Alewife Company

Lisa T.

Here I am on the morning of storm Nemo, with no heat in my house. I checked the furnace myself but had no idea how to fix the problem. After consulting Yelp reviews, I called the Alewife Company. The first amazing thing was that they actually answered the phone. My experience just got better from there. Mike was incredibly nice and patient and was able to talk me through a short-term fix based on a photo of the furnace that I sent to his cell phone. My heat is back on! All this in a 10 minute telephone call. So far, these guys are terrific. I will update this review next week after Alewife repairs/replaces my automatic hot water feed.

Scott S.

I don't use 'service companies' very often at all, as I am mostly a DIY/fix it on my own kinda guy. I have never lived on the east coast until three years ago, so when I got here I had NO IDEA how a boiler system/radiator heating system worked.

In late January of 2013, when the temps dropped to 5-10 degrees for about a week straight, my heat died (of course). I live in Dorchester, and started looking around cautiously for a place to come check it out and get it repaired, while keeping an eye out for the 'he came and looked at my boiler and said I needed a new one, so I paid him $2000 to install it!' reviews. Basically, I didnt wanna get ripped off.

I called Alewife Company on Thursday, and they said they would have someone at my place between 12-4pm. The tech, Rob, did not show up until about 5:30pm, but was in contact with me during that time to let me know his time frame. I do not fault them at all for running past the window because a lot of heaters went into working overtime during this week because of the freezing temps, so im sure Alewife was very busy.

Rob came in, talked with me for about 5 minutes about what the issue is that I was having, and then immediately pulled out a voltmeter and started checking for appropriate voltage at all the necessary spots. (Forgot to mention: prior to this my landlord had sent out his regular handyman guy, and had replaced two parts because he simply assumed they were broken. This did not fix the problem which then led the landlord asking me to call a 'regular heating/cooling' company to do the work since the handyman was making no progress after 4 visits). Rob found a problem that had been there since the boiler was installed a few years ago which was causing the problem but had not surfaced AS a problem until now. He also showed me two other things that he heavily recommended be serviced on the system, but he couldn't do it at this time due to it being 7:00pm and not having parts on him he needed. I now have an in-depth understanding of how my system works, thanks to Rob, which made me feel like he was being very honest with me and not trying to throw parts at my boiler in an attempt to make hundreds of dollars off of me during a service call.

Bottom line: I really like Alewife Company as of this experience. Window of time they said they would be at my residence was acceptable. The tech (ASK FOR ROB!) was VERY knowledgeable. I was happy with the price considering it was same-day service and when he left, the problem was solved ($192 for about 2 hours of work; all labor and no parts installed).

Mike G.

After a fill valve in my heating system gave out on a weekend and flooded my basement, Robert from Alewife Co walked me right through the process. They promptly returned my call, which isn't common in my experience with plumbers. Based on a picture I emailed of the valve, they walked me through the problem and explained what I can do to shut off just hot water and still have running water in my house. While they could have come out then, they explained all the options, billing rates, and set expectations of all the work that needed to be performed to fix the problem.

The following Monday Robert came out and spent about three hours fixing that issue and a bunch of others with leaky valves found in my old heating system. Everything was explained; from the work that was done to what I need to do to look after my radiators in the future.

So I'll absolutely use them again. The best thing about my experience was that they were very responsive, set the right expectations from the beginning, and did exactly what they promised. There weren't any surprises with the service or the final bill.

Varda L.

Wonderful service. Needed water shutoff valve fixed to get new fridge installed... next day service, price just as quoted over the phone. Will definitely be calling them if I need a plumber in the future.

Jenny A.

We were unable to control the temperature on our old steam heaters. (Being from the west coast, the system is just about incomprehensible.) I thought that maybe there was a way to set up a control/thermostat. The technician from Alewife came out and patiently explained that there was already a limited control on it. He also showed us exactly how to use it to control the heat, even drawing a diagram. He replaced (for free) the existing knob with a new one that was easier to use. He couldn't have been kinder and more patient. He charged a very reasonable amount for the time he was there. I would definitely use this company again!

Michael R.

Terrible to deal with. I needed a toilet repaired (ball drop was out of alignment) and it took three visits to get it right. At that point it was a 3.00 part that I got myself at True Value. I also had sillcocks replaced...new ones leak at hose connection...wanted the old ones reinstalled. Was told by plumber that he would polish them (paint buildup on old faucets) and put them back on. Kept calling and getting different answers from owner...or no reply at all. Finally, called and Alewife said they would not do it. I told them I was planning on paying for the reinstall...plumber said he was going to do it, but
the dispatcher or whatever the employee's title is; had no intention of accommodating me. At one time a decent company...now a bunch of incompetent fools.

Andy S.

Had trouble with our old cast iron hot radiators, although our furnace was fairly new. The plumber was knowledgeable and quick! Needed a new hot water circulator. He diagnosed the problem and installed the new pump in just over an hour.

Totally reasonable price. Upfront about hourly charge.

BTW... I called yesterday, he was here by 8:00am (5 minutes early). They will be our go to guys for all plumbing and HVAC!

Thanks Alewife Co. for great service!

Ed M.

Had a great experience with Alewife Company. After being told the only fix was to replace my water heater, for over $2,000 from another place, I decided to shop around. I called and explained the issue, and that afternoon they came out, explained what the issue was, explained how much the parts were to fix it, how much labor was, and in two hours my water heater was repaired for just over $600. Will use them again if any issues come up.

Florian L.

One of Alewife's plumber came to unclog my toilets 2 hours after my call. He was really nice. He explained to me what he was doing and what was the cause of the clogging.
135$ for 10 min of working is a bit pricey though, especially for a poor student like me. I was expecting less.

Jake W.

They're our go-to plumbers. We'd tried a few others, but we've found Alewife Co.'s promptness, quality of work, pricing, and willingness to explain options to us to be unbeatable. In the past year, they've handled drain issues, a Christmas morning boiler repair, and a water heater replacement for us, and we've been thrilled with the experience. Their professionals are exactly that, and we'd highly recommend them to anyone in need of plumbing or heating service.