Maccarone Plumbing & Heating

Paul A.

I have used Maccarone plumbing on and off for about the last eight years. The technicians they send over to the house are very nice and knowledgeable - they usually show up on time and as promised. However, after reading the reviews here, I would agree that some of the folks that work in the office, especially Rose and Bea, can be very rude when you call up and certainly do not understand customer service. Additionally, similar to other reviews here, they clearly play games with their pricing and provide zero transparency. They charge $175 just for an estimate - when you get the estimate (after several weeks where nobody responds and you have to call and request what you paid for) - they call it ""flat rate pricing"" - there is simply once price listed for the job - when you ask for a detailed or itemized list of the pricing, for example how much for the boiler, how much for the labor, etc - they refuse to provide. So you're paying for an estimate, but can't get any of the details of what you're paying for. Now I'm not cheap and am more than willing to pay a premium for high quality service, but at least I want to know what I am paying for - and you won't know that if you use Maccarone. Buyer beware.

Mark S.

I had a severe water main issue. The team at Maccarone was simply wonderful. They were courteous, efficient, and extremely knowledgeable. They provided me with several solutions to fit within my budget. I would highly recommend them.

Cynthia G.

Our Main water pipe coming into the house was leaking. They came the next day and they were excellent. I thought their price was very reasonable. They were clean and efficient. I would totally use them again and recommend them.

A. K.

Buyer Beware.... of an inflated service fee of $175 just for walking through the door. Oh yes, the technician was nice enough not to charge extra for the one turn tightening of a screw!
P.S. I was not even informed when I made the appointment that there would be an inflated $175 instant service charge. Glad someone is making money nowadays.

Ann K.

Stay away from Macaroni Plumbers. They came to turn on a pilot light and then replaced two expansion tanks which cost $80 each. The tanks never needed replacement as also noted by the electrician. The bill for 15 minutes was over $900. They say that they could charge whatever they feel and won't always itemize the cost of their job. In my opinion they are not an honest company and are out to get as much money from their customers. Warning!!! Do not call them for any repairs. Going to court over this . Also beware of the reviews in favor of them. They are not legitimate ones for sure!!!!

Janice B.

Anthony and Andreas were the best! They are professional, patient and just plain fun to work with. I would recommend Maccarone Plumbing to anyone looking for the best. The price was less than three other estimates I received, and the job was more than well done.

Jon Paul S.

Wow, no wonder this company has such bad reviews.
I am a plumber; let me tell you that this company's customer service is horrible.

The receptionist at this company was extremely rude.

I called them, as a fellow contractor, to ask how they felt about a website they advertise on. My goal was to learn if it was a good web site to use. The receptionist, who said she does the advertising, claimed they did not use such service. When I informed her of the contradiction as it was how i found them, she said either I was wrong or they were. When I asked her to clarify she said ""I have calls coming in"" and hung up abruptly.

In business you don't hang up on anybody.

ellen l.

the biggest bums on the planet, stay far far away. they were supposed to install a generator at my house 2 years ago and its still not done. i already took them to court and they lied about every detail of my nightmare with them. they decided to place the generator wherever they felt like it instead of where i directed them do that would be hidden and out of sight. while my mom was in a coma in florida dying they put my not operational generator directly behind my gate so anyone entering my yard would trip over it. just stay away from these A--holes!!!

C D.

I also wish I had read the reviews cause they are so true.this company takes advantage of customers in an emergency situation,did not advised how much the service call was before starting,didnt clean up after completion and worst of all charged a price that was ridiculous I was in shock.i had no heat during one of the coldest days due to 2 thermostats the were not working.they charged me over $1000.00 for 40 min of work .the thermostats cost $52.00 each.they should be ashamed of themselves.there are a lot of people out there that feel the same I only wish they would write a review.consumer beware!

William C.

We have used these guys on and off for close to 30 years. They have always done good work for us. They are licensed, bonded and insured, and you can expect that their work will be planned to meet the Building Code and that it will pass inspection by the building inspector. They are based in our hometown and now service virtually all of Long Island and Manhattan with a couple-hundred employees, having grown their business basically-entirely on word-of-mouth, so I find these negative reviews kind of shocking.
However, I also know that there has been a trend in this country in recent years for people to avoid expensive licensed plumbers and instead to hire unlicensed and unqualified handymen to do plumbing work; this is aided by the fact that any moron can glue together pieces of plastic pipe in an arrangement that would appear to the untrained eye to do the trick; unfortunately, very often this work ends up needing to be ripped out when it doesn't function as intended (siphoning traps in fixtures, not draining well, clogging, etc.) because it doesn't meet the building code, which is designed to make sure that things function as intended. Very often, handy-hacks are much less expensive than real plumbers, and very often they end up being expensive because their work isn't good. But sometimes, their work is adequate, and then people get that price point in their head as being reasonable. I can get a guy to try to snake a drain for $49. Sometimes, his work will be good. Sometimes, he will put the snake right through the bend in the pipe, causing all heck to break loose. Will he have insurance and a bond to make the damage he causes right? Probably not, which is why he is less expensive.
I think some of the negative reviews here are based on the feeling that folks got ripped off pricewise. I can say that Maccarone is not inexpensive. But in our experience, they come promptly, they know what they are doing, and they get it fixed right the first time. And their prices are comparable to other licensed, bonded plumbers on Long Island. I will give you three examples. First, this week a sink drain was backing up and leaking from around the trap where the tailpiece of the drain connects to the trap. I needed it done that night, for reasons that are unimportant. I called Maccarone at about 5pm. They explained that they would be happy to come, but that it would be much cheaper to do the work during normal business hours. I needed it and accepted the extra cost. The very nice guy came about 90 minutes later. He meticulously snaked the drain and disassembled the trap and tailpiece. I had pointed out that the trap looked crooked, and he agreed. He showed me how the tailpiece hadn't been cut to size when someone else installed it, so he cut it to the right size and reinstalled everything nice and tight. Leak solved. He also fixed the pop-up drain thingy, which had never worked. He put a piece of paper towel under the drain and tested it for drips. He went downstairs and examined the pipes from below to insure that the leak had stopped and that he hadn't damaged anything while snaking. He wore booties so not to damage our floors in the wet messy weather. He ran the drain a long time to make sure no leaks anywhere. While I went to cut him a significant check, he cleaned up the work area and even wiped down the sink and fixture. Great guy, super-pleasant experience, job done right the first time.
Two years ago, our shower faucets didn't work right. A contractor had said they were not repairable and needed to be replaced, with retiling the wall, etc. Maccarone sent a guy, Jim Brown, who loves to work on old houses and is super-knowledgeable. Long story short, he knew immediately what model of 1950s-era faucets these were, got the replacement internal parts, and made them work like new, accessing the guts of the faucets just by taking off the handles. He gave us all sorts of caveats about what could go wrong when you try to disassemble a faucet this old, not to discourage but just to inform, and also gave us a price on putting in a new single-handle, which he could do without ripping out the tile. We were well-informed, and the price was fair given the amount of work involved and the fact that nobody else wanted to fix them (and probably couldn't even identify the make and model), and the fact that they have run flawlessly for like two years now. I referred Jim to some folks who needed a bunch of repair work done on their Aunt's old house, and they raved about how knowledgeable, nice, and good he was.
Finally, Maccarone came last year within an hour when a pipe froze in the garage, and thawed it out before it burst. Again, it wasn't cheap, but it was knowledgeable, expert service.