Lake Tahoe Plumbing & Heating

Tom D.

Wish I had read the reviews before calling, as I had a less than stellar experience with this operation. Fortunately I yet to give them any money.

Had a problem with a gas line.
Called Friday morning, said they would try to get out that day.
Great. That was actually better than expected.
Steve calls about 5:30 to say they are going to have a tough time getting out today, and will I be around Monday?
I said ""yes,"" and considering the short notice thought it was reasonable that he could not make it out that day, and I expected to be at the house Monday, so no worries.
Waited until 10:00 am, until then thinking that I would be at the top of his list for Monday.
Called, ""I can be sure that he will not be there until after lunch,"" the receptionist said.
Me, ""OK. Please call when you have a specific time.""
Receptionist, ""We always do,"" she said with a sharp tone.
(I felt like saying, ""Sorry for bothering you."")

At 4:00 pm, no call and starting to wonder.
Called and identified myself.
Receptionist gave a little sigh and put me on hold and almost immediately Steve answered.
Me, ""Are you still going to make it out here today?""
Steve, ""Who is this?"" (Apparently the receptionist did not communicate to Steve who was holding. I can only assume that she had been through this many times before and had said, ""You deal with this."" OR, maybe poor service by people who do not really want to do their job is the culture at LTP.)
I identified myself.
Steve, ""We will not be able to get out there until tomorrow morning.""
Me, ""I am leaving in the morning.""
Steve, ""You said you would be there today and tomorrow.""
Me, ""No I did not. You asked if I would be here Monday and I said I would be. Nothing about Tuesday. I called this morning to make sure I was on the schedule and get a time estimate. Since I was not told otherwise, I was under the impression that you were going to be here and call sooner than 4:00.""
Steve, ""Well we cannot make it today, but we can have someone out there early tomorrow morning. What time are you leaving?""
Me, ""Don't bother. I'll find another solution.
I was not going to spend my morning waiting around to see if he would show this time.

If he had called earlier and said he was just too busy and could we reschedule, I could understand. But to leave me waiting around all day, until I called him is not acceptable.

Then I read on Yelp that most of the others had experienced shoddy workmanship. Maybe LTP occasionally gets a job right, but I am not going to take that chance when there are other quality operations available.

Maybe I accidentally dodged a bad situation.
How can I trust someone who cannot communicate with something, such as a gas line, that has the potential to cause severe damage?

John H.

If i could rate Lake Tahoe Plumbing, and Steve the owner, less than one star, i would. This company is not only incompetent, but unprofessional.

Our family shares a vacation home int he Tahoe basin. Last summer my brother hired Lake Tahoe Plumbing to fix our sewage pump that pumps the sewage uphill from the catch basin to the sewer. They replaced EVERYTHING and charged $$$ for the job. Less than a year later, it failed and we have alarms going off and sewage leaking out the top.

I called Lake Tahoe Plumbing to fix their work. They sent a service guy out on Friday who said ""yep, it's not working"" but said he couldn't fix anything right then and could he come back on Monday. I had no choice but to say OK.

When the service man was on the way out for the follow-up visit today, Steve called to say the service man would fix it but first, (1) without even looking at the situation, he wouldn't cover any repairs on warranty from the install 10 months ago, and (2) he was going to charge me for the worthless house call the few days earlier.

I suggested that the service man fix the problem first, and once we knew what the problem was, figure out what should be covered under warranty and what was reasonable for me to pay. He insisted that i agree to pay whatever he decided to charge me before his guy started work.

I consider that an unprofessional attitude and fired him on the spot. I've got to find a new plumber now, but there's no way i would ever do business with that kind of a company. They say that a satisfied customer will tell three people, and an unsatisfied one will tell fifteen. This post is one of my fifteen.

Robin C.

I called Lake Tahoe Plumbing and Heating last November 2013, they were not my first choice but I needed a plumber immediately. I rent, and was in contact with the owner of the house during the entire process. Day 1 I spent the entire day with Peter while he swore for hours, I was concerned that something was wrong but he never bothered to explain anything to me. I had to take the entire day off work. Day 2 Peter came back with reinforcements 2 more guys came with him, they had gotten the snake stuck, supposedly because of tree roots. Finally with three plumbers completely taking over my house for two days they told me they were done but that there were underlying issues that needed to be addressed. I asked them to send a full report with the invoice to my landlord, the owner of the home, who doesn't live in tahoe full time. My landlord never got an invoice or any explanation of what had gone on, therefore never knew there was an additional problem. My house has never smelled the same since Lake Tahoe Plumbers were here. I repeatedly mentioned it to my landlord who finally called a friend over to look at it. Sure enough they had screwed up so now today almost 4 months later Lake Tahoe Heating and Plumbing is ruining my day once again. Going on 3 hours now and continually coming in and out of the house, and once again swearing like a sailor, not that I'm terribly against swearing but it gives me the impression that once again he doesn't know what he's doing. There's a very good reason they are the only plumbers available in south lake all the good ones are already busy!!! While I don't know the specifics of what they did, or screwed up Going on day three here I think they should pay me!!! Take my word for it and NEVER call Lake Tahoe Plumbing and Heating. I forgot to mention they also broke my gate!! Thanks guys.

K C.

