With every plumbing need or problem we've had for over 10 years ..we have always called Browns Plumbing ..a very trustworthy reliable company....from simple jobs as leaky faucets or pipes...to a major job as replacing a septic tank or replacing a broken sump pump.. From the first contact..to end of the job they leave your property clean and whole...they worked through the Redding summer heat or the cold rainy wet winters....and they came on time.... Knowledgeable..friendly.. kind...and courteous.. Brown's entire technicians are all great assets to the team....I would recommend them 100%... read more

Called Brown plumbing because my usual plumber could not get a tech out the same day. Leak in the meter box and city said it was on house side so it was our issue. Brown was able to get tech out same day so water service could be restored. Was notified of the 95 dollar dispatch fee, which is ridiculous just for showing up, but just wanted service restored. Tech showed up, was there led than two hours, used approximately 30 dollars worth of parts, and we were charged 1175 dollars. Absolutely ridiculous! Will NEVER use this company again! Hope they enjoy the last money they will ever get from me. read more

They came out 2 weeks ago because my mainline was clogged. He putted around for an hour and was either 1) incompetent and had no idea what he was doing or 2) purposely did not do a decent job so they could make more $ off me by having to come back. I had the same exact problem today - 2 weeks later! And they refused to standby their work, refused to waive a single fee. They also charge a $90 fee just to show up (no one does that, especially if you have them do the work). They charged me $475 for an hour of walking around. The other company I called today charged me $200 (less than HALF!) and took longer to write up the receipt than fix the problem. The other company I called also guarantees their work for at least 30 days. Never, ever use Brown plumbing, even in an emergency. read more

My elderly father, 87 years old, called these folks about a clogged drain while I was out of town. They refused to give him any idea how much it would cost, either on the phone or when they arrived. They snaked the drain, took a little over an hour, and charged him $503. Either I'm in the wrong business, or they just took advantage of a senior citizen. Nobody I know will ever make their phones ring again. read more

We called Brown Plumbing to install a toilet. They were quick to show up and had it done in about 20 mins. Shortly after they left, we noticed the toilet had been installed incorrectly. We called Browns repeatedly with no callback. Eventually, after three weeks, the installer returned our call and said he would be out to fix it and never showed up. We now have a toilet that has been installed incorrectly and flushed $500 down the toilet. I would avoid this business. read more

