James A Wheat & Sons Inc

They always contact me first to set up appointments and run great diagnostics to make sure we're all squared away for the upcoming heating/cooling season. If there's something amiss, they're terrific at recommending affordable solutions. If there's not, I've got great peace of mind. Service is always friendly, punctual, well-informed, and never condescending. I truly enjoy working with the team.

The installation went perfectly, they were prompt and professional. When I had a question after the installation they came out and assisted us.

I called at 8am to request service. Ms. Katie took the call and was polite and professional. She told me I would be seen on the same day, and told me to call back in an hour to determine when someone would arrive at my home. Her initial guestimate was for 10am. I called back at 11am to ask when a service person would arrive, and was told to expect someone at 1pm. At 11:20am, I had a call from Wheat & Son's telling me the service person was on his way as he had finished his prior job early, and to expect him soon. Jorge Gomez provided the service. Mr. Gomez was professional, courteous, and thorough. He wore protective covers over his work shoes at all times to prevent tracking debris throughout my home. After assessing the situation, Mr. Gomez provided me with an estimate (similar to J.A. Wheat & Son's costs I had already seen from other subscribers on Angie's List). He gave me a price with and without a Wheat & Son's Plumbing Eagle Club membership. I declined the membership, as I have only had 2-3 issues in 11 years. We also discussed the possibility of an Eagle Maintenance Agreement with a Heating and Air Conditioning Service Contract, which includes two inspections a year: an air conditioner inspection in the spring and a heating system inspection in the fall. I will be purchasing this agreement from Wheat & Son's to protect the integrity of my combined heating and a/c unit. I appreciated that Mr. Gomez used a smaller snake, keeping costs down. Use of a larger snake would have been more expensive, and probably unnecessary. Mr. Gomez cleaned up after he was finished, presented me with a bill and left. We have also used J.A Wheat & Son's for service to our gas fireplace. We are very pleased with their service; will use them again, and recommend them to others reading this review.

Our system functioned flawlessly last summer.

Very professional. Explained everything and sent written report with diagnosis and recommendations.

It was a big deal purchase and my experience with them was not very good. I paid extra and then they ended up trying to sell me a bunch of different things around the house, which I did not need and they did not fix the problem I had. It was a hard sale on things that I did not need. It took a while to set up a schedule. They were here when they were supposed to be.

I received a call telling me when to expect the technician to arrive. He arrived and performed the service and also determined why the remote was not working. The technician showed me many of the features of the gas fireplace that I did not know since it was purchased with the house. I purchased at the same time a new remote for the fireplace at an additional cost of $240 which was installed at the same time. The technician was professional and very informative.

For over a year I have been trying to get my three upstairs toilets to flush properly. I had previously hadthree different plumbers come and take a look. They snaked the toilets and then suggested that I replace all three toilets. Today 3/18/14 I called James A Wheat & Sons. Jorge Gomez came on time and corrected the problem quickly. It did not cost me that much. All three toiltes are flushing properly. This was done at a very reasonable cost. Jorge was very knowageable and polite. I am extremely satisfied with the work that Jorge performed. The next time have a plumbing need I will call James Wheat & Sons.

Nothing happened. Still waiting.

The written review of our plumbing needs was wonderful. The plumber was fast, efficient, and very focused. The follow-up quote sheet, was useful as it provides a complete menu of work we might do if we chose to spend our entire income on plumbing enhancements. Not all of it is worth doing. The quote sheet's follow up work prices were high, for example $250 EACH for a total of $750 to clear out three sink drains so that they run better in future. The sinks work, they just might be a bit faster in draining the water. Is this worth $750? I thought not and instead chose to buy a sink brush from Amazon.com for $15 and treat them myself. This worked well, solving the problem at a fraction of the cost. Ultimately we chose to follow up and do 2 of the 12+ recommended projects. We had a professional low grade carbon monoxide monitor installed and a upstairs toilet rebuilt I was very happy with both projects, which took almost no time for the plumber to do, once he finally arrived. The down side of this entire project was that due to ongoing problems in getting the booking written down correctly and followed through upon by the James A. Wheat and Son office staff, we spent almost two full days at home waiting for the plumber to arrive and calling them when they missed appointment after appointment. The work ultimately took only 45 minutes and cost $320+ The Office staff at James Wheat and Sons first forgot to write down our appointment, then told us our plumber was delayed upon another job, then gave us mis-information, then tried to send us our 8 AM plumber at 5:30 pm on Friday. I rebooked, they then had written us down for the wrong day, they then sent the plumber for our appointment to another booking elsewhere, and finally when I called and asked for the manager ,Liz, she got us our plumber. Liz was great, as was the plumber, but I think they hire their office staff from Fawlty Towers. I found myself deeply regretting working with this company due to the endless waiting and poor communications. We received endless apologies but little positive action until two days into what should have been done during a 45v minute appointment on the first morning. The plumber was great when he arrived. Getting him on site was a nightmare. The inspection and quotes were quite useful and the plumber who did them was very helpful, responsive, and practical. The same plumber did the actual work the following week, which was done speedily and well. If you can survive your experience with the office staff, you will do fine with this firm, although be aware that they recommend a wide array of bells and whistles that may not be needed or even useful in your house. The list of recommended projects we received was extensive and highly expensive. Most would make almost no difference in our lives. This is a bit like cosmetic dentistry. I would also suggest that you be a bit wary of their heavily promoted Eagle Program for which you pay $13 a month in order to get customer priority and slightly lower costs on work. Since James A. Wheat appears to be on the high side for costs, you may find yourself paying monthly fees and then paying the same as if you went with another plumber. Also be aware that James A. Wheat and Sons gives you a $25 American Express Gift Card when you refer a new customer to James A. Wheat & Sons and you also receive up to a $75 off coupon towards the purchase or renewal of an Eagle Agreement when you post a online review in Angie's List, Washington Checkbook, etc. Are people who are paid for reviews and referrals giving accurate reviews and honest referrals? Hard to know, but you have to wonder. In summary, the plumbers are great, the recommendations are Cadillac quality and cover every possible bell and whistle, and the actual work is excellent, while dealing with their office staff can be challenging.

