Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning and Electrical

Charging for a trip just to view and provide an estimate of work for simple task of replacing a bath tub is not exactly good. Especially since they would not give any ballpark pricing over the phone to help determine if they are priced in line with other companies. This makes obtaining competing bids more difficult. What's the point of having them come out if they would quote a high labor cost?

Chris did a great job. very professional and knowledgeable. had to carefully measure to find the most accurate place to cut out the drywall as too create the smallest opening. was missing a part, but went out quickly to get (didnt compromise by using something that wasnt perfect). the other staff at abacus did great as well with confirmation calls and polite.

They were very professional. They explained the pricing very clearly. I think the job did take longer than the technician had expected but he was very professional. I also liked they put booties on over their shoes to prevent tracking anything in my home. They are worth the price for the professionalism that you get.

The scope of the work was clearly explained to the scheduler to disconnect and move a condenser out of way for foundation work and have it reconnected two days later. Scheduler appeared to understand. The work was scheduled 3 weeks in advance and two appointment were made?one to disconnect and one to reconnect. No confirmation nor follow up prior to the appointment was received and technician was late despite a 4 hour window. The second appointment was never scheduled and this fact was not communicated by Abacus until I tried to determine when technician would arrive for 1st appointment. Initially the technician who did arrive did not think he could move the condenser because it was a 2 person job and Abacus sent one person. He disconnected and I had my foundation crew move. The reconnection appointment was scheduled between 8:00 & 12:00 two days later. The technician arrived closer to 3:00 and informed me it was lightly raining and work could not be done. A simple call to confirm weather conditions could have saved everybody a trip. Again extremely poor communications. The work was finally completed on 7/18/13 by a different technician who arrived without parts and needed to leave for 1.5 hours to get what was needed. Work appears acceptable but not quality. The welds have large drips and the copper lines to the condenser were not insulated (they were insulated before it was removed). Wires were left hanging rather than bundled. Overall the scheduling process was extremely frustrating and the communication by Abacus was poor. The only positive was Abacus did call when the technician was en-route for the 2nd and 3rd appointments but it was never communicated they would call. I am a first time customer based on good reviews and recommendations but my experience was far from positive. Hours of my time were wasted that could have been saved with simple communications from Company. On top of this the final product was less than impressive and shows a lack of pride in the craftsmanship.

Coming back from vacation, we unfortunately discovered the stains from a water damage from the attic to our hall way. Abacus was very quick to respond and able to come the same day (even if we were not one of their registered members). The plumber, on time, and professional, spotted a leak on a water line and was able to fix the issue during the same visit. He was very clear on the alternatives and their costs, and he did not try to sell me the most expensive fix. In addition, he told me that if I wanted to reconsider, he would come back and install the new alternative and refund me the previous work. Unfortunately, the leak was not the cause in itself of the water damage and the plumber helped us diagnose the most likely cause of the problem, in our case, a possible overflow of the A/C drain line. Although he offered a fix to the problem, he did not force us and let us deal with our A/C company. he also accepted without discussion an Angies' list voucher. He did the job quickly and neatly as far as I can tell, and even left us his professional mobile number in case we wanted him to come back specifically if a new problem arises.

It all started with a simple clog. I cannot and will not go into all the details of what I had to endure for 3 weeks after agreeing to clearing the clog, water heater replacement and water-filtration system installation. I was left without workers, waiting on equipment, living without hot water, kitchen faucet damaged by one of the plumbers, etc. Scheduling was horrible. Workers showed up unannounced, leaving me without water usage. A few days after my initial call for service, I spoke to the manager, Randy, and was so disappointed with his deadpan attitude. He could care less about my concerns and did not offer to make things better for me as a customer. Even worse, I had to pay $126 in order to receive a discount on the service that I will never use again! Tom Tynan needs to seriously re-think his endorsement of this company. Upside: I used Abacus over a year ago and that plumber was fantastic! I requested him for this recent work but was told he was no longer with the company.

