H & R Plumbing and Rooter

JY I.

This business was recommended to us. Unfortunately, a man who has not even identified himself came and was very unprofessional. His unprofessional/rude behavior started with a phone call. I will describe the events of this situation in my review.

Yesterday (11/5/2021) I called several plumbers bc I thought we had a sudden pipe burst where water pressure from faucets were suddenly low and there was a water gushing sound. I turned off the main water valve to prevent potential leakage.

Phone Call #1:
This fellow called back to say he would be arriving 5-10 minutes. I asked who he was since I had called several plumbers that day and everyone seemed to be busy so I left messages. He says, ""Well if you don't know who I am, then forget it!"" He hung up. I looked up his number and found that I had texted him my name and address. I called back and apologized and asked if he could still come and how long before arrival. His responded ""I already told you 5-10 minutes!""

His Visit:
He arrives and I saw him so I opened up the garage and he opened up the county water meter lid under the concrete sidewalk. He said no water was leaking from the main house line to the sewer because the arrow in the meter was not moving. I said I had just turned the water shutoff valve back on. He asked where the ponded water near the stair crawl space came from which is located next our water shutoff valve. I said I don't know. He said it's coming from the irrigation system. I said we don't use it and I've never seen water come out in this area and asked if the water ponding is related to the water gushing sound. He said he did not know. He then comes into the house to look at the water heater and turns off the hot water valve and turns it back on, while in between going outside to look at the county water meter arrow (located below the sidewalk). He said at first that we had a water leak in the hot water line in the house somewhere. Then he proceeded to say he ""fixed"" the problem after observing that the county water meter arrow (located below sidewalk) stopped and moved, corresponding to the turning off and back on of the hot water valve (from the water heater) while my son went inside the house to run water from a faucet.
Basically, the loud water gush sound resolved itself. The unnamed plumber did not repair anything. He just identified that we have an irrigation leakage which was the source of the ponded water near the stair crawl space door, located next to our water shutoff valve.

I then started to ask about our other leak problem which is most likely a separate issue and he rudely says ""I already fixed your problem. I'm not going to charge you so go call somebody else."" I said ""Thank you sir"". His visit was very short (5-10 minutes).

Phone Call #2:
That same evening, I called up more plumbers to try to find out if someone can come out to evaluate the other leakage problem. That evening, I unfortunately ended up calling the same fellow who came to visit us earlier in the day. Neither he or I realized we had the earlier encounter. He recommended calling a leak detection company which was nice of him. I hung up and then he called me back to say hey remember I was there already and I solved your problem. I said thank you. He continued to say ""Why are you wasting other plumber's time call around?"" I said that I was calling about a separate issue. That was the end of conversation.

Text Event:
I texted him to say ""I hope you are not rude to other people"". He texted back saying ""Sorry but you never said thank you."" This is incorrect bc I said thank you in person as well as during phone call #2. He texted again saying ""You are losing about 10 gallons of water a minute."" I checked our EBMUD bill and we are not using a noticeably huge amount of water. In the morning (11/6/21), I found another text that said ""I have the invoice ready. Let me know when you are ready to pick it up."" The unnamed plumber is a bully. I don't know how this vendor has such great reviews when professionalism is not part of their company mission.

JonLea T.

Had issues with the pipes in our shower vibrating as we changed water temperature. After calling H&R, a man named Carlos came within the next 30 minutes and inspected the problem. Was told the cartridge needed to be replaced and gave me an estimate of how much that item would cost. I gave the approval and he left to purchase what was needed from the store. He briefly came back and installed, while at the same time had a good talk with him about Bay Area sports and boxing. It was great that he looked after the customer's need and with good customer service. Highly recommend.

Steve S.

The plumber was fantastic! I had a leak in my toilet and two valves that needed to be replaced under two toilets and a drain that wouldn't drain in my sink. He came early, fixed all those things quickly, and found another leak I didn't know I had. He fixed that also by tightening the main house intake. He wasn't bothered by the mess in our restrooms. The price for everything was reasonable and he was courteous. I would definitely recommend him the next time I need a plumber. His name was Carlos. Thank you Carlos!

Sandy L.

Had a sink clog that wouldn't budge. Tried for a whole day trying to get it out ourselves. Wasted time... Called H&R and they came out within two hours. They got it out within 10 minutes. Affordable compared to other folks I called and others weren't able to get out this quickly.

Kristina S.

Rafael came in to check my kitchen sink , the grinder wasn't working came in for less then 5 minutes pushed a button under the sink and left. Guess what I got charged $135 .Oh well I called them Jose picked up said he charged less it suppose to be $165. It's for his fuel he said. $135 for fuel for a drive thats from San Leandro to hayward. Geez what are they doing with $135 dollar worth of fuel umm drinking it I guess.

ML P.

I called them for clogged pipes, sediment backing up into our tub and sluggish water flow. I would recommend this company for your plumbing needs! Our tech Carlos did a fantastic job in explaining everything he needed to do, what he was doing, and what he found with our plumbing issues. Also gave us recommendations. Very nice person and honest. I felt we were well informed and educated as well. He wore a mask at all times. He assessed the pipes and told us all up to code and looked new (we bought the house 9 months ago so relieved to hear this as you don't really know about the honesty of some home inspectors these days). We plan to use them for our other non-urgent plumbing needs! Owner Rafael also very courteous over the phone.

Luigie D.

Searched all over Yelp for a plumber that's open over the weekend and came across H&R Plumbing. My boyfriend called and spoke with Rafa and about an hour or so, he's already here at our place. We had problems with our shower drain and it took him about 30 mins to get the job done. Quick service and reasonable price. Would definitely get services done from Rafa in the future!

Joyce L.

I wish we had found H & R plumbing sooner. We first called H&R when we finally had it with our washing machine backing up and flooding the laundry room due to some kind of blockage. This went on for years - calling a plumber to clear the pipe but not actually fixing the issue. When Rafael came to our house to inspect, he really did inspect. He was under the house taking photos pipes and the issue(s). He gave us his recommendations and cost. We went ahead and got a second quote. The plumber that came out wasn't even going to go under the house to inspect until I told him that the first plumber we called did go under. He then proceeded to go under for about 2 minutes. His scope of work would have been minimal and would not have solved the issue. Needless to say, we went with H&R. Rafael and his team were quick and neat. We haven't had an issue since. We then used H&R for our plumbing needs in our recent kitchen remodel and, again, we were happy we did. Honestly, great work, and a fair price - what more can you ask for. Thank you H&R.

Nisha P.

Spoke with a representative and made an appointment to fix a leak, he never showed for the appointment. I called the business number twice and was hung up on once and never received a call back.

Verden A.

spoke too soon with my previous praise! turns out they did poor quality substandard work then had the nerve to want to come back to do work that wasn't done properly in the first place. i don't know about anyone else but i don't give second chances to anyone i feel doesn't deserve one. employee i complained to was sarcastic and insulting. Good luck when you provide such ""service"", I like to patronize minority owned businesses whenever I can but it has to be a good minority owned business!