A week and a half into January and I've showered twice-ish (emphasis on the 'ish'). To be fair, that number is really only slightly less that what it would have been had our shower drain not stopped draining all-of-a-damn-sudden earlier this week, but even so, I still like to at least have the option of turning down the act of taking a shower on my own volition. So, you can imagine my distress when my right, as an American, to shower at will was taken away from me. Freaking Obama. Just kidding, it's probably Hilary's fault. So anyway, one day the shower drain was fine. 100% A-Ok, not even running slow or anything, and then one day it just wasn't draining at all and my boyfriend and I found ourselves scooping a pool of dirty water out of the tub with an empty "bucket" that was actually just an old pail that used to hold cat litter. Had it not been 6am, I might have been able to find some Lucy & Desi-style humor in it, but it was 6am and that ball of zombie-colored hair I had to dig out of the drain? Not funny either. So, after 4 days of tinkering and snaking and Drain-O-ing, we threw our hands in the air and called Fred's Plumbing Service. We were able to schedule Fred to come out the very next day and were given an ETA of something like 11:30-12:30. The timing was a little sticky for me, but my good-for-nothing brother was going to help out and stick around to wait and let Fred in... only Fred was running a bit behind and my brother lived up to his worthlessness and was nowhere to be found during the scheduled time. Luckily, my previously scheduled meeting was foibled so I was able to stay home and wait for Fred and friends... er, apprentice. Fred and his apprentice, who were running fashionably late. They arrived around 1:20, which would have sucked had my meeting not been canceled, but then I thought about when I have to drive all around the burbs to different meetings and people make me wait and then I'm late for the next thing and the next thing and it's just a big ole domino effect where I'm then late for everything because one person kept me waiting, and now I look like a jerk even though it really isn't my fault. For the first time maybe ever, I think I felt empathy. Plus, you know if a plumber is late that it's probably for good reason... or at least a reason that's far more of an emergency than I'll probably encounter in a day. I mean, I used to have a friend who was a plumber and we'd all poke fun at him and call him 'poopsmith' and all that, but deep down we really respected him because even on our toughest days at work, we never had to suck other people's sh*t out of a deep, dark hole. When Fred and his apprentice (who will remain nameless because I forgot it) arrived, they were super courteous, insisted on removing their shoes so to not dirty our floor and let me explain the problem and all the various cockamamie ways we tried to unclog it ourselves. Then Fred went through some possible scenarios for the blockage, I signed a paper, and he dug right in... only there was one problem... The problem had magically gone away. As soon as Fred started filling the tub to test the drain, the drain started draining. Wouldn't you know it? I made a joke along the lines of, 'Geez, you guys are good.' And then spent the next few minutes trying to convince them that it wasn't draining before and that I was not crazy. Fred was super nice and we decided to have him snake the drain anyway since he'd already come all the way out and brought his tools upstairs and I just wanted to be sure it didn't stop draining again right after he left, which would totally be my luck. The whole ordeal took about an hour and ran $145, which I thought was pretty fair for getting 2 plumbers to come all the way out and fish around in a drain probably clogged with a hamster-sized ball of my hair and skin flakes. I mean, how much money would it take for you to be willing to do that? For me, I'd be out as soon as it got the part where I'd need to carry heavy equipment up a flight of stairs. Exercise? No thank you. Not for me. Also nice is that you can pay by credit card right there on the spot when they're done, and you'll get both a carbon copy receipt and an emailed receipt for your records. Easy peasy. I totally recommend Fred's Plumbing (who's also rated highly on Angie's List) for any and all of your plumbing needs, if you're lucky enough to live in area that he services. read more

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Fred was awesome and I highly recommend him to anyone in need of a plumber. My ejector pump stopped working in my basement and I had a water back up through our bathroom. I called his business the next morning, received a call back in 20 minutes, was quoted a good price and given a detailed report on the work that would be done, and Fred showed up 2 hours later. The best part was Fred was honest enough to point out that I didn't need a new pump or any other work and only charged me the minimal for him to show up, so I paid $700 less than what I was originally told! Honest, fast, and fair...you can't ask for better. Thanks Fred! read more

Called Fred's Plumbing for a clogged drain. He arrived quickly and Fred was able to diagnose the problem right away and take care of it. He got us up and running at a fair price. Thanks Fred!! read more

Freddie was on time and very knowledgeable and personable. Quality work. Price was very reasonable. I would highly recommend to anyone who needs a plumber in the area. read more

