SALZER PLUMBING LLC

I would not trust this guy to turn off my faucet if it was on. The worst rip off artist around. Came did nothing except tell me this was a major problem. I'd need new faucet kit and all the rough in parts. I would need to get pay for it (maybe $300-$800 ) and that he would come back and fix it for $1295.00 minimum. Charged me $125 for nothing. Said if he came back and did the work he's apply half. He left I called delta and found the part I needed for $75.00. Found a reliable plumber to install it for $255. Contacted Wade to come back and finish the job but once he saw he wasn't going to scam me he never even responded. It will be worth much more $125.00 loss if yay read this and avoid this guy ate all costs. Beware!

Wade removed the antique faucet and installed new faucet quickly. The drain hook up required him to go to Home Depot at lunch time to obtain parts that normally would be on a professional plumbers truck. This brought the total charge to 3 plus hours of time and a charge of $695.00

Timely, professional, careful, left no mess. Would definitely hire again.

He lied about the price and jacked it up at the last minute. When I confronted him about it, he basically told me where to go. I paid him, but still needed more work done so I hired a different plumber. He told me that Salzer Plumbing had over-charged me about $500.

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Long story short --- don't walk from Salzer --  RUN FROM SALZER.  We've tried to take the appropriate steps, in a mature manner, of resolving our issues.  We started with letters and phone calls  to Salzer, but there's no response, only crickets.  They overcharge for phantom parts, complain about why things cannot be installed (he complained about having to install our Reverse Osmosis water system we had ready for him, but ours was JUNK ..  he'd sell us "A BETTER ONE FOR $600", and then gave a million excuses why our 3rd toilet couldn't be installed -- (it never was).  Pressure will be applied for payment for your payment, along with promise that office will send full, detailed invoice showing why the amount was so high , SUPPOSEDLY.  But then after they get your $$ , they are long gone.  If you have any issues or disputes, it's Adios! Au Revoir! Arrivederci! Auf Wiedersehen!  GOODBYE!!
There is always a "HE SAID / SHE SAID" element of these complaints, that's understandable.  But below is our story, as told to Better Business Bureau, along with the utter lack of response with Salzer.  Just see below and judge for yourself.  Any sensible person will move on to the next plumber.
Technically -- our case with Minnesota BBB was "CLOSED", as  Salzer would not reply or acknowledge this issue, ,even with BBB.  Just see below for yourself, but as you can see below, they intentionally will not even engage in communication with BBB. 
So just beware .. they overcharge for parts, they charge you for parts that they didn't install (PROOF IS UNDER MY SINK!!)  and then won't reply to any inquiries whatsoever.  
Below is my complaint about Salzer with BBB --- and see for yourself what Salzer's response is.  What's that say ?    Just move on to another plumber and save yourself the headaches.
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BBB Processing 
02/20/2014   web BBB Complaint Received by BBB
02/24/2014   AL BBB AB Complaint Reviewed by BBB staff
02/24/2014   Otto EMAIL Send acknowledgement to Consumer - AB 
02/24/2014   Otto MAIL AB Send acknowledgement to Business
03/07/2014   OttO BBB No response from business
03/07/2014   AL BBB No response to first notice, send second notice
