Dippel Plumbing & Heating Co

I REALLY wanted to like these guys. I had seen the trucks around my house when I lived in S. City and wanted to support a family owned business. It was a Sunday afternoon, the week before Christmas.... seriously the best time to have a plumbing issue.



That being said, it's a rental property and I'm in LA so I was expecting to pay out nose for it. I called and the guy was very up front, $165/hour with a two hour minimum. Pretty standard for an emergency call. It sucks to pay this to snake a drain, but it's the price you pay, no biggie. Tenants called and said they were there within an hour and had it fixed in 45 minutes. AWESOME! Until a month later the credit card bill comes and I'm charged for over two hours. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?!? I've now requested the signed work order twice and of course they can't produce it. What the hell? I mean, here's the deal.... isn't a guy who lives in Los Angeles with a bunch of rental houses potentially an ideal customer? It just sucks because I champion the little local guy, it's what makes St. Louis amazing. But it will be the last time I use these guys so I hope the extra 60 bucks was worth it to 'em.

I have nothing but great things to say about this company. They are highly recommended in my neighborhood, I think everyone on my street uses them. They are family owned and operated which is huge in my book. They are a union company and I believe they do wonderful work. I had an original tub valve to my home that other plumbers said couldn't be fixed, they came in and new exactly what kind of valve it was and had the parts to fix it. I have found my plumbers for life.

Do not use Dippel Plumbing. Not only did they provide questionable plumbing service, they provided the absolute worst customer service I have experienced in a very long time. I had them replace a broken utility sink faucet. When the work was done the supply line (which connected directly to the faucet) was leaking all over my basement floor (somehow missed by their expert plumber). When I came home from work water was puddling up on my basement floor from the leak! When I called them to report the problem, the same plumber came out the next day and denied the leaking pipe had anything to do with the work he performed on the previous day (please note, we lived in our home six years and this supply line never leaked...and Dipple had to move the supply line to install the new faucet). The plumber then charged us an additional $120 to fix the issue he caused the previous day. When I spoke directly with a Dippel Plumbing office person about the additional charge, he was very disrespectful and rude. When I asked him why he was acting that way, he stated, I don't have time to squabble with you over a $100 bill. So in the end, we payed about $200 to Dippel Plumbing to replace our utility sink faucet and cause out supply line to leak...AND another $120 to fix the leaky supply line their plumber caused during the initial installation ($320 total!). The absolute worst experience I have had in a long time and I do not recommend Dippel Plumbing.

Overall I am not happy. I don't think they are a bad company per se...I didn't think they were trying to rip me off, BUT...

I had a stopped up kitchen sink and called to have someone come out and clear the clog. The guy who came spent 3 hours working, did not fix the problem AND indicated that I had a corroded and/or collapsed pipe under the house. He stated that they would have to dig up my basement floor and replace the area of pipe that was broke.

I was told the owner would call me to give an estimate price and talk about scheduling the work (guesses of $4500 and 1 week out to get the job done from the plumber that was there!). This 3 hours cost $355.00.

I decided to have another estimate too and called a second company. They came out to take a look. They used their cable (just to check it out) and were able to break up a clog. The second plumber did not think there was any indication of a broken pipe...just a really bad grease clog. I now have a working kitchen sink and don't need to dig up my basement. This 2 hours cost $89.00.

PROS for Dippel:

- responded very quickly to my initial call

- polite

CONS:

- misdiagnosis of the problem! Surprisingly, I am not as upset about this...the clog was terrible and I think he spent three hours without results, got frustrated and assumed the black grease was mud...but still.

- no call back yet regarding estimate and scheduling. THIS makes me mad! As far as they know I still have a backed up sink...no call and it has been 48 hrs since they were here. THIS is unprofessional!