We had sewage leaking into our garden from a backed up sewer line - great. Our home warranty plan sent some people out who were totally hopeless, could not find our "ground level cleanout", told me looking for it is not covered so would cost something like $800 to find it (I brought a ground probe from home depo and traced the pipe easily), could tell some of the pipe was damaged. Decided to get Abacus to come out as read some good reviews and did not want to struggle with home warranty company. Abacus came on time and called in advance. They were very professional and polite, after sending a camera down our sewer line were told we had old pipes (house is >40yrs old) which had a sag point which would likely result in future blockages if we did not replace it. We were given a few options, such as just fixing the small broken bit of pipe (and new clean out) for about $2000 and perhaps have to change out the other pipe later or to replace the whole pipe and clean out for $4500. We opted for the full replacement and the Abacas crew got straight to work and id a great job, they dug a very neat and straight hole and did a good job of minimizing damage to our lawn. The job took a couple of days abacus arranged for county inspection of the work etc, so we didn't have to anything ourselves. The hole was neatly filled, ground leveled and grass replaced such that it didn't take long before it would be hard to see any trace of the excavation. The technicians were very professional and clean, we were also told there is a 10 year guarantee on the pipe, which is good to know. I trust there work and would use again despite thinking the cost may be a little high.

Everything went fine. The only complaint I have is that I was charged $150. for cutting about a 12" square hole in my sheetrock to get to the pipe. It took the guy about two minutes and the hole wasn't even a nice neat hole, meaning that to repair it I will need to re-cut the hole. The repair was not included with the service, but they offered to recommend someone to repair it. Next time I will know to ask about something like this. I could have cut the hole myself! Otherwise the service was excellent. I have used Abacus in the past and will do so again.

Had a pin hole leak that I needed fixed. Instead of fixing it, tried to sell a total replacement of my pipes. Left quote and left me still with a pipe leak.

Saturday evening and I needed a plumber. My normal plumber could not be here until the next Tuesday. The plumber was professional and efficient. It was expensive, but that was what I expected when I call for a plumber on a Saturday.

I had two visits, one from the plumbing dept and one from A/C/Heat. They did not do what was included. Plumbing visit, among other things, was to flush both water heaters but only did one. They were to check the washing machine, which they didn't. Instead of doing minor adjustments, they said that they were all repairs. All the repairs they recommended were way overpriced. The A/C/Heater maintenance visit resulted in recommending $19K in work. I got a second opinion and found out they didn't do any maintenance. The "club" price which was discounted 20% from their regular price turned out to be 20% more than another reputable company. Their motto should not be "You can count on us." It should be "You can count on us to rip you off!" I do not recommend Abacus as their "club" membership is simply a way to get their foot in the door every year and extract your dollars.

It went very well. They did excellent work. They were on time, professional, and courteous. He even cleaned water stains off of my granite. When he was working under the sink, he actually removed everything and replaced everything when he was finished. He used protective converings on the rugs and floors and on his shoes as well.

They are very good. He was very friendly, on time, and knowledgable. They are a good company and I would recommend them. The price is fair and reasonable.

AC maintenance check Review date: 6/12/2013 Was work done? No, based on the fact that after 8 hours, no one every came out. I was given a huge 6 hr window from 12 noon to 6 pm for the AC technician to show up and do a routine maintenance check on my AC unit. At noon, I called to make sure they had me on their schedule, and was told that yes, they did. I waited all afternoon and finally at 5:30 PM, someone from Abacus called to tell me that no one could come out until AFTER 7 PM or did I want to be put on for the next day. I said I absolutely did not want to be put on for the next day and ruin another day by having to wait for them again. To this, the young woman on the other end said, "You didn't have to wait around all day. We call 30 min ahead of time." I started to ask how you can go out to lunch, or get involved with grocery shopping or go ride and care for your horse when they could call and say we're going to be there in 30 minutes, can you be there? However, I could tell there was no point in trying to explain this to this employee, who didn't care anyway. I did run some errands at that point since I had a smaller window and no one would be out until after 7 PM. I came home and waited until 8:45 PM and then called to cancel based on the fact that this was to sign up for a service membership with their company for spring and fall system checks, and after this experience, I no longer wished to be in a membership with Abacus. When I initially made the appointment, the Abacus employee tried to get me to hold the appointment with a credit card. Fortunately, I refused and they made the appointment anyway, so I was able to walk away from doing business with them.

Paul Bradshaw gave us our estimate. He was patient and informative even after answering our 3 million (or so) questions. He was the one who did most of the work, and he did what he said he would do, and he did it well. He took some extra steps that others probably wouldn't have, like marking all pipes with red or blue to indicate whether they are carrying hot or cold water. He didn't leave any messes and cut the sheetrock (where necessary to replace pipes) carefully so that most of it could be re-used. We highly recommend Paul Bradshaw for any plumbing projects you have, and Abacus if the rest of their employees are as good as he is. The only drawback was how expensive it was. We got a lot of estimates and the only one we were willing to go with was this one, because Paul was honest, patient and took great pride in his work. We were not disappointed.