Wow, DO NOT USE THESE GUYS........................................................... My heater went out Dec 9th 2013. Because of recent freezing and needing a Leenox dealer we had to use 1 of 3 local dealers, so we called them. I had called on Dec 19th they said they would be out before Christmas, but not hearing from them I called back Dec 23, to learn it would be after Christmas. They showed up Dec 26th and told us our heater was leaking CO due to a BAD HEAT EXCHANGER, and could not be used. So Steve, the boss would give us a bid to replace. UMM where is the bid ??? So made several calls....
Dec 31st......., left message for Steve (the owner)
Jan 2nd 2014, Steve was checking on permits
Jan 7th.........., Steve still working on Bid
Jan 10th........, left another message
Jan 13th........, Received Bid $4800.00 No breakdown just a price
with an open end for Building Dept propane
requirements. Steve told me that is how he writes his bids.
In the meantime I found out the Lennox would sell us a new heater at a reduced cost (about 1/2 under warrenty) since they no longer sold our heater. So I called Steve and asked for a new bid reflecting the discounted heater.
He tried to tell me it did not apply to us. Since you had to have bought the heater. I informed him we did. Well to this day (Feb 12th) still no new bid. I think he was gonna send the bad one in and keep the money and not pass the savings on to us.
But we called Bill (Sierra Heating and Sheet Metal) for a second opinion. GUESS WHAT..... the heater just needed a slight adjustment and has been working Great ever since. He also checked and found no leaking CO and the Heat Exchanger is fine.
So we went without heat and cancelled 3 trips out of town because of being told faulty information. I was told Lake Tahoe Plumbing and Heating also told two other Lennox Pulse owners the same thing.

Nancy M.

Built a new home in South Lake Tahoe and got rid of this overpriced, dishonest company. Would NEVER do business with them again

Brian M.

Lake Tahoe Plumbing installed a high efficiency furnace and a hot water heater in the crawl space of our house about 5 years ago.

* Instead of installing the exhaust vents and combustion air pipes on the side or rear of the house they ran them to the front, next to the door. It looked ugly from the road and was noisy for us and our guests entering the house.

* They installed the hot water heater in a hole they dug in the crawl space. Upon the first spring thaw, the water heater was sitting in 2 feet of water and the electronics were ruined. They offered to split the cost of the 'repairs' and give me a sump pump if I would install it myself, which required me digging a hole 3ft across and 3 ft deep. Imagine the conversation I had with myself as I was standing in 2 feet of water in the cold in my crawl space digging a hole to fix a problem that I paid good money to create. I wasn't loving life.

* The original water heater limped along for 2 years then died. They offered no help on repairs or replacement. So, I paid for a new one - a low boy - using a different contractor and have not had any issues since.

* The furnace has never made it a full winter without needing repairs. There are weeks at a time where we can't get the temperature above 60*F due to issues with the way the air intake and condensation lines were installed. At this point, we've spent more money maintaining the system than we did on the original purchase and install. And we're about to finally replace it for even more money.

* I found interacting with the owner to be frustrating. There was little sense of accountability for the poor work his company did. Instead, his first reaction was to use the product or the environment as an excuse.

Even if this were just bad luck with the products and the installs, the customer experience was stressful and frustrating. The other HVAC specialists, who repaired our furnace and heater, consistently shook their heads at the poor quality of the work.

I would avoid working with Lake Tahoe Plumbing & Heating.

Ken H.

Perhaps I'm unique but I had a great experience with SLT Plumbing & heating. Steve & his team are very nice, responsive, knowledgeable, problem solvers, and patient. I installed a new furnace, water heater, and water pump valve. I got competing offers and his was about the lowest. All installs were done accurately and timely. The only minor issue was the surprise extra cost of installing the water heater in the crawl space vs the garage because it would not fit which was explained well and made sense. He also halved the extra cost of putting it in the crawl space. He even provided a loner thermostat when mine would not work. Thanks Steve!

Lori D.

I calle this company to come replace 2 of my hose bibs and add a 3rd. we talked over the phone no one ever showed to do an estimate for me. They were suppose to call me in the morning before they arrived. No One ever did. I waited till noon. I ended up on YELP and found another company. This company is unprofessional and inconsiderate. Here in Tahoe Your word is your promise. If you want a good reputation? DON'T screw over the local residents. This company is not for you if your looking for a trust worthy plumber. Their hrly rate is also $110.00 an hr. & only have a 1/2 star reting on yelp. The awsome company I chose other this these guys is only $95.00 an hr and they have a 4&1/2 star rating on YELP. DONT choose these guys..

Tahoe R.

DO NOT EVER USE THIS COMPANY!!!! Once the tech showed up spent an hour getting stuck in my crawl spaces couldn't even get the area to fix the issue. Put a temporary cap on the end of the pipe to hold it for now, and then proceeded to charge me $196.00 for this! The cap only cost $3.00 for a fix I could have done myself! Then let me know they'd send someone back out next week to fix the problem which I have since cancelled if for them to not even fix the problem was almost $200.00 I could only imagine what I'd be charged the next time around. Save yourself from being raped and use a different company!!!!

R. B.

They are the worst. They over-charge, charge for travel time (which they exaggerate), and charge a 2hr minimum. They are a large corporation that doesn't care about our community. Just ask one of their employees.