Newton Plumbing

Mary F.

Several years ago we had hired Newton Plumbing in order to replace a leaky gas pipe near the water heater. They replaced the gas pipe and charged a reasonable fee.

So recently when the sewer line backed up I decided to give them a call. I'm sorry I did. Newton had dispatched a two man work team. These guys were unprofessional to say the least. I explained that I had problems with the toilet backing up and it was pretty obvious that the sewer line had backed up due to fecal matter remnants.

They spent twenty minutes snaking out the sewer line then out of the blue stated that the problem stemmed from the communal lateral pipes falling apart. They also stated that since this pipe was located at the back of my property that I was responsible for it's maintenance. They continued on by saying that if I didn't replace the pipe that I would continue to have this problem. Given the fact that they didn't even insert a camera probe into the sewer line I became suspicious. I told them I would have to think about.

I was able to figure out what caused the original clog a few months later, the tree roots from my neighbor's over grown tree (the tree is located a few feet from the municipal sewer line ) had invaded the sewer line. I came to the conclusion that the roots were causing the clog when I noticed that every time I flushed clorox down the toilet the leaves on my neighbor's tree turned yellow very quickly and then they would drop off.

Suzanne G.

Thanks to Newton Plumbing, $190 of my money went down the drain. I called them to come out and fix a leak in my ceiling. The guy they sent out told me the leak was coming from the fire sprinkler and I needed to call someone else to fix it because he wasn't licensed to work on fire sprinklers. So I called a company that specializes in fixing fire sprinklers, they charged me $190 only to tell me that no, it wasn't the fire sprinkler. Turns out it was a hot water pipe. I asked Newton Plumbing if they would reimburse me for the $190. They told me they would forward my request to management. I never heard back from them. I contacted them again and they said the owner was out of the office handling personal matters. Very frustrating.

David A.

We used Newton Plumbing for a large emergency project to replace our hillside sewer line after a complete blockage, and I am happy with the results. The project started relatively small but grew as more blockages were found. I was looking over their shoulders the entire time, so I know that everything they found was real.

The things that impressed me most about them was that everyone who worked on the project seemed to be genuinely concerned about our situation, and all were knowledgeable about plumbing (not just the supervisors). They answered all of my questions without complaint and were happy to show me what they were doing. It did take longer that initially expected because they had another similar job come up so they had to split the crews, but that can happen with any company given the emergency nature of their work. Because of the urgency of the situation I did not get competitive quotes, but from past experience with other companies I think that their prices were good. I would not hesitate to call them the next time I have a plumbing problem.

Valerie W.

A root-clogged sewer pipe led to flooding in our bathroom at 4:30 on a Sunday morning. A pretty grim situation. Called Newton Plumbing, and the owner was at our house before 6am and fixed the problem at the $59 quoted rate (despite the fact that it was the break of dawn on a Sunday) with a darned good attitude, given the circumstances. We're very grateful.

Sharon R.

These plumbers are not the ""family owned"" business that it once was 30 years ago. Suffice to say that if they can take advantage of women or the elderly they will. They did plumbing work for my mother that was necessary yes, but at what cost? They asked for 50% down and used high pressure tactics to get my 80 year old mother to agree to additional work (some of which wasn't really necessary). They ended up waiving the remainder of her bill stating there was a ""mix-up"" and since I had filed a complaint with the Contractor's Board, they asked her to sign a release which was delivered to her door while they waited to have them sign it and returned immediately without allowing them to consult with anyone for advice. I work for a developer and our company plumber said it would have been 1/2 the cost and some of the things they replaced didn't need replacing...get more than one price quote on a major repair!

Yana C.

Let me preface by saying that these guys did a fantastic job and actually cleaned my drain (unlike Scheulke, bleh).

The problem is that they totally tried to rip me off. They never qouted a price before starting the work, but it states pretty clearly on the website that there is a $59 special to unclog a drain. The regular price for this service is $89. Why then did Jose the plumber tell me that it's $149? As soon as I mentioned the website, he backed off saying ""really? Ok, ok, no problem"". Did he just throw out a number and see if I would go for it? Was it a sexist thing, like a girl can't possibly know the cost of such things as unclogging drains? Sooooo unacceptable. I would consider using this company again because they truly did a stellar job. However, if anyone shares a similar experience as I have had, there will be no chance of me calling them again or recommending this company to anyone else. Honesty goes far in building a lifetime customer base and I would have used Newton PLumbing exclusively had it not been for the shady practices.

In any case, thanks for unclogging my drain.

Cynthia W.

Ok, revising this review - this is the second time I've called these guys with the same problem. I left a message and no one got back to me, so I called again. Then they were supposed to be here within a two hour window, and couldn't do that. I know that's typical behavior for labor workers, but seriously? I don't know - this is a recession, people are hungry for business, aren't they?

Emanuel R.

I called them to replace our water heater. Mike was very helpful, and he was always available on call for any questions. And I had many. Because I know nothing about water heaters.

Mike came by for a scheduled 6-hour job. It took half that time. Now we have a new water heater and peace of mind.

I highly recommend Newton Plumbing as your neighborhood plumber.

Marcelino S.

