My Dad's Plumbing

LaSher L.

BEWARE of PRICE GOUGING $$$$

We recently purchased a new toilet from Lowes with the installation service provided through Home Advisor/Angi. MY Dads Plumbing out of San Dimas, CA, was the company assigned to do our installation.

Sergio from MY Dads Plumbing showed up 4 hours late to do installation. After he pulled the toilet, he determined that the cast iron flange needed to be replaced, and the concrete slab would need to be chipped out and that it would cost $2800!!! The $2800 is in addition to the $338 we already paid through Lowes for the toilet installation and disposal of the old toilet. He said if we paid cash that he would only charge $2000, so he won't have to pay tax. He refused to give me that price if I put it on my credit card or pay with a check. After asking him several times his hourly rate, he defiantly refused to answer, and told me that he gets paid by the job not by the hour. I also asked if I could speak to his boss, and he told me he was the boss (he is not the owner of MDP). Sergio said if we are not happy about the cost that we can contact another plumbing company to do the work, but we live in an older home with only one bathroom, so contacting another plumber for an estimate/installation could take days. We honestly had little choice, and had him replace the flange and install the new toilet.

The job took 3 hours, total cost $2,000 (cash) + $338 (Lowes installation fee) = $2,338 ($779 an hour)!!! Please note that this price does not include the cost of the new toilet, and the cast iron flange cost approx. $57 on Grainger. Also, the average hourly rate for plumbers ranges from $45 to $200 an hour (*see links provided below).

I hate the feeling of being taken advantage of when we were in a desperate situation. Our experience with MDP showed that this company operates using unethical price gouging tactics when their customers have little choice but to use their company. Then once you ""ok"" the work, they have you sign a 5 page ""Release of Liability Agreement"". After our experience with My Dad's Plumbing, my advice is, if you use the installation services through Lowes, do your research on the company that is assigned to do the job before they come out, because if the job goes beyond the scope of the installation you could be at the mercy of that company doing VERY COSTLY repairs at your home. In hindsight, I should have directly called a trustworthy plumber, and have them pick up the toilet and do the installation and replace flange, and avoid the Lowes/Home Advisor/Angi installation process.

* PLUMBERS HOURLY RATES - Cost of Residential Plumbing Contractors in Los Angeles, California Range: $45 - $200 per hour (plus parts and materials). See links below.

https://plumbers.promatcher.com/cost/los-angeles-ca-plumbers-costs-prices.aspx

https://www.fixr.com/costs/plumbing

https://www.angi.com/articles/plumber-cost.htm

Boris S.

I have never had a worse experience with a repair person/vendor as I've had with MyDad'sPlumbing. My wife wanted a new faucet in her bathroom. We bought one at Lowe's. Lowe's recommended MyDad'sPlumbing. When the plumber arrived to replace the faucet, I told him the exsisting drain was fine and should not be replaced. He replaced the faucet, then he removed our drain. The plumber then tried to install the new drain pipe that accompanied the faucet. It would not fit the drain hole in our sink. I told the plumber to replace our drain pipe. The one that did fit, and worked fine, but he removed. He told me that he ""damaged"" our drain pipe during removal and he would not replace it. I did not see our ""damaged"" drain pipe. The plumber told me to buy a new, smaller drain pipe. He then removed the new faucet from our sink. I asked him to re-install our faucet that he removed. He refused, telling me Lowe's prevents him from ""re-installing removed faucets.""
I can understand Lowe's not wanting plumbers removing components from one house and then selling the removed components to another house, but re-installing an owners component to it's original position is acceptable. I spoke to a Lowe's employee in the Lowe's Installation Group and he completely agreed with me. If the plumber could not complete the job properly he should re-install the owners own components back in place if requested.
The plumber packed up and left our house. After he left I saw that we had an empty sink. WITHOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE OR PERMISSION the plumber took our faucet and drain. They were our property and if the plumber refused to re-install the faucet and drain I could have had my adult son do it.
I emailed MyDad'sPlumbing trying to get the components back. The person I had email dialogues with was friendly and helpful. We disagreed on a number of issues but the dialogue was good. She would try to get the components back to us. The following day I called and a different person spoke to me. She was most RUDE and CRUDE. I got the distinct feeling, ""The customer be damned, it's the company that's important!"" We did not get along! She was NOT going to provide any help, support, or suggestions. I did get an email response from my first contact. She notified me that my components ""were trashed"" and could not be recovered.
To top it all off, ""My DadsPlumbing"" is charging us $306.19 for providing us with an empty sink. We're disputing the charges! The sink was in working order before their plumber arrived, removed and ""destroyed"" our faucet and drain. All was done without our knowledge or permission!
Somewhere there must be a word for that.

ps: A plumbing supply house provided us with a very similiar model faucet and drain pipe. They also recommended a plumber. The new plumber installed the faucet, scraped off an oxide layer that built up inside the sink outer drain tube, and slipped in the new drain pipe. No problem! All done in less than an hour and at a little more than one half (1/2) the ""MyDadsPlumbing"" price of $306.19.

Mark G.

My Dad's Plumbing was arranged through Lowe's. My Dad's Plumbing initially scheduled an appointment time without first asking when I'd be available. After eventually reaching them, we rescheduled. I was told over the phone that they would arrive early (around 8am) in the official 8am - 11am window. I received a call at 10am that day saying they'd be late and would arrive between 12pm and 1pm. They arrived at 2:30pm.

There were multiple disagreements during the visit about what had been paid for at Lowe's. In order to get the job done on that day, an additional 10 minutes of labor and $30 worth of materials cost an additional $225.

No materials were cleaned up afterwards and I was left with boxes, trash and a toilet on my front doorstep to dispose of myself.

