Carl's Plumbing Services, Inc.

My family has a family owned business. My mother used Carl's plumbing for years. When she passed away and I took over the running of the business, I continued to use them. It was always for small things. Finally, I had some big problems for a plumber. We have two buildings. When the pipes froze in one of our buildings, I called Carls. They came out pretty quickly. I was told that nothing could be done until the spring or summer when the pipes thawed. That made sense, so we waited. Summer came. Carl's worked with the water company to have them make the repairs that the water company needed to make so that Carl's could make their needed repairs. That I appreciated, but since the water company made their repairs, it has been like pulling teeth to get them to come out. One time they told us that we had to make a decision, "Did we want to spend that much money to get the plumbing repaired?" Duh! Who wants a building sitting there with no water? We cannot use a building with no water!
They sent one plumber several times, and each time he said he had to come back. When asked when, we were told that he had to check with his boss to see when he could come back. We would not hear from Carl's again, until we called them and asked when were they were going to send someone out again. Since I knew that the amount we owed was adding up, I called to find out how much we owed, because I did not want to end up paying an exorbitant amount when they finished. I called their number and asked to speak to someone in billing. "What's wrong?" the representative said. I told them nothing, I just wanted to find out how much my bill was. They told me that they would get a bill out to me. Which they did. Then I asked when they were going to send someone out to finish the job. I was told they had to get back to me. They sent a plumber, he did some work and then again told me that he could not finish and would have to check with his boss to find out when he could come back. I haven't heard from him since.
That is why I am writing this review. I finally got aggravated and called another plumber. They came in the next day and looked at what the problem was. The next day they sent two men, repaired five leaks, fixed the sinks, toilets and repaired a hole in the water heater.
I was told that they sent two men because they knew how important it was to be able to use our building. After waiting for Carl's for three months, someone else finally finished the job. Carl's plumber left big ragged holes in our walls that have to be repaired. The new plumber was careful to cut holes that are easy to repair.
Now, we are using our facility and have a new plumber that we will be working with from now on.

Review: Made an appointment with them through our [redacted].

Called early the morning of our scheduled appointment, and rescheduled our appointment, as I had to work.

Due to this rescheduling, our issue remains unfixed, however, they billed our home warranty for a missed service call.

They claim they have no record of this call to reschedule.Desired Settlement: COme and due the work that was supposed to be done, and charge me for some bogus made up missed service call.

Business

Response:

This customer had a previous apt. that was missed. We showed up and they were not there. They again tried to reschedule. Due to their home warranties policy they are responsible for a service fee if they missed an apt. This customer then proceeded to call one of my employees and swear at them using very obscene and offensive language which was completely uncalled for. If this customer would like to deal with their home warranty on the issue they are welcome to but this is not an issue that should be dealt with via the Revdex.com. We would request you remove this immediately. Also we do not expect our employees to be harassed and have to deal with such offensive and inappropriate language and thus have no desire to work with this customer any time into the future.

Business

Response:

We have been in business for over 30 years. Obviously if the obsurd claims by this customer were true we would not have been in business that long. The fact of the matter is they are incorrect. Their home warranty does in fact require a payment for a missed apt. Not quite sure where they are going with this complaint. We choose not to deal with customers that use vulgar and offensive language and thus continuing with this complaint is really not necessary. I'm sure this customers home warranty can find another contractor to service them.

Consumer

Response:

We moved into a house where the systems had been drianed down. [redacted] came out promptly, checked the oil tank, got the boiler going, got he water on and filled the central heating system. A superb service at a very reasonable price.
We have used him twice since and have been equally satisfied each time.
I would highly recommend him. [redacted]

We submitted a claim through our HSA warranty program. We submitted the claim on 4-13. I was left a rude message about the claim on 4-14 by an unnamed individual. They said the earliest they could service the claim would be 4-18. When it was explained that we had a 7 month old child in the household and five days without hot water would be a large issue with the child in the household they were ambivalent toward that situation. On 4-18, the plumber arrived in an unmarked van and never introduced himself, other than Carl's Plumbing to my wife or father, who was their to help watch our son. When he looked at the water heater, he started telling us what else we needed to replace and pay for to complete the service, including a permit to do the service which he said was $137. He was rude and seemed to not care about this service, then my father said that he did not think that the city of Milwaukee did not need a permit to do the work. When my wife and father told the unnamed plumber that they were going to call the city to determine if a permit was needed, the unnamed plumber left the basement and got into his van and drove off without saying why he was leaving or if he was coming back. He never returned or made contact with us. It was later confirmed by my wife, through the department of neighborhood services, that a permit was not needed to complete the service.

