R & L Plumbing

José did a great job installing a shower kit. He was on time, explained the scope of the job, and did a very clean and professional installation.

Most of the plumbing services I inquired would not give me an estimate over the phone, they wanted an on site technician. R&L Plumbing charge per hour and the estimate matched the real price. They were very responsive and were able to fix our shower within 24 hours of our leak.

BACKSTORY: Called on a Saturday to address our leaky toilet. The dispatcher said the price was $209/hr (labor) and any parts under $25 would be included. I asked to confirm several times about the pricing, what was included etc. The dispatcher even called the plumber that was coming out to confirm and called me back to emphasize the same previously quoted price, at which point I confirmed the appointment. They did ask for my credit card info ahead of time which I thought was a little odd -- although they did not charge me, they wanted to have the info in advance.

THE WORK: The plumber arrived on time, was clean and professional, and resolved the issue in about 45 minutes. Everything was good. I expected to be billed for a full hour for the first hour.

THE PROBLEM: On Monday I received an invoice for $485. I reached out around in the late afternoon and the person I spoke with said that because it was after 5pm (pretty much on the dot) that they could not help me until the next day. The following day I spoke with the accounting department and they told me that working on Saturday is billed as overtime. This was not explained to me when I called, despite asking about pricing several times. She mentioned that GPS data showed the plumber was in our area for almost 1.5 hours, which is how they determined the timing. I mentioned I had proof of the job taking only 45 minutes and that I saw the plumber sitting the in van outside afterwards -- probably doing paperwork.

THE ENDING: After a long lecture from the accounting person about how I should have known that I would be charged overtime rate, they ultimately said they would talk to the plumber to confirm the timing, review the case, and get back to me by end of day. In the end I was charged $222 (1 hour, plus a $13 part).

TL;DR: Work was satisfactory. Billing was a bait and switch that was correctly resolved.

The maintenance guy at my 170-unit condo building recommended two plumbing services I could call for plumbing services. I wish I had called Larry's business first. As it was, I called Larry's business for pricing and to get a sense of his business AFTER I hired another plumbing service and paid them $450 to replace two parts (a flapper and trip lever, also known as a flush lever) in my toilet tank that broke. It was an hour of work, and they left an outstanding issue with a loose, jiggly handle (the handle that flushes the toilet)

I was lucky to connect with Larry (who runs his business of 50 plumbers), who was driving when he was connected to my call. My 5 star Review is for the FREE time and great advice that Larry provided me to help me understand the solution to the outstanding work left from the previous plumber I paid $450. Larry Facetimed with me to see the issue and walked me through what to do and who to call to ensure the plumber returned to resolve the outstanding issue and not charge me. Larry said if I chose not to have the plumber return, he could walk me through how to fix the outstanding issue after purchasing the part. He told me how to identify the part and who to call to ensure I got the correct part.

Larry gave me a brief overview of his business, how he charges, and the different ways a plumbing service can charge. Based on how he presented himself, the helpful conversation with free expert advice and tips, and the expectations upfront on charges, I WILL call Larry's business for my next plumbing job. I will also recommend him to my neighbors in my 170-unit condo building since we're always each other for references for plumbers, electricians, etc. The initial call with Larry was completely helpful, whereas the initial call wasn't with the plumbing service whom I paid $450 (too much!) and left an outstanding issue behind. Lessons learned!

I highly recommend giving Larry's business the opportunity for your next plumbing service!!

Very very expensive. Charged me 471$ to turn a pilot light on a water heater. On site about 15 minutes.

They gave me a outrageous quote just cause they thought they had to use a special machine that they didn't even use cause it wasn't needed. They tired to charge me the same quote and acted like they forgot or something. I had to mention it for them to change the quote. Then they try to overcharged 300 for a part replacement and service. I asked for receipt and I got no response . Be careful with these people they are very sneaky

I was shocked to read these good reviews Because my experience has been very negative. The summary: 26 families in Oakland have have had NO hot water NOR the ability to drink tap water for 4 days because of poor service from R and L.
Long form of story
I live in a 26 unit building in Oakland, and as mentioned we have had NO hot water since early Saturday NOR can we drink the tap water. The building had some major flooding on Saturday. R and L sent out a plumber on Saturday-- good news=one star. He diagnosed a problem with the water pump and said he had to order 2 repair kits and would do so right away. On Monday , more flooding, 2 more plumbers came out= one star. Confirmed the previous diagnosis and we asked them to confirm that the rebuild kits had been ordered. On Tuesday (4 days where 26 families have no hot water ordrinking water), we are informed that instead of a repair we need to replace the water pumps at a cost of $20,000 approximately. And that the replacement units would not get here for 3 weeks. When quizzed by our management company we were told that the 3 plumbers who came to our building ( remember those 2 stars) were not skilled in pumps and a person who is skilled in pump repairs would come on Wednesday. By Wednesday it will be 5 days when 26 families have had NO hot water and no ability to drink the tap water. In summary, it seems R and L are good for some issues but not others.

So I put potato skins down the drain and clogged our garbage disposal -- don't do that. From prior experiences with plumbers, I was expecting long wait times and super sky-high fees.

R&L was able to respond same-day. Our technician was extremely courteous (he brought shoe covers as soon as he saw that we were a no-shoes household), judgment-free (helpful esp. given the circumstance), and fast. We were able to get things fixed in an hour or less.

The bill was extremely reasonable compared to my expectations as well, especially for same-day service. I hope I don't have to call a plumber anytime soon but will call R&L again if anything does come up!

Plumber , Mike Griffin , came to my house on a timely matter and fixed my horrid issue last Saturday.I would give him more than a 5 star rating if possible. Very professional and he got to the root of the problem.

Wow, my garbage disposal stopped working, and I thought I needed it replaced and I bought a replacement from Home Depot, called R&L to see if I could get an estimate for the work, and the owner Larry called me right back, and sent me a video of what I might try first to get it unstuck, before he dispatched someone and it totally worked! What an incredibly kind thing for him to do that saved me lots of $! He recognized that I was in his customer database and had used their services previously. I was really impressed and grateful for his advice! Thank you, Larry! You will always have my repeat business from now on!

R&L has serviced out condo building many time. They are the best. I've called other plumbers and they didn't do the job correct or were not thorough enough. This folks are. I called their dispatch today in a panic, and she took care of getting, Pete M to my place within 30 minute, which was great because the water was about to cause some real trouble. It took awhile, and was tricky, but Pete M took care of it. What a relief. Disaster averted. Call these girls when you are in need.