03/07/2014   Otto MAIL Second Notice to Business
03/21/2014   OttO BBB No response from business
03/21/2014   AL BBB Make Phone Call/Time Extension
03/28/2014   OttO BBB No response from business
03/28/2014   AL BBB Certified letter to business 
04/08/2014   OttO BBB No response from business
04/11/2014   AL BBB Make Phone Call/Time Extension
04/18/2014   OttO BBB No response from business
04/24/2014  Inform Consumer No Response from Business 
04/24/2014  Inform Consumer - Case Closed UNANSWERED 
04/24/2014  Case Closed - UNANSWERED  
Consumer's Original Complaint :over-billing for parts, and billing for parts that were not installed by salzerTotal Invoice $1640.00 for services provided by Salzer.    Salzer was hired to install 2 toilets, 1 sink, 1 soap dispenser, 1 faucet, fix some shower plumbing in bathroom and install new diverter, and to clean out drain line in basement.  Homeowner supplied most of the products for installing (didn't supply silicone, small items, etc).  Salzer advised hourly rate was $100/hour, for 10 hours service, at time of completion in our home.  Salzer was only at house for approximately 8 hours total, apparently extra 2 hours needed for "finding appropriate tool" for kitchen sink, and we accepted that.  But running the numbers, labor total for 10 hours is $1000, which leaves $640 for parts.  We knew the $640 for parts was not possible, this amount was simply not possible.  Therefore we went and bought parts at Home Depot for comparison after receiving Salzer invoice.  All parts purchased were based on detailed description on supplied invoice to us indicating the specific parts.  The total parts bill was $134.89 from Home Depot.  Included in our purchase was extra shop rags, extra DAP & silicone for each different application, we went overboard,  just in case of dispute with Salzer about parts being compared in an "apples to apples" situation.  At house upon completion of job, Salzer requested payment for services,  which we reluctantly provided, but looking back I should've requested to speak with the owner.  A detailed invoice was not left at our house upon completion, that was going to be mailed out to us from the office later.  And when we did receive the "detailed" invoice 2 days later, but there was nothing to indicate the actual number of hours worked at our house , there were no details about this.  And furthermore, they said they installed some items under my sink .. they didn't, and I can easily enough snap a photo to prove it.  The actual number of hours worked is not written or specified on the invoice anywhere, only the parts are specifically noted.  So by not putting actual hours woked in our house, the consumer cannot crunch the numbers to see that the bill is bogus.  Wade, the plumber at our house, when questioned by me about this bill, he blurted out, "I'VE GOT 10 HOURS  IN THIS JOB"!!   We sent 2 letters and left a voicemail about our concerns, and Salzer has not responded to our inquiries.  Salzer invoice is careful not to note hours worked, but there is no question about time spent in our home, so labor amount is not disputable.  And Salzar said, "I HAVE 10 HOURS IN THIS JOB", while in our kitchen.   
Consumer's Desired Resolution:  Giving Salzer 10 hours labor payment is acceptable.  But $640.00 in parts is not acceptable, considering it's over a $500 upcharge to standard retail pricing.  We will settle for $640.00 minus our Home Depot Invoice total of $134.89. Due to Salzer's lack of responding to letters and voicemail, they leave us little choice but to turn to BBB of Minnesota for retribution. 

