John Hobby Jr Plumbing & Heating

Betty N.

Dear John,
In response to your response :You are so right! It is not up to the plumber to know what my service contract is. That being said, why would he assume it wasn't covered. I thought my water heater was electric and called your office who said yes you would service it. When the tech saw my heater wasn't electric he should have said this is not my expertise, you should call Burke. Point being Burke said that when the power to the boiler has been cut off, the controller will show an error sign and need to be reset not replaced with a unit that was 100% marked up. I have spoken to several plumbers who agree you marked this unit up 100%.
The reason I had no hot water for 2 days was because when I called the following morning, you were not available until the next day. In hindsight, I should have said no thanks and called someone who could've come that day. But I didn't because I trusted your company. So shame on me for trusting a company I have been using for years and claims to have excellent customer service. Shame on you for your reprehensible behavior.
If you say your demeanor was being polite, I would hate to see what your demeanor is when you're aggressive and defensive.
By the way the $70 basket strainer that was replaced in my sink for only one week now, has water stains that will not come out no matter what I try to clean it with. I wonder what that cost you?

Kim K.

not accepting new clients and not willing to make any referrals. save yourself some time and don't bother.

Evelyn G.

Genius! All of them. If you haven't snaked your leaders in a few years, call them; you won't regret it. These are quality craftsmen and fixers of all things wrong. They will make your house run right!

John H.

Wouldn't even give them the 1 star if it was an option. Highly recommend looking elsewhere. They do not value their employees. Insane amount of working hours, especially in winter months where employees don't get payed for all the hours they work. This act of greed disgusts me. Consider if they value their customers and if they will do right by you.

Drew H.

In summary - I would recommend avoiding this company. They are super helpful when you initially contact them, but once they have the work, the service drops off. I had a $6,000+ project with them that involved installing a propane heater, including running piping etc. to propane tanks. Long story short - it was one problem after another and then they had the audacity to argue many points and ended up refusing to look at a problem without paying a excessive call-out fee - even though they installed only 3 months prior. I am now stuck with a broken heater and searching for an alternative company to help. If you want more detail - see below:

In Detail -
We wanted to install a heater for our pool. We were not sure if we wanted to go natural gas or propane and were clueless on who to contact and where to shop. After contacting a number of pool companies and plumbers, we settled on John Hobby. They were not the cheapest by any stretch, but we wanted a one-stop shop and they are a pool company and a plumber. We decided to use propane and we made it very clear to them that we wanted one contact and wanted them to handle the project from start to finish. They recommeded a propane company that they have worked with before and assured me they would handle the project.

Hobby installed all the lines and the heater - and the propane company dropped off 2 large propane tanks and filled them. All seemed good. I spoke to Hobby and they informed that the project was completed. The pool wasnt open yet, but they had connected the bbq, so that weekend, we decided to grill. When I fired up the bbq, it was honestly like a jet engine. It scared me and the family as we were all close by. I quickly shut down the grill and contacted Hobby. They called back the next day and this is where the problems began. They informed me that no regulators had been installed and the propane company is responsible for that. I called propane company and they said that actually, it was not their job and that Hobby had installed lines that were too small for what we were doing. It was to code, but not recommended. I went back to Hobby and of course they denied this (I still have no idea who is right!). To their credit, Hobby did agree to install regulators and did not charge me for this. At this point I was satisfied that they had done this, although irritated that this had not been done to begin with, whoever's job it was. As I stated earlier - I wanted a one-stop shop and that is why I hired Hobby.

We then turned the pool on and found that the chlorinator was cracked. I have absolutely no way of knowing if it was cracked by Hobby or not, but it is a strange coincidence for this to crack suddenly when it is only a couple of years old. When I asked Hobby, he said first that they didn't touch the chlorinator (even though they needed to connect piping to it) and that the technician noticed it was cracked when he was working. I asked how he knew this if he hadn't touched it? He stated he noticed it leaking - NOT possible since the pool was not running! Anyway - I still cant prove if this was Hobby and when I asked for price to fix it - the pice was 50% higher than other pool companies.

The last straw is when the heater stopped working. We went to heat the pool on Labor Day (3 months after it was installed) and it kept re-igniting and cycling on and off. I cleaned all the filters and made sure all was clear, but with no success. Eventually the heater switched off and a service heater light came on. I left a message for Hobby on the Monday and had to call again late Tuesday to get someone. They told me that the problem could be filters etc and I informed them that I had already cleaned those and the pressure in the system was normal. They then told me to call the pool line and schedule a service call. When I called, I was told it would be a $160 service call to look at the problem (no matter what the issue is) and then work is billed by the hour (we live less than 1 mile from them!). When I told them this was only installed 3 months ago, they said it didn't matter. I finally spoke to John and he said the same thing. When I went through my frustrations with the project from start to finish he just started to argue with me. He said that I had forgotten how helpful he had been with the regulators (the ones that were HIS job to begin with since I had hired him as my one-stop shop). He ended up being flat out rude and refused to acccept ANY responsibility for ANY of the issues. He had the audacity to basically argue with me and accuse me of being difficult.

So - I am now stuck with a broken heater. I was on the verge of hiring these guys to service my pool regularly, but thank goodness I didn't. I have another pool company and hopefully they can fix the heater for me.

The only reason I give them 2 stars instead of 1 is that the guy who came out to do a lot of work is such a good guy. I just wish he worked for someone else.

William P.

Had them do two jobs for me so far. The first was to address a list of problems at a rental house and second to repair some broken supply valves in our bathroom. They charge $145 / hr for two guys, which is a reasonable rate for our area. Both times they sent clean, skilled and productive plumbers, who got the job done right. I have gotten less good results from other big names in the area. I am having them install 4 toilets next and will report on how that goes.

Arnab S.

Fantastic service for frozen pipe, punctual, professional, slightly expensive but know what they are doing and honest.

Priscilla S.

Fantastic emergency service for a frozen, and also a broken, water pipe. I live in a ""vintage"" house with very old pipes so the job was complicated. The team from John Hobby, aided by Wade Tree Service, was excellent. They worked into the night for two consecutive days. They promised they'd stay until I had water, and they kept their word. Good communication, great service and despite tough circumstances, a pleasure to have working at my home.

Matthew Y.

Nothing but rave reviews for the team at Hobby. I had a pipe burst in this freezing weather we've been having. They were at my home within 1/2 hour and repaired the problem. They were professional and efficient. And considering they came so quick and last minute, at a time when everyone was having issues, I considered the $230 bill more then fair. I can't recommend them enough.

Joseph N.

Absolutely outrageous. Came to my house to look at a job, workers were there for 10 minutes and left to get the part. Came back a week later to do the job (replace a shower valve) which took about 15 minutes.I was billed double what the part should cost, and 1 hour labor for the repair and AN HOUR FOR THE 10 MINUTES THEY WERE THERE TO LOOK AT THE JOB THE FIRST TIME! Ithought it was a mistake and called, only to be told by the arrogant, obnoxious owner that you are billed for a minimum of an hour every time they come. Itwould be cheaper and less aggrivation to go to plumbing school, get a license and do it yourself.