S.O.S. Plumbing Company

Donna N.

I just had them do service in my home today They were great. Love them would recommend them to all my real estate clients. Im a broker in Orange county and I will use them always and recommend to all of my clients.

David S.

Blaine is the owner, I assume, of SOS Plumbing and today he was a no show. We had a scheduled appointment at 1:30 and he didn't show up. At 1:42, I sent him a text--no response. At 2:06, I called his cell phone--no answer. I left a voice mail message asking if he is running late or what was happening--he didn't call back. I was waiting around for 45 minutes for this guy but he never showed. I live in a multi-unit building with only one water shut off for the entire building, so I had already notified the other tenants that their water would be shut off at 1:30. This was very inconvenient for the other tenants and for me. Since I got the name of this ""so called professional"" from Home Depot, I had to drive back to Home Depot and get another referral. Home Depot apologized profusely for this guy not showing up. Don't get me wrong, Blaine might be a great plumber; he might be the best plumber in the World; however, when he doesn't even bother to show up, what does it really matter?

I have used Yelp for years but have never written a negative review. This is my first one and it takes an experience like working with Blaine from SOS Plumbing to motivate me to write this. Blaine is clearly an arrogant guy and no doubt thinks it is a privilege to hire him.

So, what happened? Why didn't he show up as scheduled? The answer is he decided to cancel the appointment, unilaterally. Did he call me to tell me he decided to cancel the appointment? No. Did he text me to tell me he had cancelled the appointment? No. After all, why should he bother contacting the customer and telling him he has decided not to show up? He didn't care that I was waiting for him. He is Blaine and he believes it is truly an honor to hire him. He clearly doesn't owe the customer a call, a text, or anything.

So, why did he cancel the appointment? I sent the following text to Blaine at 11:30: ""Blaine, at the condo right now to do work. Just discovered I forgot my checkbook. I can mail you a check for today's work tomorrow. Is that going to be a problem?"" His response was: ""I accept cash and credit/debit cards"". So I decided to pay him using my debit card--HOWEVER, I never texted him back with my decision. I just didn't think it was necessary to let him know that I had decided to pay him via debit card before he even arrived to the appointment. I had previously spoken to Blaine on the phone, and we shared multiple text messages prior to the appointment day. Because I didn't text him back with my decision, he decided to just cancel the appointment. Did he call me in advance to tell me he was unwilling to come if he couldn't be paid in cash, credit card or debit card? No, he just decided not to show up. How come he didn't text me back after I asked him if he was going to show up? I guess he couldn't have been bothered. How come he didn't call me back after I left a message? I guess he couldn't be bothered.

I wanted to go to lunch and was tired of waiting for Blaine; however, I didn't want him to show up and not be there; after all, that would be very inconsiderate of me. So, I made one more attempt to get a hold of him. I texted the following: ""Blaine, are going to come today I need to know or I'm going to head out to lunch?"" He finally responded! Yah! This is when I discovered he had cancelled the appointment, wasn't going to show up, and why. He texted: ""You might as well go to lunch. After not hearing back from you I cancelled the job. I am not able to offer you financing. I have a busy schedule to maintain and I'm with a cash paying customer at the moment"". So, in this one message he told me he had cancelled the appointment; however, didn't bother to inform me. He insulted me because supposedly I was asking for financing, which of course I never was. And told me his priority is cash paying customers which I was undoubtedly not. I texted him back: ""I have a debit card and I was going to use that. Huge assumption on your part."" His response was: ""Well communication is key and as I said I have a full schedule"". And this guy thinks of himself as a professional? Really? Wow? What a jerk.

Blaine might be the best plumber in the world, but I can't comment on his expertise because he didn't bother to show up for the scheduled appointment nor did he bother to contact me and tell me he had decided to cancel the appointment. Thanks for the great customer service, Blaine! You clearly think you come first. Blaine, you should be ashamed of your lack of professionalism today, but I bet you don't even care.

I am sure Blaine will have ""alternative facts"" to share with you but what I have written above is everything. Thanks for wasting my time today, Blaine

Ira M.

