Papalia Home Services

Diana M.

Needed a simple drain collar replaced in my old bathtub. They spent less than 2 hours and, for parts, used about 1 foot of pipe. That's it. Access to the tub was easy as the ceiling below the tub is a drop ceiling. They charged me almost $800 for that job! Soooooo plumbers make about 400 an hour? Wow. Additionally, the porcelain around the drain was left chipped with a hairline crack. I didn't complain because it just a couple of small chips and I plan on having the tub repainted anyway. But geez . . . at that price I'd expect the tub to be in the same condition as they found it.

K. D.

I have had several experiences with Papalia plumbing over the years and have always found them to be reliable and professional but expensive. My most recent experience with them made me regret that we ever called them and will surely never do business with Papalia again. The technician who came over to provide the estimate and perform the work was obviously trained in taking advantage of folks that possess less knowledge in the field, less comfortable negotiating, and that are expecting a fair market estimate for the work to be performed. The technician highlighted several items that did not need to be replaced or worked on emphasizing how if there is a problem it will be a lot more expensive to fix it later. The total cost of the work neared $2000 which took them less than 4-hours to perform. I computed the hourly rate and it was approximately $450 an hour! I spoke to two plumbers afterwards about they felt the total cost of the work would be and they replied anywhere between $300 - $400. I also asked around with neighbors and friends and several of them informed me that my experience is standard practice for Papalia and try to avoid them. In the end, we learned our lesson and will never work with them again and strongly recommend that others do the same.

David D.

I signed up to Yelp just to leave a review of Papalia. I am shocked by how much this company rips off its customers, yet somehow stays in business. I recently had some work done at my house and naively trusted their professionalism to provide me with an honest repair. I have had Papalia do work before and they have done a good job and provided quick service. So when they quoted me on the price, I thought it was expensive, but reasonable. Later, after looking up some pricing online, I realized that they charged me 10x for what the part costs - even compared to the manufacturer's price book!

I called to complain and they claimed that labor and overhead are included in that rate. There is no way labor, overhead and they typical product mark-up added up close to what I was charged. The head of operations conceded to charge me the ""member"" price, which was about 50% off. Sounds like I originally I got the ""sucker"" price.

Despite the refund, I will never use Papalia again and hope that others stay away. They are dishonest, swindlers that care more about stealing your last dollar, than providing genuine service.

Jeoff H.

I came home on a frigid night in January to find my 50-year old furnace leaking from three sides. I called Papalia Plumbing and Heating after hours to get advice on stabilizing the unit until someone could come out in the morning. After a short but thorough review of my options, I agreed to a full replacement at a fixed cost. Papalia's team of conscientious workers spent the next 12 hours at my house making sure the job was done right in one day. Had it not been for their diligence and quality of work, I might have lost pipes to freezing the next day. Instead of a reputation for being the most expensive, Papalia Plumbing and Heating deserves a reputation for being the absolute best service, well worth a premium price.

Dan E.

We received a call at 3 a.m. from our tenant that the hot water heater in the unit had died. It was a Saturday, which meant that the two other plumbers I would normally use were not available as they don't have weekend hours. Papalia was the closest plumbing outfit that offered emergency weekend service, so I called them first thing. They were responsive and got someone out there promptly, so good marks for that. However, once I got the pricing estimate it was downhill.

I have had hot water heaters replaced in the past and I am friends with someone who owns their own plumbing business, plus I know what a 40 gallon tank costs. So I knew what approximate price to expect, even adding on the $150 weekend charge. Imagine my surprise when it was double the cost I expected. Unfortunately I was in a position where I felt we owed it to our tenant to get it fixed ASAP, and not ask her to wait around without water for a couple days until my regular guy was available.

When I got to the unit to meet the plumber he was not there. Turns out he brought a 50 gallon tank even though I ordered a 40. So he had to leave for an hour to get the correct item. Finally, when he came back I pushed for exactly why it cost twice as much as it should. The long, begrudging answer involved overhead costs, markups, personnel costs, etc. The short answer could be summed up as ""we're bigger than the other plumbers around so we have more stuff to pay for, so we cost more"". I told him I understand the concept of overhead and operating costs. But I don't find that to be a compelling argument. If operating costs/company size translated directly to product cost, then when I order a DVD from amazon.com it should cost about $300. Companies get larger because they operate on the basis of selling more volume; the operating costs increase, the margin shrinks, but the volume rises to compensate.

He also mentioned that, while they don't charge on an hourly basis, the hourly rate they use to calculate their service charges is $270/hr. $270 per hour?? I've experienced $100 to $150, but never anything nearly that high.

Perhaps I've just been lucky enough to work with exceptionally reasonable plumbers in the past, and Papalia is the norm. But I doubt it. This was a weekend and a semi-emergency, so I had to work with what I had. But never again. Their work is fine, and if you want to pay double-premium rates for perfectly adequate work by all means call them. Otherwise keep shopping.

Timothy J.

Their administration was so professional when I called to request a quote and they answered their phone in two rings. However, when I met the plumber in person to quote a lot of work at my new home I was greeted with a horrible attitude and a ""Can't do attitude"". They wasted my time and simply created more hassle than it was worth with their plumbing tech's lack of professionalism.

Eric C.

If I didn't have to pick a star I wouldn't. So my toilet doesn't flush properly. So basically all they had to do was replace the inner workings of the tank. They charged me 400 and the toilet still doesn't flush properly. And btw this is my first review ever. So their incompetence as a business has caused me to warn others of my horrible experience....

Wayne T.

Before writing this, I looked at other customer reviews. They are the same as the one I'll write.

Papalia Plumbing gave me a good screwing as they apparently did others listed nearby. They charged me $850 for two hours work. I wrote and called Mr. Papalia many times to get an explanation. However, his staff protects him from calls, letters, and emails.

Fortunately for me I had the needed parts which I purchased from Home Depot for $125. ""Good thing you did,"" said the repairman, ""otherwise the charge would be $1300."" Papalia is not someone I would ever call again.

Mark S.

I would echo other posts that their pricing is extremely high. No amount of satisfaction with their work would justify their prices (over $400 for 35 minutes of work). Please consider other plumbers who will not gouge.

Rajesh P.

While they diagnose stuff quickly, their prices are pure ripoff! Do not use them.

I used them this week. Tech diagnosed the reason our furnace was not turning on was because of pilot not being on (I already told him that) and then he found that the ""thermo couple"" needed replacement.

The part costs about $30 max. The quoted price to fix $325 + $50 dispatch fee - pure ripoff. It was less than 25 min of work for the technician.

Based on the cost, I told him your hourly rate are more than a neuro-surgeon (they charge $450/hour) and he was smiling.

I refused to pay that amount, he finally changed some codes and we settled for $250, which is twice the amount for that service.

PLEASE DO NOT USE THEM UNLESS ITS EXTREME EMERGENCY!!!