My water heater needed servicing. I called my home warranty company and Carls Plumbing was assigned to my case. They came out and decided that a part was needed, after the part came in they came back to put the part on. This took about 15 minutes. The plumber left and stated that everything was "all set". This took place at 8:00 am. I had to leave for work and when I came back home I realized I had absolutely no hot water. Of course it was after 5 pm at this point. I called Carls plumbing back and advised that I went from having some hot water prior to them coming to having zero hot water after they left. I was told by Carls Plumbing that they would not be able to come out until the next day because the warranty company needed to authorize the additional visit- keep in mind I had hot water prior to them coming out. I advised them that this was their error (I forgot to add that they did not light the pilot, left the cover off the water heater off) and that they needed to come that night to light the pilot. They refused. I then called the warranty company and they in turn called and asked them to come that night. They called on the emergency line. Noone picked up and noone returned a call. I paid someone else to light the pilot that night. Bottom line is, even though it was their error, because they would not get additional money from the warranty company they would not come out that night. If you are private paying, you may be ok, but if this is a warranty job you may not be so lucky.

Review: Never even got the service asked for. First they called my husband to change the appointment time to earlier than the 2-4 window originally quoted. Then as soon as it hit 2 pm knocked on the door and quickly left before I could answer the door... I'm very pregnant so I move a little slow. Sounds to me like someone wanted an early Friday. I called company at 2:14 to ask them to return and never received a call back until 4 pm saying it was our fault, they won't come back and that we owed them the 75.00 simply for showing up. They never even called to say they were here before leaving and just assumed we were not home. Called to speak with manager and was completely blown off. The customer service from this company is horrible. We will never use them again or recommend them.Desired Settlement: We are not going to be charged for a missed service call when I was in fact home

Business

Response:

Not quite sure why this customer is submitting this to the Revdex.com. This was done through a home warranty. We arrived a bit early for our apt. - technician arrived at 1:45 for a 2pm appointment. The technician proceeded to knock and stay on site until 2:15 - a full half an hour. I find it hard to believe that it would take more than a half an hour - or even 15 minutes (from the start of the apt time) to get to the door. As far as the $75 that is not our call - the customers home warranty requires they pay that if we show up for a scheduled service call. Again I am not quite sure what this customer is looking for - we were there from 2 - 2:15 (not including the 15 minutes early we arrived) and no one came to the door.

Consumer

Response:

Review: My water heater was installed by the Carl's. The valve was defective but still under warranty. The reps from the business came to my home and diagnosed the problem but the part was not in stock. A different rep came to replace the defective valve today. In total they spent no more than a half hour in my home. Labor was quoted at 25.00 per quarter hour and a trip charge of 47.00. I was billed for a full hour of labor they did not incur. When I complianed about being overcharged I was told that they actually incurred more time in going to get the part they did not stock and they were not charging me for that time. It should not be my responsiblity to pay for labor to pick up a part that they do not stock. I was threatened to pay the total cost or the tech would take the valve back out and leave. I had no choice but to pay the total cost or be without hot water. I was told it is not worth there time to come by for less than an hour labor charge. However, they have a trip charge of 47.00. They should have stood behind the product they installed and only charged me the true cost of labor for work actually performed.Desired Settlement: I request a refund of the $50.00 I was overcharged for labor that was not performed. The techs were not in my home for more than a half-hour combined. They should stand behind the products they install.

Business

Response:

The facts laid out by this customer are 100% wrong and the only goal it seems this customer has is to make us look bad though he has no right whatsoever. The facts are simple and are the only explanation necessary; the unit was installed 3 plus years ago, there is no contractor or manufacturer out there that would warranty the labor to replace the parts that far out. Mfg. warrantied the parts, no charge to customer necessary. As with any mass produced parts there are bound to be failures so the fact the customer even brings that up is unreasonable. On 10/15 we went to the house, checked the water heater, contacted the mfg. confirmed warranty and ordered the part. The tech was there on site from 10:58 until 11:15 (1/2 hour of billing). On 10/16 we returned and replaced the part. In this case, it worked out very well for the customer as we were very close to his house with the previous job so had to charge very little travel time for the second trip. The second day the tech left the previous job at 9:00 AM. The tech left the home at 9:30 after installing the valve and collecting for the bill. As is very common in any contracting industry, we charge by the 15 minute increment. We had ½ hour into the job the first trip, ½ hour into the job the second trip. To me an hour being billed seems very reasonable. Generally a two trip job plus the time to pick up the part would be billed out at more than 1 hour. The final surprising thing is the tech on the first trip informed the customer (and he agreed) that we would be billing him for 1 hour. Later on the customer contacted the office regarding possible financing and even reiterated that the bill would be just under $150 – at no point mentioning any problem with the amount. Finally, once the job was complete and the customer was then complaining about the bill, we did offer a final chance to avoid having to pay and we would remove the part and not charge him anything.

