Zach S.
09/08/2021 12:00:00 SA
I have used 1-Tom-Plumber twice since purchasing our home back in Mid 2019. If I was basing this review solely on my first experience, I would give them 5 stars. We had our water heater replaced and the pricing with install was reasonable and the representative that came out was perfectly professional.
However, if I was basing this review on my second experience, I'd give 1 star (or less if possible). I've actually had time to let myself cool off for a few months and thought about letting it go, but I just can't.
I called their office to get a quote for reattaching a garbage disposal and connecting a new faucet to my kitchen sink. We had just finished getting new countertops and a new sink installed. I was explicitly clear on the phone about what I needed. No troubleshooting necessary, just this is what I need to have done. They said they could not give me a quote over the phone and that they would need to send someone out.
I was on a time table because we were about to leave town for a week and I wanted to make sure everything was connected properly before we left for vacation. They were the only people able to make it out same-day. The rep comes out (and you could tell he was fairly new). The cost for connecting an *existing* disposal with new hardware already purchased? 550 US dollars. If I had spent 20 minutes on YouTube, I could have pieced this together.
If I did not go through with their service, I'd be charged $80 for them being there, even though I was extremely clear over the phone about what I needed. I didn't get a ballpark quote or anything. If I had known it would have been a dollar over $200, I would have done it myself.
But it gets better! After the install was complete, the pipes were leaking. They were *about to leave* without fixing it and I said something. Of course they disassembled and did it correctly the second time, but proceeded to say they would recommend replacing the PVC with another material. I asked how much that would cost. $225. Was that recommendation made to be before the install? No. Only after their $550 worth of work was completed did they then recommend this.
I then asked if this starts leaking tomorrow, are you going to come back and fix it? I was told yes, but I would have to pay an additional $225 to have them come back and fix the work they had just done. This is simply bad business. If anyone is paying you for a service, it is the expectation that it is done correctly the first time.
Lastly, the bill didn't have a specific service listed. It was just categorized as misc. with the $550 bill attached. There wasn't a single other misc charge in your coding system you could have used for your 25 minutes of labor with *zero* materials provided by the company?
The icing on the cake - the plumbers putty used to install the new, black disposal ring to match the new black sink was installed with white putty. The excess had not been removed and there was a white ring of excess putty that I had to remove with a brush to make sure the finish looked professional.
I am highly disappointed with the service, the pricing, and the attitude that was given to me. I'm a fairly chill dude 99% of the time but it took everything I had to stay calm in the moment. If you need a major appliance replaced? Go for it - I can't say anything negative about my experience there. Simple plumbing work? Go elsewhere. Find a handyman.