Brown Plumbing

Nick W.

My elderly father, 87 years old, called these folks about a clogged drain while I was out of town. They refused to give him any idea how much it would cost, either on the phone or when they arrived. They snaked the drain, took a little over an hour, and charged him $503. Either I'm in the wrong business, or they just took advantage of a senior citizen. Nobody I know will ever make their phones ring again.

Alissa R.

We called Brown Plumbing to install a toilet. They were quick to show up and had it done in about 20 mins. Shortly after they left, we noticed the toilet had been installed incorrectly. We called Browns repeatedly with no callback. Eventually, after three weeks, the installer returned our call and said he would be out to fix it and never showed up. We now have a toilet that has been installed incorrectly and flushed $500 down the toilet. I would avoid this business.

Mike P.

The quality of work was good but the cost was so exorbitant the company rates 1 star.

M-J I.

Had an under the sink valve fail so I gave Brown Plumbing a call again. As I wrote in an earlier 5-star review a year ago, Bryan of Brown Plumbing was amazing and again did an excellent job! Great guy who really knows his stuff too! Great work Brown Plumbing! I'll be calling you again in the future I'm sure. :-)

Michelle G.

Hired them to pump septic and an inspection. Did. Or provide appropriate report to escrow company and refused to call us back or correct what we needed to sell our house. Receptionist called our real estate agent a bitch when she called to try can get the report. Owner referred to customers as assholes to another company we ended up having come out when they called. Would not recommend using them unless you want to get screwed.

Andrea L.

Don't not use them for a real estate septic inspection. Will only release report to escrow/title. Report is only valid for 30 days? Wont release report to home owner.

Linda Y.

Don't call Brown plumbing unless you like to be jacked around. I called Monday morning they said they would have someone out between 1 and 4. I called at 4:30 the girl said because it was late she was going to have to schedule me for the next day between 10 and 1, well 1;30 came around so i called to see what was happening and she told me the tec was almost done and I was next...she would call when he was on his way. Well at 3:45 I called and asked her what was up she put me on hold, then when she came back on she told me there where no tec's avalible that they were all taking portapotties down south. As I hear talking in the back ground she say's that was a tec and he was on his wayout. As she was talking and sighing as if I was interupting her day. I asked her If I was going to be on the next days schedule and she said she didn't know when she could put me on the schedule. So I hung up and called another company. One that actually acted as if they wanted my business.

Cindy R.

Rip off artists extraordinaire! Sorry, it's long but I wanted to be accurate and thorough.

I had slow drains and a toilet that had to be flushed twice. Home warranty situation. The contracted plumber (A) sent out a junior plumber who basically misdiagnosed the situation and said I needed my line to be hydro jetted, which they couldn't do. Home warranty said I could hire someone else with hydro jetting capability to DIAGNOSE and ESTIMATE repair. Technician came out. Did not want to come inside to assess anything. Did not examine anything during the $38 service call. Although I explained that I had a sewage pump off the kitchen where the drains were slow. He just wanted to see the cleanout that plumber A said needed hydro jetting. I'd been given an estimate by Brown's office of $602 if hydro jetting was needed. Technician gave an estimate of $751 and said he needed to hydro jet that cleanout (additional hidden fee of $45 for suiting up and charged $135 for calling my home warranty company, which they had agreed to in advance). Turns out it was 4 feet of disconnected pipe which explained why it was packed with gravel. These 'professional plumbers' never assessed the situation and then thought a pipe packed with gravel was collapsed?!? The technician never sank a shovel into the ground where the water was gushing up or he might have seen it was a terminated/abandoned line and looked for the real cleanout during the 2-hour window I was charged for. (I was charged for 3.5 hours in total for this guy to hydrojet a 4' section of pipe and be at my house maybe 1.5 hours!!!)

So after another company came out (for free) and sank a shovel in the ground to see why the water was coming up, I called Brown's owner to complain. The owner and technician came out the next day. I showed them the actual clean-out, located about 15' away (that his technician had never looked for). Then they started backpedaling with huge CYA talk. Said I would need to have them replace that cleanout, that I probably had a slope problem with my drain line and should have someone dig it up, blah, blah, blah. The technician actually tried to claim I had sent him away which was why he hadn't tried to see the reason for the water surfacing. When I corrected him, he had to admit that it wasn't true--he just wanted to leave. After all, they had pocketed $751 for 1.5 hours of work (mainly putting on and taking off the suit). They called the home warranty company and said I needed to have a new cleanout installed. (I didn't need that, but the misinformation forced me to spend way more money unnecessarily before my home warranty company would do their part.)

The owner also told me that Brown doesn't just do the thing that needs to be repaired. When they come out, they have to repair EVERYTHING they find wrong with the plumbing. My house was built before 1949 and has had different remodels/additions. He was saying they would only perform ANY work unless they repaired/replaced ALL plumbing issues!!! So effectively he was saying they would not do any repairs for me (now that they are the assigned plumber with the home warranty claim).

So then I had to pay people to expose my pipes to check the slope and check the septic (per Brown's owner's recommendation). My entire yard is dug up. It's a complete nightmare. Kindly, plumbing company A sent their sewer line expert out to assess the situation. He said that IF I had installed the two way cleanout as Brown recommended, running a snake that way would have destroyed my sewage pump--that as soon as they heard I had a sewage pump (which I told them), that's what they should have checked.

Bottom line: Brown never did what I hired them to do: Diagnose and Estimate the repair.

My neighbor replaced my sewage pump, which cost about $300, and it solved all the issues.

And Brown completely burned a single woman who trusted them because they were the recommended Big Plumber in the area. Then they lied about why they were hired. They were hired to diagnose and estimate and call that estimate in to my home warranty company before proceeding. That is exactly what they agreed to on the phone. They also needed to be prepared to hydro jet. They heard Hydro jet, saw dollar signs and were bound and determined to provide that service--even if it wasn't what was needed.

Sure wish I had checked their reviews before I ever called them! Honestly, you'd have to be nuts to hire this company. I have since learned that they are WELL KNOWN to be rip-offs.

Kelly T.

I had Brown Plumbing, on Railroad, help me with a bathroom plumbing issue I had. They replaced a part but it did not fix the problem. I was charged full price though the problem was not fixed. They say 100% satisfaction guaranteed, but they do not back this. They charge to come out and look, but do not apply the charge to the work done.
Not recommended for your plumbing needs. Not good business ethics.

Kathleen K.

Had my septic pumped by Browns tec. Bryan he was very nice, even hosed in the tank to get all the sluge. I was having issues he was knowaleable what it could be and not pushy . kathleen