Arnold & Sons Plumbing, Sewer & Drain

Had a clogged drain and two young guys came out. They said they couldn't do anything and that I should hook a shop vac up to the drain. They were at my house for maybe 10-15 minutes and charged $90. They clearly just didn't want to do the work because I had another plumber come out who took off the toilet and snaked out the pipe. I was not impressed with them and would not recommend them.

Went fine except the new hot water heater only lasted 5 years

I originally contacted Arnold and Sons because of an advertised $99 sewer or drain cleaning special. I also had a shutoff valve that needed to be replace (whole house shutoff, but after a working pre water meter shutoff). When I contacted Arnold and Sons they refused to commit to any form of pricing guidance before coming out for an estimate that cost something like 80 or $90. Even though I was clear it was a kitchen sink at no point prior to me being on the hook for something did they mention that they aren't very good with words and really they mean only main drain/sewer (the word or is on the website which very much indicates a separate device... pretty sure I use those terms interchangeably unless I'm talking about municipal owned sewers that I doubt a private plumber would ever touch). Of course when they showed up for the estimate suddenly they open up about the special not applying to smaller drains. and the estimate came in at about 280 for snaking and 230 for the valve. I figured that with the estimate already sunk and thinking that total maybe it was 3 hours worth of work that their estimate was high but not high enough to justify throwing away the estimate fee that they apply to your service. I will give them credit, their efforts to avoid the 'creepy' plumber vibe were impressive. They showed up, did the work, roughly an hour later both jobs were done. I sure felt taken at that point realizing I'd just paid over $500 for what was an hour total (lets be generous and say it went slightly over that) with near zero parts cost (one ball valve that was drop in for another ball valve). Pretending that they quoted assuming 2 hours and that valve was worth $60 after they get their margin (awfully pretty margin on that valve compared to home depot's price) that is still $225 an hour. I've done work with engineering consultants who don't top 170/hr so that is ridiculous for a plumber. All that said, if the job was an above and beyond job maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Other than feeling taken I was reasonably happy with the service until 11 months later the sink suddenly stopped flowing again. Again I call Arnold and Sons figuring that with how steep their prices are they would at least be reasonable on follow up. Nope, oh was I wrong. First off they tried to send me down the same send someone out to look at it path. Wasn't falling for that again and I pushed hard this time on the $99 'special'. I went as far as to explain the English language and how "Sewer or drain cleaning special" does not mean just main drain without that being explicitly said. Eventually I ended up on the phone with the service manager who tried to explain the physics of my pipes were to blame so they should jet it. A little more squabbling and eventually some pricing guidance comes out... $1200. A coworker of mine overheard the conversation and relayed getting that work down on a main (different market for fairness) for 100. Needless to say I ended the conversation. I proceeded to call several local plumbers and found that everyone else was coming in under half the $280 I'd gotten hit with from Arnold and Sons. I ended up getting same day service from a competitor for $80 and they did the EXACT same work that Arnold and Sons did. Every other competitor I called provided pricing up front before I owed them a penny. The only differences to the negative were a plumber who was a little less 'clean' looking (kind of fit the stereotype to be honest for plumbers) and no booties to keep shoe prints off my tile floor. Spending 3 minutes with a swiffer seems hardly a bad tradeoff for $200. Arnold & Sons is more technologically capable than most plumbers (advertising and communication, I saw nothing unusual on the equipment side to the good or bad) and they do a better job at not leaving a mess behind them than most plumbers, but I just can't understand how that justifies the premium nor the refusal to give any pricing guidance even when the job is clearly described (pipe size, length, nature of clog, access, etc.) Never again will I fall for their business tactics or inflated price. Given I found a review here on Angies list that mentions the same $99 bait and switch I now think I truly did get con'ed. If they had told me when I first talked to them, before they had me on the hook for any money, that a kitchen sink drain didn't count I'd chalk it up as contractors who aren't careful with wording, but given the way my situation played out and proof on this site that I'm not the first one who ran into that issue, I now firmly believe its an intentional con. Being overpriced was enough for me to rate them a D, but its their business tactics that earned them the F in my book. Please learn from my mistakes and never (Arnold and Sons or any other contractor) agree to a non free estimate without having ANY indication of how their pricing works. Any contractor who operates like that deserves to be out of business, because the only reason to be so cloak and dagger is to run a bait and switch.