Outstanding service. I'm not sure what the deal is with the one bad review but I'm going to disagree and say "awesome service." My mother - senior & widower - has a house that we currently rent out due to her having to move in with my sister because of health reason. Long story short, there was a problem with the sewer line, nothing unusual for an older house so the renters call Precision Plumbing. I meet these two guys for their "$99 special" and they stick a camera down the line and come back with "look at all these problems...we need to dig up your front lawn....it'll cost you $4,500.00." And here comes the big surprise THEY ARE AVAILABLE TOMORROW. Wow. Imagine that. I throw these two knuckle heads to the curb, surf the web and decide to give Fred's Plumbing a try. First off, the person answering the phone, Michelle, was great. They were booked solid but she said that she would try and slide me in IF someone cancelled or a job got done sooner than planned. If not, Fred would be there tomorrow at 8am. Late in the afternoon, Michelle calls me back and just let's me know that the things aren't freeing up but that Fred will be there tomorrow at 8am. The next morning, Fred shows up with his help, at 7:50am. He's early. When does that ever happen. Anyway, we go over the problem and he goes to work. He finds the blockage and shows it to me via the camera. It's a bad one but he's committed to fixing it. He's there for FIVE hours and finally get the blockage freed. It was a huge wad of TP (don't ask). After all this time, his charge is still the quoted $275.00 for "rodding service." Because he went above and beyond the call of duty, I insisted he let me make it fair. Fred, you're a person of integrity - something lacking at Precision Plumbing. Highly recommend and I'm certain folks will continue coming your way. And to Precision Plumbing - you guys are snakes. It makes me sick that you use your "$99 special" as a way to get your foot in the door and then try to pressure folks into service they don't need. You don't even have the honor to return my calls. I hope karma catches up with your business because it makes me sick thinking about all the people you have scammed. read more

Fred and his helper worked nonstop to clear out the drain at my mom's house! They also corrected some existing piping that was an accident waiting to happen! Their name should be Fred's Persistent Plumbing! They stayed at it until the job was finished and done right! Cleaning up as well! I would definitely use them again! Mike C read more

Fred is a breath of fresh air. After trying many different plumbing services and being unsatisfied, finding Fred was a life changing experience. I no longer lose sleep over my pipes or my drips. I call Fred and he just takes care of the stuff. He knows and I don't have to worry about it. Reasonably priced, prompt, corteous and extremely reliable. I am so happy I found Fred. read more

Wonderful, prompt, courteous service at a reasonable price. Michelle was delightful on the phone as well. Fred's Plumbing is a find! I highly recommend! read more

I used Fred's Plumbing Service last year and just forgot to write a review. He replaced outdated pipes on my hot water heater and did a fantastic job at a very fair price. He is my new plumber but so far I have not needed a plumber but when I do, Fred's Plumbing Service is who I will call. I recommend Fred's Plumbing to anyone who needs an excellent plumber you can TRUST. Trust is something you cannot buy. read more

I was able to easily get an appointment and had someone out to my home to try and fix a clogged window well. They spent over an hour discussing potential solutions and trying to unclog the drain to no avail. I was not charged since they were unable to fix the problem. Very honest and friendly staff. I won't hesitate to call them up next time I have a plumbing issue. read more

Fred's was great. I needed a plumber to unclog my main drain to the sewer. I was able to get a flat rate quote for the job and knew how much it was going to cost before he even showed up (unlike several other plumbers I called). Fred unclogged the drain and then put a camera down into my lines to make sure everything was clear. He took the time afterwards to explain what my plumbing lines looked liked, and how I could unclog them myself if they clogged in the future. He then agreed to charge me LESS than the quoted price since it didn't take him very long (obviously DON'T expect him to do this every time. I only mention it because it emphasizes the point that he cares more about doing a good job at a fair price than gouging the customer). Before he left he cleaned everything up and took his tarps (which he laid down to make sure he didn't track snow onto my floors). I am a satisfied customer and definitely will be using Fred's again! read more

No Stars....I had an appointment with Fred's plumbing service...my window of time was from 1pm to 3pm.....no one showed up. I had to call twice to get someone and they informed me that there was an emergency on one job and now I had to reschedule. No one ever called me...this is horrible customer service. My time is precious....but I guess Fred's plumbing does not care. read more

My water heater burst late on a Friday evening. Fred came out on Saturday and replaced the heater. He arrived on time and did excellant work. His price was reasonable. I highly recommend him. read more

we live in a 60+ year old house and recently had a water pipe break. We called Fred's Plumbing based on the YELP reviews and were not disappointed. Fred was on time, courteous and did a great, high quality job at a reasonable price. We've used several plumbers and done some patchwork plumbing on the house ourselves so we have a pretty good idea of what's involved when it comes to fixing/replacing old galvanized pipe plumbing. Fred's work was so good, we STILL haven't put the suspended ceiling tile back up because his pipe work was a work of modernist, streamlined art, compared to the Rube Goldberg piping we used to have. They even did a great job of cleaning up afterwards, which really surprised me. I would highly recommend Fred to anyone who needs a plumber in the area. And you know what, he and his assistant get extra points for being approachable. read more