Review: My home warranty company [redacted] contracted Carl's Plumbing to repair our home faucet covered under the policy. Carl's plumbing collected the deductible and never completed the repair, but they stated to the home warranty company that service was completed. They now say that it will take two months approximately to replace a simple faucet hose and are trying to avoid completing the contracted service.Desired Settlement: I want the faucet repaired ASAP or a refund for the deductible paid back to me ASAP.

Business

Response:

We ordered the parts from the mfg [redacted]. We have yet to receive the parts from them - we have called a number of times - not sure of what the delay is. If the customer would like the faucet replaced they should talk to the home warranty as they would have to make the call. We can only do what they authorize us to do. As soon as the part arrives here we will schedule to install it. As far as the co-pay that is required to show up on the first trip per their home warranty - whether or not any work is done.

Business

Response:

This doesn't seem to be going anywhere - as has been stated we showed up during a scheduled apt. There is nothing further we can do for this customer unless they can get their home warranty company to cover those costs.

Consumer

Response:

Review: Since Jan. 2014 I been getting the 'run around' from both the City of Milwaukee and Erie Insurance (where the insurance company promised to "take care of it".)The City of Milwaukee forced excessive pressure in my water line- which caused not only damage to their meter (oozing water from their meter) and 'popped off" the turn off handle for my pipe. The city of Milwaukee REFUSED to replace there defective water meter for 7 months and refused to fill in the hole they made in my yard with their back hoe 6 months ago as well-and NEVER even came out to access the damage they caused - even after TWO claims filed against the city. I had called CARLS PLUMBING as I usually do for my plumbing needs and was always EXTREMELY happy with the guy "Chris" who always was fair, trustworthy and did excellent work at a fair price. It was sometime in June of last year. My single brass valve (with the handle popped off because of the excessive pressure) was replaced with what I determine is a inferior 2 part valve delivered by Carl himself at the repair site. Carls Plumbing could not replace the city meter- and when the city finally came out to replace their meter (they billed ME for the meter, failed to address both my claims, and appeared to be in Cahoots with my insurance company - because it was only after I filed a claim with ERIE that the City finally responded to my claims against them. This denial letter from Milwaukee was oddly mailed from BROOKFIELD and post dated a WEEK after the date of the actual letter giving me 21 days to "APPEAL" their decision. This letter was immediately given to ERIE to answer- but ERIE was negligent in answering this letter forwarded to them - 21 days to the date (and after I could no longer answer the appeal myself) Erie sent me a denial letter as well - sticking me with loss of rent for 7 MONTHS, ignored the extra policy I held , was negligent in responding to the City letter mailed to them to "take care of" as they promised- making it too late to file against the city and sticking me with all the repairs, loss of rent, and CHARGE for this meter they improperly installed. During winter (I couldn't rent the apt- and the valve CARLS PLUMBING INSTALLED failed- I notified them and told them I'd have it replaced after winter- as the water was turned off anyway) I called CARLS PLUMBING yesterday to have the valve replaced-and started explaining the situation and got this rude " Is this going to take long because I have another customer on the line " I gave him my number and asked him to have "Chris" call me - but, that never happened. I called again today and spoke to what appeared to be the same guy. He stated. "Oh, well that valve is out of warrantee and we'll just have to charge you again for the trip charge / cost of new valve - as I requested one like the old one which was better quality. " I told the guy that I already left a message in Winter- was not going to pay to have an inferior valve as was replaced and asked for a good quality brass valve like the one I had in there. I was just "blown off" and advised him I'd would be filing a complaint - which didn't both him at ALL , and seamed to enjoy upsetting a customer and not returning calls or making notes on the account.Desired Settlement: I was always happy with the quality and service by the tech. However, the way I was treated , ignored and antagonized by the office personal makes me want to no longer deal with this company at all. Asking sarcastically " is this going to take long - because I have another customer on the other line" was rude and I didn't even get a return call. Notes were not put on my account when I called when the incident first happened in Winter- as I wasn't going to replace it at that time in winter. The part was inferior quality - and they knew or should of known it was inferior and not as strong as a single brass piece - especially with the problem I had with pressure in the first place. Their valve isn't damaged (from freeze or any other reason ) it just simply FAILED - its not even stripped - just plan a 2 part CHEAP china job. At this time I'd just like a full refund and go to another Plumber that uses better parts, notes my account and RETURN CALLS !

