Munoz Plumbing & Repair

Lori C.

Raul Munoz has worked on our house in Montecito for over 20 years. Not only is he experienced, competent, responsible and can fix anything, but he cares: he cares that the work is done correctly and he cares about people. And his support staff are all family - and they care, too! He is a very special person with a great family and we highly recommend him with a hundred stars! He's the best! Lori Cleary, Santa Barbara, CA

James M.

Set up an appointment for a basic water heater flush. No call no show. Called them for a second time, they set up an appointment and again no call no show. They obviously don't care for your business. Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time with them.

Trish W.

After repeated reschedulings by the business due to a big job they had with another client (told to me by the always pleasant woman who answers calls), I was once again disappointed today when the owner Raul Muñoz became argumentative and belligerent with me on the phone. After reassuring me at 8:49 that he would ""definitely"" arrive by 9:30, I called him at 9:49. That was when he told me he is very busy and made it clear he doesn't want my business and then hung up on me. I then texted him to cancel the job.

I've used this company once or twice a year for many years (for clogs or to replace faucet, toilet). I was okay putting up with rescheduling because their work and customer service have always been satisfactory. But after today's inexcusable behavior by Raul, I can no longer give them my business.

Ian P.

Highly recommend. The morning of New Year's Eve our kitchen sink wouldn't drain. I tried unsuccessfully to snake it myself and then a drain service. The commercial snake not only didn't do the job but left us worse off. That's when I got the referral for Raul Muñoz. He promptly answered his cell and we discovered he was already doing a job in my neighborhood. He came over, got masked and had the right tools, the right attitude, the right price and the right result. Thank you Raul.

Gina C.

Unfortunately they installed a regulator that DOES NOT WORK. I asked them to check it and they said it is fine. BUT, two other plumbers told me it is not working. Now I have to pay for another regulator. I tried to get feedback but they became angry when I asked for an explanation. I was simply trying to understand what happened.

Allen L.

I had a water leak on the main pipe that runs from the meter to the house. Raul was very responsive and his team did a fantastic job of running new plumbing and made the setup better than it was before. He is reasonably priced and I'm really happy with the level of customer service I received.

Elvin W.

Munoz Plumbing is fast, friendly and reasonably priced! I live in San Diego CA and we have a rental home in Santa Barbara. Our tenants called and said the sewer line outside of the home was backing up and overflowing into the yard, they were leaving tonight for an international trip and needed help asap, Munoz was out there in a couple of hours and cleared the line. Office staff was very friendly and helpful, payment was made on the phone via credit card after work was done and payment receipt sent by email. Seamless process, which I appreciate being an out of town landlord. If any future plumbing issues, I will be sure to hire Munoz.

Donnie T.

TL;DR: Will never hire again.

I contacted Munoz on a recommendation from a friend. At first they were unresponsive, but I kept reaching out because my friend (a recent new homeowner) spoke highly of Raul and the company. Additionally, they have a slightly cheaper labor price, but read on why that doesn't matter in the long run. Raul seems like a nice guy, but apparently (based on their unresponsiveness and actions on this job), they don't want anymore more business; so I won't be giving any more to them. Also, Raul didn't do the work, a worker of his did.

Calls & texts were not returned for days. ""Call backs"" happened days later or never. Our appointments were no-shows or rescheduled.

Regarding the work: Raul verbally underestimated the work; didn't provide a quote; the workers worked way longer than verbally estimated, coming out to ~3x the price of what was discussed in person; the workers lied about the time they spent working (we have a Ring doorbell, we have recordings of when they were working); they hounded me about payment before I could look at the work (I was driving home from work myself); threatened to put a lien on my house, faulting me for not getting a quote (lesson learned); lied about workers stopping by or the workers lied to the boss about stopping by (we have a Ring doorbell, we have recordings of when people stop by); did not do the work that was requested, instead completely replaced brand new copper and fittings that did not need to be replaced (which was likely the reason for the overwork).

What could have gone better?

I caught them in lies. That's annoying and unprofessional.

They hounded me because I wanted to see the invoice and the work before paying. I assured them each time that I intend to pay the full amount.

After this experience I read up on California's lien laws. They are geared toward protecting contractors from not getting paid. There was a subtle reminder from Raul about the risk of contractors putting a lien on my home for unpaid work that eventually sounded more like a threat. To offset that possibility, I decided to pay 90% of the full amount even though Raul encouraged me to ""pay whatever you want"". This experience would likely not even had happened if there was a quote from the get-go. I'm a new homeowner. I suppose I've had good luck with other contractors. It didn't occur to me to ask for a written quote first. Raul and his company have been in business for years. It's strange that they didn't provide or suggest a quote. Were they hoping to play the he-said-she-said game and squeeze extra cash out of me?

The job changed slightly from my initial conversation with Raul. I would have liked to discuss the changes with Raul or a worker in person. That discussion might have identified that the change (adding an irrigation tee) was a lot more work or that the verbal quote from Raul was way off. If I had heard a quote anywhere near what it ended up costing, I would have had them replace the courtesy valve only and I would do the rest of the work myself. Unfortunately, I was never able to get someone to come out to discuss.

The worker didn't follow my diagram. This error ended up costing me a lot of money. He replaced copper, fittings and a valve that I had just installed a week prior. I didn't ask for that work and I'm pretty sure that it added a lot of hours to the job overall. I would have appreciated a discussion with his worker. As I mentioned above, if things were unclear, I would have opted for them doing less work.

Brett B.

I'm a Realtor here in Santa Barbara and I have sent Raul, the owner, a few jobs and had him do work at my own house over the past two years. The last client I referred to him said he didn't show or call for the appointment and did the same to me today. I had him out previously to show him what I needed done and now that I'm ready to do the work I wanted a bid and to see when he could start. He literally pulled up then drove off. Every time I follow up to see where he is or why he didn't show an ""emergency"" came up he had to go to.

The bottom line with Raul is unless it's an emergency that he can charge double or triple the normal rate he's not interested. Very unreliable and I will not be using him or sending him any more business!

S G.

Used Raul Munoz to clean a drain line that was stopped up resulting in the bathtub and toilet overflowing. He came fairly quickly and was very nice. He was unable to access the blockage from the clean out, so he opted to get it from the kitchen sink trap. This required a trip to get a smaller snake. He was pleasant and tried to keep the mess to a minimum. He was able to clear the drain. The problem was the drain backed up just 3 weeks later. When I called to have him come and honor his 30 day warranty, he refused to come unless we paid again. When I reminded him of his 30 day warranty, he said ""Sue me"" and hung up. The subsequent plumber said that accessing the sink clean out was a mistake as the clog materials would be pulled from the 4 inch line towards a 2 inch line. He should have pulled the toilet if he was unable to use the clean out. The subsequent plumber was able to use the clean out with a little finesse. I would never use Munoz Plumbing again.