Rip off artists extraordinaire! Sorry, it's long but I wanted to be accurate and thorough. I had slow drains and a toilet that had to be flushed twice. Home warranty situation. The contracted plumber (A) sent out a junior plumber who basically misdiagnosed the situation and said I needed my line to be hydro jetted, which they couldn't do. Home warranty said I could hire someone else with hydro jetting capability to DIAGNOSE and ESTIMATE repair. Technician came out. Did not want to come inside to assess anything. Did not examine anything during the $38 service call. Although I explained that I had a sewage pump off the kitchen where the drains were slow. He just wanted to see the cleanout that plumber A said needed hydro jetting. I'd been given an estimate by Brown's office of $602 if hydro jetting was needed. Technician gave an estimate of $751 and said he needed to hydro jet that cleanout (additional hidden fee of $45 for suiting up and charged $135 for calling my home warranty company, which they had agreed to in advance). Turns out it was 4 feet of disconnected pipe which explained why it was packed with gravel. These 'professional plumbers' never assessed the situation and then thought a pipe packed with gravel was collapsed?!? The technician never sank a shovel into the ground where the water was gushing up or he might have seen it was a terminated/abandoned line and looked for the real cleanout during the 2-hour window I was charged for. (I was charged for 3.5 hours in total for this guy to hydrojet a 4' section of pipe and be at my house maybe 1.5 hours!!!) So after another company came out (for free) and sank a shovel in the ground to see why the water was coming up, I called Brown's owner to complain. The owner and technician came out the next day. I showed them the actual clean-out, located about 15' away (that his technician had never looked for). Then they started backpedaling with huge CYA talk. Said I would need to have them replace that cleanout, that I probably had a slope problem with my drain line and should have someone dig it up, blah, blah, blah. The technician actually tried to claim I had sent him away which was why he hadn't tried to see the reason for the water surfacing. When I corrected him, he had to admit that it wasn't true--he just wanted to leave. After all, they had pocketed $751 for 1.5 hours of work (mainly putting on and taking off the suit). They called the home warranty company and said I needed to have a new cleanout installed. (I didn't need that, but the misinformation forced me to spend way more money unnecessarily before my home warranty company would do their part.) The owner also told me that Brown doesn't just do the thing that needs to be repaired. When they come out, they have to repair EVERYTHING they find wrong with the plumbing. My house was built before 1949 and has had different remodels/additions. He was saying they would only perform ANY work unless they repaired/replaced ALL plumbing issues!!! So effectively he was saying they would not do any repairs for me (now that they are the assigned plumber with the home warranty claim). So then I had to pay people to expose my pipes to check the slope and check the septic (per Brown's owner's recommendation). My entire yard is dug up. It's a complete nightmare. Kindly, plumbing company A sent their sewer line expert out to assess the situation. He said that IF I had installed the two way cleanout as Brown recommended, running a snake that way would have destroyed my sewage pump--that as soon as they heard I had a sewage pump (which I told them), that's what they should have checked. Bottom line: Brown never did what I hired them to do: Diagnose and Estimate the repair. My neighbor replaced my sewage pump, which cost about $300, and it solved all the issues. And Brown completely burned a single woman who trusted them because they were the recommended Big Plumber in the area. Then they lied about why they were hired. They were hired to diagnose and estimate and call that estimate in to my home warranty company before proceeding. That is exactly what they agreed to on the phone. They also needed to be prepared to hydro jet. They heard Hydro jet, saw dollar signs and were bound and determined to provide that service--even if it wasn't what was needed. Sure wish I had checked their reviews before I ever called them! Honestly, you'd have to be nuts to hire this company. I have since learned that they are WELL KNOWN to be rip-offs. read more

We were having some problems with drains backing up, and emptying slowly, and called Brown to come look at the issue. It was quickly determined that the septic tank was full, so they called their pumper truck to empty it. Bada-bing-bada-bam, we now have an empty septic tank. We'll monitor the drain issues to make sure things are better, but for now, it appears that the problem has been solved. They charged us $500 (for 1500 gallons), which seems to be on the expensive side, but not exorbitant. Friendly guys, and quick response to our call, so all-in-all, a good experience. read more

Brown Plumbing - Plumbing Near Me - Redding, California

If I could give them a minus star rating I would. I had a water leak in my front yard and the worker first of all arrived late after I had gone to work so I couldn't see what was going on. He said he had to come a second day and was late again. When I got home he was using a machine to cut through the cement on my foundation. I told him to stop. He said the leak was under the walkway. It cost me around $1000 and did not fix the leak. Later through another worker the problem was a faulty sprinkler head. I complained to Brown plumbing and they said the worker had spent the number of hours working so I had to pay. This was a number of years back but I'm still not happy with them. read more

Had an under the sink valve fail so I gave Brown Plumbing a call again. As I wrote in an earlier 5-star review a year ago, Bryan of Brown Plumbing was amazing and again did an excellent job! Great guy who really knows his stuff too! Great work Brown Plumbing! I'll be calling you again in the future I'm sure. :-) read more

Steve is a total a$$hole!! I am waiting for a heart transplant and my husband has MS and in a wheelchair, this wonderful guy said $180 an hour to dig, we said we would dig it and I guess that pissed him off to start with. Called him back the next day to pump the septic tank, said he could make it the following afternoon. The next day a lady called and said he would be there between 12-3. We waited ALL day no call, nobody shows up. At 4:30 my husband called him he said he was too busy at AT&T. We Said a courtesy call would have been nice. He started yelling and saying we had branches on the driveway (we don't and he's never been here) He yelled "I can get you in tomorrow afternoon" my husband said can I maybe get $100 credit for the no show no call, he said hell no he's losing money on this job anyways. We told him he isn't welcome on our property. Dudes psycho!! DO NOT USE!! Minus all the stars on the whole yelp page!! read more

