Michael's Valley Plumbing Service Pros

Tony N.

After being happy with a previous job (see my previous review), I decided to use Michael's Valley Plumbing to do a large plumbing job at my house. I wanted to have a second washer/dryer hookup in the front section of the property. The job involved digging a large trench & installing piping & connecting to the city sewer for the washer discharge. The job also involved building an enclosure for the washer & dryer & installing a GFCI electrical outlet. The total cost was around $13,800.00. The contract called for 50% down payment & the balance upon completion - which I agreed to.

My first unpleasant surprise was when the contractor asked me to pay the balance before the job was completed, even though the contract called for the balance upon completion. After I phoned Michael's Valley Plumbing & spoke to one of the owners, that request was withdrawn.

The second unpleasant surprise came when one of the minor repairs the contractor said he would do was to reattach my water heater vent which was too close to the edge of the roof. The owner wanted to charge me another $250.00 for the job & tried to convince me that it was a big ""Two and a half hour job."" He didn't know that the contractor had previously told me it would only take a few minutes & he would not charge me for it, since I'd hired them for a big job.

The third unpleasant surprise came when the job was almost completed & after I paid the balance in full. The GFCI plug (specified in the contract) was not installed & the contractor suggested installing two GFCI plugs inside the enclosure so the dryer plug would reach the outlet without an extension cord. The contractor said that job would be an additional $480.00. That seemed outrageous to me, so I contacted a licensed electrical contractor & he did the job for $275.00.

Michael's Valley Plumbing does have some skilled technicians, but they are spoiling their good name with greed.

Update - Previous plumbing repair: I had Michael's Valley Plumbing do other work before the big washer-dryer sewer hookup. One of the repairs was to a leaking bathroom sink faucet. A valve stem was replaced & the leaking stopped but three months later, it started leaking again. I contacted Michael's Valley Plumbing & the owner wanted to charge me to repair the faucet again - until I told him that a faucet repair should last longer than three months. Their plumber suggested I purchase a replacement faucet from his truck - at $500.00 plus labor. After I said, ""No, thanks,"" he suggested I contact the faucet manufacturer (Price-Pfister) & order the part. I found the manufacturer to be far more reputable than Michael's Valley Plumbing; they sent me the replacement parts at no cost. After complaining that ""Every time we park our truck in a driveway, it costs us $80.00,"" the owner sent a plumber & he replaced the part in five minutes. No leaking since, but I'm wise enough to NEVER call Michael's Valley Plumbing again. Unless you like getting ripped off, I suggest you do the same.

Not the way to treat a customer who spent over $16,000.00 with their company.

There is a good reason why almost every review of Michael's Valley Plumbing is negative.

Tristan D.

Motion Picture Industry friendly... Owner used to work at Paramount. Nice guys, willing to help.

N M.

I called Michael on Saturday 4/13/2013...He was very friendly and nice...he listened to me to find out what I needed to be fixed in my house...He sent one of his co-worker, Efrem within 30 minutes....He was very knowledgeable, patient, and accurate...He fixed the issue very quick and I am very satisfy. In the situation that I was at, he charged me reasonable. I will refer Michael Valley Plumbing to whoever needs help, just call 818-612-6411.

Cara S.

Wow, I had the completely opposite experience as JY. Needed emergency plumbing on a Sunday evening, so I called these guys because I was really happy the last time they had come. The guy who answered the phone was very friendly and promised me someone would be out within an hour. Forty-five minutes later Efrem showed up and he quickly got the job done, with absolutely no mess. They quoted me a flat rate, which would have been high for a Monday morning, but seemed very fair for a Sunday night. Efrem even changed my toilet seat for me... and all I had asked him to do was loosen the really tight screws for me. I've called these guys twice and they are definitely two-for-two!

Debbie G.

I called this company based on Angie's list
They were very careful to explain all costs ahead of the service
And they explained why prices could vary
I would use them again

Bill L.

Michael's Valley Plumbing does not stand by their work. I had been a loyal customer since 2008. Michael's charged me $500 to repair a water filter that they had installed 6 months earlier for $800. Which is now leaking again after their repair. Time for a reliable, consistent plumber.

J Y.

DISHONEST, POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. We called Michael's based on recommendations on Angie's List to fix 2 leaking Toto toilets and a leaking shower valve. Technician Efrem came out on time for a Saturday appointment (12/29). The shower valve needed to be replaced. We were changed $135 for one hour labor just to find out the part #. The technician told us he would come back to fix the shower after the replacement part arrived and there was no way to temporarily stop the leak before the replacement part arrived. The technician told us both toilets needed to be rebuilt and we requested genuine original manufacturer parts (Toto). We were charged $98 for the parts in addition to $135 labor. After 1 week wilth the leaking shower valve, on 1/5 Michael's called and said they finally found the replacement part but it would take another week to arrive. Appointment was set for 1/12. On 1/11 Michael's called again and said they got the wrong part so it would take another week for the new replacement part to arrive. I reminded them that we have been waiting for 2 weeks with the leaking shower and they offered to do a temporary fix (what we asked for on 12/29 but were told there were no temporary fix short of shutting off water for the entire house!). Meanwhile both toilets with brand new ""genuine Toto parts"" always require 2 flushes and did not fill properly. We opened up the lids only to find out that cheap, generic parts were used on both after being charged $98 for genuine parts (BTW we later found out the same genuine parts were sold for $25 online). Felt cheated and lied to, we called Michael's promptly for an explanation. We were told that we need to call back on Monday and speak to the manager. Bottom line - we were billed for parts that were not used, we were lied to, and the customer service/owner has no interest in remediating the issue. Bait and switch -do not use.

p.s. Michael the owner finally called and threathened legal actions if we posted negative reviews online. He insisted that they used genuine Toto parts while we were staring at the ""Korky"" parts in our toilets!