Blaine is a plumber you can depend on!
I am an engineer and around the house fix it anything type of guy, but retired now so call in the pros! I have called Blaine on three different urgent matters now and Blaine responded very quickly to help me out each time. He was very quick, professional, and got the job done right at a very fair cost where I have been gouged by others in the past! I highly recommend him.

Andrea C.

Blaine was great. Honest and hardworking. I'm definitely keeping his card for any future jobs.

Lili S.

Blaine a very professional man came and spent a good among of time fixing a faucet and the pipes below.
There was some problem with the original installation at the time of renovation but Blaire went out of his was to fix it and we not only had the faucet installed but the odor that was coming from previous improper installation is gone.
Reasonable with pricing as well not like many other to show up charge a lot of money and leave the job half done.

Harvey R.

Highly recommended. Great price, great service. Repairs done quickly and efficiently. I'll be calling Blaine back for a couple more projects before long.

Ed R.

I called Blaine to install a new water heater for me after I read about his reviews. He advised me the best water heater to buy, he showed up on time. he installed the device very quickly and very very professionally, In any aspect he was the best: Polite, Friendly, Professionally and price was so affordable. He came down to my place in PQ all the way from San Clemente. Without a doubt, I will recommend him to anyone who needs plumbing work if he/she wants a top service with a fair charge. in few words and from any aspects, he is the best of the bests, don't go anywhere else. I wouldn't. Once again thanks Blaine for all your services. I agree with anyone who has given him 5 stars as I did that too.

Joshua H.

Blaine is fair, ethical and hard working. I have called Blaine numerous times for urgent matters and he makes it happen. No excuses and he doesn't take advantage of your situation. I would highly recommend Blaine.

Troy M.

Blaine was very professional and one of the most honest plumbers I have used. Not only did his estament come in way below the quotes of the others I called for the exact same parts and services - he advised me from paying for unnecessary repairs that I thought I needed but really didn't which more than halved my expected cost.

He will certainly be my plumber of choice going forward.

David M.

DO NOT USE THIS PLUMBER (unless you like being treated rudely and unfairly).

I called SOS for a second estimate on running a gas line to a new gas grill I had just purchased. The first estimate came higher than I wanted (though from a reputable plumber I had used before with satisfaction). I asked SOS to come out for a look...he said it wasn't necessary and quoted me an out the door price over the phone ($185 less than original estimate).

His guy came to the house to do the work and wasn't sure what size end fitting the grill would have and he wanted to be sure (grill hadn't been delivered yet). He said he was almost positive it would require a 1/2"" fitting....possibly a 3/4"". I couldn't find the grill specs online so we decided to reschedule when grill had arrived...I was ok with that especially since he said the price wouldn't change since he knew 'what needed to be done'.

So I call to reschedule the install later and the original guy I talked to (the owner I believe) gets on the phone and says in a very, very rude tone: 'my guy called me after he left your house and said the labor would be a minimum of two hours. I said 'ok...he also told me before he left the price wouldn't change'. The owner replies 'look, if you want to set your own price, call another damn plumber'...and then he hung up on me. I was shocked since my tone was completely friendly.

I was the one who asked him to come out to give me an estimate...he was the one that said it wasn't necessary. His partner/employee echoed the same quote upon leaving my house after seeing what the job would require.

If the job required a higher bill, fine...I get that. But the manner in which this was communicated to me was completely unprofessional. To hang up on a customer who was friendly, and just trying to schedule an appt to get the service for the price that was agreed upon, was uncalled for. He lost a customer for life...and if you agree with the manner in which he handled me...he lost everyone reading this as potential customers as well.

And by the way...I called Weber to get the size of the fitting and it was 3/8""...something I found later that the first plumber I called already knew as 'obvious'. SOS had two guesses on the size (1/2 or 3/4) and both were wrong...so the job would've been completed with a major error.

If you need a plumber in the St Charles/Geneva/Batavia area, I would pass over SOS as if they didn't even exist...because they shouldn't.

For the record, this is my first review, positive or negative, for any business. I read them all the time but never shared. This experience changed my thinking on that front...