Rob West Plumbing

You could be putting your home and wallet at risk by choosing Rob West Plumbing. The experience we had was expensive and unpleasant. Interacting with Rob was the worst part, and he proved to me to be an untrustworthy person who takes advantage of homeowners. We called them out to snake a drain and replace a cartridge in our shower, during which, they caused a leak, and had to come out a second time for which they charged us exorbitantly. I urge you not to work with people like this, and don’t give them your money. Several complaints I have from my experience: 1 – No formal quotes process (verbal or written): The onus is on the business to provide proof of contract but the plumbers do not discuss costs before doing work. This puts you at risk when you get blindsided by a bill and then it becomes a matter of he said, she said to work things out. During the first appointment, I prompted the conversation about cost, and they verbally ballparked $700. The appointment ended up costing ~$1,000. During the second appointment, in action and word, the plumbers took responsibility for the leak. Because of this, we did not prompt a conversation on costs, and, critically, they did not indicate during the visit that they would charge us. We received a bill for $920 later that evening. We were naïve as new homeowners not to press for more transparency, but again, it is the business’s responsibility to provide proof of contract – if you choose to work with Rob West Plumbing, demand written quotes for work to protect yourself. 2 – Refuses to take accountability: If anything goes wrong with your project, they will screw you over. The leak I described above outlines this experience. Watch them like a hawk while they’re working, and question any costs or materials they propose you need. 3 – Unprofessional and unscrupulous: Rob West proved to be the worst part of this whole thing. We got into an argument when I called to dispute the charges for the second visit. He was immediately dismissive of my perspective. He was manipulative and patronizing. He came off as erratic and unprofessional. I suspect that he regularly bullies homeowners who push back on him. In reviewing Yelp reviews after the fact, it looks like others have had the same experience. Yikes. 4 – Poor administrative processes: Billing and invoice documentation isn’t transparent. They charged us a $150 hourly rate for the first visit and $200 for the second, and hoped we wouldn’t notice. Rob claimed that $150 was a discounted rate when we called him out, but this wasn’t disclosed at all. Scheduling the initial appointment should have been a red flag. I had to follow up several times to even get an appointment, for which Rob was full of excuses. I waved it off as a local business with a small team, so they don’t have a dispatcher, but they just don’t manage the business well. I had to remind them of my issue several times via email and phone. Interestingly, they were able to take note of my credit card information just fine the first time around. 5 – Money grubbing: As many have indicated, they charge $100 to make an appointment. I understand charging a consultation fee (if the homeowner chooses not to move forward), but this unnecessary charge doesn’t go toward your bill. It’s in addition to the hourly rate and materials. On top of the other issues we had, it adds to the appearance that Rob West Plumbing is a money grubbing business that doesn’t really care about their customers and community as they claim. The resolution to our business with Rob West Plumbing was unsatisfactory. After our argument, he emailed to discount the second visit by $300 (so we would pay $620) ‘in the hopes of developing a working relationship.’ We asked that he correct the hourly rate and we ultimately paid $420 for a leak they caused. Pursuing this any further is cost prohibitive on the part of the homeowner, and honestly interacting any more with Rob sounds like a nightmare.

The actual work they did was great. The problem was with the ever-moving price, not showing up when they said they would, and not giving us receipts for work completed until we reminded them over and over. In addition, the owner, Rob, was totally unpleasant and unprofessional in his interactions with me. I will not hire them again.

Rob was very easy to work with and responds quickly. The guys he sent out delivered exactly what I was looking for at a very fair price. I will absolutely be using Rob again in the future.

Three word, "OVERCHARGED" @ “POOR WORKMANSHIP”. Poor workmanship performed on insulation of cold water line. He used duct tape. Some sections are poorly covered or not at all. All other work was overcharged and insufficient in securing pipes to code. Had job to replace 4 feet of cast iron pipe with PVC. Rob West complained that he injured himself somewhere else so you'd feel sorry for him. Shows up in crutches. My fault in being too honest and nice, but letting him only giving me a verbal quote. Always get it in writing. I have owners in building complaining of work for the cost done. Left leaks in apartment P-traps on water audit. One of the resident whose was (retired) involved in giving City of Chicago citations of building violations. I will be forwarding matter too him for code violations. I have picture wishing to share. Plan to take more pictures.

Rob West evaluated our situation and recommended first we scope out the sewer line, where we found tree roots every 3 feet where the pipes joined. He recommended first we rebuild the catch basin, and then jett out the line, cleaning out any construction cement. He let me watch the video and explained to me what I was seeing. I learned where the tree roots were concentrated along the line, marked those spots above, made an appointment for the next week to begin rebuilding the catch basin. I paid about $250 for the initial camera scoping. The day came and he didn't show. I called, and the line didn't answer or take messages. Strange. I called again the next day, and by the 3rd day of no response went to another plumber. 3 days later his office manager called. She explained their phones had been out of service all week, and she was rescheduling clients. I declined. Rob West knows a lot about old Chicago houses and their plumbing. He advised me about my rain barrels and gave me much useful advice about my sewer system. He basically explained how the system works, where the toilet lines joined the sewer line, the effectiveness of taking the downspouts offline. I feel bad that his phones went out, but my time is valuable too. He wasn't as dependable as I needed, but he really knows his stuff. I called another Angie's List plumber who was able to do everything Rob West suggested at about the same price.

Everything was fine, until my neighbor 2 floors downstairs from me had water coming into their bathroom every time I showered. Long story short, I ended up paying someone else to fix faucet and had to pay for water damage done to units below me. When I called Rob, he basically hung up on me.

