Berkeley Plumbing & Heating Co., Inc.

These guys do a great job, especially on older systems. They’ve been maintaining several properties for me for over six years now. I recommend them to all my clients.

tough job and Gordon (expert plumber) kicked ass. I've owned rentals for 35 years in North Oakland and Berkeley and I've used this company several times. no issues. Most likely the bad reviews come from weenies that have no clue how hard being a plumber really is.

This is a Christmas miracle story. My heater broke in mid-December. As one can imagine, this is not the time of year to have heater problems--not just in terms of temperature, but the fact that everyone else is turning on their heaters, only to discover similar problems. I had heard good reviews about Berkeley Plumbing and Heating, and called them. Of course, they were booked at least a week out. I spoke with Sandra, and explained my situation was somewhat dire. She was very sympathetic, but said that there was nothing that could be done to move up the date. This is where the miracle comes in.... After trying several other heating companies (not my first choices), I gave up and resigned myself to freezing for a week. Then the phone rang. It was Sandra saying that Tim (the owner's son) would be out to the house shortly. He proved to be professional, and was adamant about getting the job done as quickly as possible to save me money. He worked quickly and efficiently; told me what was wrong, what was needed, and why. He did not charge for anything that was not necessary, and did not charge time when he had to go back to the store for a different part. I believe the caliber of service I received has a great deal to do with the fact that this is a family business. When Tim left, I felt completely confident that the job was done correctly. I cannot recommend this company highly enough.

Horrible experience. Two weeks ago, I had an AC service done by a technician, and it cost me more than $800. Since I have a service contract, another technician came out a week later to inspect the system and assured me it was functioning properly. However, just a few days later, my system failed again, leaving me without air conditioning in 90-degree heat. I reachede out and was informed that my appointment was for the next day; however, no technician appeared to fix the issue. When I followed up with another call, they confirmed my place on the schedule for the following day. This service is awful, and I demand a refund if no one arrives as scheduled since it’s clear the system wasn’t repaired correctly.

this place is crazy, said i have to pay for the tech as soon as he gets in his truck!! are you crazy.. then had the nerve to say "well someone has to pay them" i replied yes your company not me, i pay for work/labor. not his regular business hours. ) $176 a hour starting from the time he gets in the truck...)

They need to get a little more organized over there according to me..... This is my long drawn out story...... Called Friday morning to get an appointment to have my toilet looked at. Friendly gentleman gave me an appointment between 2PM and 4PM that afternoon - I was relieved that I could find someone to come the same day since I did not want to try and schedule someone to come on Saturday. I asked that they call me when they were 20 minutes away as I do not live at the house - he said fine, and said that it was also possible that they could be available early, and would call me if that were the case as well. I waited until 4:15PM, and then called to make sure they did not loose my appointment - the person who answered "transferred me upstairs to dispatch" where I was put to voice mail. So I left a message, and someone did call me back 15 minutes later (thankfully since now we are getting close to 5PM on a Friday, and did not want my appointment to be lost since I needed my plumbing issue resolved). He said that he had tried to call the plumber, but he was not picking up, but that he left my cell number on the plumber's voice mail - and as soon as he was done, he would call and come over. So I waited another hour (until 5:30PM), but still no word. Thought I better go over to the house so I would be there to meet him exactly when he called. When I got over there, I found they had left a note saying they had "missed me" and would be back at 1:50PM. Hello! - of course you "missed me" because as I said when I made the appointment, I need to be called before you come over. So I waited until 6:30PM assuming that the plumber would get his voice messages after he finished his current job, and give me a call... but no call. And calling the main Berkeley Plumbing Co office after 5PM is of no help - everyone is gone from the office by that time, and they don't have any type of pager service, so no way to contact anybody. I did leave a message, but evidently they don't pick up messages after 5PM on Friday either has I have not heard from them. So after waiting all day on a Friday, original relieved that I was able to fine someone to come same day, then I end up in need of a plumber at 6:30PM on a Friday because they could not keep themselves organized over at Berkeley Plumbing Co. And they are not open on the weekends (which is fine they have the right to be open when they want - but let me know if it is not going to work so I can find someone else!). My advice: a little bit more communication with customers would go a long way. So needless to say, I called another company, and had them come on Saturday morning since I had to have this done before Sat afternoon. So I don't expect I would be using Berkeley Plumbing Co again... They may do great work, but does not look like I will find out.

