Fred Smith Plumbing & Heating

Fred S.

Wish that I had read all the negative reviews.

Seemed like they sent their most novice plumbers for my 1st time job!!

They don't show up for hours and don't call to tell you delayed.

Finally show up late afternoon, start working, and then tell you they get overtime after 4pm,

so they clean up and return next day (they charge a transport charge of $92 for each day!!! plus $182/hr!!)

and waste more time setting up and cleaning up! Show No Concern for
working economically or efficiently!!!

Seemed like they sent their most novice plumbers for my 1st time job!!

Both days they ask you to sign a blank receipt at the bottom and say they will fill in afterwards!!

Would you sign a blank check????

My Super, who is very sharp, says that they they unnecessarily changed too many parts and broke open more of the wall than required!

At nearly $200/hr, they spent too much time talking and taking breaks.

Imagine they send their more experienced plumbers for their retainer customers, not for new one-time user!

Liza B.

Inept at follow through! Scheduled a visit w Freddie 2x, and he never showed up. If you have a serious need to be attended to by an expert, call someone else.

Jeff M.

UPDATE 10/27/2017 - It's not an anomaly. I've used them 3 times now (moved into old apt...everything has now been replaced or repaired)...and each time they have been professional and responsive. I just got off the phone with the owner...no, it's not Fred...it's Phil...to thank him for a great team. They are no fly by night. They have over 80 plumbers they dispatch every day and a team inside who help their field guys find and get the right part to you (HUGE - knowing that most of these old apt's have nothing but expired, hard to find parts everywhere). I can't tell you how much I appreciate knowing I have these in the hood when I need plumbing help. Thanks Phil...and Mike...and Steve...and Gustavo!

Original post: Wow! I was surprised to see how few stars these guys had when I logged on to type this...because I just had a GREAT experience. I just called Fred Smith at the recommendation of the concierge of our building (Astor Terrace) as I'm new to the neighborhood. They gave me a simple hourly quote and were available within a couple days, which was required to schedule an entire part of the building water shut off for the work. My only complaint was that they were 2 hrs late to the job without a call that they'd be late...and I had to call them twice. BUT, once Mike got here...he was great. He coordinated (and directed) the building maintenance guys telling them what to do and when (Mike was very professional and knowledgeable regarding exactly what needed to be done...more than the building guys). The job involved replacing 3 master valves and replacing a complex kitchen faucet and shower cartridge (mechanism controlling water flow). He did this all in less than 2 hours. PERFECT. I would call them back in a minute and highly recommend them (at least Mike, for sure).

Rainyday L.

I've used this company twice in the 18 months since I moved to my condo on the UES. Both times they've been quick to accommodate me, and thorough and very reasonably priced. Last month I returned from a hiking/river rafting trip with 30 lbs of filthy, sandy clothes and soon my laundry room sink was broken. They sent the very kind Ricardo who fixed everything fast and cleaned up after!
These people are fair and polite. I'm grateful for them.

Nate P.

This is not the company to call if you are just a person in an apartment with a plumbing problem. They have much bigger clients who will always come first. If you're just one apartment they won't show up and they won't tell you and they won't care. But they're supposed to be good for bigger, more expensive jobs.

Al S.

I hired Fred Smith Co to fix a small but crucial plumbing problem that rendered my bathroom useless. My building's manager suggested the company and gave me the phone number, which I called immediately. This was on Thursday: Fred Smith told me that no plumbers were available that afternoon, or on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, but - lucky me! - a plumber with the specialized expertise to complete my job would come to my home on Tuesday between 10am and 2pm.

I waited at home all day and nobody came to fix the bathroom. Nobody arrived and nobody from Fred Smith contacted me to explain or to apologize.

Instead, when I called at 2pm to ask why no plumber had come to do the job I'd called about last week, I received plenty of excuses (it rained this morning! there is traffic in the city during business hours!) but no visit from a plumber. I was told to wait, because eventually someone was sure to come, even if it took a bit more time.

So, I waited. Nobody came: I waited from 10am until 4pm (a waste of 6 hours) and I never heard from Fred Smith.

Eventually, I called the company and spoke to someone who inadvertently told me the truth:

Nobody had been assigned to complete the job I had booked with Fred Smith 5 days in advance. All the talk about Fred Smith sending a plumber who has the particular expertise to fix my specific problem was nonsense. Instead, I learned this: ""the ticket for your job is still on the board, but since nobody has picked it up,"" (by then it was after 3:30pm), ""you shouldn't expect anyone to come today.""

Long story short, Fred Smith's plumbers have no interest in taking a small, urgent (though non-emergency) job, because large, messy emergencies pay so much more. Though it will cost me hundreds of dollars for what ends up being a few minutes of work, a plumber who responds to Fred Smith's ticket-system gets only a small portion of that fee.

Even the fact that clients provide their credit card numbers - allowing the company to charge clients full-price if a plumber arrives and nobody is home to let him into the house - isn't enough of an incentive to get plumbers to honor Fred Smith's obligations.

I will not call Fred Smith in the future, and I will make sure that the company is not recommended to anyone in my building who happens to need a plumber.

Linda K.

Arrogant and incompetent. I was recommended to use them from my buildings super and I kept calling and calling and no one called me back. Finally, I got a call and was told they are ""too busy"" right now to do any service calls and to try back in a few weeks. I called back a month later and they said AGAIN they were too busy.

The project was not urgent so I thought I would wait.

I called again and was able to get an appointment but the night before the appointment, they called and cancelled and said they are not taking any new appointments for another few months. I now have to cancel my Super and my GC at the last minute which is very rude.

They are in a service business and they are not providing any service. AND the guy on the phone was so damn arrogant, I hope this company goes out of business soon. No one deserves to be treated this poorly.

Kathleen G.

I engaged Fred Smith Co. at the recommendation of my super, even though I was concerned, given the poor reviews. When I called for an appointment, they could only give me a 10 am to 2 pm window as they save the early ones for emergencies, according to the rather curt dispacher. However he told me to call at 8:30 that morning to get a narrower time. I did and they narrowed it to 12 to 2. However, in about an hour or so they called back and said they could send someone immediately. They did and Brett showed up in less than 10 minutes. The issue was the temp control on my shower was barely moveable and if you turned it just a few millimeters the water temp went from cold to scalding. He understood the problem, took it apart, went and got the replacement parts (luckily I live within walking distance of the supplier) and fixed it 1-2-3. He was polite and friendly and efficient. He gets a 5 star rating. The only reason I didn't give the company a 5-star rating was the markup on the parts. I think a 50% is reasonable, but 100% (or close to it) is a bit much! But I would DEFINITELY use them again.

Yumi K.

Believe the reviews! I called Fred Smith Plumbing because they did a lot of work in my building and I had an emergency. despite the reviews. While they repaired this job, they removed another valve so they could show me the part I needed. They made me go get the part myself so as to save the 200% mark up costs - I thought the guy was at lunch in the meantime but they ended up charging me for the hour wait while he sat around outside. Anyway, the part they removed and put back started leaking the week after. They tried to tell me I have to pay extra to have them come back because it was not the original repair even though it was fine before they touched it. When I complained, they said I would never be able to use their services again in the future. As if I would every call them again!

Meredith N.

I used Fred Smith for an emergency job that also needed a contractor. They came for the first part, then the contractor patched up the wall. I have been calling for two weeks since that was done and can't get Fred Smith to come back to finish. I have been calling every day-each day someone tells me how busy they are-maybe tomorrow they will have time to come.