My tenant had a clogged kitchen sink. He called for the $59.00 special. When they arrived they said that price is only if you have a accessible clean-out. The tenant didn't know... so they went ahead and did the work from under the kitchen sink, and charged him $180.00 to clear the drain. "" I guess they never saw or looked outside where you would see the 2"" black plug that sat 5"" off the ground in a white stucco wall?"" A few hours later the tenant called back stating that there is water all over the kitchen floor and also coming out outside the house. The plumber came back and said that he would have to take the toilet off and run a camera thru the drain to see the problem. That's when I get a call from the plumber stating that we have a emergency situation here and that 30 to 40 feet of drain pipe inside the cement slab under the bathroom and kitchen floors were rusted out and needed to be replaced and would cost $9500. He also said that he would be able to start the job right now. I told him that I'd have to get other estimates too and asked him if there is any way of getting that price lowered and he said that he would ask when he got back to the company shop. A few hours later he called and said that they can bring the price down to $8700 and that other companies would normally charge $8200 to $8500. The following morning I called Newton Plumbing and ask if I could meet the plumber and have him show me with the camera what needed to be replaced. The manager Tony said it would be no problem and could have him there at noon. I met the plumber there and he ask me why he was there I told him I wanted to see via his camera the damage that he saw. He replied "" I won't show you the with the camera because I know that you are getting other estimates, why should I get the information for them? I'll show you if you commit the job to me! All you have to do is turn the bathroom and kitchen sink on and you will see that its coming out everywhere!"" I told him that his manager said it would be alright to see the camera view and he said I don't care!.. After he left I called Newton Plumbing and talked to Angie, she said Tony is out but she will text him on what's going on and have him call me. Tony never returned my call The following day I called a plumbing company that I used often ADD Plumbing, the owner Clive came out to help. Right away after seeing the clear water come out on to the floor he said that it wasn't a 30 to 40 feet rusted drain slab leak, slab leaks have a dirty grey water look to them he said. Within 10 minutes of breaking away some outside stucco he found the problem. In the wall about 2 feet out from the kitchen trap was a 2""x14"" long rusted galvanized pipe. He said that he didn't have anyone available to fix it since it was Friday afternoon but can get it done Mon or Tues and would cost no more than $300. He didn't charge me for finding the problem and said to watch out for those companies that try to sand bag you into a job. At that time I then called Tony the manager at Newton Plumbing and told him we found the problem, a 2"" pipe 14"" long needed to be removed and replaced, all stucco had already been removed. I asked him for all the troubles Newton Plumbing has caused me maybe they could do it at 1/2 price? Tony said that he would be there in an hour. After awhile Tony called me back and said we don't have anyone available and I ended up having someone else meet me Sat 9-10am. I met the plumber in the am arriving in an older chevy pick-up truck? After looking at the job he said it would cost $750. I ask him to call Tony on his cell, I asked Tony what about the deal we had? He said he could bring it down to $500. He then asked me what do I think it should cost? I said $100 he couldn't do that, I said $150, then said $200. Tony then said the job usually cost $1000 and that $500 is the lowest he could go, the parts alone will cost $100 he said. I told him I'll buy the parts, the 14"" piece of galvanize pipe or whatever you need to get the job done. Tony replied ""no can't do it"" I then said ""Oh well!"" and by the ways did you fire that plumber yet? He said not yet. I hired ADD Plumbing. The job took less than 15 minutes and cost $250. Watch out for Newton Plumbing!

Ken L.

AVOID THIS OUTFIT IF YOU CAN.
My experience with this business is less than stellar. If there was a way to give them minus stars that would be what they deserve. They came to the job totally unprepared and although it was explained to them (twice) that there were several jobs that needed to be done (and what those jobs were). They had even stopped by to evaluate ""the job"" previously.
As soon as they arrived, they wanted to reschedule and gave excuses that they did not have parts, etc. and since I had taken the day off from work just to accommodate them I explained to them that I would be most happy to go to the nearby Home Depot, Lowe's or hardware store to buy the parts while they finished doing the jobs they could do first. They kept making excuses that they did not allocate enough time for all the jobs (even though it was explained to them twice and they came over to evaluate the jobs previously). I had explained to them that if I had to choose to do one thing if they were on a time constraint was to have my leaking valve in my bathroom tub/shower done first and the rest could wait and be rescheduled. I also volunteered to go get the parts for that job if they did not have it and asked one of the guys to write down what I had to get from the hardware store since I am not savvy with plumbing parts. I then left to get the parts while my roommate stayed behind. I took 15 minutes to get back with the parts from the store to fix the shower valve leakage and although they had a lot of other things to do (they had to fix 5 items in the house), they had taken off/left by the time I got back.
When I called them back as to what happened, all they said was that the parts did not fit and that I was argumentative. When was expressing myself to the plumber that I would prefer for the shower leakage to be fixed if they were on a time constraint argumentative? Is it not right to tell them what was more important to me was the leakage and that replacing the faucets for aesthetics (the faucets were old but still working) since the leakage was already a steady stream? After all that's the right thing to get fixed first as we are all trying to conserve water. One additional thing - when I was getting into my car to get the parts, I requested the guys to move their van/vehicle that was blocking the garage and me from getting out to buy the parts they needed, they ignored me. It wasn't until I asked them if I could move it for them since the keys were in the van did they respond.
All I can say is that this outfit was very unprofessional and lacks any credible customer service - they do what suits them. I've had experiences with other plumbers and this one was easily the worst - avoid them if you can. Too many excuses and a tendency to not honor commitments/promises is not a good sign for any company.