SMART Plumbing Hawaii

Kalani C.

Made an appointment with Lance Matsumoto three weeks out. All through email and felt confident. The day of appointment no one would have come if it wasn't for us calling to remind them. They did us a favor of getting plumbers to honor our appointment. However, extremely poor appointment retention that left a bad taste. We give ourselves 5 stars for having to ask a business to honor their commitment. Felt confident with their assessment of our malfunctioning solar water heater.

Carol W.

Wow! I love these people. They were quick to answer our calls. The staff was polite, friendly and efficient. We have used their services twice and each time I was pleased with the results. Their prices were reasonable too. I highly recommend them!

Bria808 K.

Cont. Noah L ANSWER #5:Your listed hours of operation are MONDAY THRU FRIDAY 8AM to 5PM on YELP and GOOGLE. Should we have assumed you folks do work on a Saturday? No we aren't that type to assume things. Saturdays/Sundays were never offered by you as an option. So it is difficult for you to make a sound argument about scheduling issues regarding Saturday when we are going on your OFFICIAL HOURS OF OPERATION publicly listed on at least TWO major websites. YOU never said Gabriel was available on a Saturday/Sunday.We did not ignore the plumbing estimate as we ultimately ended up calling Lance to discuss it multiple times and he was asked direct questions about any other hidden fees and as our recording shows he either lied to us or purposely omitted information. That estimate did not include any pictures/details regarding the specific fixtures for us to select. As of that date, you folks had done literally ZERO favors for us. Returning our money for the initial diagnosis is NOT a favor to us because the last time we heard from Gabriel, he expressed that you folks would have needed to come out a THIRD time to diagnose our plumbing needs and as of our last email to you folks at the end of JULY 2019 you folks still did not have all of the information to successfully meet our plumbing needs in full. I guess if being upset over the fact that there was yet another hidden cost that Lance FINALLY brought up, and asking him questions is your definition of ""hostile"", then I guess we were ""hostile"" (by your warped definition). ANSWER #6: Shady mainly refers to the fact that you folks have hidden fees and double speak. You also never said Gabriel was available on weekends. We can only give you our available time frames for us based upon your PUBLIC WORK HOURS Monday thru Friday 8am-5pm. We had never said that protecting yourselves from pre-existing liability issues was shady. So this statement doesn't make sense and is not even relevant to this conversation. You are being very condescending and unprofessional as a public spokesperson for your business by speaking about our comprehension levels. ANSWER #7: The week we got the proposal was the week of 4th of July. Excuse me if we did not respond as quickly as you expect. The reason we did not impulsively accept your proposal (which you guys had to wait, what 1 or 2 weeks? Wow. Compared to 5 months? Don't make us laugh) is because it did not have all of the fixture details for selection which you only did provide AFTER we posted a bad review and after having a bad experience with an unprofessional customer service agent that works for you (LANCE). He basically lied to us and wanted to charge us ""RESEARCH FEES"" (which should be free because it is part of your job as plumbers) that were undisclosed prior, just to look up parts as well as a hidden 30% up-charge on parts which was never disclosed even when we specifically asked him a few days before we got the proposal in July. We always expressed that we were willing to pay what was needed to do the work. What we didn't appreciate was all of the extra hidden fees like: protective gear cost, research fees, up-charging parts by 30%. The principal was, that it kept appearing that there was always another cost/fee that was not disclosed to us at the ONSET. Feel free to refuse service to us, as we don't intend on calling you folks ever again, nor recommending anyone to you. I believe we made that pretty clear when we refused to waste any more time with your so-called ""help"". After everything we had gone through with your company we wanted THE OWNER (GABRIEL) to be out here every day to work and to have someone to hold accountable. To have Gabriel to come out was a small request given the fact of 1) how long this entire process had already taken at this point, 2) we wanted to avoid any future miscommunication/drama moving forward and 3) after receiving your email that you stated you were willing to remedy the failure on your folks part by saying in previous emails you were willing to do take care of all of our needs to our satisfaction as customers. ANSWER #8:No. The shame is that you folks continually appear to operate in a manner that has questionable traits when given a closer look at how you folks choose to run your business and deal with your customers. All we wanted was the plumbing in our home to be repaired and it is such a shame that as a plumbing business after 6-7 months, you folks couldn't provide that in this case. I agree. This debacle IS proof that you can't trust certain plumbing businesses as they will not provide up-front costs and truthful dealings and professional customer service. Trust me. It is an extreme headache to go through and have had to deal with you folks.Yes SERVICE PROVIDERS THAT DO THIS TYPE OF SHADY BUSINESS BEWARE of customers like us who will hold you accountable for the things you say and things you do. Yes BEWARE!

Noah L.

