Drainco Plumbing

Milagros O.

Firts America home warranty,assigned this company to fix a small problem with the shower, instead of help, they make the problem worse,left water running,terrible experience.
Fist American still working with this company,even when they have too many complaints .
It was my mistake to trust First American, sending this company
To my house.

Craig S.

David showed up on time, fixed the blockage and gave good advice about avoiding future problems. I have First American home warranty like the other reviewers and have filed about 8 claims in the last few years and never had a problem. Reading some of the bad reviews, I don't know what to say, except, Your mileage may vary?

J K.

If you're reading this rating, you were probably assigned to Drainco plumbing through First American Home Warranty and if this is true then I hate to be the one to tell you that YOU'RE ALREADY SCREWED. This is the absolute worst home warranty and plumbing company that I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with. RUN IF YOU CAN!

****READ TEXT IN PHOTOS FOR FULL REVIEW***

My hot water heated went out and I submitted a claim through First American and was assigned to Drainco. (Also note, First American lets you indicate if the issue behind the claim causes the home to be uninhabitable - which no hot water applies to - if you checked this box, just know that it means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to them and your claim will NOT be prioritized). Drainco called and sent someone out a day or two later. The technician looked at my hot water heater and said they couldnt assess the problem because an electrician needed to come out to rule out electricity problems first.

An electrician came out a couple days later and said there were no electricity problems and the wiring issues that the Drainco plumbing tech said were out of code were in fact in code and the plumbing tech just didnt know what he was talking about.

When this tech (a different one) showed up, he said he wasn't sure why he was there, but that Drainco told him to come to my house. So, I explained all what was going on to him and he then told me that he shouldn't have been sent out becuase the hot water heater had to first be ordered by First American Home Warranty. He also told me that the original Drainco plumbing tech that came out just didnt know what he was talking about and shouldnt have had an electrician come out because it was obvious the whole hot water heater needed to be replaced.

So later on, First American called and said they approved me for the hot water heater, but that Drainco said they could not install it without an $855 modification fee. I called Drainco to ask what the modifications were and received an email from Art with Drainco which said, ""Hello Good Morning, 
Here is the Non Covered Cost for the water heater listed below.
Water Line - 280
Service valves - 195
T&P- 180
Gas Line- 200
Total= 855""

So I did some basic research and found out I was being SERIOUSLY PRICE GAUGED. I asked First American to send another plumbing company for a second opinion and they said that just wasn't an option - great,

Now, having dealt with this for well over a week and being deperate to have hot water again, I called Drainco and First American and asked to move forward with the installation. I also called Drainco who made me an appointment for the next day. BUT a few hours later, Drainco called back and said they wouldnt actually be able to come out for a few days because they didnt realize I had a tankless hot water heater.

Friday was the day of my next appointment with Drainco and they gave a 11-3 window. At 215, I had not received any word or notification that they were coming. Finally the tech came, right around 3. He said it would take about an hour to install. At 430, he was finally done and asked for payment. I asked him to explain what the $855 I was having to pay for and he said that he wasnt sure what I was paying for but that ""for a $3,000 job, $855 isnt that bad."" UMMM what? First of all it should be all covered by the home warranty, second its taken two weeks to finally complete, and third - you should be able to tell the customer what they are paying for! I asked him to find out what it was that I was paying for and told him I knew it did not cost anywhere near the $855 for the modifications that were actually done. He went back down to the truck to make a call and came back to my door, handed me a paper bill and said ""ok, how about $480?"" I laughed and said ""Ok, but WHAT am I paying for?"" Again, he was unable to answer and said that the boss who makes the prices wasnt around that day. He assured me though that a itimized receipt would be emailed to me to explain the costs (Fast forwarded again, its been over a week and I havent received anything!).

RECAP:
-I had no hot water for over 2 weeks because some of Drainco's techs are uneducated and should not be working there, or any plumbing company for that matter. The second tech even told me the first tech DIDNT KNOW WHAT HE WAS DOING.
-Drainco will PRICE GAUGE you because they know you have no other option and First American will refuse to send anyone else out for a second opinion. They make up their ""modification"" prices and cannot even tell you what you are paying for. When confronted about the price, they cut it in half but STILL was unable to justify the cost. I think I will never get an answer of why I paid almost $500 for a job that - per an honest contractor - could not have cost more than $300 at the very highest.

SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM - Run if you are so fortunate to be able to!!

Josh E.

We were put in contact with Drainco through our Home Warranty (which should also be reviewed as not helpful). They came on Monday to fix a pilot light and they told us if it did not stay lit we should call back and they would re-send someone. We did call and were told we would be called on Tuesday.

Instead they closed the service so we had to re-open it on Wednesday since they did not call us. (Not extra charge)

Then they re-scheduled for today and said between 10-2. I received a text that they were on their way at 10:51 am. I texted for ETA as did my wife and never heard back. When my wife arrived home we learned that the plumber had already arrived...25 minutes before they texted.

