Plumbline Plumbers

Lisa H.

To echo other reviewers, they answered the phone were courteous and prompt. They arrived when they said they would. They snaked our tub and cleared the blockage after several hours for $325. Other companies could not come on the same day. We went with whoever could come soonest.

Without checking with us first, the service guy broke the grate on our overflow drain trying to snake the tub. He tried to remove it without asking us. In the end he ended up going through the sink. You should always check with the homeowner before doing something. Now I have a broken grate with sharp edges. I also have a toddler who is curious during bath time. I'm worried about his safety.

Jon M.

Ridiculous!

We first called these plumbers the same day we purchased a $29.99 Angie's list ""Big Deal"" for a ""Service Call"" because we were having two issues: 1) after long rainy periods, I and my downstairs neighbors with whom we share a rowhouse could hear a leaking sound in the walls, and 2) our cold water pressure would steadily decline the longer a faucet was kept running, even though the hot water pressure was normal.

My understanding was that we would be paying the $29.99 for the plumber to come and assess the problem, and tell us what was wrong. We assumed that once they figured out the problem, they would explain it to us and quote us a price for fixing it.

After our first call, we were told we'd get a call back to schedule a time when a plumber could visit. Several days later we called again, since we hadn't heard from them, and after getting to voicemail (and a full mailbox), we finally managed to reach the same person we'd spoken to before. He told me my problem had ""fallen through the cracks"" and that that was the reason we hadn't received a call back, but he at least seemed to remember the two issues we'd described to him as needing attention. He then scheduled a visit for October 21 between 9 a.m.-11 a.m. I had to take the morning off of work, as did one of our downstairs neighbors with whom we share a water main, to be available for the plumber to visit during that time, but we figured we didn't have much of a choice, so no biggie.

At 11 a.m., with no plumber in sight nor any calls about it, I called the service only to be told that there had been a ""mix-up"" and that we were on the schedule for the afternoon, from 2-4. Our neighbor had to go to work, and I had to take the rest of the day off to wait for this person.

I then got a call asking him for the address of our place, which the plumber didn't have despite the fact that I'd given it to the person who scheduled the appointment not once but twice.

When the plumber finally showed up, he immediately said that the leak was a ""roofing issue"" that he couldn't deal with (why he couldn't say this over the phone, I will never know), and then took a look at the pressure issue. In the span of about 5 seconds, he reached into the water main, flicked his wrist, and then turned around and diagnosed the problem as a wrongly turned valve, and then calmly told me that we owed this person $75 for the five second diagnosis/fix (this is on top of the $30 coupon). He did not preemptively explain the problem to me (Iwould've been happy to turn the knob myself, had I known the cost), he didn't provide a quote for fixing it, and he didn't give me the choice to decline the service. He just looked at the valve, reached in, and fixed it. The entire visit took less than 10 minutes, and the diagnosis/fix took about 10 seconds. When I was reluctant to pay, given that we had a coupon and had not even been given a choice of whether or not to fix the problem, the plumber said the $30 coupon was merely money that went to Angie's List for the referral. He added that if we didn't have the deal, the ""service call"" on its own would have cost $75, and that fixing the problem (ADJUSTING A VALVE) would have cost $175, so I guess we supposedly saved a lot of money. However, if they seriously intend to charge $250 for this sort of thing, they'll be out of business very shortly.

I should mention there was no apology for the fact that the plumber was three hours late or the attending inconvenience.

Afterwards, to add salt to the wound, I called them to complain about the unreasonable price, and they responded that while they would agree to refund the money (which I'd never asked for, I wanted to make a more reasonable arrangement), they felt they shouldn't have to since all the money from the coupon went to Angie's List, and they deserved to be compensated for the service they'd provided. They said that they do not like the policy of ""the customer is always right"" because in this case we (the customers) were definitely wrong. I responded by explaining that it is not our concern what their business arrangement with Angie's List is, and it is their responsibility to ensure their marketing deals are not unprofitable. Furthermore, I noted we paid for a consultation, and that is all we wanted/expected to receive; had we been told what the problem was and what the cost would be to fix it, we would have refused the service and either done it ourselves or searched for a cheaper option. I also added that had the plumber been somewhat nicer, or had he mentioned the cost of the fix prior to performing it, we would have been happy to pay $40 or so for the service. As it was, we are happy we are getting our money back.

Sean D.

This is the first time I have done business with this company and must say they are very courteous,fast response time. I will definitely use in the future if needed.

Trisha W.

Good things first. They answered the phone, they were nice on the phone and they were very prompt. They also issued a refund without a big fight.

But WOW - expensive. I hired them to install a garbage disposal and snake a tub drain in an investment condo with a new renter. The garbage disposal alone was $450. No complications, no problems - that is their flat fee.

They spent a few hours snaking the tub drain and called me to inform me that the snake wasn't going through, they were hitting something, the snake was coming back shiny and the trap was probably broken. They informed me they would need to break up the concrete to get to the problem. If they charged $450 for a garbage disposal, I can't imagine what they would have charged for that kind of work.

