Staab & Sons

Not sure what's happened at Staab but I'm not impressed or happy. Our house's plumbing and HVAC systems have been serviced exclusively by Staab for something like 40 years. They were a reliable, easy-to-work-with company. Now, they're all business. Got our seasonal service contract in January ... but couldn't get service until June. Requested an estimate for a leaking bathtub ... But got the invoice three days before I got the estimate. And then got a past due dunning notice 6 days after the service call. Truly, you don't need this kind of grief.

extortion:  well not exactly since nobody forced me to give them money under threat,  but these people definitely know when your in a bad spot and they can charge you what ever they want.   unfortunately they are also in a business where that scenario happens all the time.  good thing  I am very handy and have a good sense how long things take to.  anybody that is not would be totally screwed by these people.  

I had a terracotta sewer line that was cracked at the common lateral.  it was about 5 feet of 4 pipe that needed replaced and a smaller drain line from the kitchen that had to tied back into it.  I dug up the old line and exposed everything.  my plan was to do it all myself until I hit the common lateral which was a 8 pipe and I couldn't get the fitting from home depot.  In come's staab to the rescue.  I did all the heavy lifting and got a quote to just fix the line.  which consisted of cutting the 8 common later line,  Install a Y fitting and then tie that back into my 4 line.    I thought maybe a days worth of work and a couple hundred dollars worth of fitting.   The problem is that I have no toilet or running water until this gets fixed and they could see that.   The quote was $2600 dollars.  I asked them to explain the high cost and they estimated 2 people for 2 days and said the fitting were really expensive.   I said I would get back to them.   back in the hole I go to stubbed in a temporary line on my own to get by for a couple days and then called a bunch of plumbers to get quotes.  One quote $950,  another quote was $1150.  I went with the $1150 because he could start the job in a couple of days.  he came when he said and did a great job and he was done in 5 hours and onto the next call.  

you should not use these people if you are in a situation where they can stick it to you.   because they will.

the good news is that now that we have the internet companies like this won't be able to get away with it forever.....

We had an issue with our whole house air conditioning so we had to call someone.  The first one we called, Fagnelli Heating & Cooling, came out and diagnosed the problem- our unit was about 2-3 pounds low of freon.  It was an old unit and that freon would have cost around $120 per pound so we were looking at $360 just to charge it back up.  They also identified the leaks & rust spots that would probably allowed it to continue leaking...  Time for a new unit.  Fagnelli quoted us $3700 for the complete job which included a 10yr warranty.  That a/c check itself cost us close to $400 because they did a dye test to find the leaks.  

Then we called Staab for an estimate.  They came when they were supposed to, did a similar inspection and quoted a similar (3 ton) unit for $2700 plus $300 for a 10 yr warranty.  Of course they got the job.

They showed up at 8:45am, 15 minutes early, were very professional (even put down sheets over our carpet to catch any dust & debris from the inside unit as they carried it through the house), kept my wife informed of their process but didn't try to train her on how to install them (you know how some tradesmen do- they want you to understand WAY too much than you really want to know), and they finished up the job by noon.  They cleaned up the entire workspace so I had no idea they were even down there aside from gleaming new equipment.  

I would definately recommend them to anyone.

Thanks Staab!

If there was a lower rating, I'd give that.  Initially we got our sewer line unclogged by another company and an estimate for hydo jetting the line.  At that point I got our line protection coverage involved and they stuck us with these people who charged more than $300 more against our coverage than the initial estimate.  To boot, they got their hydro jet hose stuck in our sewer line (at one point I heard the guy yelling to his helper on the back porch with the noisy machine stop, stop STOP) where it remained for over a month while we negotiated with the line protection company for an alternative plumbing company to do the work. When the other company did the work they ended up digging 7 feet below the main (16+ft) to release the hose which had broken through the pipe and gotten buried.  Never again!  Very pleased with the other company.

Thee most arrogant and disrespectful people I've ever seen. They actually came over to Dean Tech and started a lot of trouble over nothing. This company is the worst I've ever seen.

I normally write positive reviews to support local businesses that do what they say.  Skip them and save frustration condescension and rudeness! Staab is a NO! I spoke at length with the owner and was made to feel inferior for using his service via a home is insurance  provider. He said, we can't do anything when Pivitol  pays us to go out!! They don't pay for the time.. SOOOO why do you go out? Why do you take their money??? To make matters worse, his tech deemed a boiler unrepairable because he didn't want to do the work. This means no one will come back and they can keep their service call fee ! The unit is repairable and the owner refused to help to make it right. When the lockdown ends, we will see great businesses rise back and I hope thin the herd ! So called family companies like Staab have likely met a cross roads where they will have a chance to change jobs and not be plumbers anymore. I was truly hurt when a local business would not support my family that has lived in the area as long as they claim to be in business!