Bishop Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, Inc.

Reviews 3

BR

Brian Druchniak

In simple terms: in my experience, Bishop Plumbing will ruthlessly take advantage of you to the fullest extent possible. And their billing practices -which do not break down the costs of labor and parts at all - can be used to give them some kind of cover in the event that they screw a customer over. The full story: my wifes mother and her mothers brother live together - their mother lived there as well, but passed away a couple of weeks ago. They had a clogged kitchen sink, and called Bishop because their mother had used their services for years. Euphemistically, since I dont want anyone to be embarrassed should they come across this review, I will say that my wifes uncle has some very apparent limitations in this kind of situation. But he was home alone for the service call, since the expectation was that the pipe just needed to be snaked out. Lo and behold, as the plumber began to do work, he stated that the pipes needed to be replaced. This may be true - the house is 50 years old. The problem is that Bishops plumber - I believe his name is Brock, on the nearly illegible bill - proceeded to absolutely abuse the situation. This was a very basic job. There is no dishwasher and no garbage disposal at the home, no new sink or faucet was installed, only the pipes were replaced - yet the final bill came to over $2,100. This was not an all-day job - by all accounts the plumber was at the house for 3-4 hours at most. I spoke to my uncle, whos a master plumber in Michigan, and he told me unequivocally that this kind of a job should cost maybe $200-300 (go ahead and search how much does it cost to replace kitchen sink plumbing yourself if youd like to confirm.) In other words, very conservatively, Bishop charged at least five times more than they should have for this kind of job. I called to complain yesterday, but the person who had a copy of the statement had apparently left for the day at 3:30p. She called me back this morning, and - while she refused to say one way or another whether this is how much these kind of jobs normally cost - said that because there was some kind of a signature on the bill Bishop had nothing to apologize for.* Allegedly, the plumber spoke to my mother-in-law, who also has some cognitive and attention issues, over the phone about the work being done. Even if this is true, and even if Brock wants to claim that my mother-in-law seemed perfectly able to authorize the work being done, theres no escaping the fact that every red cent that could have been wrung out of the situation was done so by Bishop. By the letter of the law, Bishop probably didnt do anything wrong. But it is unquestionably beyond unethical to take advantage of two people grieving the loss of their mother - a woman who was beyond tough and shrewd enough to make sure that Bishop never bilked her out of her money while she was alive - especially when those people are not capable of looking out for their own interests in the face of a tradesperson trying to charge 500% more than a job should cost. It is disgusting. Avoid at all costs. *Full disclosure: I finally lost my temper at the end of the call and referred to the technician in question as an a**hole, which I regret. But prior to that point I remained within the bounds of civility, even though I was very obviously angry.

TE

Terese McGrath

Lesson learned..... imagine having 5 people in your household and no hot water for two days. Showed the grandchildren how to take a French Bath and boiled water to help with washing hair. Called Bishop Plumbing on a Friday. My husband did all the pre-check and found that it could be the thermal coupler or something else. Bishop came out on Saturday around 3:00 p.m. and cleaned the hot water heater and diagnosed there was no problem with the thermal coupler but probably the clicker that sparks to ignite the flame. He stated that when clicking the starter I should feel a spark each time, ours did not spark each time. He said he didnt have a new one, but remembered that there was one from a previous clients water heater in the truck so he went out to bring it in and try it. Before all this happened, I had to sign a few pages of waivers for this young man do the work. Not being too privy nor did I have my attorney with me, I did sign off on his work thinking of course itll be fixed... first mistake. One of the stipulations was that his work was NOT guaranteed. There was a $80.00 charge to show up (I understand that) but the additional $360.00 was for the work performed. When he left he said that the "new older other-persons" igniter was working. The technician left around 4:00 p.m. No one took showers on Saturday night. I did one load of wash, but always have cold rinse so didnt notice that the warm water even worked at this point. Sunday morning I go to take my shower and there is only cold water. I waited a few minutes and no hot water ever showed its familiar face. I waited until Monday to call Bishop. I called the office Monday and was told there was nothing they could do...I was so angry I wanted to stop payment on the check. Decided that two wrongs dont make a right so I went to Bishops office to be told "what do you want us to do for you?" I stated that it was fair that I would be charged the $80.00 to come out but suggested that I be charged for only cleaning the heater as it would be fair as nothing was fixed.... no can do I was told..... but they would be happy to take $200.00 off a new hot water heater that they proposed for $1850.00 (40 gallons)... if my addition is correct, it would in total cost us $2,000 for a new hot water heater!!! Went to ABT and purchased one for $1,000.00 including 9 years of insurance. DONT SIGN ANYTHING unless you are versed in contracts. My fault, my lesson.

CH

Chris Morgan

DISCLAIMER: I have changed this review since initially posting. If giving zero stars were an option, I would. 1. If a company is offering an on-the-spot $25.00 discount off the bill for a good Google review; thats a red flag. 2. Any plumber that charges a $80 fee to come out and do an estimate isnt worth it. Estimates are a cost of doing business, and most will come and provide one for free. I called this company to rod one sink drain (<10 feet) and flush two tub/shower cartridges. (Normally Id do this myself, but for a real estate closing, a licensed plumber was required.) In the end with Bishop, this cost nearly $1700. I had to direct the first plumber how to disassemble the tub/shower trim, he broke the cartridge upon removal. I ordered a replacement, and scheduled another service call. The second plumber installed the replacement cartridge in one bath, but then could not reassemble the second without it leaking. To repair this, they wanted another $600. In the end I (a mere accountant) installed another new cartridge and had the second tub/shower reassembled in (literally) less than ten minutes. In the trades, they say things can be done cheaply, quickly, or well (but you only get to pick two.) With Bishop, you get none. They do not stand behind their work, are the most expensive, and take their time. Check out their Yelp and BBB reviews (where they arent bribing clients with a discount.) I should have.

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