Monkey Wrench Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric
Plumber · Pasadena, CA · Open 24 hours per Google listing
Our verdict
4.8 stars on 282 reviews with BBB A+; water_heater=18 service mentions is the dominant category, but reviewConsistency 0.409 reveals a polarized base — 18 of 100 analyzed reviews are 1-star with documented $7k-$9k upsell allegations and a family left without heat for 2 weeks.
Scores are our editorial reading of published customer reviews — not a verification, license check, or guarantee.
Our opinion, based on the 100 reviews we analyzed from Google, Yelp and BBB · Analysis updated Jun 2026 · How we decide ↗
Advertises 24-hour service on its Google profile — no reviews we analyzed mention after-hours response either way.
What reviewers praise
Tankless water heater install stayed late to finish same day; tech knowledgeable on tank vs. tankless tradeoffs and paired with water purification in one visit
1 cited review
“Rick first came to my house to fix an old (17 year old) water heater which he got working. In the end I had him install 2 tankless water heaters and a water purification system. Great install. Came on time. Stayed late to finish the same day and beautiful, clean installation.”
Online booking at midnight with next-day slot; tech name/photo and live GPS tracker sent before arrival — workmanship theme=17 across 100 reviews
1 cited review
“I made an online appointment at midnight and got a slot the next day. I was contacted in the morning by a scheduler to get more details and confirmation of my appointment slot. Then I received a text and email with the name and picture of the person coming including a live tracker where he is.”
Cited in 2 of the 100 reviews we analyzed — 1 cited review not excerpted here.
What reviewers report — the concerns
Other directories bury these. We think you should read them before you call. Every concern below comes from the reviews it cites.
Red flag
Technician allegedly disabled heater and AC, then quoted $9k to replace both — a second company restored them and confirmed the units had been manually switched off
“They plugged out our heater and ac and expected us to pay $9K on replacing it. FUCKING HELL NO! We got another company to fix it for less and told us that the company you got the plumbing installed was plugged out the heater and ac (mind you, our family was freezing for almost 2 weeks without heater in this winter)”
Red flag
Flat-out dishonest assessment on a tankless unit: tech cited 'major leak + worn components' and pushed $7k+ replacement; a competing company found no such issues
“Unfortunately this vendor was very dishonest with their assessment and quotes! Flat-out lying and quoting giant unnecessary costs! They came to my home to assess an issue with our Tankless Hot Water Heater...the Technician Enrique said there was a major leak + other components were worn out. He recommended replacing the entire unit, which would cost over 7K.”
3 expensive theme hits and 1 surprise_fees complaint; tankless heater replacement quoted at $7k+ by one tech, confirmed unnecessary by a competing company for far less
“Unfortunately this vendor was very dishonest with their assessment and quotes! Flat-out lying and quoting giant unnecessary costs! They came to my home to assess an issue with our Tankless Hot Water Heater...the Technician Enrique said there was a major leak + other components were worn out. He recommended replacing the entire unit, which would cost over 7K.”
1 more cited review
“They plugged out our heater and ac and expected us to pay $9K on replacing it. FUCKING HELL NO! We got another company to fix it for less and told us that the company you got the plumbing installed was plugged out the heater and ac (mind you, our family was freezing for almost 2 weeks without heater in this winter)”
slow_response flagged in 2 reviews; Noritz service window was 2 days out rather than same-day
Cited in 1 of the 100 reviews we analyzed.
Keep it in proportion: these concerns are cited in 3 of the 100 reviews we analyzed. Most reviewers report positive experiences — see the full rating picture below.
The evidence — in reviewers' own words
Critical
“They are scammers. They plugged out our heater and ac and expected us to pay $9K on replacing it. FUCKING HELL NO! We got another company to fix it for less and told us that the company you got the plumbing installed was plugged out the heater and ac (mind you, our family was freezing for almost 2 weeks without heater in this winter) What the actual fuck! You guys are here to scam people and pay this much money in …”
“I called Monkey wrench because my tanklless water heater was showing an error after the gas has been shut off for fumigation. The person they sent out said it would be 5- 8 business days before he could get the part. He also mentioned that the reason it wasn't working was because debris from when they did the fumigation got in the tank since it didn't have a filter. He also said they also I install filters too but …”
“Too bad I can't leave ZERO stars as I almost got taken to the cleaners by the company that bought La Canada Air Conditioning. But let's start at the beginning. I have a five year maintenance service agreement with La Canada Air. I couldn't remember them coming this summer to check and I dug up the service receipts and it was last serviced October 2021. (my bad for not having it in my appointment calender) but …”
Positive
“Ozzy was the best! He did a great job as always. I highly recommend him for the job!”
“Frank was excellent! Prompt, professional, and easy to talk to. He found the leak and we really appreciated his expertise.”
Quotes are reproduced verbatim from public reviews on the platforms shown; we select which to feature, and selection reflects our editorial judgment. Report a quote that doesn't match its source ↗
The rating picture
Our sample skews heavily toward critical reviews — it disagrees with the Google average shown above.
Newest review in our sample: Mar 2026.
Across platforms
Should you hire Monkey Wrench Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric?
Hire if
- You need high-quality work that holds up over time
- You need fast same-day or after-hours response
Think twice if
- You want detailed upfront explanations
- You need rock-bottom prices with zero flexibility on the quote
- You need airtight scheduling and guaranteed arrival times
Look elsewhere if
- You're highly price-sensitive
Advice derived from the review analysis above — how we decide.
Own Monkey Wrench Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric?
You can respond to our analysis, correct business facts, or dispute the accuracy of a quoted review. Responses that check out get published on this page, and factual errors get corrected — see our corrections policy. We don't remove accurate quotes, but we'll re-run your assessment as your reviews change.
Find plumbers near you
Monkey Wrench Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electricisn't in one of our ranked city guides yet — the nearest covered markets are below.
Nearby: Mount Wilson · Glendale · West Covina · Panorama City