Had an emergency at my father-in-law's house, today. His main line had been leaking and as he's almost 88 with dementia, I was left to fix it. When I found the leak and found it was beyond my scope (as I'm 66 and only have the use of one arm), I called Brown Plumbing. It was 1:30 PM when I called, hoping to get helped the same day. My father-in-law could not go over night without water. Brian was able to get by, just after 5:00 PM. And, even though it was "after hours," he was able to get us fixed up in fairly quick order. He was very knowledgeable and was able to keep the cost from going out of control. We are very pleased with the complete situation and would recommend Brian to anyone who needs a great (& honest) plumber. Thank you, Brian. read more

I had Brown Plumbing, on Railroad, help me with a bathroom plumbing issue I had. They replaced a part but it did not fix the problem. I was charged full price though the problem was not fixed. They say 100% satisfaction guaranteed, but they do not back this. They charge to come out and look, but do not apply the charge to the work done. Not recommended for your plumbing needs. Not good business ethics. read more

The quality of work was good but the cost was so exorbitant the company rates 1 star.

Don't not use them for a real estate septic inspection. Will only release report to escrow/title. Report is only valid for 30 days? Wont release report to home owner. read more

Hired them to pump septic and an inspection. Did. Or provide appropriate report to escrow company and refused to call us back or correct what we needed to sell our house. Receptionist called our real estate agent a bitch when she called to try can get the report. Owner referred to customers as assholes to another company we ended up having come out when they called. Would not recommend using them unless you want to get screwed. read more

Had my septic pumped by Browns tec. Bryan he was very nice, even hosed in the tank to get all the sluge. I was having issues he was knowaleable what it could be and not pushy . kathleen read more

I can't recommend this firm for services . I had a leak in my commercial build and the technician came promptly but couldn't find a leak even though there was at least 5 gallons of water on the floor. I paid his service call just to show up and he left . He was pleasant but obviously undertrained. I'm not a plumber and am not aware of where the leak was coming from. I had a leak in the same room a few week later which seemed to have the common denominator of temperature being around 50 degrees. I call Brown plumbing and a second technician came . He found the leak and charged me a service charge again and over 300 dollars for two 10 dollar parts . Time spent 20 minutes. I called and asked for an adjustment on the original service fee. I was told the owner was out of the office and would review my request. I called twice and my staff once . No response. People like this shouldn't be in business and give trade people a bad name . read more

He came out to snake our drain, walked around a lot to try and access the problem. Had to make sure he did his hours worth of work for the money. We have had this drain snaked before so we knew what had to be done. He didn't go far enough out for the total clog because he didn't have the proper equipment. It's only been a week and we are, back to the problem. $300 dollars down the drain. They will not return to recheck the clog unless we pay another $300. Don't use these people, I wish I read the reviews first. read more

Don't call Brown plumbing unless you like to be jacked around. I called Monday morning they said they would have someone out between 1 and 4. I called at 4:30 the girl said because it was late she was going to have to schedule me for the next day between 10 and 1, well 1;30 came around so i called to see what was happening and she told me the tec was almost done and I was next...she would call when he was on his way. Well at 3:45 I called and asked her what was up she put me on hold, then when she came back on she told me there where no tec's avalible that they were all taking portapotties down south. As I hear talking in the back ground she say's that was a tec and he was on his wayout. As she was talking and sighing as if I was interupting her day. I asked her If I was going to be on the next days schedule and she said she didn't know when she could put me on the schedule. So I hung up and called another company. One that actually acted as if they wanted my business. read more

