C. Ewert Plumbing & Heating

Jill R.

I decided to call a professional to install a new garbage disposal. I was referred to Ewert by a good friend, he was happy with his experiences. I decided to try them out even though I had never heard of the company. When I called to inquire about pricing, I was advised I would need to pay for the material (garbage disposal and any extra parts) or I could provide the garbage disposal but I would be charged if additional material was needed. Labor is $125 per hour and $10 gas fee to drive to my home since gasoline is expensive. I was told that I should get a call the day of my appointment between 8-10 am.

The day of my appointment, I get a call from Justin at 9:39 am to confirm my address since he couldn't find it. It turned out the company had the wrong house number.

He arrived to my home a few minutes later.  After 20 minutes of assessing the situation, before he could start the installation process, he had to get an extra part due to the older pipe connection under the sink. He had to drive to the warehouse to get the part since he normally doesn't carry that type of part in his truck.  He returned 50 minutes later to my home with the new part.  The installation took about 50 minutes, he left my home at 11:40 am.  I was keeping track of his arrival and departure times.  The workmanship is good and the disposal is working great.  Justin was friendly and explained the reason the new part was needed to fix the issue.

9:39 - arrived per my note/phone records
10:00 - drove to warehouse
10:50 - returned to install disposal
11:40 - left my home
= 2 hours total (minus 50 min drive time)

A week later, I receive the invoice in the mail and I was shocked to see the total. Here is a breakdown:

$247.49 (material)
$312.50 (labor)
$21.88 (taxes)
=$581.87

I thought there must have been a typo since I was charged $312.50 for labor when Justin was at my home for 1 hour and 15 minute tops. I called immediately (Friday) to get clarification on the labor fee. The lady that answered the phone could not give me an exact breakdown so I was transferred to the owner. He advised, I got charged when Justin had to drive to the warehouse, this is considered ""labor"". I was confused because no one explained ""drive time"" is considered ""labor"" nor is this explained in the website. I disagree with this thought process. Even if drive time is considered labor, according to my notes, it took Justin 2 hours to finish the job (including drive time), this means labor should be at $250 (2 hrs x $125 labor fee) not $312.50. This still does not make sense. The owner advised, he'd have Justin call the next business day to explain.

When Justin returned my call (Monday), he advised the clock started running when he began his drive to my home, this is normal protocol unless it's long distance such as Iowa City (I live in Quad Cities).  In my case, he had to stop to get the garbage disposal before arriving to my home therefore I was charged labor for this time.   Plus, when he drove to get the part, it's considered ""labor"".  He had to stop at several different places before he found the needed part, this is the reason it took 50 minutes to get the part and return to my home. Apparently, drive time is considered ""labor"" the reason the labor fee is high.

Drive time to my home and to get parts is NOT labor, it's ""drive time"" and should be listed as drive time on the invoice versus ""labor"". When I originally called to make the appointment, the receptionist was eager to mention the $10 gasoline charge but she failed to explain drive time is considered ""labor"" ($125 per hour). My definition of labor is hard physical work such as installing a garabage disposal only.

The lack of transparency is dishonest and there is much needed room for improvement.  Justin was going to follw up with me.

I will update the review once I have hear back.

****UPDATE****
5/18--Skippy from EWERT plumbing called to advise they will decrease the bill by $100 only.

I would not recommend this company or use them again.

J M.

I have used these guys for years always a loyal customer. I usually only use them when I'm to busy to do it myself. They have never over charged me. Well after the move that changed. I moved into a nice area and the prices skyrocketed. I was charged over $2000 to have a water softener put in and a gas line ran 7 feet. Just fyi I purchased the water softener before hand. They milked this job! The plumber added in a bypass when the house filter all ready had one. My wife paid the bill and just told me now 4 months or so later how much it was. Crazy! I used them for years but my area code changed so there rates did as well. LeClaire Iowa

Monica R.

This company tried to charge me for a trip when they NEVER showed up to my house. Terrible customer service.

Robert S.

UPDATE: 8/2/2021 going to upgrade another star because Ewert did modify the bill to what I feel was reasonable. ORIGINAL: The bill and it was 40% higher than quoted. When I asked why it was ""because they had to use a larger piece of equipment"". I watched the whole time and basically it was a hand held Snap On drill connected to a coiled snake a little bigger than one you could get at Harbor freight. I was more than willing to pay the $125 and hour (they quoted that to show up then every 15 minutes there would be a charge.) So the guy messes with trying to get it to go straight down my washer drain for 15-20 minutes and finally starts it in the pipe so the snake wouldn't coil up. 20 minutes later the clog is out (some material like a washrag) and flowing. Without asking he dumps in some ""industrial strength crystals"" and leaves. A month later the inflated bill for $200 shows up on the $125 quote. Bad business if you ask me.

Holly D.

Love them. They are always friendly on time and know what they are doing. The front desk ladies are always nice when you call and so friendly. Used them twice so far and I'll keep using them.

Sarah C.

Skip and the crew at Ewert are great! They are timely, kind, and easy to work with. We had an emergent issue at our office and they had a team to our office within the hour. I couldn't recommend them enough!

John H.

Long story short I was jerked around for a month and a half by lynch and the day came start they left and never came back after cutting holes in my bathroom and ceiling. Same day I went to ewert plumbing and had them out the same day for estimate. not only was it cheaper they were there by the next week and had it done in 2 days. Had to rework all the drainage and remover lead piping after my tub leaked into my first floor entryway. I would go back again defiantly.

Andy R.

Very unprofessional behavior. I took half a day off in a busy season for a plumbing appointment only to find that nobody showed up. I get it plans change, stuff happens, but nobody called me to notify of a delay or to reschedule. Such disregard to customer's time is unacceptable. Can't comment on skills, I heard good things about them, but I can't just sit there whole day in uncertainty.

Jamey L.

Chris is the man. Ewert has done tons of repairs for me at multiple properties and always gets it right

RaeAnn P.

PLEASE do not work with this company. The work done was fine, and the tech was great. However, they SEVERELY over-billed us for installation, which was not part of our original quote. There was a tiny disclosure stating that it was not included, but we never received a quote on what the cost would be. Our mistake was not insisting on having this before installation, otherwise we would have done it ourselves. When we tried to settle the account, the owner was incredibly difficult to deal with. We called countless times over a 6 week period for an itemized receipt and explanation of the exhorbitant charges with no response. We put in a great deal of time reaching out to him, but he never responded or gave us any more information. Then, we moved. To be honest? We forgot about the issue in the midst of moving and job changes and then covid. This year we were contacted by a collection agency. We tried to work with them, but again Ewert was unresponsive and then unwilling to be reasonable with their fees. We finally received a judgement from small claims court, and by this point we are both so exhausted with the mess that we are going to pay what he wants and move on. Note: We sought out several quotes on our own after this process and were told multiple times that Ewert DOUBLE charged us. In the end though, we were not diligent in tracking phone communication and after a move, covid, and the fact that i am pregnant- we decided that this person and his dirty business practices are not worth our time. We will tell everyone we can NOT to use their service and have learned a valuable lesson for next time. Please, please do not look to Ewert for your plumbing needs.