Rep arrived and tested for carbon monoxide leakage. He indicated that our upstairs fireplace should be refurbished. He ordered parts and did the job very efficiently. We are very satisfied. he saved us from having to purchase new gas logs. Would highly recommend.

Did not services that were part of the deal

He arrived on time but didn't have enough change to feed the meters so I had to meet him outside with all the change I had. I didn't mind but I would think they should expect metered parking downtown. The tech was friendly and seemed knowledgable. He inspected the unit in the apt for about 20 min and did some things then went up to the roof. I had a 6 month old at home so I really didn't watch very closely but he was professional. Afterwards, he told me the freon was leaking slowly and would need to replace it soon. He gave me an estimate and reviewed his other findings.

We used this company because our regular plumber was unavailable. They were awful. Their prices were outrageous. When I asked for a breakdown of the cost, they told me "we don't do that". Everything in their computer system was assigned a flat price with no explanation as to why. We paid $500 for a connection box that I could have bought at Home Depot for $50. We ultimately paid the price because we had gone without a working washing machine for a month. We just wanted it done. We will never use them again.

Scheduling was very good. The technician was an A-level.

Tom, the plumber, was especially helpful in pointing out that our kitchen faucet--an expensive one--was corroding. He suggested we contact the manufacturer and ask for a new one since he told us they stand behind their products. Sure enough, after phoning the manufacturer, we received a new faucet, free of charge, which we will have James Wheat & Sons install. In addition, Tom was extremely helpful, not only in inspecting everything, but also in directing us with homeowner plumbing upkeep. We were very pleased with the thoroughness and completeness of the inspection and the work done.

Very professional and curious. We would definitely use again. Fantastic service

Very good. Technician was prompt, cleaned up after himself, explained what he was doing.

They were very thorough and helpful and then came back to present the results of the audit, discussing the cost to address each item. They easily spent 4+ hours in performing the audit, preparing the report, and presenting the report. In the presentation they also highlighted the priority items and those that could be eliminated. I feel I have good information with which to move forward. The costs for correcting or improving some items seemed very high however - nothing you could readily accept without another quote.

The two plumbers that came called ahead and let me know they were on their way. They evaluated all the plumbing and suggested anything that could be useful or upgraded. They were thorough and nice.

We've never had any problems with the service.

They fixed my problem quickly for the minimum house call amount.

I had Wheat and Sons come out and give us a price quote. They were very professional and punctual but the whole time they were here I felt like I was having a hard sales pitch thrown at me. I was encouraged to buy the most expensive system that I thought I could afford and EVERYTHING was an extra charge. Overall, I felt like I was being encouraged to buy something that I didn't necessarily need for my small townhouse.

Pros- professional; responsive in contacting me and following up with estimates for additional work- this was the most impressive follow-through I've seen in ANY contractor in the DC area. And Plumber didn't try to sell me on any work, so he gained a lot of credibility. He flushed the hot water heater and didn't try to sell me a new one. Overall, I would call them again. Cons- plumber's knowledge in troubleshooting our particular problems did not seem very deep. Timing- plumber did not arrive until after 4pm and I didn't know the window of his timing (after 2pm) until that morning when I called the company, so I took a whole day off from work unnecessarily. Price- the AL deal was a good price, but the follow up work would have been very pricey. To be fair, I suspect all plumbers are pricey.

This visit was a routine system check and everything went smoothly even though we did have to reschedule it because of an emergency. They were on time and did a very thorough check up of the system.