Sorry to BOTHER THEM!

Business

Response:

We offered to come out and check this job to see what had happened with the valve. We did inform the customer if the valve was defective we could attempt to get the valve part covered under warranty but that since the work was done over 6 moths ago the labor would not be covered under warranty (as it wouldn't with most if not all other contractors). Our standard labor warranty on a job like that would be 60 days. Obviously we cannot warranty labor for an indefinite period of time.

Business

Response:

We received a letter about a customer communication and were told we could reply back to you with comments.

Review: WORKMAN CAME OUT TO REPAIR/OR POSSIBILY REPLACE KITCHEN ON 3-27-2015. THE WORKORDER WAS INDICATED AS LOOSE FAUCET HANDLE. I HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH WATER LEAKAGE. I CALLED ON 3-30-2015 AND TALKED TO ONE OF THE OWNERS, BRIAN AND STARTED EXPLAINING THE PROBLEM I WAS HAVING WITH THE NEW INSTALL OF A KITCHEN FAUCET, WHICH WAS WATER LEAKAGE FROM THE BASE OF THE HANDLE AND ALOT OF WATER LEAKING FROM THE SPRAYER ATTACHMENT, WHEN SUDDENLY I WAS ABRUPTLY INTERUPTED BY BRIAN AND HE SAID, I'LL CALL YOU BACK, WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER?" HE NEVER CALLED ME BACK. OBVIOUSLY, THEY DO NOT WANT TO DEAL WITH THIS PROBLEM THEY CREATED FOR ME, WHICH COULD BECOME QUITE SERIOUS IF NOT CORRECTED SOON .Desired Settlement: BECAUSE THEY DO NOT WANT TO DEAL WITH THIS SITUATION AND VERIFY MY PROBLEM, THEY WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR FINANCIAL REIMBURSEMENT TO ME!!!

I NEED TO HIRE A PLUMBER, TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM THEY CREATED!!!!!!!! IF THEY CHOSE TO IGNORE MY REQUEST I WILL TAKE FURTHER STEPS TO REMEDY THE SITUATION....

Business

Response:

We actually did try calling back after the initial discussion but did not get an answer. Please have the customer contact us and we are happy to resolve any issues she is having.

Business

Response:

As we stated we called and attempted to set something up but did not get an answer and did not hear back. As always we are happy to correct and issue but we would never offer compensation to pay another company to correct something. As we have stated we would be happy to return and fix the issue. Thank you.

Consumer

Response:

While doing laundry one day I discovered that water was coming up my floor drain. I checked with Revdex.com of Wisconsin and selected Carl's Plumbing as I like to deal with my community businesses. I left a brief message and received a phone call early the next day. I had a plumber within 1 hour. He was very pleasant to work with and did a a good job. He carefully cleaned up after himself which is important to me. I would recommend Carl's Plumbing and would go back to them in he future if necessary.

Review: Through my home warranty, I received services from Carl's Plumbing 3 separate times for the same issue (bath tub not draining). My initial copay was $75, which I paid on the initial date of service 10/07/15. On the second date of service (11/04/15), I was required to pay another copay of $75, which did not seem appropriate. I was told by the technician that they tried to call the home warranty company to confirm if it was an existing service but the hold time would have been 20 or more minutes so they did not pursue it. I immediately call the home warranty company who confirmed that it was any existing service. They spoke with Carl's plumbing and were told that the check would be returned to me. I discovered a couple weeks later that my check had been cashed. I have attempted several times to resolve this issue to no avail and have received very poor customer service in the process as they have been very dismissive.Desired Settlement: Receive my $75 copay back

Business

Response:

This customer was informed yesterday that we were sending a check back for her $75. Not quite sure why she submitted this to the Revdex.com.