***Re: Response to Rosalei of Smart Plumbing Comment Below*** Stay very far away from this business. 1. Very shady business practices with lots of unspoken fees and charges 2. After ***FIVE MONTHS*** still no resolution to my plumbing problems 3. Unprofessional customer service (Lance) 4. Horrible communication, very little follow-up 5. Undisclosed protective gear charges (who does this?) The owner Gabriel came to our house to re-diagnose our home after 2.5 months from the first diagnosis which we paid approx $600 for 4 hours of work for. Still no solution. Then a month later they requested we pay $125 for them to do the research for the parts that they were going to up-charge us 30% for and not disclose that initially. A business should not have to be paid for ""research"" if they are professional at what they do. If they can't do the job, they should just admit they don't have the skill or competence to do the job (that includes being able to SOURCE the parts). Money was not the issue with us, the principal of the matter was all 5 issues above. These people will string you along for the ride of your life. Stay away and don't do business with them. ANSWER #1: It doesn't matter what most of your customers say when it comes to our specific situation and dealings with you and your staff. We have not engaged in any libel as per the definition provided below. We have always stuck to facts and have the recordings and writings to prove the things we claim are true. What do you expect us to write in a review? A good review when we had a horribly bad experience? Google definition of libel: a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation ANSWER #2: Good. So you admit that you folks failed to deliver quality service to us. Mistakes were made, yes. You apologized yes. The reality is your apologies doesn't replace the time lost waiting and being taken through the ringer of hidden fees, bad communication, and as you would put it ""dropping the ball"". Just because you apologize doesn't make the situation automatically made RIGHT. You being short staffed is not our problem. If you folks were correctly implementing these improvements and adjustments to customer service then the bad reviews from the past years and those specific topics would not be a problem anymore. Hence a failed execution. ANSWER #3: If that review does exist (which I do not remember) saying good things about you folks, that was previous to the last 6-7 months of failed plumbing service and communication on your company's part. Irrelevant to bring up the past when it is superseded by the future events that eclipse the past. You asked us to provide you with what we wanted to be done and we made a list for you. Then you proceeded to attempt to try to change the narrative by insinuating that it was ""FAIR"" that we take down the review stating that your business operates in a ""SHADY"" way. Just because you refunded the $600 fee to just look at our plumbing doesn't undo the fact that your business has operated in a shady way of hidden ""protective gear"" and ""up-charging parts"" fees etc. THE ONLY REASON WE GOT A REFUND IS BECAUSE I WROTE YOU A DETAILED EMAIL CALLING YOU OUT ON THE FACT THAT YOU WANTED TO CUT TIES WITH US AS CUSTOMERS AND PREVIOUS TO THAT YOU WERE SO QUICK TO TAKE LANCE'S WORD AS TRUTH WITHOUT EVEN SPEAKING TO US. THAT EMAIL HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED. IT WAS ONLY AFTER MY EMAIL TO YOU THAT YOU BEGAN TO BACK PEDAL AND THEN OFFERING UP A REFUND THAT WE NEVER ASKED FOR. ANSWER #4: Just because we don't respond to you when you want us to doesn't mean we are at fault for creating any friction. The very first email regarding fixture replacement you speak of (assuming it was prior to July 2019) we never received. The very first actual quote we got was the first week of July 2019 in which there were no specific fixture pictures/model#/size/etc. Just a price. Then we got that email from you with the links and pictures and prices to the fixtures (the first email we ever received with actual fixtures to make a selection from). We live in 2019, the technology we have allows us to record. Get over it. I've offered to give you copies of these recordings which you never took me up on. Hawaii recording law stipulates that it is a one-party consent state. Yes we have the right.  To us it is a glaring red flag that you would have issue with us recording you or your employees or the owners. Anyone who operates in a truthful manner would have no problem with being recorded. We have done nothing to smear your reputation. All we have done is present the facts as we have evidence to back them up with. We have made it a habit for some time to record all interactions on our property. We have to keep people like you accountable. And we are glad we did. ...Continued ...See Bria808 K's review...

Brianne L.

