Berkeley Plumbing & Heating Company

Ranney g.

We were without hot water due to an inoperable on-demand out door mounted water heater. The appointment was 2 days later. The technician inspected the innards, poked at a couple of contacts with a tester. Did not remove, pull, alter, or expose any components. He then pronounced the circuit control board ""blown"" and as evidence pointed to dubiously (to me) browner areas on the sealed board. He also unequivocally stated that it was not cost effective with labor, etc to replace the board and that I needed a new heater.
After research and consultation by phone with Tankless Only and with guidance by very helpful customer service by Takagi itself I was able to diagnose, remove the circuit board, remove the fan motor (the culprit) and dry it out, and reinstall both in a couple of hours. Myself. Waa-Laa, It now runs fine without having spent a nickel. That is, except for the $160 ""advice"" from Berkeley Plumbing. Incidentally, the ""expensive"" circuit board costs about 220 from Takagi and is held in place by a single accessible screw. I am not an engineer/tradesman/etc. Tools needed-2 screwdrivers. So, what do you think?

Cara R.

How difficult is a toilet rooting job? Took them 15 minutes, they charged their minimum hourly rate of $160 plus $15 for equipment. Equipment? Don't plumbing companies usually have rooter equipment as part of the job? Next we'll be paying for plungers.
Too expensive for a standard rooting job, which in my experience should be $125 at most.

Ed B.

Bradford White Water Heater (expensive unit, professionally installed) started leaking after 3 years (6 year guarantee). Called Bradford White and they gave me the name of Berkeley Plumbing and Heating as their plumber in my area. Made an appointment for the next morning (speedy) and the man showed up and spent 15 minutes confirming that I had a leaking water heater and it should be replaced. Gordon called that morning and said the heater was under warranty but now local laws required a lonox water heater which would be an additional $150 for the upgrade. Also, 4 hours labor at $160 an hour. I thought that very steep and he said it was ""inflation"". New water heater installed that afternoon which took approximately 1 and 1/2 hours. Was presented the bill and it stated 4 hours labor. Although 1 and 3/4 hours was actual labor, the balance was travel time. I live in the Oakland hills, per Google 9 miles and 17 minutes away. The installer had to traverse 30 level feet from his truck to my water heater unit.

stephen s.

We had a very unpleasant experience with Berkeley Plumbing. Gordon, the plumber that showed up, not only did a terrible job on a very simple job, he was very unpleasant to be around. He was rude, condescending, loud and mean to me, my wife, (the customer) and to his fellow coworkers. He yelled at his coworker in front of a large group of other workers, general contractor, painters and electricians, embarrassing him terribly for a mistake that was not his fault.
Because the story is way to long to get into here, i will just say that Gordon did a very sub-par job at his first attempt and needed to come back and do it again. Wasting my time, the painters time and of course the contractors time.
The Contractor was so upset with Gordon, he said he will never use Berkeley Plumping EVER! Nor will I or should you.

There are lots of great Plumbers out there that will show up at your job site and do a great job and will be nice and pleasant to you, Berkeley Plumbing is not that company. I wouldn't even use them in an emergency situation.

first l.

Wish they would call back - either too busy or keep on forgetting to return calls.

Online R.

Gordon was a gentleman when called in the middle of the night. ll The A.O. Smith boiler went out, and there was no heat in the house.

Although he could not fix the unit, he was able to quote a replacement unit, and schedule an installation for this sixty year old radiant heat system.

He was trained by the US Navy on submarines and understood radiant
heat really well.

The only problem with the installation with the new heating system from Berkeley Plumbing was that the PGE bill in January went from $30 a month to $200 since we had heat for the first time in years.

I should have called Berkeley Plumbing when the radiant heat system went on blink years ago.

Julie M.

I am really shocked at some of these reviews.

I've lived in Berkeley for 8 years now, and was lucky enough to call Berkeley Plumbing & Heating the first year for some minor repair. They gave me fantastic service, and I've been a loyal customer ever since.

Every single technician they've sent out over the years has been polite and extremely knowledgeable about our ancient (and annoying) toilets. Stormy is the latest, and he's been up to the house at least twice.

I would recommend Berkeley Plumbing & Heating to anyone, and I do when asked face-to-face.

If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a note via Yelp.

Steven B.

Very disappointing. Called them for an estimate.- which I anticipated would be free. Their refused to provide a firm estimate and would only offer time and materials, with an anticipated ""minimum cost."". Their minimum cost estimate was about 3 times higher than the plumbing company I eventually hired.

To add to the insult, a few days later, a bill arrived in the mail for their time performing the estimate.

I don't know if I can give them zero stars - unfortunately the minimum is one. But in this day when companies should provide superior service to attract and retain customers, this firm is doing just the opposite.

My advice..., If you're on Yelp, then you're one step ahead of the game..., Move on to the next plumber on your list..

Mark F.

They need to get a little more organized over there according to me.....

This is my long drawn out story......

Called Friday morning to get an appointment to have my toilet looked at. Friendly gentleman gave me an appointment between 2PM and 4PM that afternoon - I was relieved that I could find someone to come the same day since I did not want to try and schedule someone to come on Saturday. I asked that they call me when they were 20 minutes away as I do not live at the house - he said fine, and said that it was also possible that they could be available early, and would call me if that were the case as well.

I waited until 4:15PM, and then called to make sure they did not loose my appointment - the person who answered ""transferred me upstairs to dispatch"" where I was put to voice mail. So I left a message, and someone did call me back 15 minutes later (thankfully since now we are getting close to 5PM on a Friday, and did not want my appointment to be lost since I needed my plumbing issue resolved). He said that he had tried to call the plumber, but he was not picking up, but that he left my cell number on the plumber's voice mail - and as soon as he was done, he would call and come over. So I waited another hour (until 5:30PM), but still no word. Thought I better go over to the house so I would be there to meet him exactly when he called. When I got over there, I found they had left a note saying they had ""missed me"" and would be back at 1:50PM.

Hello! - of course you ""missed me"" because as I said when I made the appointment, I need to be called before you come over.
So I waited until 6:30PM assuming that the plumber would get his voice messages after he finished his current job, and give me a call... but no call. And calling the main Berkeley Plumbing Co office after 5PM is of no help - everyone is gone from the office by that time, and they don't have any type of pager service, so no way to contact anybody. I did leave a message, but evidently they don't pick up messages after 5PM on Friday either has I have not heard from them.

So after waiting all day on a Friday, original relieved that I was able to fine someone to come same day, then I end up in need of a plumber at 6:30PM on a Friday because they could not keep themselves organized over at Berkeley Plumbing Co. And they are not open on the weekends (which is fine they have the right to be open when they want - but let me know if it is not going to work so I can find someone else!). My advice: a little bit more communication with customers would go a long way.

So needless to say, I called another company, and had them come on Saturday morning since I had to have this done before Sat afternoon.

So I don't expect I would be using Berkeley Plumbing Co again... They may do great work, but does not look like I will find out.

Anne L.

Scammed also... Changed some pipes under sink and had to make two trips back to store to get parts. Of course you are charged for the time that takes. Also the installation was not done in the best possible manner and makes it more likely that sink will back up in future.

I called to have someone come out and look at the work. He yelled at me! What sort of conflict resolution skills did he use? Received no satisfaction and had to call a second plumbing company as needed use of kitchen sink.

Buyer Beware!