Spent 1000$ a cpl of months ago for our pipes to get clear because our water wasn't draining. Now two months later the same problem is happening and they say we have to pay for them to come out again instead of fixing the problem. These guys are whack stay away from their business. these guys took my families money i have two children and won't even fix the problem. Hope the go down in flames read more

Wished I could have had zero stars. But Jaime at least apologized when I called in to complain and said "it happens" so 1 star for the apology. Signed the contract agreeing to the $120 go out and see charge. (Lakehead). That was ok with me fair I thought. No update call the first day - no update call or email the 2nd day. We had to call each time. First day they didn't get there - ok fine. I didn't say it was an emergency 2nd day goes by nothing. We call in. They said the tech spent an hour looking for the place and could not find it. But did not bother due diligence to call our cell phones - just threw in the towel. When we called to find out how's it going..how much damage and what will the final charge be - we found out they could not find the place and it would be another $120.00 to try again. This is without even seeing the reason why I called them in the first place. My bad though. I didn't read their Yelp reviews first - my bad. I have had nothing but great service in Redding. Never worried before - expected nothing less. They have a lot of contracts in place for you to sign and put a credit card up front to protect them ( which I understand). but nothing to protect you the customer. Customer Service Professionalism NADA! Buyer Beware! read more

Do not deliver on what they say they are going to do. Outright lies and astronomical pricing for what they do. They definitely know how to cheat and lie. read more

I would be hesitant to have Brown plumbing do any more work for me. I was charged $498.00 for a exploratory procedure to locate root damaged areas in underground plumbing (a 20 foot area close to the surface). After questioning the cost, I called around and found a plumber who charged much less for this diagnostic tool. If I had not dismissed the Brown plumber, he would have charged me $2650.00 to replace that 20 foot area of plumbing which was in an easy to access location, with no gas or electrical concerns present. Their representative was not interested in earning a fair day's wage for a job well done. No, he wanted me to help pay his mortgage. Unacceptable behavior, and I personally will not consider them for any future work. Anybody that knows me--also knows that I don't do this sort of thing (complain on the internet) but this kind of robbery has got to stop. We are all human beings trying to do our best to pay our bills and live our lives as efficiently as possible. I don't expect those who purport to run reputable businesses to behave late predators. Life is hard enough! G.S. read more

Beware! Called to have our tank pumped. Appointment scheduled for two days later between 10 am-2 pm and advised would receive call when tech on his way. After 3 calls to the company (during their appointment time) was finally told they couldn't come out and would advise the time the next day with a call in the morning. We were already two days without septic service. The office lady wasn't the least bit concerned. Checked the internet and found an ad for BIG VALLEY SEPTIC. Explained my situation and 15 minutes later I received a call and 2 hours later the tank was pumped and our life was back to normal. Oh yes, final item, Big Valley charged me $140 LESS than the quote from Brown. CUSTOMER SERVICE/CONCERN are NOT a part of Brown's policy. Service was for a Lakehead location. read more

I used them before and they charged me o much and the service was horrible. I would rather shoot myself in the head than use them again.

Don't go with them. There are a lot of hidden costs and their hourly rate varies based on how difficult the tech views the job. I would give them 0 stars if yelp would allow it. I also told them I was going to give a bad yelp review and they threatened me. avoid at all cost. read more

I really wish I had done my research on this company. 1 star is just too many for the way they took advantage of us. Beware my friend, they are shady and after I locked myself into a contract, they did really bad work. I had another construction company come out and view the work, needless to say "we got screwed" Run the other way and call another company. Feel free to reach out to me and I will share with you all the details on how they took advantage of us and did awful work. read more

I can echo the other 2 bad reviews. I was overcharged on a shower repair. Just a few months later, the shower nozzle came off. Not only did they have the gall to charge me for repair of their shoddy work, they pestered my employee for payment. read more

There is a $50 call fee for just coming out to look at the problem and give you a quote. If you decide to use their services they charge that fee ON TOP of their fees for the job. We were quoted for 3 hours of work. The technician finished in under an hour and still charged us for the quoted price. We had to pay because we had signed the contract. We felt taken advantage of and ended up paying almost $300 for less than an hour of work and one tiny valve. He couldn't even tell me what he charged per hour, he said we could "take it up with the company." The worker was friendly, but I would look for someone else if you need work done. read more

