Brown Plumbing

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

Miriam J.

If I could give them a minus star rating I would.
I had a water leak in my front yard and the worker first of all arrived late after I had gone to work so I couldn't see what was going on. He said he had to come a second day and was late again. When I got home he was using a machine to cut through the cement on my foundation. I told him to stop. He said the leak was under the walkway. It cost me around $1000 and did not fix the leak. Later through another worker the problem was a faulty sprinkler head. I complained to Brown plumbing and they said the worker had spent the number of hours working so I had to pay. This was a number of years back but I'm still not happy with them.

Sophia M.

I really wish I had done my research on this company. 1 star is just too many for the way they took advantage of us. Beware my friend, they are shady and after I locked myself into a contract, they did really bad work. I had another construction company come out and view the work, needless to say ""we got screwed"" Run the other way and call another company. Feel free to reach out to me and I will share with you all the details on how they took advantage of us and did awful work.

Jean S.

He came out to snake our drain, walked around a lot to try and access the problem. Had to make sure he did his hours worth of work for the money. We have had this drain snaked before so we knew what had to be done. He didn't go far enough out for the total clog because he didn't have the proper equipment. It's only been a week and we are, back to the problem. $300 dollars down the drain. They will not return to recheck the clog unless we pay another $300. Don't use these people, I wish I read the reviews first.

Nolita K.

Beware! Called to have our tank pumped. Appointment scheduled for two days later between 10 am-2 pm and advised would receive call when tech on his way. After 3 calls to the company (during their appointment time) was finally told they couldn't come out and would advise the time the next day with a call in the morning. We were already two days without septic service. The office lady wasn't the least bit concerned. Checked the internet and found an ad for BIG VALLEY SEPTIC. Explained my situation and 15 minutes later I received a call and 2 hours later the tank was pumped and our life was back to normal. Oh yes, final item, Big Valley charged me $140 LESS than the quote from Brown. CUSTOMER SERVICE/CONCERN are NOT a part of Brown's policy. Service was for a Lakehead location.

Jeff B.

Had an emergency at my father-in-law's house, today. His main line had been leaking and as he's almost 88 with dementia, I was left to fix it. When I found the leak and found it was beyond my scope (as I'm 66 and only have the use of one arm), I called Brown Plumbing. It was 1:30 PM when I called, hoping to get helped the same day. My father-in-law could not go over night without water.

Brian was able to get by, just after 5:00 PM. And, even though it was ""after hours,"" he was able to get us fixed up in fairly quick order. He was very knowledgeable and was able to keep the cost from going out of control. We are very pleased with the complete situation and would recommend Brian to anyone who needs a great (& honest) plumber.

Thank you, Brian.

Drew B.

Don't go with them. There are a lot of hidden costs and their hourly rate varies based on how difficult the tech views the job. I would give them 0 stars if yelp would allow it. I also told them I was going to give a bad yelp review and they threatened me. avoid at all cost.

Carol P.

Our plumbing septic system completely backed up on us recently causing quite a flood in the yard. I called Brown's plumbing who sent a technician named Brian. Brian was fantastic, he drove the 70 miles to our place within two hours of hanging up the phone. Brian was profesional, knowlegeable and kind. He pumped the septic tank and diagnosed the system's problems within an hour, giving us our available options and suggesting the best fix. Brian's professionalism and warm personality left me feeling that we had the best person possible for the job.