Richco Plumbing & Drain

Frankie A.

10ft of 1in copper pipe, 4- 90 degree fittings. Just to make a loop from an existing line, no obstructions, just as straightforward as you can get. Got quoted $1270.00. Fernando who made the quote should be ashamed, absolutely unethical and price gouging. I guess ""covid"" pricing. Got the impression from all the trucks that drive around that they would be as professional as their appearance. But sounds like this is a trend by reading the reviews.

FS R.

Just over a month ago, our master toilet stopped flushing the water out of the bowl and water was seeping out on the floor. We figured it was a bad seal or something. Our regular plumber was unavailable, so we called RichCo Plumbing, as we had used them once before about 5 years ago. They came out, pulled the toilet and put a camera down the pipe to find that we had cast iron sewer pipe that was deteriorated and would have to be replaced. The plumber called his estimator, Fernando, and after only 10 minutes, came up with an estimate of $13,000 to replace the bathroom sewer line or $38,000 to replace the sewer lines in the entire house. We decided to do the whole house, given they would probably continue to deteriorate, but after they came out the next day, they came to find that our house was all ABS pipe and only two feet of cast iron had been laid in the master bathroom. So they jack-hammered the bathroom tile and concrete, creating a 3'x4' hole in our bathroom, burrowed under the floor, replaced the 2ft of cast iron pipe with ABS, recompacted the dirt and laid new concrete where they had opened the floor up. They put the toilet back and all in all, worked on our bathroom for no more than 8hrs. The plumber lost his footing while ""cleaning"" and broke a bottle of perfume that cost almost $100 and pulled the hand towel bar out of the wall. Neither of the damages were corrected or compensated. ""Cleaning"" is in quotes, because they initially covered the door to the walk-in closet, but the plastic came down while they were working and never put it back up, so my clothes and the rest of the closet were covered in concrete dust, as was the rest of our bedroom and was left like that. It took me an entire day to remove the thick concrete dust from our bedroom and another day to clean the closet. After they were complete, we were still charged $13,000 for their 8hrs of work, which equates to more than $1,600 per hour!! I called Fernando back and asked how they can charge that much and he told me, ""because it is the going rate""! I was flabbergasted and called four other plumbing companies that were comparable to RichCo Plumbing and received all four quotes ranging between $1,500 and $3,500. I once again called Fernando back and had another lengthy conversation, but he ended it by saying he was done talking to me, that he wanted to end this by being my friend and able to say hi if we met on the street. I told him I wasn't looking for a friend, that this was a business deal and he could only refer me to someone named Larry in their office and would have him call me. Two days later, no call had been received, so I called their office and asked for Larry, who claimed to have never been asked to call me by Fernando. After re-iterating the ordeal with him, he asked me to send him the quotes and if I didn't hear back from him that day, I would hear back the next day. We received a phone call at 5:30pm the next day from their receptionist letting us know that Larry had to discuss the quotes and our charge with the owner and would get back to us. Another 1 1/2 weeks went by and I called the office 2-3 times over the next couple days, only to be ghosted by Larry. To this day, we have still not heard back from Larry or the owner at RichCo Plumbing, thereby having washed their hands of our Price-Gouging charges. I hope they realize that price-gouging is illegal in California. After reading some of the other Yelp reviews, it appears their practice of over-charging people is a normal thing. But this is more than over-charging, given we were charged over $1,600/hr, this is clearly price gouging. RichCo Plumbing is the most unprofessional company I have ever dealt with and given that I have worked in the construction industry for over 25 years, I have dealt with many contractors in my professional career. BEWARE OF RICHCO PLUMBING AND THEIR PRICE-GOUGING, UN-PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR.

Len K.

Had a minor leaking copper elbow on my hot water heater recirculating setup, it was a 2 minute job to fix, torch and solder only.... RichCo charged me $470. for the work. Took advantage of the situation, leaking water, and my need to get my water heater leak fixed.
Called another plumbing service for an upgrade to my water heater and recirculating system later that month.
Contacted RichCo regarding the high dollar amount of the charge and was basically told call a cheaper pluming service next time, additionally It took a month and numerous calls to get an invoice for this job for my records.
Additionally sloppy soldering job, see photo.....

Micheal F.

Great company.
I did not end up using their services as the job that I phoned for was an issue after all but I will reach out to them in the future.
They are very professional and they're local!

Cathy B.

WAY too expensive!
A $20 part and 15 minutes was all it took to replace a valve drain on my water heater.
They charged my $450.
I'm pretty sure they took advantage of my situation and my need to get my water heater fixed.
(The service guy was nice tho)

Gil S.

This company stood out from the start with their answering service and were able to send a technician even though it was already late. Matt was incredibly professional, nice, and knowledgable. He traced the leak to its source and came up with a gameplan that best suited my needs. I give this this company my highest recommendation and i thank matt for handling everything so well.

Sam G.

We called Richco to come out when our dryer shut off valve was faulty when we were getting a new dryer. I was not satisfied with the price, so I called and spoke with the company the next day. The manager got back with me and refunded me a portion of the fees that were charged. I felt they were professional and was happy with the resolution.

Toni J.

Wow.... They get one star for coming out asap. Edgar cleared my toilet for a lid that got stuck with a auger. 10 min. 225.00 is what he quoted if he had to remove my toilet and use a camara, he needed neither and still charged 225.00... Fernando the supervisor said it states here camara useage, i said he didnt need to remove my toilet or use the camara and i still pay 225.00, people beware this is classic screw the customer tactics! Use a local small plumber, they have integrity RichCo has NoNe!!!

Bob P.

What I hoped would be straightforward maintenance work for the sewer line of a house (owned by my wonderful wife) turned out to be a major repair project. From the get-go, I was impressed by the professionalism, work ethic and honesty displayed by the Richco personnel - especially Edgar Romero. Edgar carefully analyzed the (numerous) problems with the ""vintage"" plumbing system and further consulted with his supervisor, Fernando Hernandez. They thoroughly defined the scope of work needed to achieve a reliable, efficient plumbing system. The excellent teamwork and industry displayed by all the Richco personnel merit an A+ rating for the project. I could not be more pleased with the outcome.

Chris N.

This company is delusional with their prices and what they claim needs to be done. We were quoted so much more then what another company quoted us. They wanted to basically break down our wall to fix a minor problem for over $2k another guy came and did the same job for $120 unbelievable. Yes they show up right away. but wow, those prices!
Not ever going to use or recommend someone who wants to take advantage of people.