I was charged twice as much as I later discovered to have my septic tank pumped ( my fault, I should have checked around first) and then was told that the transfer pump in the septic tank had burned out and it would be almost $1700. 00 to replace it. I did some checking this time and discovered the pump only cost $650.00 and another plumber told me it would take one hour to replace. Seriously, Brown's was going to charge $1000.00 for an hours labor?! I contacted BCI Septic who is also local and the technician came out, pulled and tested the pump and said the pump works just fine and re-installed it, all for $100.00. This kind of business ethic constitutes price gouging at the least and calls into question the honesty and integrity of the owner. read more

Our plumbing septic system completely backed up on us recently causing quite a flood in the yard. I called Brown's plumbing who sent a technician named Brian. Brian was fantastic, he drove the 70 miles to our place within two hours of hanging up the phone. Brian was profesional, knowlegeable and kind. He pumped the septic tank and diagnosed the system's problems within an hour, giving us our available options and suggesting the best fix. Brian's professionalism and warm personality left me feeling that we had the best person possible for the job. read more

Had under-slab water leak. Browns "located" one leak, "isolated" that one, and found another leak in another area. They also rented an excavator($200) to dig a 2'x2' hole near the original leak, that did nothing to help the issue. Total to "find" the leaks to produce an estimate for repair: $1800. Using their "sophisticated electron leak detection equipment", they marked the water lines from the meter throughout the house, then gave an estimate just under $10,000. to re-pipe the entire house. (and stated "much more" to dig through the concrete to find and fix the leaks) I used another plumber for the repipe who charged right at $3,000 for the whole project. This plumber found the markings for the main from the street was not anywhere NEAR where the actual pipe was (off by a good 20 feet), so wasted a few hours digging in the wrong spot (and he did NOT charge me for this). So, Browns GOUGES the customer, and in my case "found" water lines where none existed. Wish I could sue to get my $1800 back... read more

I would rare 0 if I could. Should be a negative number if you ask me. They do not stand behind their work. If their repairs fail shortly after, just call another plumber that knows what they are doing and will stand behind their work. read more

Less than an hour at our home, did an actual 3 minutes of work (clean, dry area) and charged near $400.00. Took 9 days of getting the runaround from owner, (missed apt., being called suddenly away from office, etc...), before having him tell us "to bad, if you do not like our prices, use someone else". Checking with other plumbing services, found Brown Plumbing charged double the going rate. This business owner values money over customer relationship or return business. Thumbs down to Brown Plumbing!! read more

Please don't do what I did or rather what I didn't do! Which is to say I didn't do my research! I hired Browns Plumbing because they were the only ones available right then. There is a reason for that! Browns Plumbing charges double/triple what all REPUTABLE plumbers in Redding ca charge! Once again, do your research! They charge $58 to drive to your location, which I was advised would be taken off the cost of the repair (which was just a simple snaking of the lines, I have done every year) unfortunately, I couldn't recall who I normally use. I was charged 271 $ ! I was so shocked,I asked that the owner Steve Poiner call me which took 2 weeks for him to return my calls. when I questioned him about his cost he raised his voice in a threatening manner and told me " customers DO NOT DICTATE what I charge them"! went on to tell me that I was "not told the 58$ dispatch fee would be TAKEN OFF YOUR REPAIRS". This is not a company you want to do business with!. If you do research before you hire you will find out many bad reports as I have since. Not only here but on RIPOFF.COM. This company also is not a member of the Better Business bureau. read more