We've used Berkeley Plumbing and Heating a few other times with no complaints. We recently had them put in a 40 gallon hot water heater for us. For starters, the cost was $1,200 which is ridiculously high, but the guy was here and ready and we were desperate. The installation went fine and they just left a minimal mess. I handed the guy (I think his name was Storm) a $1,200 check and thought that was the end of it. I get an invoice in the mail a few weeks later for the $1,200. I thought it was a mistake, so I ignored it. I get another invoice a few weeks after the first with a late fee. I call up accounts payable and they tell me they never received my check. The A/P person asked Storm and he said I never gave it to him. Ugh. I told her that he obviously lost it, but there was no offer to refund me the cancellation fee. She at least agreed to waive the late fee on the invoice. She couldn't get my credit card to process and said she'll try the next day. My wife told me they called a few days later saying they still couldn't get my credit card to process. In the mean time, I get a third invoice. Frustrated with it all, I waited a few weeks thinking they'll at least try my credit card again, or give me a call personally. That never happened. Instead I get a letter from a collections agency telling me to pay the full $1,200 plus an $83 fee. Yes, I should have dealt with this a few weeks earlier, but to lose my check, not pay my cancellation fee, and send a collections agency after me with late fee was infuriating. My recommendation: if you all you care about is quality and not price or customer service then use these guys. Otherwise there are plenty of other plumbers out there.

We were without hot water due to an inoperable on-demand out door mounted water heater. The appointment was 2 days later. The technician inspected the innards, poked at a couple of contacts with a tester. Did not remove, pull, alter, or expose any components. He then pronounced the circuit control board "blown" and as evidence pointed to dubiously (to me) browner areas on the sealed board. He also unequivocally stated that it was not cost effective with labor, etc to replace the board and that I needed a new heater. After research and consultation by phone with Tankless Only and with guidance by very helpful customer service by Takagi itself I was able to diagnose, remove the circuit board, remove the fan motor (the culprit) and dry it out, and reinstall both in a couple of hours. Myself. Waa-Laa, It now runs fine without having spent a nickel. That is, except for the $160 "advice" from Berkeley Plumbing. Incidentally, the "expensive" circuit board costs about 220 from Takagi and is held in place by a single accessible screw. I am not an engineer/tradesman/etc. Tools needed-2 screwdrivers. So, what do you think?

I awoke on a cold January day to find no flame in my floor furnace and no pilot light. I crawled under the house, got the pilot light lit, but accomplished nothing more. I called Berkeley Plumbing. The man who answered (Gordon?) was very professional and clear and described what he imagined as the options, given what I could tell him. He said their rate was $154/hr with a one-hour minimum. He estimated it would cost between $200 and $450 to get heat restored -- if a repair was indeed possible, and given what I'd told him, he thought it sounded pretty likely. He had a technician come at the time I specified (actually he came 15 min early, which was just fine by me). The technician (Kurt) was personable, efficient, and the kind of guy who inspired confidence (I never doubted that I'd get a proper diagnosis and a fair estimate). Kurt finished the work in less than an hour at a cost of $215 (this included a new "generator"). He said that ought to get our old system "through at least one more year" -- and I appreciated the honesty. Very satisfied, toasty warm customer here.

