The Plumbing Ministry

V W.

Just had my sewer lateral done by the Plumbing Ministry. Scheduling happened very quickly - within a few days of my call. The team who did it, led by a guy named Sergio, did the work as scheduled and did a beautiful job of restoring the work site to its former state, including providing a close match to the red-tinted concrete in my driveway. They showed up as scheduled and came around 8:30 am (not too early, not too late) each day (it took 2.5 days). I didn't have to be home and had access to water each day. I heard they also notified my neighbors of the work they were doing (at some point they brought in heavy equipment to dig a hole in the street). The work was a little more complicated than usual because the sewer line goes all the way around my house, but the work was completed as estimated and on time. I was happy to learn that work only entailed digging holes at the entry and exit points and not a whole trench! Thank you, Plumbing Ministry!

Alex K.

Fantastic to work with! We had to get our sewer lateral replaced and we purchased our home 4 months ago. They had given a quote to the previous owner 6 months ago which they honored, started the work right away, and finished it quickly. They answered all the questions I had and made sure it was done right. The crew showed up on time and left everything tidy (even coiled up my extension cord I left out!). Would definitely recommend and use again. Thanks Plumbing Ministry!

Larry S.

Plumbing MInistry has done work on our sewer lateral twice and have done a good jobs both times. The crew that did work at our house this past week was great. They were very careful excavating around our tree roots, and called me a number of times to discuss what they were doing before proceeding. You have a good crew.

Don D.

In a slimy business (pun intended) Louis Ray, the owner of The Plumbing Ministry, is a shining light. I have had a number of different sewer line companies at our home over the years and speak from experience. He came back, at no charge, to correct a situation that had appeared to have been corrected. Louis is honest, does good work and stands behind it. Ask for Louis to come himself to look at your problem. Let's face it, no one is perfect, but this is a good man who runs a good company.

Christian K.

Never, I mean never do any business with this company. Don't even think about it. Try a reputable company like Pipe Spy; it's not worth any money you might save.

I, like my wife in the comments below, do not enjoy writing bad reviews as I know it does effect their business and was the reason I gave Louis (the owner) a chance to make us remotely satisfied customers after his company botched both our sewer lateral jobs. But, now I am here writing a review on a company I no longer want to think about.

So here are a few more details on our dealings with Plumbing Ministry. It's almost amusing, if it wasn't so odor-ifically and ecologically painful.

After 50 some odd days of fecal matter in our front and side yards that is directly above the Fruitvale Creek and after taking 2 half days off work, Louis sent me a check for $325. It should be noted I spent over $9000 on his horrific services. I left a voicemail message with Louis that he spelled my name wrong on the check he sent and that I did not cash it yet. After not hearing back from him (as always), I cashed the check. The payment was stopped on the check and I was charged $5 from my Bank. This was after he told me their communication could be better. He did not communicate to me that he was stopping payment and was sending another check! Amazingly classic! He is still costing me time and money and they are done with there work...and their repair work.

So the real issue is a lack of communication both internally and externally with the company and their processes. In short, they had 2 different crews come out on each day and then did not check to make sure the they did the job correctly, like say flush a toilet and watch the water flow out the lateral? Speaking to Louis on the day he repaired his company's mistake, it is clear that he was not learning from his miss-steps and would not change his processes and would do this sort of thing again. I own a business myself, and if I made a huge mistake, I would not hesitate to pay all of the cost, especially if it was a customer that had had 2 jobs with me.

I real could go on for days about this, but I am done complaining about this disaster of a company. I still have not spoken to anyone at the company who knows if they removed the feces in my front yard or just left it there. But least my toilet flushes now.

Don't be like me, choose a good company that cares about it's customers.

Eve C.

UPDATE in response to comment from Louis

- First off, he thinks my name is Megan. So - speaking of poor communication... he doesn't even know who we are.
- He says he paid for the guys we called up to haul the dirt away, which he did NOT. My husband and I paid them.
- His ""trained and capable"" foremen missed the bathroom both in the video inspection requested by the realtor and when they were onsite replacing the lateral.
- When I spoke to Louis on the phone and told him it was unacceptable that they missed the bathroom he said ""it happens all the time"". Word for word that is what he said to me.
- The property was NOT vacant - we were already living at the property. In fact - we were BOTH HOME while they were there working. All they had to do was ask if we had a 2nd bathroom!
- We moved in June 23rd, the lateral work on the property was done July 5th - 7th. The fix to connect our missed bathroom was done on August 27th. That's about 52 days of sewage! Where did he think it was going? It WAS going into the dirt under the house, leaching up in the front yard, and our side bedroom STILL stinks like sewage.
- Giving us $325 did not ""resolve the problem"". We made it clear that we felt 1/2 of the cost of the lateral was fair. We gave him 48 hours and he did not respond to us. (Hence the Yelp review)
- My husband never said ""mistakes cost"" - we have never tried to ""extort"" a company. This is a ridiculous accusation and offensive given we paid ~ 9,000 to Louis and his company to do work that THEY DID NOT DO CORRECTLY.

Megan G.

Louis (the owner) and his team were amazing. The job was much harder than originally thought and they came up with a creative solution to reroute all the pipes underneath the house so that we didn't have to dig trenches all over the lawn. Team worked long days to get everything done. They were very conscientious, orderly and answered all my questions. I would highly recommend them to anyone getting sewer lateral work done. Very impressed and happy with work.

Andrew F.

We were looking for a reliable, trustworthy contractor to help steer us through the new world of sewer compliance certification in Oakland. This reccomendation (from a realtor) was very appreciated but the experience absolutely wasn't - no response to our questions, last minute request to re-schedule appointment, no show to that re-scheduled appointment and to top it all off when I called Louis to find out where they were, he hung up on me when I dared express disappointment at the inconvenience! If you're looking for reliability, look elsewhere...

Kira E.

Zero stars.
I am in agreement with Suzie who wrote just before this review
All the good review are from Realtors, they just something to pass so they can close the sale and get their check.
Luis and his crew screwed my plumbing inspection and said there was a leak when in fact there was not. Cost me $1, 0000 and then they wanted to charge me more money. Ha, when confronted the owner said, my guys are honest. Well another plumbing company and the EBMUD inspector proved them wromg, and they still would not take responsibility for there dihonesty of mis-diagnosis or trying to fuck me.
I am still waiting for an apology from the owner and a check in the mail.
As for my Realtor Susan she was no help and insisted they were above boardbecause the owner is a church going man. Right, people who go to church are honest business people, again Ha!
As for people who make money in business, that doesnt make them honest. Look at politicians.
Point being, if Plumbing Ministry says you need WORK, get a second opinion, or dont use them at all.
Stay Away

Judy R.

From a realtor perspective you cannot beat the Plumbing Ministry.
Luis and his staff are very responsive, offer free inspections and replaced two laterals for me this year.
Luis even helped fast track a lateral certificate for a short sale at Berkeley City Hall.
Thanks again!