JIM BERTOLINO PLUMBING & DRAIN SERVICE

--> Short Version: Jim seems like a decent guy and he does great work, however his pricing model is quite exorbitant to say the least. $750 for a 30 minute fix. Said it would be much longer and much harder to do before the work started. Hopefully, someone will read this and not get ripped off like I did. Call a more reasonable company. I'm sure he'll reply with a very long, overly detailed explanation of overcharging. --> Long Version: We had a drain pipe from a downstairs bathtub not fully connected the original cast iron pipe. Jim charges approx. $190 to come out and inspect. Applies $130 of that if any work is done. All good so far. He looks at the connection and explains how difficult this job will be, may have to break out concrete, etc. Says how he is one of the only people that can even do this job, on and on. Told me this will have to be a 'Sunday morning job' and will take '2 and 1 quarter hours'. Cost will be $750 plus some other fees totaling $920. It's Thursday evening and I'm trying to figure out if I can get a couple more quotes before Sunday because this price is stupid high. Or maybe it is a lot of work and a bigger problem than it seems. So then I ask him, you can come back and do it Sunday morning? He says, I'll do it right now. Wait, what? So now I have to make a decision and I made the wrong decision to just get it taken care of. Timeline up to this point: Approx. 7pm arrival, sits in van approx 10 min. (writing up work order, he is definitely a writer), comes into house approx. 7:15. Inspection takes approx. 10 min. Says how hard job is, how long it takes (2 and 1 quarter hours), how only a master can do it, blah, blah, blah. Bad decision to proceed occurs at approx. 7:30. Starts working approx. 7:35, wrapped up at approx. 8pm. Whoa! Man that was super fast Jim, must have been much easier than expected. It seems that with 30 years of experience this must be an anomaly since you incorrectly estimated over 2 hours. But hey, great, saves me money, right? Wrong. "Jim, since that only took 30 minutes and was way easier than you expected, the price is lower since you did quote a per hour fee?" No, the price is the same. And feeling like a ripped off fool I did pay him $920 on the spot. I got a leak fixed, but also a super valuable lesson. And you get that lesson for free, definitely call a different company.

Jim and Roy were 2 hours late but called in advance to say so. They were well equipped but borrowed my extension ladder that is not heavy rated. Neither was careful to avoid stepping in sewage overflow before coming into the house or outbuilding. They did not clear the entire outside sewer line, saying that the roots near the city connection were the only blockage. We are watching the 2 access caps for any sign that they were wrong. Jim explained how his equipment worked but also took time to tell stories of other jobs and denigrate our recent water heater and its installation quality. When he left we found it had shut off and we had to relight the pilot flame.

unknown

.same as above.

I would never refer him in 100 years!   The guy takes advantage of seniors and is scum!

He'll never set foot on our property again!

I didn?t appreciate that I was given one price over the phone and then when the guy got here it was twice as much as what I was quoted. When I called him back to complain about the service and what I was charged he was really nasty about it.

Did Diagnostic 64.50 Service Charge and $260.00 to do diagnostic. Charged me $110.00 for parts which consisted of a couple, nipple a 1 X 6 pipe, 2- PVC 90 degrees angle, and 1 1/4 Couple and 1 foot of PVC. Oh and some glue- crazy they should of been 14 kt gold for that price. Was told that 2 sprinkler heads were leaking but my irrigation guy should fix that. So at the end of the experience spent over $500.00 to replace 2 pipes and my system is still not fixed. Appt was made for yesterday at 3:00 p.m. and had to reschedule for today was told they would be here at 8:30 a.m. showed up around 9:30 a.m.-makes you wonder if I paid for that 1st hour even though they were not here. I found the individual that did the work to be unprofessional. Would not use this company again, and the reason I did use them was it appeared they installed the pump originally because their sticker was on the pump. I have removed that sticker and will be sure to tell all my friends and neightbors of my horrible experience.

They did good work. I spent more than I thought initially. A very personable guy, but I was disappointed with the price.

These guys have done an outright excellent job. Throughout the whole job they took he time to explain everything that they were going to do. They were so helpful and informative, I just can t say enough good things about this company.

I then looked at your list and called another company. He is coming out on Tuesday and when I told him about me experience he said it is a shame when someone would come and figuratively put a gun to you and charge so much. I would never call a Bertolinos again. I feel he is arrogant a price gouger.

Walter was on time, polite and professional. He diagnosed the problem and worked efficiently and neatly. The job itself was great. I was shocked at the price. He was here no more than 1 1/2 hours and the labor charge alone was $390. They charge by the job, not hourly. A service charge of $44.50 was also applied to this along with a $85 drainage cleaning leading up to the newly installed pipe.