We had a very unpleasant experience with Berkeley Plumbing. Gordon, the plumber that showed up, not only did a terrible job on a very simple job, he was very unpleasant to be around. He was rude, condescending, loud and mean to me, my wife, (the customer) and to his fellow coworkers. He yelled at his coworker in front of a large group of other workers, general contractor, painters and electricians, embarrassing him terribly for a mistake that was not his fault. Because the story is way to long to get into here, i will just say that Gordon did a very sub-par job at his first attempt and needed to come back and do it again. Wasting my time, the painters time and of course the contractors time. The Contractor was so upset with Gordon, he said he will never use Berkeley Plumping EVER! Nor will I or should you. There are lots of great Plumbers out there that will show up at your job site and do a great job and will be nice and pleasant to you, Berkeley Plumbing is not that company. I wouldn't even use them in an emergency situation.

Bradford White Water Heater (expensive unit, professionally installed) started leaking after 3 years (6 year guarantee). Called Bradford White and they gave me the name of Berkeley Plumbing and Heating as their plumber in my area. Made an appointment for the next morning (speedy) and the man showed up and spent 15 minutes confirming that I had a leaking water heater and it should be replaced. Gordon called that morning and said the heater was under warranty but now local laws required a lonox water heater which would be an additional $150 for the upgrade. Also, 4 hours labor at $160 an hour. I thought that very steep and he said it was "inflation". New water heater installed that afternoon which took approximately 1 and 1/2 hours. Was presented the bill and it stated 4 hours labor. Although 1 and 3/4 hours was actual labor, the balance was travel time. I live in the Oakland hills, per Google 9 miles and 17 minutes away. The installer had to traverse 30 level feet from his truck to my water heater unit.

Our usual handyman was out of town so we called Berkeley Plumbing and Heating to fix an old two sided wall heater that wasn't heating on one side. They came out and after spending about 50 minutes trying to remove the heating assembly, gave up, saying heaters that old had to be "taken apart from the top down." They recommended just getting a new heater and still took our check for $176, even though they didn't fix anything. When our handyman came back to town, he was able to remove the heating assembly in about 20 minutes because he's actually worked on these. He cleaned the heating element and reinstalled it, charging only $125 - it works as good as it ever did. We tried to get at least a partial reimbursement from Berkeley Plumbing and Heating but they refused. I haven't used this company for any other services and don't know how good they are with plumbing issues but I certainly wouldn't recommend them for issues with wall heaters. A rip off!

Stormy at Berkeley Plumbing is terrific. It's almost impossible to find a plumber that not only knows what he's doing but is actually educated and a professional journeyman plumber! I had a clothes washer that would overflow every time it would drain. I had 3 other plumbers look at the problem and try to fix it. Finally Stormy was able to diagnose the problem and fix it. He also replaced my heater when my daughter and I started getting sick. He came out immediately and tested the heater (it was really really bad and could have killed us!). He replaced the heater and made sure ever thing worked right before he left. He is very efficient, professional and courteous. He will talk you through the fix so you can understand what he's doing. When I call Berkeley Plumbing, he's the plumber I ask for! He is the BEST!!

Very disappointing. Called them for an estimate.- which I anticipated would be free. Their refused to provide a firm estimate and would only offer time and materials, with an anticipated "minimum cost.". Their minimum cost estimate was about 3 times higher than the plumbing company I eventually hired. To add to the insult, a few days later, a bill arrived in the mail for their time performing the estimate. I don't know if I can give them zero stars - unfortunately the minimum is one. But in this day when companies should provide superior service to attract and retain customers, this firm is doing just the opposite. My advice..., If you're on Yelp, then you're one step ahead of the game..., Move on to the next plumber on your list..

I called Berkeley Plumbing & Heating Company to ask if they could come out and perform an emergency repair to a ruptured natural gas line connect at our residential property. The dispatcher put a plumber on the line, who demanded that I send them photos of the pipe assembly. I told them I could accurately describe the problem, as well as the part they would need to fix it, which PG&E had described to us yesterday. He was skeptical, but handed me back to the dispatcher. She again demanded that I furnish photos of the problem, and I reiterated that they just needed to come out and start the work. She got testy, and hung up on me. I should have read the other Yelp reviews before calling this company. They richly deserve their lousy reputation.