American Plumber LLC

On April 21, 2018, Ernest Serghi of American Plumber, LLC gave an estimate to replace the existing 1.5” underground gas line from the gas meter to the pool heater. This line is buried 30”. I told him that I wanted a 1.5” poly gas pipe buried 18” which was specified by the Holmdel plumbing inspector. He agreed to this and I signed the contract. On May 9, 2018, Ernest came to do the job and dug a narrow trench with a small hand-operated trenching machine and rolled out the yellow poly gas line, I measured the depth immediately and told Ernest that it was only about 12” deep and I wanted it 18” deep as he had agreed to. Ernest said the Code only requires a 12” depth and refused to dig the trench deeper. Ernest did the job in just 2 hours since he did not dig the trench 18 inches as he had agreed to. I have photographic evidence that in one area the gas line is only 9 inches deep. This is a violation of NJ Fuel Gas Code 404.9 that specifies a minimum burial depth of 12”. On May 10, 2018, the Holmdel plumbing inspector looked at the job quickly and approved it. However, he failed to measure the depth of the gas line and did not realize that it did not meet the minimum burial depth required by the Code. In the contract job description, Ernest did not specify in writing the 18” burial depth of the gas line that he had agreed to. I should have required this wording since Ernest did not honor our verbal agreement. I have contacted American Plumber, LLC several times in an attempt to have them correct the code violation and adjust the contract price to reflect the work that was actually done. Instead of trying to correct their error, American Plumber, LLC is demanding payment in full and filed with the Clerk of Monmouth County a Notice of Unpaid Balance and Right to File Lien against my property. I have filed complaints about this unscrupulous and dishonest contractor Ernest Serghis of American Plumber, LLC with the NJ Department of Consumer Affairs and Better Business Bureau.

I've always been very happy with the quality of work done by Ernest and his crew. Calls were returned in a reasonable amount of time, appointments were kept promptly, and the prices quoted for the work done have been good.

They did a good job.

So far so good

Good, but pricy

They were very courteous and professional.

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They installed it totally wrong way. When we tried to open the bulb the hot water comes first rather the cold. I called them later to fix it and they asked for additional $150 to fixed their mistake. I am so disappointed by them. I will never use them again.

In order to replace my water main?Ernie had to re-route the entire line. It seem that the builder of my house had left 150 ft of water line coiled up underneath the slab foundation of my house. It was impossible to just pull a new line through. Ernie and his crew of one other spent the whole day digging out trenches by hand and machine. They?started at 08:00 am and by 04:00 pm I had water?again. The previous company AJ Perri wanted to charge me $18,500 for the work and that is with a?20% discount. They wanted to trench the entire length of the floor of my garage and 8 ft of my concrete driveway. I wished that I had called Ernie in the first place. I could of had water days earlier and I would not had move my 2 week old baby to her aunt's house. I also would not of had to deal with the stress of a possible $18,500 bill. I did not know the Ernie did water mains at first. It wasn't listed on Angie's List, but now I know.

I had told them over the phone that I needed 2 flappers changed on the toilets and the kitchen faucet repaired. They came and told me it was $280 to repair those items. I mentioned I bought this deal on Angie's List. They then said they didn't realize how complicated the work was going to be. I didn't think changing 2 flappers and changing a faucet was too complicated and thought it could be done in 1 hour for the amount I paid. They insisted on the $280 and I told them to leave. The gentleman who showed up was lovely and I blame him not at all for this.

Work took about 45 minutes, I provided the valve for water heater and mixer for faucet control. Work appears to be high quality. He'd quoted me $200 for the work in response to my inquiry (copied below) on the Angies List messaging system, and then charged me $300 and didn't reduce price for Angies List 15% off coupon.  Given the work took 45 minutes and he used mostly my materials, I thought the price was excessive and it's hard to imagine the work was harder than he expected when he gave me the price.  I moved and disconnected my washer to allow access to rear of dryer, he didn't offer to reconnect it. 
Here's email volley between us:
(me) 7/31/2015  I need to have a few sale inspection items addressed. 1. replacement of shower mixer cartridge (I have replacement cartridge) to stop drip 2. replacement of water heater pressure release valve 3. replacement of gas supply line to dryer 4. rerout condensate drain from sanitary pipe to outside. Please let me know price and availability to fix. Thanks (me)
American Plumber LLC 7/31/2015 Roughly for the first two items you would be around $200 rerouting the condensation line I would need to see that before giving you a price you can call us at your earliest convenience at 732 744 6812 and we can schedule an appointment if you'd like thank you.
Note that I didn't have him replace the condensate line. I don't mean to hammer him, the work was what I expected and he was pleasant and competent and quite frankly I'd use him again.  It just goes to the inconsistency and general disadvantage we as consumers are at when using contractors of this nature.

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Ernest was very courteous and professional in the entire process. We needed the work done at a specific time and he was punctual. He is organized and his work is tidy. He is definitely someone I would trust the next time we need a plumber.

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Ernest came in and I asked if he gave free estimates.  He said no, the charge was $85.  I explained Angie's List had given me a list of providers offering free estimates, where it states on his profile the he gives free estimates.  Then he changed his tune.  He said he only charges $85 if he stays for an hour or more.  I started explaining my frustration to him about this, and he was a very nice and friendly guy, but I caught him lying to me.  Once someone lies to me, I'm done doing business with them.  He only stayed about 25 minutes so he did not charge me the $85 fee, but I think this was because he felt he had been caught.  I have reached out to Angie's List to investigate this further.

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Terrific & painless.

I found this plumber on Angie's List, this is the second time they have done work for us. Very accommodating with scheduling, very reasonable prices. Fast great work. I highly recommend this plumber.

First of all, I called and a real person answered, not a service. +10 points right there. Then he promised to send a crew within 2 hours. Another +10. Take away 5 points for it being a bit more than 2 hours. But the 2 guys who showed up were easy to communicate with, alert to the problem, and equipped to fix it right then and there. It took maybe 30 minutes, and they cleaned up after themselves. Probably the best plumber experience I've had in this area over 20 years.

Ernie and the team did a great job on all phases of the job.  He was very flexible in scheduling and setting up a time to do the install.  The day of the install he was right on time and got the job down with no problems, and exactly for the price he quoted.  Would definitely use again.

Ernest came ASAP. Respectful, professional. Spent as much time as he needed to get job done; true to his price quote, did not charge me a penny more. True professional and honest.

Showed up on day promised, had all miscellaneous components, besides the boiler, to do the job.  Ernie said the job would take one day, in fact, it was completed by 3pm and completely checked out.  Ernie and his crew of 2 were courteous, fastidious about clean up (put me to shame). The entire process of dealing with Ernie was smooth and timely.  A quote took only 2 days, site visits were scheduled and when he ran late on a visit he even called to say he was running 45 min late.
One of the things I liked best was that even though Ernie is the owner of the company, he worked as hard as his crew, clearly was expert in the equipment he was installing.
I highly recommend Ernie Serghis and American Plumber

Ernie, the owner, is an expert at all that he does, and it reflects in his staff as well. He and his staff are prompt, friendly, and very respectful of my home and to me as a person. They put down tarps, clean up when done and have never left any debris or any kind of a mess. They have done a wonderful and efficient job on every visit. I would highly recommend him to anyone.

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