Fisk-It Plumbing

Mark L.

I just had Fisk-it out today. The plumber fixed my problem which took him about 20 minutes and then charged me almost 500 dollars. The parts couldn't have cost more than 30 dollars. So his labor costs were about 470 dollars for twenty minutes of work. Pro-rating that it means I was charged 23.50 per minute of labor which means Fisk-it charges 1,410 dollars an hour. I used to use fisk-it when they did good work and charged a fair price. Won't be using them again.

Kurt S.

Have you ever had such a bad customer experience, you were simply beside yourself?

I called FiskIt Plumbing of Culver City, CA because I had their ""Call us"" magnet stuck to my refrigerator & in past years, and I hadn't had terrible things to say about them.

The last time they came, they guy was waaaaay outside the window of time they'd promised, (over an hour & a half) and was otherwise rushed and dismissive, but their past work had built up some goodwill equity with me & ultimately, I was able to accommodate the time shift in that case, so fine. Nothing worth writing about.

But today was different. I had no such luxuries.

MAKING AN APPOINTMENT
A few days ago, I called to make an appointment with Fiskit specifically when our condo building's water was being shut off during a window of 3-6PM on a Monday. I explained very specifically that I needed repairs done during this time because what I needed done required the water to be shut off and having the water shut off meant the WHOLE CONDO BUILDING'S water was being shut off. This is a big deal for us.

The girl on the other end said she understood and would make a note of it and she could have someone arrive around 4PM with a two hour arrival window. Wait - two hour window? I absolutely NEED this to happen between 3-6PM. This is the time during which all the neighbors have been notified that the water is being shut down for repairs in the building. I need the repairs done then - there's no option in this. She repeated that she'd make that clear.

AND OF COURSE, NO ONE SHOWS UP
I took half a day off and waited at home for FiskIt to arrive. Of course 5PM rolls around, and there's still no one at my home. I call and ask if anyone's coming and she tells me she'll call me back. 5:20PM hits and I get this on the phone:

""Um... like, we're having... um... computer problems and some appointments got deleted... and your appointment was one of them.""

What?

Awright, whatever - just get someone down here ASAP. I have only between 3-6PM - I made this very clear when I made the appointment - and y'all have 40min left. This isn't just an mild inconvenience: I took time off from work and you're burning my time, in addition to losing the window I had to do this in. She says she'll call back. At 5:40PM, she calls & says she talked with a plumber and they'll work ""late"" (as if they're doing me a favor at this point) & she says they'll be here at 7:00PM.

7:00PM? What the heck good does that do me? I said 3-6PM repeatedly: Get someone down here NOW. If this was an overflowing sewer line, I can't imagine the world of hurt I'd be in if I'd trusted you with my business. I get that you screwed up and yes, these things happen & normally I've very understanding about this but you folks made a commitment to me - one that cost me time & money by taking part of the day off - and 7:00PM doesn't fulfill that commitment one bit when I've repeatedly said over and over and over again that I need someone between 3-6PM. What are you going to do to make this right?

She says she'll have a manager call me. I'll give you one guess as to whether or not anyone ever called.

AND AFTER THE WATER GOT TURNED BACK ON...
Without a call to confirm, two plumbers showed up out of the blue late in the evening, long after the water had been turned back on. I told them to leave since there was nothing they could do now that the water had been turned back on and all my neighbors were home cooking dinner, bathing their kids, and otherwise needed the water on.

They talked about ""coming back"" later to do the work at another time and I explained that FiskIt wouldn't be doing any future work for me. I wasn't blaming the plumbers but rather their front office: Never mind their costs: They wasted my time & that's something I have in very little quantity these days. You don't get a second chance from that.

A NOTE ON THE YELP REVIEWS
I was astounded at how little their front office seemed to care that they' screwed up and they put me in a bad position so I checked Yelp. Lo & behold, something has apparently happened to this company because it's clear that they've got nothing but 1-star reviews over the past few years.

