Crown Plumbing

Donna W.

Very unprofessional, and costly, experience. True, the plumber showed up when he was supposed to, but that was about all I can say for him.

I had several little things I needed done. On the initial call the plumber did not explain to me why one thing I wanted done didn't work the way I thought it did. I guess he thought I understood what he was saying, but as a little old lady, I did not, so I expected it to be done on the service call. I never received an estimate, at which point I would have known that he wasn't planning on doing that task, and I received nothing to sign authorizing the work. He did, however, give me a verbal estimate and I said okay and I wrote a check for the service fee, which was supposed to be deducted from the service call when the work was done.

When he showed up for the service call he informed me that the cost was going to be double what he had verbally quoted me. My heart sunk but I didn't have a choice unless I wanted my toilet to keep running for the next hundred years. It was a tempting thought, but I try to be as environmentally responsible as possible so it wasn't really an option for me.

He finished the first two of the four jobs I needed done and asked for payment. I said he hadn't done half of the work I had requested. He looked at his tablet and said ""oh yeah, I forgot that part,"" but he didn't seem to know what else I talking about. So I took him out to the outside faucet. It was then that he explained to me why he couldn't do what I wanted, at least not right now, and not for the price he quoted me on the initial call. He said to me ""what do you want for $300?"" I was shocked. Then he said something like ""so you don't want to pay?"" Where did that come from? I didn't say anything that sounded like talking about money, I just really wanted that last task done.

Long story short, he did that final little task he had listed on the work order (on his tablet, and which I had never received a copy of) which took him all of five minutes, and I wrote him another check for the work. The total cost was double + $50 of the original verbal quote he gave me. About half an hour after he left I tried turning on the water. He had left without turning on the water at the main valve under the house!

True, I was disappointed about not getting the last little task done, and it really hurt to have to pay over double what I was expecting, but the worst was being left very unsettled by the confrontational attitude of the plumber. I was upset all day by that. Very bad experience, and expensive - I will never use them again.

David T.

Having an older home you expect unusual plumbing and electrical problems. While Roto Rooter here locally didn't go above and beyond to try and solve my problem (this was the opinion of the plumber not mine) as he stated there were cleanouts under the house that may or may not have solved my problem. Long story short after inspection the plumber determined the best course of action was to replace some of the plumbing to make it more modern and function better. Longer story continues,$1900 dollars and a week on the schedule for the work to be performed the system is working almost properly. I appreciate the Brookings office for at least answering our calls as getting work done by a licensed contractor here is difficult. I would definitely use them again.

Alexander B.

We reached out to Crown Plumbing to have a shower installed at our place. After getting rescheduled, we received a text the day before the scheduled inspection saying the plumber had driven by our property unannounced and determined the job was ""outside his scope and doesn't have the experience"". This doesn't make any sense, since all connections from the old shower are present and the task mainly involves attaching the new shower to these existing connections. Which Crown Plumbing knew, since I told them when I first contacted them.

I'm left wondering: is the company lying, or is the plumber simply not competent enough? Either way, it's been a wholly disappointing and unprofessional experience.

P B.

Is over $700 a reasonable price to replace a bathroom sink faucet and a supply valve for the sink? How you answer that question will determine whether or not you think this company is worth your time and patience. I know of few professions where $350 an hour is considered a reasonable going rate. Maybe I'm absurdly out of touch with the expertise and skill plumbing requires. I'd say $125-50 is reasonable and then lets add another $75 for the company. That would still put us markedly under the exorbitant cost that Crown wanted for what the plumber told me was a two-hour job. Of course, the plumber they dispatch has no discretion to adjust the price. You have to talk with the owner for that, and when you do, be prepared for a spiel about how carefully crafted the prices are, the inherent unfairness to other customers if they negotiate a price, and finally, the concession that you will not be charged their $145 estimate fee if you walk away. It all has the structure of the fleecing that takes place on a used car lot. I opted for another company--quite reputable-- that quoted me a price hundreds of dollars less for the job--and that's before they come out. The crowning principle at work with this outfit is that enough suckers will swallow their absurd pricing because when your sewage line is spilling into your living room, what choice do you have? Thankfully, my small job could wait, and that allowed me the space to see that anyone asking over $700 for a simple, two-hour plumbing job does not deserve my trust or business.

Oaxacaguera ..

Rick and Ian came out and replaced a shower valve. They were respectful, professional, punctual, efficient, and left the space cleaner than when they arrived. I know who to call next time!

Jerry R.

Called to have a kitchen sink faucet replaced told me it would be $145 service call if they got the job that would be returned. He gave me an estimate of $535.23 to replace the faucet I said no thanks but I still had to pay for the service called $145. My neighbor came over and replaced it in about one hour.

Brian W.

My kitchen sink decided to stop draining yesterday. I called Crown because I have used them before and they got me an appointment the next day between 12 and 2pm. All good and well. Literally five minutes later my wife comes in and tells me that the bathroom sink has been draining slow for two months and now its not draining at all. Not enough forehead or hands at this point. Called Crown back and told them to add the bathroom sink being plugged to our order and they said no problem.

This morning, a good two hours sooner than I expected them the plumber showed up. He gave me an estimate for the work and got busy. About an hour later he was done, both sinks were working again and Crown has another happy customer. I cannot stress how happy I am with the work Crown does. Thanks so much to Crown and their man of the hour Travis. Recommend these guys anytime.

Tommy T.

Rick is a helpful and honest guy. They helped us out with a leaking water line. Very responsive, good work, nice people. Would definitely use them again for a plumbing issue, but I sure hope we won't need to!

C.J. M.

Have used this company twice and originally called them on recommendation from a neighbor. The first interaction was for an issue with a flapper valve in our toilet, they did a great job and solved a ""knocking pipe"" sound in the wall. The second interaction was when our tankless hot water heater had an error message. We called Crown and specifically asked if this company serviced these units as we are aware that not all do. We were told they did, the plumber showed up and was indignant that he was asked to come out to fix the tankless unit saying ""we don't do these"". Meanwhile my wife shows him a video we found on line regarding the error message, and he watched it, decided to clean something in the unit and then charged $185. Really? The unit is still not working properly. It's hard to stomach paying almost two hundred dollars to show a plumber a you tube video. I wish they had been honest about NOT servicing our type of unit to begin with. Star review is average of two interactions.

Vince H.

My recommendation is find a different plumbing company. we had our house re-pipe. They left a lot of the old pipes under the house in the crawl space. We called asked them to come back and clean up there mess. They sent someone out to pick up their garbage. The crew still left some sticks of pipe under the house after they came back and cleaned it up. We called them last week because the hose Bib that was installed less than 6 months and hadn't been used.