John Baethke & Son

09/17/08

Rip-off

by sldrater at Citysearch

I had a kitchen faucet replaced with a faucet that I purchased myself. My old faucet was leaking and I needed to have the job done. I was charged over $550, more than the faucet cost. There were no problems with the job, and it was done quickly. Now the faucet is loose and needs repair. There are plenty of plumbers out there. Stay away from this one.

• Pros: They showed up
• Cons: Robbers

05/05/08

way over priced

by StrongJunk at Citysearch

I needed an elbow joint installed in the supply line to a toilet. I know enough about plumbing to do it myself, and figured I could do it in less than an hour if just possessed a pipe cutter and pipe threader.

I had never called a plumber before, but this appears to be a very good company.

Even tho I was very explicit over the phone as to what was needed, they were unwilling to give me an estimate over the phone, so I agreed to pay the $69.50 just to come out because I was fairly certain it would only be about $100.

After they came to the house, I was told that the standard union contract (chicago) price for this procedure was $300.

Ouch!

I will never be calling a union plumber ever again.

How is it that most people are willing to come out and give an estimate for free, but not union plumbers?

It will be cheaper for me to throw the whole toilet in the alley and buy another toilet. No wonder our landfills are overflowing.

I feel like I was just mugged.

• Pros: Probably excellent work
• Cons: far too expensive to even consider without being up-front about it.

08/20/07

Highest price of all the quotes I received.

by jehleric at Citysearch

I made the mistake of paying the $75 to see how much it would cost to get a simple hot water heater replaced. They tried to sell me an emegency plumber plan and then quoted me a price that was twice as much as two other quotes from other plumbers.

I got the impression that they would have done an excellent job but at twice the cost. The quoted my $1,600 and I got it done for $800. For simple jobs I am sure you can find a much cheaper plumber.

• Pros: Knew what they were doing.
• Cons: Way too expensive.