I phoned them because my regular plumber couldn't make it out today.  The lady on the phone was very nice, said they'd send someone out and would call when the technician was on the way.  She called like she said she would.  The technician arrived a couple minutes later.  When Joe arrived, there was something very cocky about his attitude.  I took him to the basement where the floor drain was backed up.  The water softener regenerates and dumps water down that floor drain.  But it was clogged.  Right away Joe replied that "someone has messed with this drain".  It was because it had a plastic plug instead of a iron plug.  Hard to tell, I only bought the house 4 years ago.  And so what??? Once the plug was removed, the water did recede. 

He explained the clog was probably in the p-trap but wanted to run some more water through the drain.  He walked over to the water softener and without my permission, forced another regeneration.  So when I said "well, cleaning out the p-trap shouldn't be a big deal", Joe had a dozen reason why it might not be so easy.  But I said well, give it a try.  And then he proceeded to tell me it would be $189.  When I questioned him about the $99 special on the website and that the lady on the phone told me about, he said it was only for sewer lines.  I replied that this line leads to the sewer line but he said it had to be the main line.  This is not correct.  Their website clearly says $99 drain cleaning and does not say sewer.

He also said that in his experience, the things he could do most likely would not clear the p-trap.  But did I want him to try.  Now at this point I'll admit I'm pretty heated.  I asked him why on earth would I want to spend another $100 for something he doesn't think will work and can't give any guarantee on his work.  He spouted back immediately that his work was without question but it was my house that had the issues.  Then proceeded to tell me that you won't get any plumber out to your house for under $200.  I wrote him the check, told him next time I'd go back to my regular plumber and to get out of my house.  He threw the check back at me and said he didn't want my money.  Never been so happy to see a contractor leave.  Had he kept the check, this review would have been rated an F.

The replaced sump pump was fine. Water continued to gather in the basement. We called a different plumber who instantly solved our problem by pouring a little bit of bleach in our air conditioner's condensation hose.

Plumbers arrived at the scheduled day and time.  All work was completed that same day.  Workmanship and professionalism were excellent.  One downside is that they charge just for the visit even if no work is performed, so it is difficult to get an estimate ahead of time.

Arnold & Sons has always been very responsive and timely.  The plumber explains what he is going to do and the approximate cost before he starts. If there is a question of different materials/prices, you are given the choice.  Customer service is great. I have been extremely pleased with their professionalism, cost, and service.

We had a sewer pipe outside called a boot and it broke and caused all of the sewer damage to come inside the house. They came in and were very fast and efficient in correcting the issue. They were fantastic and the price was great.

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Called Arnold's on Sunday when I had water seeping up through my floors.  I received the answering service as expected and explained my emergency to a woman who was very professional.  She sent out a page and said to call back within 30 minutes if I did not hear from a technician.  Nobody called, so I called the service again, and she sent out another page.  Again, nobody returned my phone call, not even the following day (Monday).  

It went well and I have no complaints and I would recommend their services to others.

