmed that the tank (installed by a completely different vendor!) was under warranty, 2) had picked up a replacement in Boston, 3) and had it installed.

Again, Barrell is not cheap. But they pulled in a warranty tank (that they had not installed, and free-of-charge to us) without us having to fill out any paperwork, and had it installed in business hours. Impressive.

As others have mentioned, they are insanely expensive and borderline fraudulent.  I was charged nearly $500 to have a simple garbage disposal replaced (normally about a $200-250 job, appliance included). It took the kid no more than 30 minutes to install but they later billed me for almost 3 hours of work.  When I spoke with them about this they took the installers word and said he was able to prove the length of time by reporting his GPS location during the visit. I live in the center of Cleveland Circle so my guess is he had a nice long lunch close by and, unfortunately, I had the pleasure of paying for his leisure time. What a wonderful company.

Overpriced, unfriendly dispatcher, difficult to schedule, try someone else, there are plenty of alternatives

In the past few weeks, I've had a faucet replaced, air conditioner repaired, water heater installed, and we're working on the humidifier. So I have lots of experience with Barrell. They are honest (another company gave me an estimate to replace equipment that wasn't broken). The air conditioner needed a minor part replaced, and they had the work done within a couple of hours, for way less than I was expecting. Very impressed.

I had a clogged drain pipe that meant dirty dishwater from condos upstairs in my building was coming into my kitchen.  I called Barrell at 8:15am, a friendly plumber arrived by 9:30am, and I was writing the $300 check by 10:15 after the guy snaked out the line.

As I felt this was urgent, I didn't shop around for a better estimate, so I don't have a sense for how these guys compare from a cost perspective.  However, they were extremely prompt, friendly both on the phone and in person, and got it done quickly.  The plumber also gave me some helpful advice for preventative maintenance and how to avoid the problem in the future.

Overall, I would recommend these guys for all the positive reasons above, although if you have more time for your plumbing job I would shop around to see how competitive they are on cost.

Best plumbers I've had the fortune to know for over a decade.  These fellas know their stuff & practice it well.  They turn around parts orders like they've got elves working for them.  Once you've gone Barrell, I can't imagine why you'd go anywhere else (unless the lot of dumba$$es in your condo association suggest otherwise & gush over companies that pale in comparison - even on Angie's list!).

I rarely write Yelp reviews, but I'm so happy with Barrell that I'm making an exception!  The furnace in our condo late broke late on a cold and frosty night.  I left a message on there emergency line that night, but called back early the next morning.  (That was the only negative - they didn't call me back that night, but I didn't really make it sound like it was important enough to warrant emergency service, so no big deal.)  They gave me an 11-1 service window, but around 12:45 I got an apologetic call that the repairman was running an hour late.  James, the repairman, came at 1:45 and after listening to what I thought the problem was, he got right to work.  He patiently answered all my questions and explained how to fix the problem in the future, without treating me like a dumb girl.  I will absolutely use Barrell again in the future!  The minimum charge is for 1 hour of service, and it cost $140 for my 1 hour.  I don't know if that's a good price, but it seems fair to me!  Cash on delivery only, by credit card or check.

The actual plumber that came to my house was great, he showed up early, fixed everything, was very nice and effiicent. troubles came when the bill came and i was charged for an extra half hour. i talked to several people at the office who wouldn't help me get it resolved. in fact, they were somewhat rude and condescending on the phone. finally after complaining to several people, someone finally called the actual plumber who was at my house and vouched for the correct time. they ended up taking the extra half hour off my bill. but, it was a lot more stress involved than it should have been. if you work with these folks, make sure you pay the plumber when he's at your house, so there's no confusion on the bill.

mediocre work and ridiculously high prices.  Will have to come BA ck two to three times to get it right and will bill you every time.  Arrogant.

My condo building now uses Barrell.  They're excellent.  I've lived here more than 20 years and we've had ongoing air racket problems in the heating system, which Barrell has fixed.  I never thought it would happen.  One time, during an emergency, caused by an owner shutting her heat off in subzero weather, she called on her own another plumber, who botched up our system.  We brought Barrell in, but unfortunately they sent an inexperienced, young plumber, who didn't help solve the current problem.  But very soon afterwards, Barrell sent over some of their experienced plumbers, who resolved the problems caused by the plumber the owner had called on her own.  Barrell knows what they're doing, just ask for experienced plumbers.  But to be fair, recently they sent over to my unit a young plumber (even tho I requested middle-aged), who was excellently trained and skilled.  And nice to boot--he even showed me what to do with my disposal so it wouldn't appear broken again.