Big Mike's Rooter & Plumbing Company

Jennifer R.

There are not enough stars for the professionalism and dedication from this company. Often when dealing with this sort of stinky situations little can be made light of. Their employee Scott went above and beyond to help our family on numerous different occasions even once in a Saturday night. He proposed necessary and affordable solutions and his work is to be commended. The company is easy to reach and very pleasant to deal with at any hour which when you are having a plumbing issue in the night makes for relief. I highly recommend this company and would use them in the future for all regular and emergency plumbing needs.

James L.

Had a toilet leak, called Big Mike's Rooter and plumbing and they sent out ""Albert"". Albert was great. He called to give me a time frame of when he was coming and then he called again to let me know when he was on his way. Once he was here he diagnosed the problem quickly and make the appropriate repairs. Work was done quick and clean. I was very pleased with Albert's customer service and work performed. I woukd highly reccomend Big Mike's. Ask for Albert.

Douglas A.

We had a major plumbing job done by Big Mike's recently at a Yucaipa house we have renters in. The job involved repairs of a broken main line outside the house, removal of what turned out to be a large tree root ball in that section, and replacement of 100 feet of lateral lines and 25 feet or so of main line under the house (that is what we had initially agreed upon due to the plumber's assertion that the cast-iron lines under the house were not in great condition.) We had three quotes for the work and, after some negotiating, Big Mike's came in a full $1500 below the lowest of the other two. Chris, the person in charge of our job, was pleasant and offered good explanations of what was to be done. The work they did appeared to be of sound quality, and they, as we, are optimistic that the drain will work for years to come. That said, we have some criticisms involving their business practices:

[1] They were unable to do all of the main line replacement work agreed upon due to the inaccessibility of about 8 feet of cast iron main line under the house, yet did not discount anything from the agreed-upon price for the work ($4500).

[2] We agreed that they would start work at 8:30. However, they didn't show till 11:00. When I called at the request of my wife, who was on site, and asked why they hadn't arrived, Chris was apologetic and told me they needed to go to a meeting in the office and then were stuck in a major accident's traffic backup on the way to the site. Why didn't he call my wife and tell her the crew was running late, and why did they promise 8:30 knowing there was a meeting in the office that morning? That said, they finished the work the same day. One of the other places that quoted the work had stated the job would take up to four days.

[3] They wanted to charge my wife $130 (3% of the invoiced amount) just to pay by credit card! That is a first; we have never had any issues paying for plumbing jobs with credit cards in the past. They could have at least taken that much off the job for the work they could not do and let my wife use the card at no extra cost.

[4] They refused to warranty their work on the main line because we didn't agree on an extra $2000 to excavate and replace 10 feet of plastic line running from the house towards the street. Some of that line had sagged and was sloped backwards towards the house. They repaired it to an acceptable angle without digging the section up but stated they would not guarantee the work. Not what you want to read on an invoice after you have just forked over $4500.

I would give them two stars based on their questionable business practices, but ended up giving them three because, based on the pictures my wife took, the work they did looked professionally done and instilled confidence that the repairs would last, giving us and our tenants some peace of mind. We will probably not use them for future jobs, however, due to the aforementioned business practices.

Melinda Q.

Had a clogged kitchen sink that our 25 ft. auger and wet/dry vac couldn't fix. We called Big Mike's on Saturday morning and Scott came within the hour. Price quote over phone for clogged drain service call and followed through on work. Scott arrived on time and got right to work. He fixed the clog quickly within 30 minutes! He also gave a suggestion to help prevent clogs in future.

Lupe L.

I've used this company twice now, both times the attendants were very professional and their work was well done.

Clifford Y.

Fast and clean so i thought. They told me the leak was because of an old wax ring, so they charged me 225 for a replacement. I thought everything was good but a few hours later it started leaking again and they came back and quoted me 1400 dollars to repair the toilet flange. I wasnt home at the time but when i checked out my restroom they didnt put back my floor mats correctly. It was pushed to the side and really messy. It's a small detail but it takes 2 seconds to make it straight again.

I called another plumber and he quoted me 450 for replacement of the flange + a new toilet.

Big mike's place is professional but prices are a little steep.

Ed A.

Top notch company. They came out promptly for my appointment, gave me a no nonsense assessment, and never tried to up sell me. Big Mike's will be my go to plumber as long as I'm in business.

