Holtmeier Plumbing Co Inc

Holtmeijer plumbing may be a fine group of plumbers, but before you commit to them doing work for you, get another estimate or two to see how they compare on price.  Holtmeijer quoted me $1500 to have a sump pump and battery backup installed.  I ended up getting a different quote from a very highly rated Angie's List plumber to have the same system installed----their quoted price was $880 total--and this was the price they actually charged me!  So, take your time and get a few quotes as a little time may save you a lot of money.
When Holtmeijer was questioned about the high price, he said the fittings had changed and it was more complicated than it appeared (turns out it was a very simple installation and the pump and backup was fully assembled in the box).  He then offered to charge just based on the work done (hourly rate) as opposed to a per job rate.  He said this would lower the price somewhat.  This is when I received another quote and was blown away by the difference--again, this was the same brand of pump and same high quality AGM backup battery all installed for much less than Holtmeijer quoted me. 
Holtmeijer did show up at his promised time to give a quote and he did answer phone calls in a timely manor.  He was even able to install the pump the same day he quoted me had I decided to use him. 

Fine

Tom was excellent.  He was prompt, professional and efficient.  He replaced the faucet in the kitchen sink.  Did so quickly, he also adjusted the valve on the toilet, and secured some clanging pipes.  Overall a great experience.  I will call him again.

Our hot water heater was seven years old. Over a period of two or three weeks it was gradually not heating water as quickly as it had. We contacted the plumbing company. They said that it was probably getting old and should be replaced, which they did after checking the old hot water heater. With the new hot water heater the water heated up much, much more slowly than the old water heater heated at its worst. It's peak heat was not as high as that of the older one. The owner said that it was due to a bad circulator, which he had disconnected and which he said had not been working for several years. He had set the temperature for the new hot water heater at 120°, which was the same as the old hot water heater. He returned to set the temperature for the new hot water heater higher, which resulted in the water heating up slightly more quickly though still not as warm as it had been with the old water heater when that one was dying. Even waiting several minutes for the new one to heat water did not solve the problem.

He was excellent, efficient, cleaned up the place, he also put our old disposal in a bag so all I had to do was throw it away, he is professional, and friendly .

Gave us an estimate that was right on target even though it was quite expensive. Covered the carpeting in the hallways to and from the elevator where they would have to carry out the old tank and carry in the new one. Cleaned up after themselves completely.
They worked efficiently and quietly, no radios blasting out music, etc. They completed the job as quickly as possible and then returned later on to check that the system was working properly.
While their service was quite expensive it was quality work and we will definitely use them again for our plumbing needs.
We had to have them back because one shower was still not getting hot water & also a bathroom faucet was loose.

VERY WELL!

This is a family owned business. They live in the area. They are terrific. Dependable, trustworthy. They know our house as well as we do.

Noticed on Christmas day that the ceiling in the livingroom had some severe water stains. Called holtmeier christmas day and left a message. They had someone out the next day and said we definetly had a leak from the bathroom plumbing. They ended up having to cut three different holes in the wall and replaced the pipe from the tub all the way down. They also installed a new drain in the tub and closed of the bathtub spillover so no water could get down there. Our house is 70 years old so this really wan't a suprise. I was impressed that they left no mess from cutting out the wall and they used a high grade pvc so it should last a while. They even gave us a number to a person who does plaster work so we can get the wall repaired. I would highly recommend them and we will be using them for all of our plumbing needs.

Will never use them again and advise others to do the same.

Everything went well.  They responded quickly, provided a good estimate, and completed the work as promised.

They're always very professional as well neat & tidy. They do a nice job.

