This is a very realistic review of this plumbing company. The first thing I will say is RUN! I will give you the reasons why, then any interested consumer can come to their own conclusion. These are facts.
I had a commode back up, we are on septic tank. I called CB Smith. I like to support local family companies. They came on time and began work immediately, which was a plus.
That is when the honeymoon ended. I wanted to "rebuild" a toilet upstairs, since they were here. The parts are $8, they charged $195, and it gets better, it does not work! It is a rarely used toilet, we have 6 bathrooms. When it was used for the first time approximately 2 months after the alleged repair, water spewed from under the tank and flooded our bathroom.
This was not the first disaster, the same "plumber" who was repairing the upstairs toilet, FLUSHED it, while the main toilet was out, in order to scope the main line. This flooded my bathroom with raw unfiltered water, ruined our carpets and shower curtains, and had to be disinfected.
The perpetrator of this when he came down stairs, and I showed him what happened. his only response was "oops, my bad!". Your bad??? Then he comes in with the smallest wet dry vac you can buy , and proceeded to attempt a clean up job. His next response was that "we are not really cleaners". Seriously?? They were here less than 2 hours and caused damage.
It gets better.
They they proceeded to "scope". His camera line only ran 100', which was not long enough to go all the way through. Next they assessed that they would be back the next day to dig a 25 square foot hole and cut one line of concrete .This consisted of having a small Bobcat back hoe, and put in a "clean out valve", put the dirt back on, and done! This took less than 3 hours.
I always get a couple of bids when doing work like this. I asked him if I needed to get bids or were we going to be business and ethical about it
"no sir ,you will get the best ". Fine, I believed them.
During the process of the digging, another mess occurred , when you mix red clay and water you get a very stubborn mud. Well, the main plumber had mud all over his boots and walked on my stamped concrete about 30 feet, touched the wall, and a small statue with his muddy hands. I had to wait for the weather to change , and had to get it pressured washed, along with my driveway where they did not, put the dirt on a tarp where it would not stain peoples property. There was total disregard to my property. It cost me money to get everything fixed that they messed up.
Now, when it came time to settle up, I was told I was getting a discount.
He said that the normal camera scope is $1500, but he would cut it down to $750 and throw in the toilet repair that is not operable. so additional money out of my pocket. A sewer camera costs retail between $300-$2000. In other words, I bought CB Smith Plumbing a new camera. You are welcome!
Then came the hammer! I said well how much do I owe you for the total job? Please remember they were here for around 5 hours, and that may be pushing it. They asked for $5000! Yes (5 THOUSAND).
Please be reminded that this was after the marked up, to be marked down pricing. So it came down to me being charged $1000/hour for their work.
When I asked for itemized breakdown of total work done, I got...excuses that they were there for a full day eight hours. WRONG!! I work from home, I was here! They even said that they were going to another appointment, all this was prior to 11 AM!
I would NOT recommend this company. I was given lower quotes by 2 other contractors and they came out and told me I was overcharged.
So in summary, RUN!! Do not make the same mistake I made. It was a very costly one. This is not a personal attack on the employees, but a realistic horror story of how a company takes advantage of people, and doing shoddy work on top. read more