Now I typically don't trust Yelpers with only 1 or 2 reviews to their credit, since the reviews are usually emotional & inexperienced... so here's my review: From someone with a Yelp record going back to 2007.

Note that I'm giving them 1 1/2 stars (rounding up to 2-stars) because as disappointed as I am with them, I can see how this could have been even worse. (Like if I let them bill me) But still, after sitting on my refrigerator for a long while, I tore up FiskIt's refrigerator magnet and threw it in the trash.

Linda S.

We hired Fisk-it for plumbing in our shower. The tile man finished and when I called the man who did the plumbing, WHICH DID NIOT6 FGINISH HIS JOB, he was not with the company any more. Then I called Fisk-iT and NO ONE has helped. I paid them in full and NO USE OF SHOWER! WHAT MORE CAN I SAY!

Doree K.

I recently called Fisk It because I was having hot water problems. I told them that I needed something done right away because my tenant couldn't take showers. They came and told me that they had to open the wall and re-route all my hot water lines at a cost of $1265. I was shocked. When I called them next morning and told them that I needed another plumber's estimate, they immediatly dropped the price to $900. Why didn't they quote that in the first place??? I called Plumber to the Rescue and Warren sent James out to ck it out.James took some time diagnosing the problem and said ""let's try something"". 5 minutes later I had hot water! Thank God for James, Warren, and Plumber to the Rescue. Shame on you Fisk It.

E G.

Never again! I used this company under a previous owner and it was great. This time was totally different. I had two stopped drains and a leaky faucet (needing its washer replaced). $120 later, I had one stopped drain, a basin full of dirty water under my sink and a recommendation to replace my faucet. The inability to clear the drain was especially annoying, as all it took was a look at the internet and a few seconds with a toilet plunger to open the drain--shouldn't any plumber worth his salt know to try this?

Betsy M.

I wish I had checked Yelp before calling our longtime plumber Fisk -it again. It has changed owners and they charged me $240 to install a disposal I had purchased, which I consider ridiculous for one hour's work! The entire bill was $420 and they tried to up-sell me on a $625 job to hydro-clean my drain.
When I complained they reduced the bill to $300. I will never use them again.

Stu S.

I have used this company twice in the last several weeks. Both times I called, the person who answered the phone was very friendly and helpful. They sent someone on the same day...TWICE. The guys came and fixed both problems right away. The prices were also reasonable.
I always use yelp and did in the case of trying to find a plumber. However, I called (3) plumbers with very high ratings and all were booked up and could not come on the same day. This company did, twice, and I was very grateful - so I thought it warrented a good review.

I Like U.

I used Fisk-It for years. The owner, Steve Fisk, was a gem. His plumbers were excellent. The charges were reasonable and honest. The new owners seem intent on destroying the business. I called them today for two problems and they came out as promised. However, they wanted to charge me a SEPARATE service call for each problem, even though they were already here and each one would take a short time to complete. No thank you! I sent them packing.

Jeremy S.

New owners have destroyed what was once a great company. My family used them for twenty years and they used to provide excellent service at reasonable prices. However, that is sadly no longer the case. The quality of work is not always as strong. And in February 2012, they apparently switched from normal billing (hourly + parts) to a new bill-whatever-they-want system. What makes it worse is that they don't inform their customers of this before they start a job. So what should be at most a $300 job (2 hours + parts), ends up costing $600--or whatever other number they want to make up. And for the bigger jobs, it's even worse. Stay away and find another plumber. I know I will.

L. L.

I've used Fisk It since Steve Fisk owned the company, then Steve sold it, I'm guessing in the late 90's....I used them still until today. I called today and scheduled a replacement of my husband's sink hardware...they quoted me $800!!!!! Really???? They say they get paid by the job. Well now they can stick the job you know where...anyone have a good, honest plumber to service the 90024 area?