They then blamed us for not being there after telling us that we would be given a heads up of their arrival.

Ask American First for a different company.

Charlotte M.

The technican (Luis) was dishonest and reported false information to AHS in an effort to not repair my faucet. I called another plumbing company that made the repairs and disagreed with Luis report. I understand why they are rate 1 star. I wish i could rate them 0. Run, dont waste your money or time!

R C.

I had a very bad experience with this company. I had a clogged shower drain. The snake did not unclog it. So the technician said they will need to bore a hole on the wall. But then reported another thing to my insurance, that they need to go to the roof to do a clean up. Since my insurance does not cover it, they want me to pay for it. I told them I'm going to pay them if the clean up will unclog the drain but if it will not then I will not pay them. Never trust this company.

Joyce H.

If I could give zero star, I would! Got assigned this contractor by first american home warranty, came and took several pictures and then left, the guy told us he will send the report to FAHW and will come back to fix the leaking issue later. However, we figured out the claim was closed later and this guy told the FAHW that the carbine prohibited him from fixing the issue, are you serious? The carbinet doors are removed already before you came?how are you not able to check it? Run away from this company.

Alice H.

Anthony was very friendly and provided great service. Would definitely recommend Drainco.

Robert A.

Wasted my time. 7 days later still no water heater. Took 3 days to get a call back from first call. Couldn't tell me straight to my face causing me to waste more time. Drainco: Be responsive and upfront. It costs nothing

Charles H.

Our home warranty company (First American) contracted these guys and they are poopoo.

My post is long so TL;DR version:
- Not thorough and need multiple visits to diagnose the problem correctly.
- Won't take off shoes or cover it even when they walked in the rain.
- No urgency and poor communication.
- Their expert opinion goes against the knowledge of other plumbers, hardware stores, Google, and basic logic.

Now for the full version:
We were noticing a water leak around the garbage disposal unit and had another plumber look at it while he was giving us a quote for a renovation. He said the garbage disposal unit had a crack and needed to be replaced but to contact home warranty since it'll be covered.

In comes Drainco. Their technician, Javier, comes in the first day, refuses to take off his shoes or put any covering on and drags along shoe prints (it had been raining earlier). Says it's against his company policy to take off shoes. Ok, fine. He takes a look and says the garbage disposal is fine and it just wasn't installed tightly. He takes out his wrench, give it a little nudge, then says ""all good"" and he's off. That evening we have a leak again and we ask home warranty to re-open the claim.

3 weeks later, Javier visits us again. Oh look! There's a crack and the garbage disposal has to be replaced. What a shocker! Says he'll process it and someone will call me to schedule next appointment. No one calls back so a week later I call Drainco and they said the crack is not covered by home warranty. WHAT? I call home warranty and they said they already approved a replacement and have no idea what Drainco is talking about. 10 mins after the call I get a voicemail from Drainco that they'd like to schedule an appt to replace the unit.

2.5 weeks later, Javier visits us for a third time to swap out the unit. But I notice the box says 1/2HP. The unit we have is a 1 1/4HP and we specifically use larger ones because we like to host and heavily use the kitchen. Javier tells me on the day that 1 1/4HP is commercial grade and that home warranty only approved 1/2HP; home warranty would never approve a commercial grade unit at a residential home. Then he says that American Standard, the brand of our unit, is an off-brand that creates products that are not up to code. Hmmm, so Home Depot and Lowes sells a product that is ""off brand"" and isn't up to code at a price HIGHER than the one you brought? My spidey-sense is tingling.

I immediately call my home warranty company and they say that the plumber is supposed to install a model with comparable specs under our policy. I call Drainco and tell them to call my home warranty because they need to install a garbage disposal unit with the same specs.

In the meantime, I Google and learn everything I can about the garbage disposal units, but to back it up, I call the first plumber and also speak to 2 different appliance reps at Home Depot. They all said there is no way any 1/2HP unit is comparable to a 1 1/4HP one. To illustrate the point, they said that with a 1 1/4HP, it's not advised, but it's powerful enough to even grind small chicken bones and there's no way any 1/2HP unit in the market can do that.

I even called American Standard and asked them why they have the reputation as an ""off-brand"" from a small local plumber. They said they are one of the leading North American plumbing fixture companies and do over $200M in revenue annually. They said their 1 1/4HP units are one of their best selling models and are fully compliant with industry standards.

I had my final conversation with Drainco today which I three-way called with my home warranty rep. Desiree (who always picks up the phone) and Javier claim to the rep that their 1/2HP InSinkErator model they brought is comparable in power to the 1 1/4HP that I currently have. Once again says that my American Standard is a knock off that is not up to code and that everyone else that told me that a 1/2HP unit is not comparable to a 1 1/4HP unit are all wrong.

We get off the phone and the rep said she's assigning a new plumber to our case, which she's not supposed to do. Her spidey-sense is also tingling ...