Corina B.

Original post December 24, 2017

DON'T CALL BIG MIKE'S!!

I've used Big Mike's several times. The work always got done, even if I had to have them come back out once or twice. But, they were local and I try to use local businesses whenever I can. Not anymore, at least not for plumbing.

The last time they came out, it was to clear two clogged drains in the master bathroom. The plumber broke a pipe while he was clearing the sink drain, which he did replace. He also left a huge mess with black gunk on the floor, walls, sink, shower pan, shower wall tile, and the bathroom floor. But, the drains seemed clear, so I paid. I was super busy on another project and I have a second bathroom, so I just did a little cleaning when I could. When I finally got around to scrubbing the floor many days later, I realized that the black gunk was covering up two gouges in my vinyl floor.

I called them and asked someone to come out to look at the damage. That took days of calling just to get a response. Then after someone came out to take photos, I had to keep calling for several more days to find out what they were going to do about it. Despite always being told someone would call me back, nobody ever did. I had to initiate every communication. Then, the co-owner finally told me Big Mike's wasn't going to do anything. When I told him how unhappy I was and that I would leave a bad review on Yelp and the BBB, he called me a crazy s**t head.

On top of all that, the shower drain, which was one of the two drains they were supposed to clear, started running slow again after only two showers.

Don't hire Big Mike's. You'll be paying for their ""work"" long after they leave.


Updated on January 6, 2018

So, I'm updating this review to say it's after the holidays, and despite the response to my initial review, I've had no direct contact from the owner, Big Mike. At his request, I provided my phone number, which he didn't call or, if he did, didn't leave a message. I followed up by providing my personal email, which he hasn't used. I did receive an unsatisfactory response to the complaint I filed with the BBB. But, that's it. My assumption is that the response to my Yelp review was for show.

I'll update my review accordingly if Big Mike contacts me personally.

Irma S.

I would like to thank Albert for his great customer service and getting our plumbing problem fixed. We will definitely use this company for any future plumbing problems.

Rich M.

Christmas Eve.... Big Mikes sends out plumber ""Scott"" to fix a water heater that wasn't working. Spends a fair amount of time trying to diagnose the problem. Takes apart the heating element and some other electrical parts leaving wires exposed and hanging.

Scott, says he needs a part from Home Depot and will be right back. Turns out he packed his tools and bailed on us Xmas eve. Turned off his phone and won't answer us or the answering device.

Leaves our heater in ruins with exposed wiring. I tried to cap off the wires since our stove is on the same circuit and we at least needed to cook dinner. Flipped the breaker back on and sparks stared flying from the water heater.

This POS Scott just effing bailed without having to balls to say he didn't know what he was doing and left us unable to cook or have hot water.

Phone call and email out to Big Mike... I'll update when I find out what they are going to do to fix this.

For now, STAY FAR AWAY FROM THEM!!!!

UPDATE:

I have left 3 messages with answering service and sent an email with my contact number. It's 8:13 pm. So far no response despite the comment to my original post from Mike. Mike, please call me... your answering service has the number and so does your email.

Update 12/25

Still no return call.

Update 12/26

Still no call back. Here's what I would say.... he posted to contact him because it's under ""investigation"". That's all BS! All he's doing is making it appear to readers that this was an aberration and he's working on it, he's not. We've left message after message, tried to contact him through Facebook and a couple of different email addresses. There is no other explanation other than he's just waiting us out and will undoubtedly never ""fix"" the situation. If you use this guy, you do so at your own peril.

Update 12/27

Ok. So you say, Scott capped everything before he left and closed up the heater ..... then, you say Mike came out and capped them.... are you lyin or being lied to???

Mike Johnson was a complete gentleman and I was glad that he was here. But to be clear.... he even said Scott didn't handle the call correctly and misdiagnosed the problem. With that said, if there is a method to private message I yelp, it's the first I've heard of it. We emailed 2 accounts, called your answering service umpteen times and besides all that, you managed to read my post but never called to get our number from your answering service. Stop, just stop. We're we rude? Maybe. But wouldn't anyone reading this be considering the service we got from Scott.

A simple, sorry we messed up would go apt further with readers than trying to trade jabs with me when you guys were the ones in the wrong.