The Plumbing Works

Aubree M.

I take the writing of business reviews very seriously as I know how much people rely on these now. I also aim to be very accurate and also wait a few days for the company to right the wrong, rather than posting out of my initial disappointment.

We received a verbal bid from The Plumbing Works after being connected with them through our home warranty, while preparing our home for sale. We approved the bid and scheduled the work. They never sent an invoice for the bid visit, which was only $75. The other companies that we were working with, once we agreed to hire them, just rolled the nominal bid fee into the final invoice which we paid all at once. (Most applied it to the work.) When we didn't get an invoice we assumed since we hired them they were doing the same thing.

As far as the repairs, we were advised that we could pay by credit card before hand via phone or in person on the day of service. (We have this in writing). After thinking about it, we found it odd that they wanted us to pay for all the work before they did it. Materials would make sense, but not the actual work. We had initially considered calling it in, but decided to wait since the work hadn't been done, plus the job was still far out. No indication was given that there was urgency behind this mentioned pre-payment option. My husband even had a lengthy conversation with someone from the staff discussing the work we were hiring them to do. Nothing was mentioned then about any urgency or concerns with our job.

We received one garbled message from them before the holiday weekend, which sounded like they were calling to schedule the work. (It had already been scheduled). I couldn't make out the callers name but did hear the company name and ""schedule"". Before I could return the one message they left this Tuesday morning, they called our realtor and canceled our appointment, which was still a week away. They stated it was because we hadn't called in pre-payment. Even though they had told us we could pay on the day the work was done. I have personally known our realtor (top in Lane County) for more than two decades and know she is honest.

Plumbing works has now put us in a very bad bind, as the sale on our house is about to close, but it is contingent to these repairs being done, and now other plumbers are booked too far out for our timeline. Our realtor, who is also shocked any company would do this, even offered to pay the owner immediately over the phone herself and the owner claimed he didn't feel comfortable doing the work because we hadn't returned the one message or sent in the $75 (which they never sent an invoice on and still haven't.)

We all still can't figure out what the owners problem was? If it was money, she offered to pay while he was on the phone??? The only idea we could come up with is maybe they underbid the job? Have a huge cash flow problem?? No clue, just speculating.

So consumers considering using The Plumbing Works, beware. Ask for your bid in writing and repeatedly ask to be invoiced as they don't seem to provide either. (Even after all this, we still have never gotten an invoice). Also, know that even if they make an appt for your work to be done at their first available opening, and tell you that you can pay then, it is not the case. You should be willing to prepay them weeks before they do the work. Don't you wish you got paid before you did your work? Plus, they may very well leave you with no one to do the work, and let you see just how unprofessional the owner is. It's a shame, because his staff seemed very nice. We will not be recommending this company to anyone.

Aubree C.

I take the writing of business reviews very seriously as I know how much people rely on these now. I also aim to be very accurate and also wait a few days for the company to right the wrong, rather than posting out of my initial disappointment.

We received a verbal bid from The Plumbing Works after being connected with them through our home warranty, while preparing our home for sale. We approved the bid and scheduled the work. They never sent an invoice for the bid visit, which was only $75. The other companies that we were working with, once we agreed to hire them, just rolled the nominal bid fee into the final invoice which we paid all at once. (Most applied it to the work.) When we didn't get an invoice we assumed since we hired them they were doing the same thing.

As far as the repairs, we were advised that we could pay by credit card before hand via phone or in person on the day of service. (We have this in writing). After thinking about it, we found it odd that they wanted us to pay for all the work before they did it. Materials would make sense, but not the actual work. We had initially considered calling it in, but decided to wait since the work hadn't been done, plus the job was still far out. No indication was given that there was urgency behind this mentioned pre-payment option. My husband even had a lengthy conversation with someone from the staff discussing the work we were hiring them to do. Nothing was mentioned then about any urgency or concerns with our job.

We received one garbled message from them before the holiday weekend, which sounded like they were calling to schedule the work. (It had already been scheduled). I couldn't make out the callers name but did hear the company name and ""schedule"". Before I could return the one message they left this Tuesday morning, they called our realtor and canceled our appointment, which was still a week away. They stated it was because we hadn't called in pre-payment. Even though they had told us we could pay on the day the work was done. I have personally known our realtor (top in Lane County) for more than two decades and know she is honest.

Plumbing works has now put us in a very bad bind, as the sale on our house is about to close, but it is contingent to these repairs being done, and now other plumbers are booked too far out for our timeline. Our realtor, who is also shocked any company would do this, even offered to pay the owner immediately over the phone herself and the owner claimed he didn't feel comfortable doing the work because we hadn't returned the one message or sent in the $75 (which they never sent an invoice on and still haven't.)

We all still can't figure out what the owners problem was? If it was money, she offered to pay while he was on the phone??? The only idea we could come up with is maybe they underbid the job? Have a huge cash flow problem?? No clue, just speculating.

So consumers considering using The Plumbing Works, beware. Ask for your bid in writing and repeatedly ask to be invoiced as they don't seem to provide either. (Even after all this, we still have never gotten an invoice). Also, know that even if they make an appt for your work to be done at their first available opening, and tell you that you can pay then, it is not the case. You should be willing to prepay them weeks before they do the work. Don't you wish you got paid before you did your work? Plus, they may very well leave you with no one to do the work, and let you see just how unprofessional the owner is. It's a shame, because his staff seemed very nice. We will not be recommending this company to anyone.