I have never felt so used by a service professional in my life!  The initial chit chat was cordial enough, but things went down hill after that.  Andy told me that the water valve needed to be replaced.  He noticed that it was plastic when he turned off the water to the toilet.  It wasn't cracked, and the water was turned off well enough to remove the toilet, so I assume this is a case of him trying to sell me an upgrade that I didn't need.  He then told me that the ring that holds the toilet to the pipes (a coupling?) was probably cracked.  When he removed the toilet, I could see that the coupling was not cracked.  And wouldn't a crack cause leaking?  Which we didn't have.  Tom's assessment of how many people it would take to remove the toilet was incorrect.  Andy took it apart by himself and could have moved it the few feet needed to make the repair. Andy and his brother, Tom, then showed me that the inside of my toilet was cracked.  It wasn't in a place that would cause leaking, but I don't think that any structural damage is safe for a toilet.  Then Andy told me how much it would cost to replace and install a toilet.  $750 seemed a ridiculous amount, so I asked what they would charge to install a toilet that I purchased.  He then informed me that they don't do that because they wouldn't make any money off of a job like that.  If your business is relying on retail sales, then the service can't be that good.  I was feeling very used and upset by the way I was treated.  Andy tried to convince me that his is the only business in town that can put a toilet in properly.  And he tried to change my mind even after I told him that my husband was not willing to go along with their replacement cost.  I discussed the replacement with my husband on the phone, assuming that Andy was replacing the valve that he had insisted was substandard and that I had told him i wanted replaced.  He didn't replace it, but did charge me $250 to remove my toilet and take it to the garage.  This amount is ridiculous, especially after I was told that a service call is $39.95!  Even if I was charged for two service calls and their time I shouldn't have been more than $150.  Andy justified the charge by saying that two people were needed for the job, but Tom was only here for ten or fifteen minutes.  The overall impression I had was that they were trying to make a quick buck off of the people in the big house.  I'll never use them again!

I have always used the Holtmeiers for all my plumbing needs.  I just moved back to Cincinnati from PA and Tom did work for me when I lived in Kenwood.  Now I live in Maineville and so when I had some things I wanted to fix I called their office.  Andy came this time and he was awesome, very kind, very professional and does high quality work.  I was beginning to paint a bedroom when he was working here and I asked him for some hints on how to spackle.  He stopped what he was doing and came in and taught me how to spackle the wall.  Now that is going above and beyond!  How many plumbers would take the time to do that?  He had to cut out the drywall to put in the lever turn-off valve for my washer and when he was finished he showed me how to put the piece back in the wall and mud it and sand it before I painted that.  That was so awesome.  I will always call them for my plumbing needs, why would I call anyone else?  There are so polite, knowledgeable, and do such high quality work!

I called Holtmeier plumbing for a clogged drain pipe that connected my sump pump to the city sewer line.  I chose Holtmeier after reading their reports on Angie's List.  Mr Holtmeier came out to inspect the issue and give an initial estimate.  We rescheduled on a day that they would be available.  They were prompt, responsive, and professional. 

They did a good job replacing a section of 10 ft pipe that was buried underground.  They included an additional port for future access in case it was needed.  They also closed all the gaps between the house drain pipes and underground drainage, saving my sump pump from extra work and taking the water pressure off my basement walls.

 Overall very good experience. If I finish my basement, I'm going to call them to install the plumbing for bathroom.

See comment above.

He explained that the access point plug was stuck and stripped, and would have to be cut out. He did so - it took quite a while.

It was great from start to finish, very reliable and knowledgeable.

They're a family owned business, and all of their workers are really nice.  They take care of their customers and do great work.

I called him on an emergency basis.  The guy came out very promptly, and he was helpful.  I was delighted with the response and the work that he did.  I thought the price was reasonable, considering it was an emergency.

The woman who helped me schedule a service-call was extremely helpful and polite.  She informed me it was about $40 for a service call and then $85 an hour with an hour minimum charged, so we'd start out with a bare minimum charge of $129.  I arranged a time, and looked forward to having the broken pipe replaced.

Tom Holtmeier is the plumber who made my service call.  He showed up about 30 minutes before he said he would (which worked out this time, but would have been a problem if I hadn't already been home).  I showed him the problem, and he said he would need to tear out the first floor ceiling to access the toilet to replace the pipe.  From that point on there was no communication from Tom, but I figured he was just busy fixing that pipe.