Our experience with Brown Plumbing: A plumber from Brown came out to fix a clogged drain with their snake. Initially, it seemed to work and we paid him $225....that seemed a bit high but at least it was fixed. But then and hour later, the drain clogged up again....it was not fixed. The plumber came out a second time and determined that the snake this company had was not long enough for this job and our only alternative was to have some kind of hydro jetting done to our pipes......that was going to cost about $1000.00!!!...What??!! So, we said...."No." We called around and found another plumber who owned a longer snake. When he arrived the first thing he said before even starting was that if this snaking doesn't work he would Not charge us anything for this visit!! He then proceeded to snake the pipes and ....lo and behold...it worked and has been clear for weeks now.....the problem was fixed and bill for that was only $89.00!!!! Plus, he gave us a 120 day warrenty for this service....none of that was offered by Brown. So....we called Brown back and asked for a partial refund since we paid for a drain to be unclogged and they were unable to do the job. It took about 7 phone calls before we actually talked to the owner, who clearly hoped we would go away. We didn't even ask for a full refund....all we wanted was about half back or $100.00 out of the $225 that we paid for basically nothing. He finally agreed to a refund of $29.00 ....and that's what we got back....$29.00. They have certainly lost our business and probably the many others who know this story.....I hope Brown Plumbing thought it was worth it. read more

It is criminal how they treated me, $360 to come out and tell me what it would take to replace a septic tank lift station pump. I was assured I the "technician" would have the equipment on the truck to do the repair, once the situation was studied. BULL. They could not replace the pump until a specification was considered on the size of the pump and the lift, and they would get back to us. Well they got back to us and for $8700 to $8900 they could replace the pump. Oh ya it is a $500-$700 pump and about a two to three hour job. They are crooked as I have ever met.I paid my staff a bonus to do it, and go the extra mile to fix it for me. The pump cost $493 and about three hours of time. Called Brown Plumbing to talk with owner or manager to go over the charge before posting this. But he was not available, so i said ok i will wait to post this, have him call me, Jamie the hustler said ' I do not know when he can get back to you" so I posted. read more

Charged me $48 for a service call to get a quote on a job that will be in the thousands. Nobody charges service fees anymore, get with the times. The quote they gave me was DOUBLE what another company quoted me for the same job, no way I will EVER call these guys again. read more

In March of 2015, on a Saturday I had a problem in a shower that required me to turn the water off to my house and call a plumber. The first thing I was told when the repairman called back is that their was a dispatch fee of $98.00. It being a weekend I expected this. So when I said that I understood this he said he would be out in 20 minutes. It took him about 45 minutes to get here. What came next was not expected. He spent 10 minutes looking at the shower and then went back to his truck and wrote up an estimate for attempting to replace the hot and cold stems at $378.00. If I did not sign the contract for that amount he would charge me the $98.00 and leave and I could call another plumber. Felt like I was stuck and felt intimidated. He took the shower stems out, a screw that holds the washer in had backed out. He then went to his truck and spent about 20 minutes looking for a new washer and screw. Said that he would need to go to the hardware store because he did not have the washer and screw. Came back with new stems, when the Kit to fix mine was only $1.99. Felt that him buying the new stems made his estimate OK and he left with $476.00 for 2 hours work, over 45 minutes of his time here was talking. This Job should have never cost more than $200 for parts and labor. DO NOT USE BROWN PLUMBING Anna C. read more

Absolutely horrible...I had called from out of town in San Francisco where I live to have someone go and check out the water heater at one of my rental properties. Soon after I got a phone call back from my tenant saying it was a false alarm. So I called Brown Plumbing back to cancel the call which the dispatcher said was fine because the driver hadn't yet made it out to the property. The next day a charge for 78.00 dollars showed up on my credit card and I called to find out why. Spoke with the owner himself and was told even though the driver never set foot on my property he was "in route to the property" and that I would still have to pay the full amount for the call. Ridiculous and such bad business. Doesn't surprise me after reading the other yelp reviews on here. I will be reporting them to the local better business bureau and encourage others who've had similar experiences to do the same. I have several rentals in the area and have several associates who own property locally there as well, none of us will be using their services and will let as many local home owners as possible know about their business practices. read more