If you look at my review history, this is the first negative review I've ever left on Yelp. I learned my lesson the hard way. Hopefully you'll steer clear and find a more trustworthy company.

Lilian C.

although the technician was very nice and super helpful, all I hired the company to do was reinstall my sink after I got my countertops redone. everything was working perfectly before it got reinstalled. all of a sudden my dishwasher and sink faucet stopped working and when I called the company they told me they didn't have any availability until 4 days from that day. I went and asked my regular plumber to handle it, and when he came he said that the job was done very poorly and without checking that everything was working. when I called them to complain and asked for their help, they did absolutely nothing and just blamed me for not getting a new sink. they were useless and also had a attitude. will positively never be using their service ever again and i recommend extreme plumbing who is always on call and ready to help.

J S.

I would give ZERO stars if I could. We live in an HOA and was told by the plumbers we would need HOA permission to shut off water and give at least 24 hours notice. We called HOA / emailed and they said it was ok. The plumbers came out 4 days later and said they couldn't shut off as it was an HOA deal. No one informed us of this. When we called My Dad's Plumbing, they told us it is their policy. When we spoke to the owner ""Joe"" he was extremely rude and said an employee notified us of it as there are ""notes"" in the system I told him he was mistaken as I never spoke to that person when making the appointment (only spoke to ONCE and that was 30 minutes before the plumber showed up 4 days later asking for an ETA). He wouldn't let me explain (and interrupted me several times) and claimed he would hang up on me. So as a customer telling me to ""be quiet or I'll end the call"" (even though I was not yelling or using profanity) and then hanging up on me is very unprofessional. Do NOT use this company! The techs who came out were good guys, it's the ownership that is pure crap!

Update: Good old Joe calling someone dramatic when HE hangs up and acts like a little girl when he can't have a cordial conversation. He never apologizes in ANY of his feedback. Let me listen to those ""recorded"" conversations stating the HOA will have to shut off the water. SO let me hear those ""recorded"" conversation of YOUR staff telling me the plumber will not shut off the water and the HOA has to shut it off. Then and ONLY then will I remove this review.

By the way, I am simply telling my side of the story. There is a difference between stating my side and ""blatantly"" lying. If that is the case, you ARE blatantly lying by telling me ""Andy"" notified me. Let me HEAR Andy tell me about the water shut off by the HOA.

Also, you should know state laws:

California's Yelp law Under AB 2365, business owners can also be fined up to $10,000 if they retaliate against a reviewer or attempt to get a customer to waive their right to post a negative review. Communications Decency Act

https://thenextweb.com/news/california-passed-yelp-bill-protects-customers-writing-negative-reviews-businesses

Janet M.

A work colleague referred to to them after a couple successful interactions. A few months ago, they installed a garbage disposal. They got the work done efficiently, cleaned up after they finished and charged a fair price. This week, I discovered what appeared to be a leak in my ceiling coming from an upstairs bathroom - there was a 1"" diameter bubble in the drywall/paint, but no stain and no obvious drips. They responded to my weekend request and quickly scheduled plumbers to come out to inspect. The ran the water a long time went back down, felt the area which was ""as dry as a saltine"". Not finding moisture or dripping, they thought maybe it was an old patch that wasn't done well and left without charging me. About 15 minutes later, I went downstairs and the whole section where the bubble was, had dropped and a small drip became apparent. I quickly called and the plumbers were back at my house in a short time. They opened up the ceiling and found that there was a tiny crack that was causing the leak. Unfortunately, there was also corrosion and it was in a location that requires pretty significant work, which will be happening in a couple days. They said they will minimize the amount of drywall they have to remove to gain access. I have complete faith this repair will go smoothly and efficiently based on my experiences up til now. I was even lucky enough to find out that one of the plumbers who came out was in fact ""the Dad"" of My Dad's Plumbing! :-)

Sam C.

Our toilet was beginning to crack. They responded quickly and effectively. While installing the new toilet, they noticed an issue with the way the toilet was installed by the previous homeowner that could cause serious damage to the house. They professionally and courteously informed us of the issue and fixed it quickly and efficiently at a reasonable rate.

Very satisfied with their service and work.

Barbra E.

I highly recommend this business for anyone with plumbing issues/needs. Everyone I spoke with at My Dad's Plumbing treated me with respect and was extremely professional and courteous. I don't understand plumbing at all and they were able to explain everything to me in a way that I could grasp. They were upfront and honest about pricing and the timeline for the repairs. He left my bathroom as clean as when he started his work and took the time to make sure everything was working before he left. He even told me they would come back out if I had any issues. I would definitely use them again and I highly recommend that you do too.

Orlando Z.

Very nice people I bought 2 toilet through Lowels one was cracked the installer made an extra trip on Sunday to install it at no extra charge. This is what I call good customer service.

david s.

They are either incompetent , don't care or both. I bought a dishwasher from Lowes with installation. My Dad's was assigned to install it. They called and set up an appointment. They sent me an email with the right phone number, email and physical address but wrong name and service. I called and they changed it, gave me a two hour window. They arrived two hours AFTER that window with no apology or phone call and still had the wrong order. I explained, they installed the dishwasher. Next day the screw holding the washer in fell out. I called, they came out and just re-screwed it in, I asked if that would hold and they assured me it would. 29 days later, screw fell out again, I called, left a message and emailed too leaving my name and phone number. That was five days ago and still no call nor email. Horrible customer service. Their web site states they guarantee their work for a year and it's a ""family business"". I would like to support family local businesses but they will never get my business again nor anyone I know.


UPDATE: This is telling. FIVE MINUTES after posting I get this message , yet you didn't have five minutes to respond to me after five days? No, I was not informed your office was inundated with covid, and to shame me publicly ? Wow. Good luck.