Update: The next day after posting this, the manager Crystal reached out to discuss my concern. She was very friendly and we had a good discussion. They ended up making things right, and I appreciate that.
Based on the reviews, I thought I was going to be in good hands. The gentleman who showed up was nice and respectful but I was shocked by the price. I submitted a request for an estimate using yelp and detailed my project thinking they could give me a ball park estimate. They said they can absolutely help me and would have a plumber come by and look it over before they give a price. I knew the estimate was $65 and that it would be waived if I ended up using them. Again, based on the reviews, I thought I was going to use them so shame on me for assuming their price for the job was going to be something reasonably close to what I was thinking.
I have an old shower tub combo that I am having the tile re-glazed in the near future but I wanted to get the old independent hot and cold valves replaced with a new shower mixing valve before the tile guy came. In the notes for the estimate on yelp, I stated the conditions of the wall and that it was plaster walls but it had an access panel on the backside, which I thought would be helpful. I let them know that I was going to provide the new mixing valve and trims. I didn't want them to patch any of the old holes either. I work in construction, so I felt pretty confident in my ballpark estimate of 500-600. But the plumber quoted me just shy of $1,200. Again, I had the materials already, so that was just for labor. Let's say their hourly rate is 120/hr, that's 10 hours to core a new hole in the shower wall, and plumb the mixing valve that I was providing. I just don't see it.
At the end of the day, Maplewood plumbing should let people know the ball park costs BEFORE they schedule an appointment. I called 2 other companies today and they both gave me a ballpark estimate before scheduling anyone to come look at it.
The fact that I had to pay $65 and take time off work to meet the guy to give me a quote that was twice as much as what I was planning is very frustrating. For this reason alone, I do not recommend anyone doing business with Maplewood Plumbing.
I'm going to submit this to BBB also, but just incase you were like me and used the yelp reviews alone, I thought I'd put it on here too.
Oh, and icing on the cake - I asked for a price to add a ball valve on my incoming water supply, just as a precaution for when the old one fails. The price for this was $450. That's a $20 part and MAYBE an hours worth of work.