It went wonderful. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

I came home at around 5pm to discover water leaking out the main water line (located outside the house). Once I peeled off the insulation I saw it was a pretty bad leak (spraying water) and had to shut off the water to my house. I called Abacus plumbing at around 5:15-5:30. At first I was told someone would be there between 7-11 and I would be charged an additional $90 for an after hours call. However, at around 6pm I got a call saying one of their technicians in the area was available now and I would not be charged the after hours fee. The technician arrived at around 6:45, inspected the problem, and gave me a quote. The good thing about Abacus is pretty much every service they perform has a fixed cost associated with it and is listed in a binder the technician will show you. Though I will admit their prices are a bit on the high side. But again, it's a fixed price so you don't have to worry about them billing you by the hour/min. The repair took about an hour, including letting the PVC cement drying for about 15-20 mins. I had the water back on in my house by 8pm. I'll also note that they guarantee their work for 2 years. This is the 2nd time I've had Abacus do work for me (first was for water heater installation) and I will most likely use them again for my plumbing needs.

Update - I have redacted my original review assessment. I had run into some issues but Abacus management promptly called me the day after finding out about my poor experience and took ownership of the issues and resolved them with urgency. Everything has been buttoned up and their responsiveness has resulted in me engaging them for additional work. You couldn't ask for a more professional response when there are issues.

We had made an appointment for June 3 between noon and 6pm and made sure someone would be home. When we did not hear from Abacus, we called to find out that they would not honor appointment and suggest instead rescheduling for 8 days later! This deserve F.

Tecnician arrived within 30 minutes of call. Work performed per estimate. Thorough job. Mateo the technician let me know what to expect and worked diligently to accomplish what needed to be done to complete the job. So far no leaks detected. Awesome job!!

When this drain backs up, the water overflows under the sink and out through the ceiling in the kitchen below. This has been going on for years with me doing "quick fixes" and getting by. This time the ceiling in the kitchen was coming down...it was time for a real plumber. I called early on Monday morning saying its urgent but not an emergency, (I had it temporarily under control). Abacus scheduled me for the next day between noon and 6, as well as, on a cancelation list for that day. They didn't have a cancelation, BUT they did call me by 2pm to let me know they couldn't come. The representative also explained EVERYTHING over the phone...all charges and reasons for them were disclosed...nothing hidden. I don't understand negative reviews when you have the power of choice. Maybe you don't LIKE their charges, but you have no reason to slam someone for work that was NOT performed because of price...you just go with someone else. My window was between noon and 6. I got a call around 3 stating the tech would be here in about 30mins. Polite, professional, and clean, he came in, listened to me and inspected the problem. He quickly came back in with a quote...with and without their "club". I turned down the club membership at this time and was NEVER given the "hard sell" like others have stated. He cleared the drain and re-plumbed the a/c drain line in less than an hour, cleaned up and was gone. I couldn't be happier with the quality of service I received. I will positively use Abacus again.

Two of our AC units went out, and I called Abacus since we had a BAM contract with them. It was apparent that our 17-year-old units needed to be replaced, and the other one was going out. We bit the bullet and replaced all three. It was very expensive but we got an outstanding system and our house is very cool. The installation took two days, but all the workers were courteous and professional. They protected all our floors and were very careful when moving equipment in and out. We were happy with the service and the installation. The only problem we had is with one of the inspections needed by the city. The inspector found two minor changes, but getting them done took longer than it should have and the inspector had to come out 4 times before the changes were complete.