The was done to my satisfaction but I was over charge from the original quote. I was quoted $715 but the final charge was $888 ($69 was the service call charge which should be waived and the amount should applied toward the payment but it was not the case here. I contacted Christine several times to give her an opportunity to make the correction but nothing was done. It has been a month and I still have not received the $69 credit so I writing this review regarding my experience. Be ware of the creative math calculation and the promise that wasn't followed through.

Everything went well from the booking to the plumber they sent out who was very nice and fun to have in the unit, as well as him being very professional. The only problem came up when billing occurred. After I reviewed the bill and called the billing dept., they agreed to remove $15 worth of charges, due to a time miscalculation. That $15 never came off the bill - my only complaint.

Drain was unclogged, quick and professional work.

I would say I was disappointed with them. I think that the fix was fine. They could improve their communication skills, their scheduling, and their scheduling accuracy. The price was astronomical, they could be more reasonable with some kind of sane spectrum on the price. The scheduling was disorganized and the price was unacceptably high.

After speaking with Chris, Alex came out the same day and repaired out toiled quickly and efficiently. They accepted credit card which was wonderful for me. Professional and courteous. Will absolutely call for future plumbing needs

They were on time very professional and clean. I was very pleased withe the work they completed. My kitchen is very small which added to the difficulty of the work that they were performing, but Ozzie and Chad, his assistant, worked it out.

Went great! It was an emergency situation. Our purchase of a house was going to be delayed (and interest rate lock was potentially going to expire) if gas was not turned on quickly. Not to mention, it was below freezing out! Rob West had someone out within 1/2 hour of my initial call. They understood the exigency of our situation, and could not have been more accommodating. When I had problems getting the gas company back out to the house after the line had been changed, Chris from Rob West even called on my behalf! (Gas company showed up unannounced while she was on hold). Couldn't be happier with service. Great work, fair price, and awesome people!

Awesome. Emergency call on Thanksgiving holiday. Plumber arrived on time, confirmed estimate, and identified time needed. Plumber finished ahead of schedule and UNDER cost (when does that ever happen - first time in my life)!

Went as well as can be expected. Provider showed up punctually at the appointed time. Performed the designated work effectively. Kept me informed and advised during the process. They completed the work for the price agreed upon in advance and cleaned up nicely when finished. I would certainly recommend them to others (and already have in fact).

Recommended. Good communication, prompt. Got job done in efficient manner.

Ozzy was the plumber that provided excellent service for us today. He showed up to discern where the water underneath the kitchen sink was leaking from. Right away, I was appreciative of his demeanor--extremely polite, modest, and friendly. A few hours later, after he had gone through many trials and tribulations with the project (outside of his control), I was blown away by his dedication and genuine concern for the project--so blown away, that the sole reason that I just joined Angie's list was to write this review. The only reason I'm even aware of the trials and tribulations involved in the project was because Ozzy kept me informed throughout his work. He was transparent about EVERYTHING: the problems he discovered, the evidence that demonstrated the problems, the parts required AND THEIR COSTS; he even went as far as to point out to me that the new spray hose color didn't perfectly match the sink color as the last one had. I told him I would have never known had he not pointed it out (it was almost indiscernible, plus the hose is only visible when you actually pull it out to use it); my point being--he opened the opportunity for me to reject the judgment call he had made (when presented with the obstacle of brushed nickel hoses being out of stock), over something I (and every other non-plumber) would have never picked up on. Of no benefit to himself, Ozzy prioritized my being just as informed as he was and making sure I was meticulously and 100% satisfied from every angle. After all of the above talk about Ozzy's interactions, I MUST SAY: you'll barely notice he's there! ALSO: I HATE talking on the phone--especially regarding business services; it takes me a few days, sometimes a week--ok, maybe weeks--to get up the nerve to call my own doctor or make a hair appointment or even call a friend back. But today I called Rob West Plumbing after Ozzy had finished and left, to inform them that it was a job well-done; and the man on the phone (Ralph, I believe) was so kind, appreciative and grateful for my call, that he not only vanished my typical 'talking on the phone' anxieties, but honestly left me feeling like I (!??) had done a great job. Both of these Rob West Plumbing employees provided strong evidence today, that this company is comprised of high integrity individuals that value their profession and especially their customer's experiences. TWO HUGE THUMBS UP!!

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We decided to go with Rob West because the pricing was much lower than anyone else we talked with.  They were responsive on the front end and got to work almost right away.  The job meant they had to dig up the front lawn including some expensive boxwood bushes (+$400 for each bush).  We asked them to be careful with these bushes and replant them to which they agreed.  They did the work over two days and quickly finished by haphazardly re-planting our bushes.  I called to have them to have them put the bush back like it was (a 30 minute job) and at first the owner was apologetic and told me he would fix it right away.  He then called me back and told me that they weren't going to fix because they are not landscapers and how lucky I was they cut me a break on the price in the first place.  This was a very different Rob West then before I had paid him - at first he was kind and understanding, now he was rude and short. Moral of the story, they will give a good price, but don't expect them to take great care of your property (we had a similar incident with them 2 years back with them making a hole in our drywall which they refused to fix).

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Excellent feedback enabled me to isolate the cause of my draining issues, many people would have just fixed it and left.

Not properly staffed to do emergency work. I

thought based on the reviews I could count on these guys because they

were a small shop and responsive but being a small shop also means that

they cannot service their customers in time of emergency. This is the

second time they are fixing the same issue that I paid top dollar to fix

4 months ago. I was thinking that would make the difference to have the

issue fixed and I am not happy that they were not able to diagnose and

fix the issue the first time out. Now I can't get them out here. I get

the small business thing but you have to be staffed for emergencies.