Earl W. Fite & Sons Plumbing

Erin L.

I called a local family-owned business to come clear my badly clogged drain. I was expecting a $99 drain cleaning, but got a $301 still-clogged drain, and a recommendation to call someone else to fix the problem. The technician spent a hour and a half snaking clean-outs that were not clogged, before calling me to tell me I had a big problem. I know I have a big problem, that's why I called. He then told me he had over 3 hours into not fixing my drain, but that he was giving me a discount on his normal rate, and he threw in a replacement pipe cap (which he broke) for free. I wanted very much to support a small, local company, but I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this company.

Lara C.

I just witnessed a driver of a truck w the name of the company emblazoned on it treat disrespectfully a driver of a car in my 'hood. Also stupid since he could have caused an accident. Behave!

Joe S.

We had an underground gas leak in our La Mesa condos that required SDG&E taking 2 units out of service, so we needed quick resolution. We called 3 established companies for bids, and while the other two were larger and arguably more credible, we went with Fite and we are glad we did.

In the end, they were much cheaper than their competitors and no one could have taken better care of us from start to finish. Also, the quality of their workmanship was commented on by SDG&E and the city inspector. Plus, ALL of their workmen had great attitudes and worked liked dogs.

They did concrete demolition, underground gas pipes, and relaying new concrete, plus misc. inside work within our units. They cut no corners and we would use them again in a heartbeat. Can' t think of another company I'd say that about.

Here's some more detail if you want it:
All three bids were initially about the same, but Robert (w/Fite) was really excited about this job, and that mattered to us. He was our go-to guy from start to finish - first day to last.

All the while though, his boss Todd was overseeing every step, both from the office and onsite. We always had complete access to everyone we needed, everyone was always there on-time, but in truth, Todd & Robert created such a comfort level that there wasn't much to worry about, even when unexpected things turned up, and they did.

The job turned out to be more difficult than anyone could foresee, through no fault of anyone's. But Todd and Robert did what they had to do to address everything as it came up and in a timely manner.

The job took nearly two weeks from start to finish, but they were there working every possible day - holidays notwithstanding. They even took care of the permits with the City of La Mesa and interfaced with SDG&E along the way.

Please support these guys; they're a dying species - locally owned and operated by good young guys with old-school values. I wish I knew a painting contractor like them!

Christopher J.

I wish I could say I had a good experience with them. When we used a rental property on Augusta Court and they were always top notch. So when we bought our first property we felt the one thing we didn't need to worry about was a decent plumber.

Yesterday I had them over and they billed $725 for a kitchen faucet, bathroom faucet, and bathroom shower. All complete replacements from new parts we had purchased. I've come to realize after talking with several different plumbers of how badly we were ripped off at their charging of $125 for each hour of their work. I'd like to point out that this one bathroom faucet took 3 entire hours of following instructions to install. Many times I had to assist him. When it was installed after two hours it leaked and he was trying to fix the leak. Why are we trying to fix the leak on a brand new expensive faucet? He should have told us immediately that we had a bad faucet and that we'd be entirely replacing it with a new one for the amount that we had already paid for the faucet. So I ran to the local hardware store and picked up an additional one (same model) and he went to work again. This time the install took 35 minutes and without a leak. So 2 1/2 hours of installing and then trying to fix the leak all while billing at $125 an hour. It's also worthy of note that they charged me for the parts he used to try to fix the leak on the original faucet that wound up not even being usable.

We also came to learn that they charge for travel time. Charging their full rate of the job on the travel. I wish I could paid for the jobs I travel to. I guess the plumber must have been thinking about the job he was going to do on the faucets to justify the $125 an hour while driving.

I've had good experiences in the past with Todd and this was was made me stick with this company. But I think it's now a matter of Todd having help and they're not entirely communicating all that is happening. Todd as the face of your company you need to make sure people are having good experiences otherwise people like myself will look for another plumber. My wife's boss at work recommended Courtesy Plumbers - so we're going to stick with them from now on.

Final note: Charging customers for travel expenses is bad policy.

Positive Note: Todd did tell my wife he'd refund my wife the travel expenses. But quoted her the wrong amount for the refund.

Jerry C.

Water heater issue we called about that went bad. We called on Friday AM and were told that they would be out by 3PM. Well some one made a mistake bur Todd the owner came out and fixed the problem Friday night and stood by their work, Very impressed with the follow up and very much appreciated that the owner came out and fixed the problem.
Thank you

Barbara H.

What an awesome company. Prompt, considerate and fair pricing. Pablo was great, helpful and respectful. Thank you Ear W. Fite & Son

Gabe M.

Meet the owner and his wife e ore day. Very nice people that really care about their customers.

Dani K.

THIS IS HANDS DOWN THE BEST BEST BEST PLUMBER I've ever worked with! They are SO helpful and professional and they have an AWESOME response time. I will never use any other plumbers besides Earl W. Fite & Sons!

Mike G.

I totally concur with Dandy D's testimonial. Hite Plumbing was recommended by a friend so we called to have them come out and repair a leak under the kitchen sink. They said they could come out tomorrow but when we said we really needed someone today since the leak couldn't be stopped with any band-aid type fix, Todd the owner came out and did a very quick, totally professional job of not only fixing the leak but also drawing our attention to another under sink issue that would soon be a problem. So he quickly fixed that too. I think he was here for about an hour all told. Hite is very responsive, very reasonably priced, and Todd is just the kind of professional you want for this kind of work. We were pleased to also note that they offer 24-hour service and a full range of other plumbing services. Hite is now our go-to guy for this kind of thing, and their business card is now taped to the refrigerator.

Mike & Susie G
South Park

John W.

We placed an urgent call to repair a broken main water shutoff valve and were informed a repairman would be out in a couple of hours. Shortly thereafter we received a call from Mike and I explained our problem. Mike arrived promptly, with the necessary parts and he started immediately working the problem. He replaced a main water shutoff, water pressure regulator and re-plumbed a sprinkler shutoff. Mike clearly takes pride in his work and was a pleasure to talk with. We will refer his company in the future.