John Stevenson Plumbing, Heating & Air

Michael N.

An update on my review of 1/5/22. The John Stevenson PHA Co. responded with an appointment for a check of the system, in a week. However, a few days later the problem disappeared, no more smell. All seems fine now and the system is working well. We will have safety and city inspections next, I'mm sure it will be fine. I upgraded my rating of this company, and may come back later with further comments. I thank the Co. for responding so well to my questions and complaints. They were very courteous.

Thanks.

Jesse L.

We had a leaky toilet and needed a simple hand to reset a wax ring. A job any experienced plumber could do in less then an hour. No parts required. I actually had bought the wax ring. Not only will they charge you for showing up but also having the balls to want to charge nearly $400 to do the work. Asked to speak to the supervisor and asked what the hourly rate was and his response was the cost was a standard rate..
I Switched it out in 20 minutes.

Darla D.

Great business , quick response , honest hardworking people. Joe Wood saved me he was great and honest and explained everything to me and they have affordable payment plans . Will use again

Kyle K.

Here is the review: very nice employees, all speak very highly of the company and are well trained on defending the companies pricing; accept one he got a little aggressive, their pricing is ridiculous. 
The Story: Final Update- they did send what my wife signed. I did call the office and try to resolve the issues but the manager was rude and of no help; basically call the manufacturer and that's how we operate. We don't have a permit in hand, but per the estimate and invoice we paid for one; continuing from the end, the 6 year warranty bottom of the line water heater that cost $2,800 to install with approximately $700 in total material when compared with a lower volume plumbing company (not energy star rated and known to fail) did not have the exhaust connected or sealed.  In fact, my wife was up all night concerned about gas leaks or future ones and we are now shopping for a natural gas sensor.  Most reviews we read on the brand and model put in mentioned that after 1-3 years gas leaks occurred in their valve.  The wide-open gap, see picture of completed installation, required them to come back and screw/tape properly per SDGE who arrived at 8:30 PM to inspect after a funny smell came from the water heater closet.  The technicians were very nice, and we enjoyed hearing one train the other and explain things like why you shut the gas off before working on the gas line. We were very pleased to be paying 65% more than the competition while they trained a new technician.  I received several calls back from licensed insured contractors larger and smaller with prices in the 1500-1850 range vs. John Stevenson's 2800 price which was a ""discount"" from the $3,100 the price started at. As of this moment they have still refused to send what my wife signed, which I believe is required.  I want to review their ""no negative reviews clause"" in their contract and I am curious as to why a company would even need that, and especially have it pointed out and discussed with the sales person. After calling their office and listening to them call the technician and their managers I finally received a written estimate with nothing out of the ordinary and a line item for a permit.   I got home from work and asked for a written estimate I was very busy at work and frantically calling contractors I had worked with on dozens of jobs, but didn't have time to deal with it. I thought it's high, but maybe there is something different I'm not aware of (there wasn't).  He proceeded to tell my wife ""my guys could really use the work"" making her feel more pressure. When my wife tried calling other contractors after thinking the price was very high the salesperson stood right next to her in an intimidating manner making her feel under pressure to sign.  My wife was stuck at home by herself with two toddlers ages 2 and 3 and a water heater that was shutting off.  She was stuck in a bad position. I was gone at work.  The technician arrived and said we had sediment in our gas lines and the heater could not be salvaged. That's the end to start you do the math, very nice, for the most part, but unless there are no other options save yourself 45-65%% and call another contractor, large or small AND PLEASE, even if you are stuck in a bad spot with no hot water do your research and do not let them put in the water heater they default to.  We are already looking to have a different contractor come and change it out for concern for our children. Our heater is in a small confined closet where a gas leak could be very bad.

Brian A.

Dependability, value, excellent workers and a couple of stand-outs made a major plumbing project work out better than expected.
Mike managed the whole project and did a great job for us.
Blaise did the majority of the work and he did a great job, too.
Those 2 are the stand-outs that kept the project moving forward and made sure everything was done right.
The office staff was kind and responsive which helped a lot from beginning to finish.
There were a couple of times we needed someone to come out to check things and that was efficient, smooth and helpful.
Thank to John Stevenson, Blaise, Mike and the office staff.

Victoria J.

Called to have them fix water heater. Pilot would not light. On the scheduled day they called and said technician was on his way. Great i thought! I'll get this done straight away. A few minutes later they called and said they were sending a different technician who was in my area. He would call as soon as he was done with his current job. Hours later they called and said his job would take the rest of the day so he would not come that day. The eariest they could get someone out was two days later. So basically they skipped my appointment because it was inconvient for them to send that first technician. What a crock. Wasted my day and now 3 days without hot water. Will never use them again.

Lily S.

These guys are by far some of the best plumbers we have ever worked with-and we've been through a few of them. As new homeowners dealing with our plumbing was not something we were looking forward to. We had several things that needed to be addressed, and with Joe's recommendations we were able to take care of the things that mattered most- quickly and efficiently without breaking the bank. These guys are professional, informative, reliable and responsive. They even brought something fun for my kids! We were so pleased with our toilet installation we decided to go forward with installing two more. Plumbing is never cheap or fun to deal with, but I feel confident that the work they did will benefit us in the long run. Thank you Joe, Victor and the other two guys who I didn't get their names-for your awesome service. Happy customers over here :)

Greg E.

