Dutton Plumbing Simi Valley, CA

Kristen H.

If you want to throw money out the window, go with Goettl. If you want to make money, go work there! They get paid more than $330 an hour for labor! We had a water heater installed 3 years ago when it was still Dutton. Dutton clearly wasn't good either seeing as we had to replace a part only 3 years later, but we called Goettl first as the part was still under warranty. Because the repair led to a gas leak we had to get it fixed pretty quickly and let them proceed with the repair after calling other plumbing company in the Conejo valley to see what their rate was. Everyone we spoke to had the same reaction, they are charging what for labor?? We will NEVER contact this company again and I look forward to the day I see you are no longer in business committing fraud. Also, stay away from them when it comes to heating and air too. It wouldn't let me post with no stars so your 2 star overall rating must be very inflated. Not everyone deserves a trophy or in this case, a star.

Brian L.

I'm a former Dutton Plumbing customer. And while their prices were higher than some, they had great customer service. I've now had two experiences with Goettl. The first was after I got a call from them letting me know that I was due for my free annual HVAC inspection. The technician came out and quickly went full on doomsday scenario. He told me that the whole system had to be replaced, that it wasn't safe, that carbon monoxide was leaking into my home and gave me the supposed reading from his device. He shut off my thermostat and told me that I shouldn't turn it on again until the new system was in. Then he quoted me $24,000. Naturally I called other companies. Three others came out and laughed when I told them what the Goettl technician told me. They all agreed that his assessment of the situation was was off. Not only of the leak but also of the system itself. One told me that if it was right, our dogs would have been passed out on the ground. They all said that the system did not need to be replaced and was in working order but would need work or replacement down the road. And just so I could compare, I asked for quotes and they came in anywhere from $5,000-$8,000 less.


Next was plumbing. We had a gas leak in our water heater. Because Dutton Plumbing had installed the unit, I called them (now Goettl) to ask about the repair. The part was under warranty but the labor was not. The labor quote was $660. I asked how long it would take and was told approximately two hours, putting their hourly rate at $330. I called other companies who agreed that amount was high. When speaking to the manager, he said that was common. For the sake of getting it done because we had no hot water, I went with it, sucked it up and paid for the labor. Needless to say, this will be the last time I use them for anything. Prior to this, we had used Thousand Oaks Plumbing for a couple of jobs and had a much better experience. Prices are way better, they give me options and seem to be more honest about what's going. If it's not an emergency, they don't tell me it is.

Finally, I've spoken with several people who used to work for Dutton, and after they were bought out by Goettl, they all left because of how business was conducted. Some went into more detail, but none had anything good to say. Do yourself a favor and avoid Goettl.

Diane G.

Talk about up sale! Everything the tech touched needed to be fixed or otherwise needed new equipment.
Water- bad quality and bad pressure
Air conditioning-told we needed a new one
Furnace- told we needed a new one and when we spoke with the sales person was told it would cost $24,000. But when we asked if they could charge less the price dropped to $18,00 immediately.
Rotor rooter-told we needed a $1000 super clean out

Dean D.

This is by far the WORST service company I have ever interacted with. First of all, they seek you on the $14.95 monthly service but when I tried to schedule the routine maintenance, the first 2 times they called the night before and canceled with the same excuse, one of their service techs called in sick. So then we scheduled a month out for an early morning service call. I was promised we'd be the first call in the morning. However, when they morning came, no one showed up. I called the company and they gave me yet another bull$it excuse about the technician. Don't waste your time with them. You'll be promised the world but severely disappointed, lied to and inconvenienced.

Jim P.

We purchased a maintenance agreement from this company in 2022 and have since cancelled it. When we asked for their included service to flush our water heater, the plumber they sent gave us this big story about needing to do $3000 worth of work on our plumbing (which was just inspected for code compliance) before they would do the work. We initially were customers of Dutton plumbing, which was acquired by Goettl sometime in the 2021-2022 period.

On the AC side, they came out and did an inspection, said they would drop off some filters, and never came back. We asked them for an estimate to install a mini split into our hot room and they never returned our call. They very clearly do not care an awful lot about their customers or repeat customers especially. Not even showing up to quote a $10k job is a pretty bold statement.