Coming from someone who has written their second review on the Internet concerning anything; by far the worst service provided by this company! I had scheduled an appointment for this company to come and test my water pressure back-up system and to install some rubber parts in the pipes (I'm not exactly sure of the terminology to describe what they did). An older guy came with his apprentice, late, at 1pm; when they were expected at 11am-12pm. They walked in, at first taking off their shoes, and went straight to the plumbing in the basement. I stood around and asked them a couple of questions. After answering 1-2 questions, the older guy, not sure if it was Fred himself, handed me a booklet (50 questions, 50 answers), without saying anything and continued to work: sort of rude, no? So I went upstairs to finish up some errands and, expecting an 30min-1hr of work at most, they were there for 3 whole hours! Lost in my own world with my errands I realized the time and went downstairs to check on them, and they just so happened to be coming up. I asked how it went, and the guy replied, we're going to have to come back, we ended up ordering the wrong parts. I was confused, and asked them what they did for the past 3 hours. Again he replied, we tried to fix it with some other parts, but couldn't so we'll give you a call this week and let you know when we order the right parts for the job. So they were packing up and putting all their supplies in their truck, when I realized I wanted some sort of verification sheet or something to prove that they were here on this date, so if something were to go wrong I won't be liable because of their error. I went and explained this to the guy and he literally replied, "why?" I was furious at his ignorance and how rude he treated me the whole time, but calmly went into even more detail to make it understandable for even the biggest of morons to comprehend, but he interrupted me and said that the village of Woodridge would not F' me over. At this point I was even more furious and simply went inside to make a call to their company to, not only complain on the 'poor' serivce provided, but for them to email me some sort of verification that they in fact came with the wrong parts and ended up doing nothing for 3 hours, while on top of this I took a day off work to do a bunch of errands and be at home when this company came, and then I was expected to make time for them on another day for them to fix their error. The secretary apologized to me for what had happened and I apologized to her for getting a tone and taking it out on her because of these employees' faults. The next day I received an email that satisfied me with proving that they in fact came and ended up doing nothing, until i read that, however, I should be grateful that they didn't charge me for the labor (3 hours of trying to fix the problem without the right tools, because they did not order the right ones) when most other companies would have charged me. Taking a moment and realizing how grateful I should be, I continued to read on and it had a list of the parts that I would need to be installed and then I could have the check-up for the back-flow water system, and it said that these are the tools I would need, along with their prices that I should expect, and that they contacted 5 different supply houses, but no one had the supplies in stock... AMAZING! I was also told, after immediately calling to complain about the service by the secretary, that the next time they came the service provided would be FREE OF CHARGE. However, when i kept reading on in the email, it said that because they couldn't get the parts needed for the job that they didn't want to waste anymore of my time; therefore, I should contact someone else to finish the job they couldn't do. At the end she added, P.S. my guys told me that they did in fact take off their shoes. I replied, would you like me to send you a photo of my white carpet, that is now topped with a layer of dirt from when they went outside to turn on my hose in order to test the water and came back in without taking off their shoes because it became some sort of nuisance for them. After this experience I would stay away from this company! They are one of many to be recommended to use for this yearly test be the City of Woodridge. Yet its weird that they would put a small-time company such as this on their list when they have only 1 person certified to do the job. I remember asking the secretary for when they come the third time to send someone else, but, again, apparently this guy was the only one certified to do this job. Seems sort of shady, almost as if this guy was a friend or associate in the City to get his Company's name on the list and to monopolize his business, but what do I know... read more

Absolutely the best! Extremely personable and upstanding guys, honest and straightforward about entire process, including pricing. Overall great experience! read more

Fred was awesome. He repaired our toilet wth all new equipment for a very reasonable price. He was right on time (even a few minutes early) and got everything done efficently. I found himn through these Yelp reviews and I had to add my appreciation as well. Thanks Fred! read more

Fred's Plumbing came out on a Saturday, kind of a last minute notice when our water heater went out on us. All the other places we called either didn't answer the phone or they were going to charge a small fortune to come out that day. Thankfully Fred's was able to squeeze us in that day and we had hot water again. On time, friendly, reasonable pricing, and SUPER clean (even swept up the room where the water heater was). We will never call anyone else again for plumbing. They are an awesome small business!!! Highly recommend! read more