Christian Brothers Plumbing, Air Conditioning

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unknown

The overall experience was very bad. They wanted to do extra work like dig up my yard, when all that had to be done was clean out the plugged pipe. I finally had to use the Better Business people to straighten the problem out.

Recently my husband and I moved into a lovely older renovated home in the historic district in Central Phoenix (it?s on some of those historic tours, etc.) While we love living here home repair can sometimes be a downside to our choice. If you buy old, you get old - warts and all. One day one of my air conditioning units started malfunctioning/blowing hot air. This happened in August in Phoenix (so we all know that's a pretty big deal!!). We had previously used a company called Brother's A/C but had managed to lose their number. I accidentally called Christian Brothers AC and Plumbing thinking it was the same company. I specifically asked if they had a record of previous service for me and was a bit suspicious when the rep couldn't find our name or information on file, but he explained that our info had PROBABLY been lost when they switched over to a new computer system. Since I was in a bind (95 degrees inside my house and climbing!), I went ahead and let them come out. Their techs did show up on time, I showed them the air handler (which is in our garage) and the ground compressor unit (which was in the backyard). They were in the backyard for several minutes after which one of the techs came in and announced that in order to service the unit an entire row of bushes along the wall of the house would have to be ripped out/removed. I told him that this sounded strange! We had just had someone else (supposedly from this same company) out and he had worked on the compressor, cleaning it out and servicing it for hours without ever having to touch the shrubs (and that been less than a month before). I explained that the house was a historic home and that the landscaping (even those bushes) were nearly 80 years old, so before we started removing major portions of vegetation from our yard, I wanted to make some phone calls (the first one being to my husband). The tech got irate with me and said, "Well then we're packing our gear and leaving." I told him that was probably not a bad idea. Unfortunately, it never occurred to me to follow him back out to the backyard and watch him as he packed up. It wasn't until the next morning that I realized that he had broken off and effectively killed about a third of the line of shrubbery along the side of the wall. I was furious! I did finally find the correct Brother's AC Company and they sent someone out, who then told me that the compressor was not the problem at all, but rather a small wire and the filter inside the air handler in the garage. This company sent techs that were rude and unprofessional, and when I questioned their methodology they left in a huff - but not before needlessly and vindictively ruining a portion of my landscaping. I wouldn't recommend this customer to my worst enemy - well, maybe I would, that is if I was nasty enough to really want to do them harm!!!

I hired this company due to a report posted on Angie's List stating they unclogged someone's drain for $100 and that they did an excellent job. He was at my home less than 30 min and charged me almost $400. I felt their prices to be insanely high. I ended calling the company back and the owner would not even acknowledge me. The office manager replied to my email and refunded me a portion of the trip charge. I was not happy with this company and will never use them again. I would not recommend them to anyone.

The technician was friendly, and helpful as to how to clear the drain in the future if the problem should recur. It took about 3 hours from my first phone call (at 4 pm) until the technician arrived at our house (not a long period of time, but it seems longer when you can't use any water in your house due to a plugged up main drain). He gave us an estimate before doing the work ($302 !!!), but what are you going to say at 7 pm and you can't use any water or flush the toilets? An online coupon brought the final cost down to $277, but the cost still seems way high (he was only here less than 30 minutes, so that means I was paying a plumber at a rate of about $600 an hour!).

I have used this company for years and they have always done fine work for me. My only complaint about this plumbing company is that they are at the high end of the price range but their work is excellent.

Our water valve broke under the sink in the bathroom on a Saturday night and had to call them after hours. They were great. They helped us get the water shut off and then came right over and were able to fix it in about an hour. They were very neat and cleaned up any mess that was there.

I found this company to be very courteous. They got the job done right and in a reasonable time frame. They did do a great job. They seemed to be very professional and very good. I am not going to throw any prices out because I have used them for a couple of jobs and I do not want to throw the wrong one out. I would, however, highly recommend them. They do great work.

Only worked 1 day, leak worse than thought by tech. Unable to repair-wants to replace unit. Price higher than others quoted.

At 6:30 on a Friday night, minutes after getting home from 5 hours at the Mayo Clinic, I had a garden hose bib refuse to turn off, with the water flowing full force and no way to stop it. Trying to shut off what appeared to be a ball valve on the pipe caused the irrigation system to flood and sent a tsunami down the driveway into the street. Dialing anyone in the yellow pages who advertised 24-hour service, I reached Christian Bros, whose guy explained how to stop the flood; then used a sprinkler attachment with an Off switch to stop the hose. Next day a tech showed up and proposed to charge me $200 to turn off the valve in front and replace the $4.00 part. At least he identified the source of the flood and the reason the watering system was weak - a leak in the irrigation line. But overall: Gives Christianity a bad name.

He came out on time and was clean cut. We discussed the job and then I signed the contract. Our water had been off for two days and I was desperate to get the work done. He did the work and while he was working on the job I looked at the bill and it was for $653! I asked why it was so high because he'd only been there for one hour. He said they charge by the job, not the hour. I noticed on the contract that there was a $96.88 charge for a service agreement, which I had him take off because he could not explain what it was for. I checked the price of parts and it ended up being $525 in labor for just 1 hour. The work was not hard or hard to access. He told me I should just cap off the sprinkler because that would be the best thing to do with the water pressure issues we were having. I'm not sure if he didn't have the part with him or not. I've called three times and asked to speak with a manager about the pricing and they keep saying they'll get back with me but do not.

I HAVE USED CHRISTIAN BROTHERS PLUMBING THREE TIMES NOW. ONCE TO ADD AN OUTDOOR HOSE BIB, ONCE TO FIX A SLAB LEAK UNDER THE HOUSE, AND AGAIN TO CLEAR A STOPPED KITCHEN SINK. EVERY TIME THEY HAVE BEEN OUT EXACTLY WHEN THEY SAY THEY WILL BE THERE (USUALLY WITHIN A DAY), GIVEN A COMPLETE ESTIMATE (AND STUCK WITH THE ESTIMATE), DID THE WORK PROFESSIONALLY, AND CLEANED UP WHEN THEY LEFT. THEY ALSO CALL THE NEXT DAY TO FIND OUT IF EVERYTHING IS WORKING OKAY AND TO CHECK ON THE PROFESSIONALISM OF THE EMPLOYEE WHO DID THE WORK. I DON'T BELIEVE THEY ARE THE CHEAPEST IN TOWN, BUT I DO BELIEVE THEY ARE VERY FAIR. WHAT I DO KNOW IS THAT THEY HAVE TREATED US WELL AND WE WILL USE THEM EXCLUSIVELY.