Cal Prime Pump Sales and Service

Dorene B.

I called Cal Prime only because my plumber, John Wesolok, recommended him. John said Cal was a good guy and wouldn't rake me over the coals. He was so wrong!! I had Wesolok Plumbing install a new water tank in April 2023. My water pressure previously was at 60 and 40. After the new tank was installed the pressure was at 40 and 20. I called Wesolok Plumbing back after the installation for 4 months to get them back out to fix the water pressure. Finally, mid August they came back out, but couldn't fix the problem. They told me that there could be a problem with the well, and highly recommended Cal Prime. So I called Cal. He said he was working drilling wells in the thumb area and he could only make out here on the weekend. I had no idea where he was from, John Wesolok said he was from Bay City area. So, Cal shows up on Sunday. He checks the well. There's no problem there other than it's a low producing well, which it has been since 1996.
He then wants to see the water tank. After a few minutes of checking it out he begins to let the air out of the tank then adjusts the screws for the off and on pressure. All the while telling me how he has fixed the pressure in hundreds of tanks that Wesolok Plumbing installed because they don't change it. The air pressure is preset he said. My thought was, preset to what and does that mean every house has the same pressure?
I had asked him what it would cost for him to come out and check the well. He couldn't give me a price, understandably, because he didn't know what was wrong. BUT WHEN HE KNEW IT WAS THE AIR PRESSURE IN THE TANK HE SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME TO CALL WESOLOK PLUMBING BECAUSE IT WOULD BE UNDER WARRANTY!
So the water pressure is back to what it was previously to the new tank installation.
But, Cal charged me $400. to do it!
I called John Wesolok and told him what happened and how much Cal charged me. His exact words were ""Holy $hit""! He said he would call Cal and talk to him. Ten minutes later I get a phone call from Cal, and he says, ""why do you want to ruin a good thing?"" He then tells me that someone in my house probably put air in the water tank! I'm the only one living in my house.
So I called John Wesolok back and he said he wasn't going to reimburse me for even half! After I told him that Cal said someone put air in the tank, he told me it was probably a defective tank! Thank you for NOTHING BUT BAD SERVICE!!! SCAMMERS!!!

Martin C.

Responded same day to an emergency request; travelled over two hours from previous job to serve immediate need; Cal was very personable and efficient ; I would recommend highly!

Matt L.

Cal Prime Pump Sales and Services is not a good business to deal with. The amount of money paid doesn't line up with the service I received. Here's the details.

We needed a new well. We had Cal and his dad arrive mid week, I think Thursday, to start the well drilling. What they did was set up and leave and not come back until the next week. Then it took multiple days to get the well to a finished depth. I had to move work days and take my personal time to be around the home whenever they were working. Frankly it took way too long and took up my personal time. Then Cal said it would need to sit for about a week and he would contact us when it was time to connect the well to the house. He never called and I had to call him. He got back out to the house two weeks after the well drilling was finished. Again, this was way too long and where was the communication?

I wanted Cal to connect the well to the house and after the water supply line was through the basement wall, I would take care of the rest. I had supplies and material already bought. However, given the time wasted and our upcoming wedding and other home projects that needed attention, I was kind of OK with him doing some of the work. I still wasn't thrilled about having to pay him for something I could do. He saw I had the materials and said he would use the materials he brought. He said it would cost only a little bit more. Turns out it cost a lot more. The pressure tank alone was 5-6 times as much as the one I purchased. All materials were roughly priced like so.

There was a well already at the house. It just wasn't very sufficient in the amount of water provided and the water was salty, hence the need for the new well. Cal cut the supply of this well into the house prior to installing the supply from the new well. Is that a problem? I can be when there's an issue and there was. The excavator blew a hydraulic line. So without water to the house Cal said we would ""Probably be camping,"" and then he chuckled. That's not something a homeowner wants to hear after already tolerating poor work from someone. Cal told us they might be back tomorrow sometime. Luckily the owner of the excavator was able to repair it and, although late into the evening, it meant we wouldn't have to deal with Cal another day.

Finally Cal finished his work, or so he thought. He had the pressure tank connected but it was sitting in the middle of the room. We had him place it on the wall where it belonged. I attached a picture of the final results and one can see it still is a terrible final result. There are floppy PEX lines, more connections than are needed, wires left dangling, old materials left in the basement and it's not even connected to the filter. Later I noticed he left trash all over at the well site.

If I didn't paint the best picture with my review above, I'll sum it up with this:

Professionalism: Terrible. It never felt like I was dealing with a man who runs a successful business.

Cost: Terrible. I paid top dollar for service that is bottom of the barrel.

Communication: Terrible. Hardly explained the process and led us to believe untruths.

Time: Terrible. No reason for how long it took.

Craftsmanship: Bad. Still holding up, but you can see the shoddy work in the photo.

So what's the bottom line? Don't use his services.