At the end, he came down and gave me my bill--didn't show me the work he'd done or anything.  He casually mentioned that he replaced ALL the inner workings of the toilet...seals, flush kit, and that it PROBABLY was dry-rotted from the toilet being unhooked and empty, and maybe they were, but I personally would have appreciated him telling me he was going to replace all those parts PRIOR to doing them so I could give the go-ahead.  I had only asked him to replace the pipe--my husband and I are quite handy and could handle replacing the parts of a toilet and have many times.

I was flustered, and the price was just given verbally with no breakdown provided for the charges-- I should have asked for the detail then, but I was still absorbing the price and that he replaced most of the toilet.  I just wrote a check, and then went upstairs to look at the repaired toilet to find that he had even replaced the flush handle on the outside of the toilet.  I also notice that he had used an entire roll of toilet paper and left an empty cardboard TP tube on the TP holder.  Now I am not cheap, but when a guy charges me $400+ bucks for a service, I expect everything to be in my home as it was when he arrived.

Later I started wondering about the price, which seemed steep, and I contacted the company to request a detailed invoice.  They quickly and politely sent me one by e-mail.

As I looked it over I was very angry to see I had been charged for 2.5 hours of labor when he was here exactly 1.5 hours.  I also noticed the flush handle he had replaced had been charged to me at $30--for a handle to flush my toilet.  I didn't understand why the handle needed to be replaced.  

I wrote to Holtmeier Plumbing and asked for a refund for being overcharged by an hour for services, and I asked about the flush handle, and why he used up a whole roll of Toilet Paper.  

Tom Holtmeier called and spoke with my husband.  He claimed that he has to bill an extra hour for taking care of restocking the parts used (we got no refund).  If that is the case, I feel that should be mentioned when the rates are quoted on the phone at the time of scheduling.  I was told simply $40 for a service call plus $85 an hour.  There was no mention about an extra hour of labor being thrown in for taking care of inventory or anything else.

He told my husband, "Oh absolutely" he had to replace the handle on the outside of the toilet because it is very integral to the proper functioning of the toilet.  Now this may be true, but it sounds like hooey to me, and I still think it should have been discussed with me that he intended to replace that along with the other parts vs. just doing it and telling me after the fact since that is not what he was there to repair.

Finally, he said he used the entire roll of our toilet paper "for cleanup".  That's exactly what he said.  Apparently plumbers don't carry rags for cleaning up their work?  Really? Is Toilet Paper the best tool for the job?  He acted as though we were petty for asking about the toilet paper, but I think it is unprofessional for him to just help himself to an entire roll of TP--especially when he's billing for his services the way he did.  He asked if we wanted him to bring over a replacement roll, but really it is more the principal of the matter.

In the end, they did address the concerns, but not all of the response was satisfactory to us.  We felt bamboozled with the billing and disappointed at the lack of communication during the service call.  The work itself was quality from what I can tell, but being a good business involves more than just doing the job right--customer service goes a long way.

They are kind of old aquaintances of my in laws.  They came over and looked at the situation.  They really seemed to know what they were talking about.  They guys were very nice, professional, and clean.  I think they did a really good job.  They took all the old stuff out.  They didn't leave a mess.  I have a good water heater.  They were on time and very responsive. 

The install went quite smoothly.  Valves were replaced, and the plumber explained to me exactly what he'd done.  Though I'd not requested it in my initial phone call, he also performed a connection between drain lines.  He seemed rather concerned about doing so, repeatedly stressing that he couldn't be responsible for the existing work (i.e. the drain line installed in the sink or the existing drain line to which it was being connected).  This seemed obvious to me, but I suppose it makes sense if people have complained about unrelated work in the past.  In any case, the drain line was connected succesfully as well.

water heater was on its last leg and I wanted to check out alternative forms of heating water. Spoke with a number of plumbing contractors and decided the old fashion tank type was the way to go. Holtmeir was very up front about the varoious variables that need to be considered. I was wanting an energy star model but Rheem is having difficulties getting theirs out to the market. When the difference was explained to me I felt the pay back would not be worth the extra expense.  Tom came out and by himslef and was very workman like in getting the heater installed and then repaing the commode.  Job well done!!

We were able to schedule within 2 days of calling. It was not an emergency. They called that morning to give us an estimate of arrival time. Plumber was prompt. Fixed problem that day within 1 hour.