Initially very enthusiastic and positive.  Cut out the old jacuzzi handles and spigot, left, and didn't see him for a week or so.  Returned with the hardware for the jacuzzi, but nothing for the sink.  Said it was on back order.  Paid him for the jacuzzi work and in advance for the sink at that time.  I offered to also pay for the shower handles but he said he forgot to order them and would do so that day and let us know how much they were.  
Once he got our money he was almost impossible to reach.  Fortunately I had his cell phone number and after about 6 weeks of promising to come by the end of the day he finally returned and replaced the sink fixture that I had already paid for.  He said at that time that the shower handles were on order and he would stop by and replace them when they came in, as it would only take a few minutes.  I would call him weekly and for about a month he claimed they were on back order, or they had just come in and he would be over that day, later in the afternoon.  Despite promising to come later that day 4 or 5 times, he never showed, or even called with an excuse.  I finally called the local supplier and was told he never ordered them.
In my experience this company proved to be very expensive, unreliable, untrustworthy and dishonest.

In 2009, I hired a contractor to remodel my home. The contractor , in turn, subcontracted to Salzer Plumbing for any plumbing that was done. The contractor told me that if I had the plumber buy the fixtures, (faucets-kitchen and bath) that the plumber would guarantee the fixture as well as the labor. Salzer Plumbing did work on radiators, installed HRV, on-demand water heater, water softener, well tank as well as numerous faucets and shower heads. I chose the faucets, the plumber purchased them from a local commercial plumbing supply. Bernie came out once soon after the remodel was done to replace a part in the water heater. He came promptly and solved the problem. In October of 2011, I called him because a tub/ shower fixture was leaking. I had chosen this particular make because it had a 5 year warranty. Bernie came promptly and told me that a part surely needed replacing. It took me several months of calling before he sent another plumber ( whose name I have forgotten)  out with the cartridge replacement. After the work was done, the leak was worse. Bernie understood that more needed to be done and he discussed this with the other plumber and me at the time. Because my summer is busy and I work a lot, I let the problem go for the time. In October of 2012, however, I gave Bernie another call. He said he would get the parts needed to solve the leak. I heard nothing from him and so called again. He was surprised that the other plumber had not contacted me because Bernie had given him the parts needed and my phone number. After a few weeks, I called Bernie again and again he was surprised that I had not heard from the other plumber. I requested the other plumber's number, and Bernie said he had to hang up cause the number was in his phone. So I hung up. I have called him weekly for a couple of months now and he does not answer my calls. While  I could give him an F rating for his failure to fix my leaky tub faucet, I gave him a D because all the other work that he did in the house is satisfactory.

They were hard to get out here because every time we would schedule him, someone's water would break. I was glad it wasn't mine though. When I really needed him, he was there.

All work done has been outstanding.  I would recommend him highly (hopefully he won't become so popular and busy that he won't be available!).

They are phenomenal. Quick response, professional, and they always exceed expectations.

They are very knowledgeable but they can be pricey.  I have been using them repeatedly because they are very technical people and they are good overall.  They do the work right.

This is the second time I've used Salzer Plumbing for work in my home. Berney and his team are professional and do a great job. They've done a great job of integrating new plumbing in with the existing old "old stuff".

The entire project was completed except for the rough-in for the kitchen sink. This could not be done until the kitchen cabinets were in place. We have called repeatedly to get someone to come out to finish this work. If we happen to get an answer, we are told they will come out that day and they never show up. They never return our calls. Unfortuneatly, we paid in full before the final work was completed. Now we will have to hire another plumber, who I assume will have to pull another permit for this work. In the meantime, we will continue to wash our dishes in our laundry sink. If anyone uses Salzer Plumber, they should be sure to hold back a significant amount of money until the entire project is complete. Seemed like nice people. This was very disappointing. Shame on us for trusting they would finish the job.

First of all it was a bigger project than he bid on. He made excellent suggestions and advice for what to fix. After finding out more problems he stayed until they were done. So my tenants will have water. The next day he cleaned my the drain, something I had a few other companies do 3 years in a row. I complained that I kept having the same problem and that the drain cleaning never worked. He immediately saw what the problem was. They were cleaning out the wrong drain. It took him a long time to clean out the proper drain and he said it was never done right the first time. They were great, honest, forthright, experience. I cannot say how important it is to have someone who is experienced. I was there throughout the whole process. I should have been charged more and am grateful to him since I was on leave from my deployment to Iraq. He is on my quick dial for any future work I have at my house.

Perfect, Berney and his brother were some of the hardest working people I have ever met. They are very honest people and have integrity. I have complete confidence in their work and highly recommend the company.

The faucet at the back of the house went in easily, since our lower level is still unfinished. The faucet on the side was more complex in that the pipe needed to run along side a natural gas pipe. We chose to use Wirsbo plastic pipe for that section. The one inch pipe had to be back ordered. He did a fine job and everything works great!

I LOVE THIS FAMILY OF PLUMBERS -- THEY WALK, TALK, AND EVEN LOOK ALIKE! I CONTACTED BERNEY THE MORNING OF 5/10 AND HIS BROTHER WADE WAS OUT TO DO WORK BY 12:00 NOON ON THE SAME DAY. THEY ARE VERY POLITE, FUNNY, PROFESSIONAL, NEAT, AND SPEEDY. I FEEL THAT THEIR PRICES ARE REASONABLE AND THEIR WORK IS TOP NOTCH. I'VE USED THEM FOR A FEW YEARS NOW AND WOULDN'T DARE CALL ANYONE ELSE!