First of all, who forces a customer to sign a quote to ""never leave a negative review"". If this is a great company, how can they be so paranoid before they even do work.

Answer: scam artists.

Heater was not lighting. No spark. I know because you could hear the gas going but it never lit.

Told them it must be either the spark unit or the control board, since the gas valve functions, you can smell the gas when it tries.

Gave them the exact model number and said, ""don't just come out and then then tell me its either the igniter or the control board, get the parts and come out."" (parts are $57 and $250 respectively)

They come out and make my wife sign a quote for $800/$1000/$1800 that she will not leave a negative review. Well, I did not sign it, and they are scam artists.

The quote says it is either the spark unit, or the control board or both. Some diagnostics! It's easy to test which, but these guys could not. An unsuspecting person would of course wind up paying for both. $1800.

Also they said access to the unit was a problem, and it was in poor condition and probably be replaced for $6-7,000.

I called and asked how $1,800 is justified for wors case of $300 of parts. The service manager was supposed to call me. Never happened.

Finally I decided to go up to the attic and at least get the exact model number, I knew it was a Lennox MGT80, but figured to get the exact number. Also watching Youtube, there was a guy who said he fixed his by trimming the end off the ""spark wire"", the wire just plugs into the control board and over time the end burns and the spark does not get to the igniter in the furnace.

So I take the ladder to the access hatch, which now has 2 large black handprints on it courtesy of the technician.

I lift the hatch out and the furnace is right there, staring me in the face. So much for an ""access problem""!!! Liar!!!

While standing on the ladder (could reach the entire unit without leaving the ladder) I noticed he had unplugged the unit and lost one of the cover screws and left the cover off. Also turned off the gas.

I looked at the ""spark wire"". Pulled it from the control board, notice the end of the wire looked burned. Cut 3/4"" of an inch from the wire, pushed it back on the control board, done. Plugged it back in, turned the gas on, turned on the heat, all done works perfectly.

If I had not done this, I would have paid $1800 for basically replacing a $1 wire and replacing other working parts.

It does not take a rocket scientist to measure if there is ""spark voltage"" or not.

But apparently it is not part of the knowledge base of this company, or the so called ""diagnostic"".

Thank heavens I was so irritated that I investigated myself.

J S.

This is the company to call! On Friday I made an emergency appt to have another plumbing company come out and they canceled on my 4 different times. Today, I called this place and within hours they were at my home. Micheal was the technician who was so professional, knowledgeable , extremely helpful, followed Covid safety protocols, and truly was so kind. In a time where customer service is lacking I can honestly say this company does NOT fall short of that. True professionals and here to help you get through the nightmare of plumbing issues. Thank you all so much! Extra big thanks to Micheal for all your help!

Jack W.

John Stevenson had installed a very pricey new furnace and A/C system last year to the tune of $15K plus, ensuring me that my temperature problem would be quickly resolved. I first called them because my heating was off and when my thermostat would read 72 degrees downstairs, it would feel like a stifling 100 degrees upstairs. Same with my A/C: it would feel comfortable downstairs and be freezing upstairs. The installation of the new A/C and furnace did nothing to solve my problem; in fact the temperature dysregulation was worse. I called both of your recommendations, Bob Jenson and Airmaxx, both of whom immediately determined that my A/C and furnace were never the problem but instead my ductwork was the issue: there was terrible airflow and to make matters worse when John Stevenson came to do the install of the new A/C and furnace they compressed the ducts further pushing them into the wall. They also claimed to have put ""dampers in every run of the home"" to regulate airflow when in reality there were only a few dampers installed (which also did nothing to regulate airflow or fix my problem). One of their technicians even took a piece of plywood and smooshed it into a duct to act as a ""damper"". In addition to all of the above, John Stevenson did not pull a city permit prior to doing their work in my home, leaving me vulnerable to future lawsuits. After multiple calls to the company to try to resolve this situation, I finally hired an attorney after which I finally got a call back. I also hired a very well known construction defect expert who clearly documented all of the errors and fraudulent misrepresentation by John Stevenson. It was finally decided that a joint inspection would occur after which the general manager of John Stevenson, Destry Thompson, a former veteran, promised me that ""he was very sorry for the trouble that was caused and that one of the technicians that did my install was ""no longer with them"". Destry promised to call me later that day with a very fair proposal to fix my duct work (which was the problem all along). He also told me that he finally did go get a post-facto permit pulled 15 months after the fact (clearly aware that this would not look good in court nor with the Contractor's Board of CA) Meanwhile Destry and his coworker spent a good portion of the inspection taking pictures of their shoddy work in my attic. When I went back up in the attic, after they left, I realized that they had simply gone up there to gather evidence for a potential lawsuit and even took the time to undo the false ""damper"" ( the duct with the piece of plywood shoved in it) in hopes that this piece of evidence could be extinguished. It has now been a month since Destry and his coworker from John Stevenson came to my home. Instead of a fair proposal, I have received no return phone calls despite multiple further communications on my part. John Stevenson is the most money-driven, unethical and fraudulent company I have ever worked with. If you read their reviews on Yelp you will see that their MO is to overcharge for items the customer never needed and leave then leave their customer high and dry. Please, at all costs, avoid the expense and undue aggravation I have experienced with John Stevenson.