This is the absolute worst place to call for your plumbing needs. My husband and I hired them to come out to our home and they sent two of their techs to diagnose our home. We didn't hear back from them for about 3 months. I had to call this company to do a follow up since they failed to call/email me about quotes and prices and scheduling for them to come over to do repairs. Not only did they drop the ball on that, but even after Gabriel, the owner of the company, came down to do the diagnostics again, there was still a lot of problems with their employee, Lance (who answers all phone calls) with not being up front with prices (i.e charging us to look up parts that we needed, never disclosing ""research fees of $125"", with all the back and forth phone calls and emails between he and I, that there was a 30% up-charge fee until the very last minute, even after we had asked him if there were any other hidden fees that we should know about). Which makes them a very shady company. Also, be prepared to get some very bad attitude from Lance should you have a problem with something and have the gall to tell him that you're upset that he failed to disclose certain things to you. Very unprofessional. After we spoke to Lance, we spoke to Gabriel over the phone and explained to him the situation and everything that had transpired up until that point and why we weren't told about certain charges/fees beforehand. He seemed genuine when he said that he and his wife would speak to Lance and figure out what happened. When we ended the phone call, I was a bit optimistic that everything would get better from there. I was wrong. We did not receive any phone call from Gabriel or his wife. Instead, we received an email from his wife (Rosalei, whom, before this, we had never had a conversation with) basically saying that they didn't want to do any business with us because we had a problem with the quote. My husband and I were both shocked as there was never any mention (from our end at least) that we didn't like the quote. We were willing to pay the quote on everything else, but we were very unhappy on how there seemed to be always another surprise-out-of-nowhere cost that would creep up every time we spoke to Lance. After receiving the-slap-in-the-face email from Rosalei, I was livid. Disrespectful, time consuming/time wasting, unprofessional, failed to get the facts from the customers, and at this point, we had already paid $600 in diagnostics fee with nothing to show for! No repairs were done!! And this company had the audacity to imply in their following email to my husband and I that since they refunded us the $600 and since they're willing to work with us to make everything good between us, that we should take down our bad reviews and remove the word ""shady"" in the interest of ""fairness"". This was requested prior to any remedy work to be done, which we disagreed with. At this point being 6+ months too late, we cannot get that wasted time back, so this is not an issue of fairness anymore, but more of one that is based on facts. Had we not communicated the facts of numerous events that transpired up until then, we may not have gotten a refund nor a response given Rosalei was quick to jump to conclusions without getting both sides first. Regarding the discussions to remedy our plumbing issues, Rosalei continued to try to control how she would make it right even after she asked my husband and I how they could make it right with us. This company is such a huge migraine to deal with. Save yourself some grief and stay away from this company. Shady! We were also informed by Rosalei that Gabriel would not be able to work on our property to remedy the situation and so we could hold someone accountable since the majority of the miscommunication and failure to disclose important details were previously dropped by one of their employees. But we find a recent review stating how he was able to find time on a weekend to go to someone else's house to do plumbing despite being told that he has no time to work on our property. Shady! We outlined our requirements to remedy the situation, but their last email to us was that they couldn't meet our requirements in full. Refunding our $600 back is not doing us any favors because all we wanted was to have our plumbing issues repaired and were willing to pay for it all.

Jenn P.

5 isn't enough. I'd go 20! Best plumber I've ever hired. Gabe took his time. So much so I started to feel guilty. He's a perfectionist. Which is EXACTLY what you want in a plumber! And the work! I'm a girl so it's not every day I'd call a plumbing job beautiful but it was. It looked like a plumbing job done for sterile conditions in a hospital emergency room. . Not kidding. And he could have easily charged me more. I was actually surprised how reasonable the bill was. They treated me like family. I wish everyone was as nice and knowledgeable as Smart Plumbing Hawaii. We are huge Mike Holmes fans. If Mike ever came to Hawaii for his show Gabe would be his go to plumber. Gabe should teach every new plumber on island so they can all be like him. Saying I highly recommend them is a massive understatement. If you want it done right like Mike Holmes call Lei and Gabe! Smart Plumbing Hawaii is the call you wanna make!! They really do care. Gabe loves what he does. And it totally shows. I won't let anyone else near my plumbing. I was flabbergasted to see they had a negative review. People do make mistakes. Especially when a business is growing and new employees are hired. It's what the company does to make good on those inevitable mistakes that's important. They go above and beyond for their customers, and make good IF any mistakes are made. What more can anyone ask? Some people...no matter what you do...you can't make them happy. I was certainly pleased with their work. I have hired them several times and have also referred them to several people. Never any complaints just raving reviews. They are my plumbers FOR LIFE.

Brittany A.

We've used SMART Plumbing Hawaii a few times now, and I hesitated to leave a review until now- on the off chance that the stellar service I received was a fluke. I can now confidently say that SMART Plumbing Hawaii has consistently exceeded our expectations each time we've used them. Scheduling service was easy both on their website and over the phone, and sending pictures of the problem ahead of the call so the technician was prepared for service is ingenious. The customer service has been impeccable, plus you can pay with a credit card on the spot! Pricing is lower than what I'd been paying with another plumber and the service has been better- that's a win-win in my mind and wallet.

Bobbi L.

Great service, arrived on time, explained what needed to done. Would use SMART Plumbing Hawaii again and will recommend them too.

Cathy R.

I really appreciated everything about this company - from the customer service when I called to schedule, to the prompt appt time, to the reminder calls and efficient work on site. The charges were within the expected/quoted range - even better actually. I will definitely be using SMART Plumbing for our future plumbing needs.

Teri R.

If you want to wait literally weeks to NOT have your plumbing problem fixed, they are your guys. One hour response time is either a joke or a lie. I waited several days for an appointment to replace a water heater. It does not work and when I call for service I get the run around. Now a week and a half with no hot water.