The plumber arrived about an hour early after a call from the Abacus office asking for permission to arrive early. He was well dressed and his ID matched what Abacus had told me before he arrived. The plumber looked at the work and gave me a price that included an A/C service plan and an "Abacus Club" plan. I wanted neither of the extra plans, so he then provided me a flat rate of $424.95 before tax to complete the job. I did not have time to quibble, I would have to pay a service call fee of $49.95 anyway, so I agreed for the service. I had already removed the toilet and cleaned the toilet, floor, and flange before the plumber arrived. The plumber verified that the flange was not broken, installed two toilet bolts, installed the wax ring, placed the toilet on the flange, tightened the nuts on the toilet flange bolts, Installed the tank, provided and installed a quality flexible supply line of the correct length, turned on the water, attached the chain onto the float (which had fallen loose) and tested flushing the toilet. It worked properly with no leaks. He then cut the excessive flange bolt length and installed the nut covers. He then used acrylic kitchen and batch caulk in the hand squeeze plastic tube to install a generous bead between the tile floor and the skirt of the toilet bowl. He carefully shaped this and cleaned all excess caulk. The toilet wass flushed at least 10 times in this process. I found after questioning him that he could provide a new OEM plastic seat that properly matched the toiled for $126 installed, so I agreed and he installed the seat. The seat is excellent quality with two new features I did not know were available, a soft open and close hinge, and a quick mount and dismount hinge to make cleaning a breeze. The seat is excellent. When he was finished, he cleaned up well and instructed me to not sit on the toilet alone for 48 hours. We waited 72, because the caulk must have time to set so that the toilet will not begin rocking again. The elapsed time for his work was under an hour. He was very neat, clean, efficient and quick. What concerned me was the sales pressure he used to get me to accept an A/C service plan at $76 and the "Abacus Club" at $126. I expected a flat quote just to get the job I needed done promptly. I rejected the A/C service plan as I am already covered by another company and I have Mitsubishi Mini-split systems, something most A/C companies have very limited experience with. I rejected the Abacus Club plan because the simple services it includes are things I already do, such as an annual drain of the hot water heater, and checking hose bibs. However, if I were to have bought the club plan, I would have paid $71 less for the services he performed and the extra services of flushing the water heater, etc. would only have cost $55 extra. It is probably worth noting that the services they provide through this Abacus Club inspection would almost certainly yield the plumber extra billable work, because many homes need hot water heater services and hose bib services long before the problem becomes acute enough for the home owner to notice. If they did find any small leaks, the reduction in City of Houston water bills would probably pay for this extra work. The other opportunity would be "code improvements". The building codes have been changed, especially on water heaters. They now require the pressure relief valve to be piped to the outside of the house with CPVC. It was only required for this to go down to the pan under the heater. Although Abacus performed excellent work, I did feel like they planned to maximize the amount of money they could bill from my one service call. In addition, the plumber failed to fill in the invoice correctly, greatly adding to my confusion as to the bill. Here is the way the bill should have read: Install cust. prov. toilet $375.00 Round Front Seat $103.00 Subtotal $478.00 Service Call $049.95 Total Due $527.95 And if I had purchased the "club": Install cust. prov. toilet $319.00 Round Front Seat $088.00 Abacus Club $126.00 Subtotal $533.00 Service Call $049.95 Total Due $582.95 Excellent work, once you sort out the amount to pay the fast-talking plumber!

I called them for what I thought was a new leak from a previous repaired leak because of water spot. He informed me to cut and look for leak would cost $400.00 dollar ( another plumber told me feeling for wet or dampness in area could avoid cutting). After cutting he said it's not a new leak but the old spot coming thru previous paint over old spot. Prior to cut in ceiling I signed up for their club membership for maintenance check ups for $100.00. I wasn't happy that I paid $400.00 and now have to pay a sheetrock person to repair the hole.THe repairman was professional but he wasn"t feeling well that day. I called them this morning (05/20/2013) at 8:am about a new leak in my game room ceiling which is wet and leaking, I was told someone can out tomorrow, if I "d like for someone to come out today it would cost an additional $150.00 . I decided to check Angies list for someone else. I have used Angie's list many times, only once before I wasn't completely happy but instead of writing a bad review I gave them a benefit of doubt(just won't used them again),but this time I decided to share this info . I don't have money to waste, I am a widow.

When I called Abacus I was informed that they left a voice mail for me in April (about a month ago) and our contract has expired. If they had sent me some sort of notification (I never got a voice mail) I would have gotten them to do the Spring "check up" and would probably not be in this situation. I was informed that they could not get to my house before Friday. (Today is Monday). I was also informed that, if I would renew my contract (which was not fulfilled for the Spring service) they could "possibly" get someone to my house tomorrow (Tuesday). I responded that I was probably inclined to renew, however I don't like being held hostage. Instead of trying to resolve my issue the gentleman on the phone decided to inform me that this is not a "hostage" situation. I have to admit their work has been good in the past, but their public relations are terrible................and I don't recommend a "service contract"! Now I need to find another HVAC provider!