Stan L.

I had a drainage issue effecting my laundry area and kitchen. The service call was very prompt, within 2 hours and the technician was very knowledgeable. He diagnosed the problem and resolved it quickly. He also gave me an estimate to correct some plumbing issues to avoid future problems. We did discuss installing a vent pipe and he didn't know how to properly install flashing on the roof. He claimed he wasn't a roofer and that's the way they do it. I explained the electrician I hired wasn't a roofer and he installed the flashing for the electrical service mast correctly. His comment was he would do the best he could. I just let it go and listen to his other recommendations. Overall I was happy with the service and will consider hiring them to make the corrections if the estimate is competitive.

Gary V.

I am posting this for my lady. I paid for Michael's to perform the initial work for her thru Angie's List.They had glowing reviews which makes me wonder about the veracity of the reviews on Angie's List and who is actually reviewing businesses there. I had a major problem with Express Plumbing and Rooter who scammed me (on July 3rd) doing unnecessary work on and doing it badly. Michael's Valley Plumbing was running a ""Main line clean out and video inspection with a DVD"" for $225. They came out in late August (8/31/12) and did the job confirming that Express robbed me for upwards of $5,000 in unneeded work. Unfortunately they forgot to record their findings onto the DVD as promised. So after several calls to get them back out to finish the work they were paid for and losing another day of work they returned and supplied me with the DVD on 9/17/12 and their estimate of what they would have charged for the unnecessary work that Express performed. So recently I discovered a small leak from the base of one of my toilets and contacted Michael's as they are not a 4-5 star business but were the lesser of the 2 known evils. I called on a Sunday and set up an appointment for the next day for ""replacement of the wax ring"" at the base of the toilet. I was quoted a price of $135 (including a 10% Angie's List member discount) and it was scheduled for late morning the next day. The next day the incompetence began early. They called and asked if they could come early. I agreed even though I was still resting with my elderly rescue dogs. Good thing I got right up as they then showed up earlier than agreed.
The plumber Richard who showed up started checking inside the toilet tank.Then the lying and scamming began. He stated the parts inside the tank needed replacing. That was a bold faced lie as I had just replaced those parts 3 weeks earlier. He told me the charge for the wax ring replacement was going to be $225. I asked what happened to the $135 price quote I received. Suddenly he changed the price to $140 (being caught in a lie changes prices in the plumbing world). I was sick of contractors trying to take advantage of me because I am a female so I asked what about the quote then asked him to leave. Then things go from bad to worse.
I called to ask Michael Junior About Richard and our conversation about the cost that was agreed upon of 135.00 . He went on and on with the things that were already told to me by the dispatcher on Christmas day. I said I understood I was not questioning any of that I was clear on the 135 for the first hour. He tried to justify and make excuses for Richard that he was a union plumber which is irrelevant. I kept asking him why was he trying to change the cost? He then continued to justify Richard's actions that he had to troubleshoot, he has to do this we have to do that.. On and on. I then said I didn't need any of that all I wanted was the wax ring replaced and I asked for the cost just to do that I did not expect anything more. Richard tried to say I needed to replace everything at 225.00 when I told him I had just changed everything just three weeks ago he gave me a weird look. That Is when Richard said oh okay well I'll change it for 140 I said no 135 was the price given, it was the point why would he keep giving different figures ? That is when Michael Jr. got defensive. He started making accusations about me being a problem and they noted it on my account . He was leery about sending anyone to my address for this day. I was shocked at that comment and quickly asked him what I had done specifically to be a ""problem""? He wouldn't clarify or specify. I then refreshed his memory on what his guy Steve didn't do! I called over a two-week period requesting the DVD that was supposed to have been recorded on the day of the service. They knew that it was very important and time sensitive that I get it. Michael Jr. then got very rude and annoyed with me and said ""what do you want me to do about it now ... what do you want""? I said nothing at this point I do not trust you coming to my property anymore because I feel like I'm being scammed. I said this is really bad and he yells back at me ,NO you're bad!! I just hung up.
DO NOT HIRE this disreputable company. It isn't bad enough that they try to sell you services that are not needed but then they turn around and insult you. Was I a difficult customer when they took my money and did not complete the job as promised? It cost me 2 days of work to be abused by Michael Jr. as his father neglected to teach him rule #1 of being in a service business, ""the customer is ALWAYS RIGHT"". He needs to have his employees conduct themselves with honesty and integrity.One last thing that needs to be considered is why did this plumber try to sell me unneeded parts? Because Michael's owns a Plumbing Supply business? Yes. That is why they offer labor discounts. They more than make up for it when they sell you parts. DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY!

Valerie A.

Based on high recommendations from Angie's List, we summoned Steve from Michael's Valley Plumbing to fix the drain clog in our shower. It was a 10 minute fix that cost us $150 since unbeknownst to us, the cost is based per hour not by the complication of the procedure. While we believe that the cost is too high for a simple fix, we were more displeased by the so-called $25 equipment charge added to the bill. I couldn't really comment much about their technical skills. But if you're looking for a reasonably priced plumber, I would look elsewhere.