Thomas E Clark

Adriel H.

I've used Clark for plumbing for years and they always do a fine job but just had a horrible customer service experience and will be switching to a new service--given the competition in the DC area would much rather spend my money with a company that values me as a customer.

I had an appointment this morning and the plumber called my landlord instead of me (though I ensured they had the right numbers when I made the appointment) and said they were at my house and no one was home. This was not true as my nanny was sitting 10 feet from the front door waiting for them and no one came to the house, nor called my house. The plumber said that since no one was home he was going to a different job and would come back to my house (of course hours later).

When I called the company they said that he hadn't been to my house but that the plumber had called and no one answered and therefore went to a different job. I explained the call my landlord received and the customer service woman denied it happened. I told her I was disappointed in the service, especially that there was no apology for the fact that at minimum the stories didn't make sense and at the worse the plumber was outright lying. She refused to apologize, said that the company had done nothing wrong and that he had not come to my house and had not been able to reach anyone when calling.

disappointing all around.

R H.

I had a fairly good experience with this company yesterday. I found a leak in my HVAC Tuesday morning. After shopping around with other companies, I decided to go with this company based upon another unit owner in my building's recommendation. The cool thing about this company is that they have a comparable hourly rate to other companies, but if your problem is not a crazy bad emergency issue - for a few dollars more than it would cost to fix your problem in on visit, they can set up a service contract with you - which covers not one, but two visits. And as I have discovered, HVAC's do require annual (bi-annual is better) maintenance.

The technician who came out, Carlos, was punctual, well mannered - and explained what was going on with the unit to me in layman's terms. When I asked fora better rate, he didn't dismiss me - he put me on the phone with his manager - and we were able to come to a better agreement. For this flexibility, Thomas E. Clark will have my business for years going forward....

Honestly when it comes to contractors, its not always about what you pay - but whether you feel that you were treated fairly. I will probably upgrade my rating to 5 stars if the HVAC continues to work in good condition by the time they pay me their next visit in June.

Dylan M.

I had a low flow problem with my shower, and within days of calling Clark it was fixed. They're very flexible in timing and waived the service fee for the second day of work.

Derek C.

BEWARE!

I guess the DC and MD locations are tied together. I went by the ratings for the DC location when I setup an appointment.

I was floored by the estimate for replacing two undersink water valves and removing old dishwasher/installing the new.

$900+

I know enough to know that was absurd. Still had to pay a $99.00 charge for them just to show up. BEWARE! BE SMART

J F.

Called Clark Plumbing on Monday morning and arranged service call for Tues afternoon between noon and four. Explained urgent circumstances of 94 yr old man living alone with clogged pipe plumbing issue. He is attended from noon to four by an in home health nurse Was told there was a $69 charge for plumber. Fine, expected that. Was called Tuesday afternoon at four advising it'd be five for the plumber to arrive...they were running behind. Explained I cannot keep the health nurse after her scheduled four o'clock departure, so had to re-schedule for following day again between noon and four. STRIKE ONE. Plumber arrived as planned shortly after one on Wednesday. Housekeeper called (I could not be there) and informed me the charge was to be $292.00. I recoiled at that having a fair knowledge of what was needed to correct the clogged pipe issue, but begrudgingly agreed as George (the 94 yr old owner had been without water for 3 or 4 days). I could have denied the cost, had the Clark plumber go away after having paid the $69 service fee and tried to re-schedule another firm know it's likely be two or three more days before the new plumber could come out to fix the problem. Clark had me over a barrel. So I spent $292 for a snake job to clear the clog, the work took less than an hour total and included no new parts. An hour's work for $292. Outrageous! STRIKE TWO. Called and talked to plumbing supervisor about charge and was informed that Clark does not charge by the hour but rather by a list of services. Work done included removal of trap and snaking main drain. I had removed the trap myself so the work was started before he began his effort. Was told the normal cost of the service provided was actually $ 50 or so more than I was charged. Bottom line, little satisfaction with talking to the supervisor. STRIKE THREE. I believe the charges were excessively high because the plumber was dealing with a vulnerable pair of customers (a health nurse with limited English capability and an infirmed 94 yrs old man). I will not use Clark again and recommend any future customer to be aware and cautious in contracting them.

Erika H.

James was my technician. Overall, I had a good experience. My A/C wasn't working. I called first thing in the morning and they came out within a couple of hours. James was professional and very nice. He was able to resolve the problem quickly. I live in a condo building and the issue was the breaker on the unit on the roof had tripped. He only had to flip a switch to get it working again. However, the flip of that switch was pretty expensive. They charge $99 just to come out. That's fine with me. But $55 to turn a switch?!! That's ridiculous. So beware. Good service but expensive.

Erin M.

Had a positive experience fixing my AC. Servicemen called on their way to say they could arrive earlier than the given window if we were available. We are in a condo building so the two servicemen went to the room to run tests on the unit. They found blown fuses and capacitor was rusting. We chose to replace them both. In addition to the work, we paid the $99 service fee. I was surprised that the service fee was not applied to work completed but what can you do? Saw in other reviews that people feel its unfair to pay $100+ for a lower priced (online) part but in my opinion you are paying for their expertise and the prompt, high-quality installation. Well worth it - happy to have it fixed!

Martin W.

This company did wonderful work for us with plumbing repairs and the installation of a new wall mounted combi-boiler. Finally happened across TEC after trying a few other plumbing companies that could not solve our problems. By far the most professional administrative and plumbing staff that I have found. Couldn't recommend their plumbing division more highly!

Benjamin E.

My central AC crapped out the week before the July 4th holiday, and as I was out of town I wasn't able to coordinate anything till I got back - today, July 3rd.

Yesterday I called these guys for an appointment. They came out today, found and showed me the problem (a dead compressor), then made a few calls and had a whole replacement unit (the outdoor fan/compressor assembly) in and installed SAME DAY. TODAY, July 3rd. Amazing - can't recommend them enough based on this experience.

Jennifer H.

Wonderful experience. Found out I had a service line gas leak in my kitchen mid-morning Friday. Washington Gas came out by late morning and turned off gas to the whole house and said I'd need to find my own repairman to fix the leak then they could turn the gas back on. I saw my whole day being taken up by this emergency. Called a number of other companies who said they couldn't come until after 4 or until Sat and that I'd be charged overtime rates. Called Thomas E Clark and they said they would get someone over within 4 hours. Sure enough, the guy showed up an hour after I called, fixed the problem within 30 mins, turned my gas back on, checked all the pilots on the other appliances in my house and I was good to go. The whole thing cost less than $150, they guaranteed the fix for a year and now I have my afternoon back again. (Rafal, the plumber, also gave me some other maintenance tips while he was here which I really appreciated)