I wanted a second opinion so I told the Plumbline guy to hold off. Even though they had not solved the problem, they still charged me an additional $250 to snake the tub drain. So that was $700 down the drain for a garbage disposal. Ouch. For $700 I could have bought a goat to eat the garbage.

The bathroom had just been completely remodeled and had not been used since then, so I called the contractor who did the work. Perhaps he had missed something?

He was a total champ and drove all the way from Baltimore to check his work. First, he located and checked the trap which was in perfect condition. The trap was clearly visible behind a panel located just outside the bathroom...which the Plumbline guy had never used. Oops. He then opened the pipes and used a simple shop vac to remove about a quart of standing water. No obstruction was found and the drain was fixed.

The next day, I called Plumbline and explained what happened. I asked that they refund the $250 for snaking the tub drain. I was expecting a fight, but to their credit, they did not argue and promptly issued a refund for the $250.

Bottom line: they are courteous and fast, but you're going to pay for it. They also may have some guys who are less experienced or just looking to jack up the price. Beware.

Matt A.

They came and evaluated my problem, which I paid for, but then they tried to charge $450 to replace a garbage disposal, so I had someone else do it for $210. Not sure where 450 flat rate came from, but that's about $350/hr for labor. yikes.

Lyly R.

My tenant toilet was clog after another plumber came and messup a perfectly working toilet! I called plumbline because of yelp review, they (Vendell) were here on time, the guy told me that snaking will cost $290 + $40 service fees!!! I was chock but didnt have much choice because my tenants need the toilet fix asap. He tried to snake and it dint work et came back and told me that he going to have to remove the toilet for another $75, thats when I said I cannot do it, too overpriced, I argue with him and he accepted to do it anyway for no additional cost. I fixed the issue, i pay $330 instead of $405, still way overpriced!!
I fill like they did a good job but the price is just a rip off for 30$ work, I actually asked him if there were brain surgeon, why there were so expensive???

Sean S.

We hired Plumbline to do a major renovation and upgrade of our 60's era basement half-bathroom to a modern full bathroom. Jude and Dupree worked incredibly hard (until 8:00 at night a couple of times) to minimize the impact to our household. We were so impressed with their work that we further contracted them to replace all of our downstairs galvanized pipe with copper pipe. Two months later, when we called them to adjust our constantly running toilet and install a sink, they showed up the next day and performed the repair for free. We will use Plumbline for all of our future plumbing work.

rob r.

I called these folks because I have a water heater issue. I have several tenants so am quite familiar with electric water heater issues. It's typically the element that needs to be replaced. Vondell came out and would only work on the water heater if he could replace BOTH heating elements (there are 2) and BOTH thermostats (2 as well) for $4xx (can't remember exactly I was so incensed). I asked him if he had a tester to check to see if these 4 were all broken and needed replacing. He said no he wasn't an electrician (other plumbers carry these) and it was all or nothing. I sent him on his way. The folks on the phone were very nice and responsive though. I think they are ripping people off in the water heater department though.

Heather B.

Had a leak in my bathroom sink and so I went to my fav Yelp for a good suggestion for a plumber. I called Plumbline and they sent someone out right away. I mentioned finding them on Yelp and received $35 off the consult fee (aka the ""walk in the door"" fee). After doing much research online, I had a fair idea of what might've been the problem. The guy came and literally tightened some stuff with his bare hands and then said ""you coulda done this yourself"" and then presented me a total of $175!!! I kid you not- he was at my house for about 20 minutes total. Yes, they do decent work. But in my opinion- I should've attempted this issue myself and saved myself the enormous cost. They're wayyyy overpriced. I didn't really like the fact that I didn't have a choice- he just took a look at it and started doing stuff and then bam! it was fixed and I had to pay w/o actually knowing what the ""hourly"" rate was prior to fixing the job. Had i known it was $135 more (after the $40 to come over), I probably would've likely declined. My review is summed up best by: do your research and call them for big problems and expect to PAY!

Kerry S.

I called Plumbline after finding my dishwasher suddenly full of dirty water and checking Yelp for reviews of plumbers. Plumbline was very courteous and quick and a young man arrived exactly on time (after calling to let me know that he was on the way). He looked at the situation, and said that the hose from the dishwasher to the sink looked dirty and that he thought it was clogged. He said that what he'd do would be to clear out the hose and re-connect it and run a cycle to see if the dishwasher ran OK. He told me that the price for that service would be $175. I am not a plumber but cleaning out a hose sounded like something that I could do (the connection is an extremely easy one to disconnect and connect). I told him that I would do that myself. He said OK and I paid the $40 for the service call (that's the price with the Yelp discount). After he left, I took out a flashlight (it's a bit dark under the sink)and looked at the (translucent white) hose and noted that it did not look clogged at all. I took off the hose - it was not clogged even one bit (it was completely clear)- but I checked the disposal side to make sure that was clear also - and then hooked it back up again. I was mortified that he would have charged me $175.00 based on a prognosis of a clogged hose. I have no idea how things would have proceeded after finding out that there was no clog, etc., but I am glad that I did not pay Plumbline any more than I did.