came out promptly...had water leaking in basement.. said the waterline from well to house needed to be replaced...big job,big ticket since needed to move air conditioner..and hire back hoe operator to dig from house to well service conection.   to make a long and awful story short
  first they choose not to move air conditioner..instead ran a pipe inside the basement from pressure tank to  another exit thus avoiding the a/c...at this point i had warned of septic tankk location since it would be toward that with the change.  i was told they wouldn"t go that deep.
they come back that week with back hoe and start digging up the old line from the new location at the house..and hit the septic line withinn minutes and have to repair it then proceed to dig along the existing waterline. now i am watching and halfway to the end i see all kinds of black chewed up corrugated plastic,i iinquire and was told it was just the original builders buried debris. when they lef i gathered all the debris and saved it.went down the basement and was shocked at the water and cement mess they left for me to clean up.
it wasn't until january that my basement flooded from all sides and my floor sewer backed up..my insurance man comes to settle damages ,confused since never had water problems and i show him the bag of debris and we realize it was my perimeter tile that takes water from house via gutters and downspouts,whatever was in that bag. as i said this story keeps going but to summarize -they did very little to resolve the issue and i now must have a sump pump and indoor gutter system which cost me a fortune since no one can figure out where the line/lines were (there was also a T fitting in the so called debris. )I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND ARNOLD  PLUMBING TO MY WORST ENEMY

8

They responded within 2 hours to a call on a leaking hot water heater.
They did the work on time and for the price quoted. The work was
professional and prompt.

I will say that they were on the expensive side, but they were very professional, conscientious, and clean, the kind of people you would want working in your house. They did what they said they would do and when they said they would do it.  They were very responsive to our "emergency" and worked us in as quickly as possible.  They applied all of the cost of the inspection and initial work trying clean out the line with the small snake toward the cost of putting in the big clean out in the yard.  If I ever have to do something like this again, I will call Arnold & Sons first.  Plumbers tend to be the most expensive contractor to work on your house, so you might as well get a good one that can work efficiently and get it right the first time.

overall he did a great job as i said above he ran snake and cleared my drain.  after running the snake he checked pipes to make sure there was not a leak anywhere like in the basement.  the bio drain cleaner i purchased i can use it in all my drains which i do.  i have had experience with two of their employees and was very happy with both.

They would not work with me because my plumbing is so old. The were very negative about how they couldn't do the work. I felt like they just didn't want to do it.

I am on an annual contract with this company and they have taken care of us for 15 years. They are dependable and give me points on preventive techniques I can use to improve the efficiency of both my plumbing and heating/air conditioning. We get the service by the same person all the time.  

After they replaced the hot water tank it started to leak. It was pretty much an emergency. Our basement was flooding. The water tank kept overheating. There was a problem in one of the soldering joints. They were here 20 minutes after I called them. There was no charge. If it was a different company I don’t know if they would have been able to come right back. He helped me to clean the basement up.  They are a little bit more expensive than some of the other places.

They come right away, when I call.  I would recommend them for plumbing, heating, and cooling services.

They are very reputable but they are a little expensive.  My parents used them and I wouldn’t keep using them if they weren’t good.  I don’t know what other plumbing companies charge because I have always used Arnold & Sons.  If they know you have a leak or something they will come out right away.  They are punctual and if they are going to be a little late they call.

I was satisfied with the work and with the service.

The sewer line was clogged due to tree roots. This company charges by the hour rather than by the job. They attempted to augur the line from the standpipe in the yard. When that didn't work, they augured the line from inside the house by removing the toilet. They worked for nearly 6 hours one day and 3 hours the next day, but were unable to clear the line. Their next step would have been to dig up the line at a cost $2000. I paid them the $721 that had accrued and had them leave. I called another company; they came out and cleared the line, using the right equipment, within a couple of hours at a cost of $180. I called Arnold's with my complaint and resolution. They sent me a check for the $180 I had spent on the second plumber.

I like them. I don?t know if they are inexpensive, but they are thorough and more than totally competent. They are probably coming out sometime next month to install a water softening system for me. I paid them about $189 for the last job. They gave me a price quote before they did the work. They are prompt and pleasant. They wear booties in your house so they don't track all over. I called their office and told them that it was not an emergency. So, I told them to have someone come out the next day, but she told me that as soon as we hung up it could become a gusher so they had someone who really needed something to do because he would be done by 3:30 so I let him come out. 

This was at our rental property. Was told on phone would cost $320.00 unless had to remove toilet. Serviceman told renter would be $520.00 as soon as came in door, hadn't even looked at job. Just had to snake sewer drain.Service manager would not change amount even though we were quoted $320.00. Also was very rude.