Happy Sam's Plumbing

kim s.

He was prompt in arriving to my place to give me an estimate. Promised to get me an estimate soon but after two phone calls I gave up. Al is the new owner and he speaks english, but his crew does not.
I'm not sure if he does the work or if his crew of 3 guys, who came over with him, do the work independently. Never got a chance to find out because he never sent an estimate as promised.

H K.

if you read my original review of Happy Sam's Plumbing, you'll know that i thought the world of Sam, the quality of his work, his prices, and his fair approach to the whole experience.

something has drastically changed and i will no longer recommend this plumber to any of my friends or real estate contacts. details below (lengthy review!) as to why this went from an enthusiastic 5-star review to just one star.

last time i saw sam, we talked about replacing two toilets in my house for around $200 for labor if i purchased the toilets on my own. he said when i was ready to do that to give him a call. so, when i called last week to have someone come out and look at the toilets that were now leaking, Al answered the phone and we made an appointment for the plumbing issues in my house to be addressed the next day on saturday.

* first, they were an hour late.
* then, they used my towels to clean up the leaks.
* after that, they asked if i had a small bucket to catch the leaks because they didn't bring one. what plumber does not have their own buckets to catch leaks? when i said i didn't have a small bucket the guy said, ""oh ok, i'll just use your towels again."" so, i went and found a bowl they could use.
* the repair turned out to be replacing washers and a valve - much smaller than the job sam and i talked about earlier.
* they drained everything into my bathtubs, but didn't rinse them. thus leaving a dirty residue all over my bathtubs.
* they dented the seats and lids and left shoe prints all over my bathrooms.
* they left my wet towels bunched in the corner of each bathroom.
* then they charged me $385.

when i balked at the price, it went down to $345. then i said that it didn't seem like a fair price considering a larger job sam quoted me was much less. i asked where sam was and the reply was ""ok, $285."" i said it still didn't seem right and that i wanted to talk to sam about it. suddenly, it went down to $245. i asked where sam was again - they said, ""he's on vacation in germany."" so, i said, ""ok, fine, i'll pay by credit card, but i want to talk to him when he returns.""

i guess they no longer take debit/credit cards! the guy said i had to pay by check or cash. i told him i don't have checks, but that i could have the bank cut him a check on monday morning.

HE MADE ME DRIVE TO AN ATM TO GET THE CASH OUT. i am not kidding. he met me at an atm and stood outside waiting for me. i handed him $245 in cash.

there were so many things wrong with this experience, but the last bit made me feel unsafe, creeped out, and angry. time to find a new plumber.

choule s.

We were happy to know that there still is honest and decent plumbers out there like Happy Sams Plumbing. We were afraid that we might have to repipe the whole house, but Happy Sams quickly fixed the trouble saving for us thousands of dollars. They have the expertise which enabled to locate the trouble spot immediately and get the repair job done in no time. We are also impressed with their prompt response to our distress call and were on the scene within an hour after our call. The fee was also very reasonable. Thank you Al for your honesty and professional skills. Your fan in Arcadia.

William A.

The toilet overflowed when we ran the clothes washer. I called them based on the reviews on Yelp. I was very pleased. A couple of years ago I had this problem twice and those plumbers ran a snake and the problem when away, but we stopped using the dishwasher because that also caused the problem.

The team of guys from Happy Sam ran the snake, but they also crawled under the house and found a 25 foot of old pipe (the house is 99 years old) and replace it. This pipe had 3 holes in it that leaked water. Now I run the dishwasher and clothes washer and toilet and no problem.

Why didn't the other plumbers crawl thru the dirt under the house? They did the job in about and hour, too. So I am very pleased.

Vincent G.

We are very pleased with Happy Sam's Plumbing, every time they work for us are very clean, safe and professional, I recomend them to my neighbors.
another good thing aobut Happy Sam's Plumbing is that they finish their work on time, and the prices they charge are reasonable.

Don M.

I had a very bad sewer stop I need a plumber right a way everyone
wanted to charge way to much ,and wanted to change the hole sewer line . then I called Happy Sams and he fixed the problem right away
No line had to be changed Thanks Happy Sams

I recomemed for any sewer JOB !!!

Kay T.

Al literally just left our house; I am very happy with their service! In about an hour and a half, they were in and out. They fixed my clog, purchased and installed a new garbage disposal, and only after they tested and retested the electrical supply and garbage disposal, trying to see if it could be repaired first. I would definitely recommend them to anyone who has plumbing needs!

Ed W.

I've used Sam in the past and been very pleased. But, it's time to look for another plumber.

I called Friday afternoon and got a call back about an hour later. It wasn't Sam. I assumed Sam had hired a helper. He asked if he could come Saturday morning instead. I said that would be fine. I asked for 7 am and he said that was perfect. I called at 8 am when he didn't show up and there was no answer. He finally called at 10 am, again not Sam. He said he would be honest, he just over slept. I said that was fine.

He finally showed up around 10:30. It was a plumber with a different name on the truck. After spending about an hour on the job he told me he couldn't fix it and my entire drain system would need to be replumbed. I told him to just put everything back together and I would get my handyman to come out and look at it. I asked him how much for time even though he couldn't fix it. He told me $240.00 because it was Saturday. I told him I was not going to pay that much for an hour's worth of work and not fixing anything. We settled on $120.

My handyman showed up Saturday evening and fixed the problem in less than 30 minutes.

He told me Sam moved to Germany and sold him the business. Time to find a new plumber.

Magnus M.

In an era where plumbers left and right want to overcharge for every conceivable task, no matter how menial, it is certainly refreshing to come across someone like Al from Happy Sam's Plumbing. We had a drainage issue and need to replace some very old piping. However, every plumber from Roto Rooter, Kevin Shaw to Mike Diamond wanted to charge us an exorbitant amount! Instead of focusing on the issue, these companies wanted to change everything and i mean EVERYTHING. The all proclaimed, ""that's the only way we can guarantee there is no leak."" To give an analogy, that's like going in to a mechanic to change out a leaky oil gasket but they want to change out the entire engine block and transmission in order to ""guarantee"" there are no more issues! Yeah, why don't I let you take my blood as well!

Al was honest, walked me through the process, identified the issue, and replaced my old pipes for a very reasonable price! We need more upstanding guys in the industry like him. Every other plumber is just a con artist! I will be sure to go back to Al again!

Mikki D.

After receiving an estimate from another plumber, I called Al on a Friday for his bid. He arrived on Saturday at the time promised, inspected the situation, and corrected my plumbing problem in about 25-30 minutes. He and his helper were clean, fast, and professional. Not only was his rate very reasonable, but Al was also very personable. Because of his intervention, I ended up paying less than 10% of what the other plumber quoted. Fast, clean, professional and saved me more than 90%?! ...Hello?!