Smelly Mel's Plumbing

Judy A.

This company is very shady. Do not do business with them. They were hired to find a sewer line on a property with a camera. The camera got stuck in the sewer line. It took 3 trips to remove the camera and the job was incomplete. I was told by Hugo that I was not going to get charged due to the fact that they needed to get this camera out of the sewer line. It is an expensive camera. It took Smelly Mell three trips out to the property. My contractors could not continue their work on their job was halted. I was also charged for the removal of the toilet which they did not even do. I pulled it out myself with my employee so they can try to get their camera out. They broke the sewer line to remove the camera. . I received a bill a year later, and now in small claims court.

Bill J.

I guess I shouldn't be too mad. The name of their business kind of sets expectations that their service will stink. But...to just completely no-show with no contact for an appointment is completely unacceptable. Absolutely nothing positive to say about them. I guess they are just testament as to how far a kitschy business name will get you.

Carolyn J.

Needed help while visiting my parents home unclogging a toilet and called in and got great customer service from the get go, plumbers came within the scheduled time frame that was given and the plumbers got the job done. Very kind and professional. I would highly recommend this company for all your plumbing needs!

Jason M.

Fantastic fast services! Nice professional help. Only downside the prices are quiet high but for a must needed emergency plumbing we'd would use again!

Marcy K.

I called them on an emergency of a leak and although they were booked, they managed to come out the same day and stop the leak. I would definitely call them again.

steve p.

They were supposed to show up between 10 and 12pm today after setting an appointment with them a few days back and they never showed up. I'm glad it wasn't an emergency. I tried to call them but no one picked up and I left a message and never got a call back. It would appear that they are a flaky company and wonder if there work is flaky as well.

Dave L.

I called, they answered and said can you hold for a minute, I said sure and waited 5 plus minutes then hung up. Perhaps customer service isn't a top priority here.

Donald Q.

I'm remiss in not posting this review sooner, but I do like to wait a bit after using someone's service to let the dust settle and see how everything works out. Last fall (Oct. 2015), we were planning our front yard landscaping project (tear out the lawns, put in low maintenance, drought tolerant plantings and rock gardens, etc.) and because of our local sewer lateral replacement ordinance, we decided to pro-actively replace the sewer lateral as a first step, rather than have to tear up our new landscaping to do it at a later time.

We got three referrals from the city for plumbing companies pre-qualified to do the work (we were seeking a city-sponsored rebate check) and Smelly Mel's was among them. Turns out one of the 3 wasn't even properly licensed by the CSLB to do sewer plumbing, so really it came down to only two. But of those two, Smelly Mel's, though not the lowest bidder, was hands-down the better choice. Their price was reasonable, as was their contract. The low bidder gave us a ""firm estimate"" and when it came time to sign a contract, it was stamped with some language about the estimate being ""tentative"" and ""not based on actual field conditions"" (despite their having surveyed the job onsite) and that the work would be done on a time-and-materials basis! No way.

Smelly Mel's, on the other hand, said ""Look, this is how much it will be, and if it's not, it'll be because of this or that (with very specific details) and in those cases, it'll be this___."" Everything was spelled out in writing in their contract and they stood by it. End of discussion. I hired Smelly Mel's and I don't regret it. They showed up when the said they would. Everything was done on schedule and on budget. Travis was available to us by phone throughout, and on several occasions answered our questions and allayed our concerns. The office manager, Joyce, was prompt, professional, and a pleasure to work with. We couldn't have been happier with the outcome.

Chorale P.

Estimate over $800 for two hour job just to replace two bathroom faucets and handheld shower head. Seriously?? Refused.

Doug B.

They did a fine job for us some months ago, unclogging and doing a scope (at our request) of our kitchen drain line, to inspect the old iron pipes under our house. I had no problem with the service level or the price. Just thought I'd provide a counter-example from what I'm seeing here on Yelp.