Tom T.

I would not ever use this business again. They were sent by a home warranty company. The worker did not install a new shower drain but instead replaced a worn gasket and reinstalled the old drain. This is a shower located on the second floor so the ceiling below had to be repaired due to the water damage. So, 5 months later, the ceiling is showing signs of water coming through again. I open up the ceiling and find a slow drip coming from the drain above. Calling the plumbing works, the owner said not my problem, you need to call the home warranty service. I asked if he stood by his companies work as they did the repair and that a slow drip would take some time to come through the ceiling as the shower is used only twice a day. He hung up on me. Today I have another plumbing company redoing the repair. Upon taking out the shower drain the plumbing works reinstalled, it had to be cut out from the top of the shower as the locking collar from below was cross threaded with large amounts of plumbers putty under the drain lip and the locking collar. So now I have to pay again for the plumbing works shoddy work, and for the second time, to have my ceiling repaired.

Michael M.

Very professional. Fixed several plumbing issues in our house and explained everything thoroughly.

I would highly recommend.

Michael M.

Worst plumbing company I have ever dealt with. They left the job with a leak and refused to fix!!

Holly L.

They installed our master bathtub handle incorrectly and used a faulty cartridge. I went to use my bathtub (for the first time since they touched it) 7 weeks later and noticed that the handle was installed upside down and would suck back in when I turned the water on. I called the next day and the owner refused to fix the problem because it was ""past 30 days."" He said he could turn the handle but it wouldn't fix the problem - it needed a new cartridge. When I asked him if the average lifetime of a cartridge is 40ish days he said sarcastically, ""I am not the manufacturer, ma'am."" The owner, Doug, was condescending and obviously not willing to stand by a cartridge and handle that was installed incorrectly just over a month ago. How is this okay in any type of industry? Thanks, a pregnant Mom with three kids!

B B.

I was referred to Plumbing Works from a large wholesale distributor because I needed a couple of small parts to fix a dripping faucet. I brought the part in, they removed the old washers and installed the new, and I was out in about 5 minutes. The total cost was $1.90. Had I called a plumber to come out to fix the dripping outdoor faucet I would have been charged at least an hour of their time, plus probably 20 bucks for the small parts. They were friendly, personal, efficient, and I am happy.

The only thing to know is the store is a little hard to find. It's tucked in an alley behind a financial services firm, at a busy intersection. So look it up first so you know where you're going, and you'll be fine.

Lorelea H.

I had a guy named Jim, install a bar that operated the sprinkler from the back deck. The time was less than one hour. (I watched.) This was fine. When I asked LZDrains (who owns Plumbing Works) to put the same thing on the front porch he did, but he charged me more that $50 more for the second bar. At that time he also charged me for 1.5 hours. The bar took less than an hour so he said he could fix the bathroom sink. It took him about 5 minutes. Several weeks later the plunger didn't work, again. Jim came and put in a new part for $20. I said he should have done it right the first time and I did not want to pay for the labor, again. Doug called me, the minute Jim left, and threatened me with lawyers and was yelling at me. He would not let me explain. I finally hung up...He was terribly unprofessional. I was intimidated by the company. I am 72 and am approaching hip surgery. I cannot walk, without a walker. I sent him the $20 for the part. Now he is threatening me again..! Scary company...Don't let them do anything in your home...

Jammie P.

Horrible, horrible service. I used them to look at my jetted tub. The gentleman they sent out had absolutely no clue what he was doing and seemed upset that he had to go down the stairs to get to the tub, stating ""I'm not good with stairs."" He had to take insulation out and unscrew some boards. after working for only about 1/2 hour, he said he had to go back to the shop and do some research. he put the insulation into garbage bags and put those back into the gaps and didn't screw the boards back. I assumed, after his research, that he would be back. I called multiple times and no one would call me back. Finally I reached someone who said they would not be able to help me. I was using our home warranty and asked the gentleman if they would go back out to fix what they had at least undone, but the man said "" we wouldn't get paid, so no."" I have never had such terrible customer service. Do not use them for any problem, unless you want to have more of a mess on your hands! Plain horrible!

Gregory N.

The Plumbing Works was contracted through my home warranty company to diagnose and repair a slab leak near my kitchen. Two days after getting the job a man named Jim comes to my house, takes his $60 deductable, knocks a hole in my wall and makes a dent in my foundation with some kind of drill instead of a saw.

After getting that far, he basically backs away and tells my wife he won't be able to do the job, and that he didn't even have the tools to complete it anyway. He says he'll reach out to my warranty company to let them know that he can't do the job, then leaves.

I call him the next day and ask about scoping the pipe or other avenues of testing for a leak. Putting off a snotty tone, Jim tells me he wished they had that sort of, ""Nano-technology."" Jim then admitted that his company is only a two man crew that mainly specialized in frail line stoppages and clearing. Him assured me the hole in my wall and dent in my foundation would be repaired by the next plumber that would come out. That just wasn't true.

I later find out that this guy billed my warranty company upwards of $170 for I don't know what.

Do yourselves a favor and find someone more reliable. The guy lacks basic customer service skills and based on the little work performed, I have doubts in his ability to tackle mediocre jobs.