Palo Alto Plumbing And Dahl Plumbing

Farzi R.

I have had 2 bad experiences with them one after another and while I really wanted to let this go, looking back it still irked me enough that I decided I would write a review with the lowest rating. .
Last winter, based on these guys ratings on Yelp, I called them up to come and install a return line to my newly installed tankless water heater. The office manager is a very nice lady and she scheduled the appointment. Max, the owner showed up a week or so later. He walked inside and outside the house and told me that he needed to do a major job in running a return line for hot water heater, including drilling holes through the roof, the newly installed closet system and my bathroom cabinet on the second floor and so on. Also found fault with everything related to plumbing that he came acros! Before he left, he said he would send me a quote in 24 hours. After 4 weeks of calls/emails, I finally gave up and decided we needed hot water badly during the cold winter days. So I called another plumbing company. They showed up a few days later and told me that this was an easy job, no demolishing of walls of holes in the roof was needed, just a nice return line to the kitchen using the crawl space. I received a reasonably priced proposal the next day. I called /emailed Max's office one last time and was given the same run around, so a day later, I decided if they were so busy that couldn't give me a bid after 5 weeks, I should just go ahead with the other bid, which I did. Now, here is when it got really bad. The $550 thermostat to our high efficiency furnace just stopped working and left us with no heat during really cold (low 40sF) days/nights. This is no ordinary thermostat, you can only buy it from the authorized dealer and they can order the replacement for it. Palo Alto Plumbing and HEATING is on the list of authorized vendors for this furnace. So, again, really wanting to give this to a local business, I called them up and asked for a replacement unit under warranty. The office manager took the info, said that they would order it but they could only install it in 10 days and I had to pay for the installation which was $120/hr or so. I accepted all these terms. I emailed them once or twice and was told all was on track. On the day that the hot water return line was being installed, MAX showed up with a regular thermostat that I could have bought myself from Home Depot. He looked very crossed when he saw the other plumber's truck in front of the house. He came in to install the thermostat, when I noticed he had the wrong thermostat which wouldn't work with the wiring. He told me he had it at the office and would go get it. I called and talked to the office manager to see what happened and when he would bring in the replacement thermostat that they had ordered 10 days ago. She said he had decided not to come back. I was shocked. How was that possible? Don't they have an obligation to their customers? What were they going to do with a $550 thermostat that nobody could use? She explained that he was the owner and could do whatever he wanted! Right then, I got the feeling that this was theri M.O. Well, I had a happy ending to my thermostat saga and got it from another company the next day. I ended up finding a better plumbing company and a much better heating company for much cheaper prices and better customer service and professional experiences. I can be more uncharitable toward this guy, but suffice to say, after dealing with him twice I found him to be very unprofessional and unreliable. He lacked personal or professional skills, seemed to have no pride in what he did and believed in zero customer service.

Andrea M.

On one of the hottest days in the bay area I called Palo Alto Plumbing to reinstall my ac unit and the owner of the company said his guys were all busy but would come out and help us. Within hrs he had our ac unit working and our house to 65 degree's. Max is extremely professional and I don't know many owners that would personally come out to help someone in need on a Sat. I would recommend Palo Alto Plumbing there service is beyond amazing. Really appreciate there hard work and values.

Mark M.

Dustin came out promptly and did an awesome job. We had an issue with the kitchen sink. Another plumber had taken a look and wanted to do an expensive replacement of the whole sink. Dustin was able to fix it for much less, and had to go to the extra trouble of ordering a nonstandard part. Super satisfied, will always call these guys in the future.

Catherine L.

Excellent service. Prompt, professional and just a pleasant serviceman.
Jaime managed to save our old Atlas heater. Fantastic service!! would use them again.

JJ K.

I needed a replacement thermocouple installed and so I called Palo Alto Plumbing on a Saturday afternoon. They were able to get someone out to me within 20 minutes, and the repairmen installed the replacement part very quickly. Mo was very professional and he did an amazing job walking me through the details of the repair. An hour after my initial call and I now have hot water again. I would definitely call them again next time I need a repair.

Mark J.

They did come out right away and cleared out our clogged sewer line, but I was told that this type of work isn't warrantied. Sure enough, the line clogged within two days and they were going to charge us to come back to clear the line. I would think they should at least warranty this type of work for 30 or 60 days. I ended up calling Kratzer Plumbing, who cleared the line and warrantied the work.

David D.

Great service and comes with a guarantee, they've come out three times now to deal with our tree root issues and have been very helpful.

William L.

I had an issue with my water heater. One of its plastic tubes succumbed to years of steam and heat, and it has started to crack and leak.

I called Palo Alto Plumbing Heating & Air, whose phone rep scheduled an initial visit to assess the situation. So I worked from home that Friday afternoon. The service guy showed up late for the 2-hour window. He took three pictures of the device, and wrote a brief note in his car. He told me he would need to call the manufacturer on Monday to order the part, and then schedule a follow-up visit later. The entire process lasted 11 minutes (4:05 PM to 4:16 PM).

Considering the simplicity of the initial visit and the service guy's tardiness, I wrote a polite email later that day, asking Palo Alto Plumbing Heating & Air to consider waiving its $122 hourly rate for this visit.

I did not hear from them for 10 days, so I called again. I was told very politely that my email was replied to on the same day. The phone rep also said Palo Alto Plumbing Heating & Air decided to pass on the job. Immediately after we got off the phone, she forwarded to me the reply email, which was indeed sent only 40 minutes after my initial email, as shown below.

""Hello Sir, We will go ahead and cancel the one hour minimum. There will be no fee for the visit this evening. We will also pass this job, in it's entirety. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to work with you, however brief.""

I realized the initial reply email probably landed in my mailbox's junk mail folder, and hence escaped my attention.

For me as a consumer, the experience was less than pleasant. Here are some of my thoughts and comments to share.

(1) As a business, Palo Alto Plumbing Heating & Air has every right to decide NOT to take on a particular job.

(2) It was not Palo Alto Plumbing Heating & Air's fault that I did not receive the original reply email in time, and that I had to find out about it 10 days later.

(3) In every phone interaction, their phone reps were polite and professional.

(4) However, the lack of appreciation for business, and for their customers, was astounding. I don't ever recall a US business responding to a customer request saying, ""We don't want to deal with you any more"", with such calmness and decidedness.

So I am taking my business elsewhere, this time and every time. At least this is something Palo Alto Plumbing Heating & Air and I can agree on.

Buzz D.

Needed a faucet replaced and toilet tune-ups. Tech, Joe, was here spot on time; very pleasant; and worked quickly/neatly. He's helped us before. We'll call them again any time we have plumbing or HVAC issues.

Dennis L.

Max came out and took care of my furnace problem. A very knowledgeable gentleman.
Knows his business and is very professional.
Showed up when he said he would, returned my call promptly. Charged a very fair price. I was totally satisfied. I give him 5+ stars.