I got a call recently from them asking to come out and do a scheduled maintenance inspection. When I mentioned to the guy who texted me that they had lost our business, the response I got back was ""I didn't lose anything.""

This company is not interested in providing good service or taking care of customers who pay to be in a loyalty program. We switched to another regional plumber service and we have been much happier since doing so.

Chere' R.

Unfortunately, we have to write this review after many repeated attempts of calling and emailing the company, we have yet to receive any assistance or communication. This is an honest review, the installation was done incorrectly; only half of the house was set up with the reverse osmosis water purification system. Our new home was purchased and this was the first install we had done to the home. 3 months later we have the system tested due to another install we have currently being done and we learn only half of the house has a working water purification system.

The company should provide better training for their technicians to ensure proper installation and respond promptly to customer complaints.

Lynn M.

5 Stars!!! Wonderful company, excellent and outstanding crew. We needed our sewer line replaced -- the line suddenly backed up and we could not use our water. This company was very responsive, reliable, knowledgeable, and professional, and they came immediately. They showed up on time or early each day, and they were hard-working, knowledgeable, clear, informative, professional, kind, polite, respectful, answered all questions, very helpful, and super nice. Did a fantastic job from start to finish, worked fast and well, cleaned up everything when done. We especially want to mention the following people with a huge thumbs-up and thank you: Bernardo Alcala, Jay Napoles, Jose Huerta, Martin Hernandez, Alejandro, and Hugo. Very nice people and excellent work -- we highly recommend this company and would definitely use them again!

JoAnna S.

I have always used Shellback because they are honest! When I got a new phone not everything was transferred over so I called a number I found on line that said it belonged to shellback.This company Goettl answered the phone. Her name was Alejandra. I said to her "" I thought this was Shellback?"" She said ""no it's Goettl. "" I said "" well what happened to Shellback, did you merge or buy them out? "" she said ""we buy a lot of companies and yes we bought them out."" I said ""But their website shows their trucks and it looks like they are still in business?"" She said again ""they bought them out"".
I went to the Better Business Bureau to get their number and called Shellback and they were very much in business. I called Goettl back and yelled at them for lying to me.
This company only has 1 & 2 stars so I know why. They are dishonest. Alejandra lied to me. Maybe she thought they bought them but she should never say anything she does not know to be true for a fact. I called Shellback who installed our new water heater. I don't recommend Goettl.

Pete V.

Service rep Eddie Castanon came over yesterday, for my annual tune up. He was great, very professional and extremely informative. Not pushy, ad took his time to explain what he was going to do, and afterwards, explained what was need to keep my AC system working for years to come. Thanks Eddie, appreciate it.

Dodie T.

Follow up. STOP/DO NOT USE/ TERRIBLE COMPANY.
UPDATE, STILL DO NOT USE GOETTL
My review hit a nerve. Daniel, a three week new general manager for Goettl called me on Sunday telling me he was concerned my unfavorable review.
WOW, Sunday!
You know you've hit a nerve when a company contacts you on Sunday.

Daniel was worried about my 'experience'. Wow!!! Sunday and he's worried about my experience? What happened was not a Disney or Magic Mountain ride, so experience is not an appropriate description. What about relationship, honesty or trust? A relationship is developed when companies are responsive to the customer, trusted they will deliver honest and trustworthy bids, and deliver consistently with a truthful and honest bid/bill for work done or proposed. My bill had items not done and padded costs not clearly itemized even after asking for an accounting.

Daniel did call me on Monday. He freely admitted his company was at fault for a horrible 'experience' and wanted to make things right. Good! Daniel told me he had to meet with his 'group' and would get back to me. Ok, great. Cut to the chase, I told Daniel to send me a copy of the permit pulled, (yet to be produced) and expressed a figure that would be a great compromise for the HORRIBLE company actions. NO RESPONSE

Daniel nor anyone impowered to make a decision has responded.

Daniel's answer to the OUTRAGEOUS charges, 'we have a big overhead'. Really? So now you're admitting to me these huge cost are definitely passed on to our unwitting customers.

PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY, you will be paying an outrageous over inflated, computer generated, bill.

I encourage to ask your neighbors for a local, trusted, honest, plumber who doesn't have to 'wrap' his truck in a fancy advertisement, or hear about on the radio, but does a great job for a fair and equitible price.

I'm not contacting an attorney.