| Author |
Message |
    
gtonne
Citizen
Username: Gtonne
Post Number: 29
Registered: 9-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 3:42 pm: |     |
Sally - isn't it a bit unfair to imply that Gateway price gouges when you haven't even used them?
BTW - Gateway has saved us several times and they are a small company - owned by brothers who live in Maplewood. They are very nice. I recommend giving them a call, talking to them, and letting them quote your job. You definitely won't be disappointed with their work. |
Richard O'Connor
Citizen
Username: Roconn
Post Number: 129
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 7:45 am: | |
Have to say I think Gateway is pretty respectable. I asked them to come and take a look at a boiler install (it seemed to be short cycling) and they were very helpful and made a couple of suggestions.
Now, I am an extreme do it yourselfer (I installed the boiler myself) and when I suggested that I thought they (Gateway) should install the vents they were suggesting, I was pretty point blankly told that I coudl easily do it myself. They quite happily pushed me past my (you want me to drill a hole in a steam main) fear and yet I was standing there perfectly happy to pay them.
And from what I've seen from MasterPlvmber's posts, they don't 'play games'.
Only my experience, but I think they'd be the first folx I'd call....
As a backup I've had both Korn Plumbing in West Orange and Russo Brothers do work and was happy with both jobs and the guys who came to the house.
Richard (ROC)
--Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.--
--AIM: ROConn |
lamojo
Citizen
Username: Lamojo
Post Number: 66
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 4:20 pm: | |
I haven't seen anybody comment on Weltman - we've been using them & like them but aren't sure how they're prices compare (cause usually we need something done right away & can't shop around) |
Master Plvmber
Citizen
Username: Master_plvmber
Post Number: 180
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 4:57 pm: | |
Thank you, everyone who posted such positive remarks about my company in this thread. This town has truly been good to us over the last few years and we’re lucky to have such supportive clients.
A lot of very negative things have been said about us in this thread also, particularly about “price-gouging”, but they are untrue and I don’t feel there is any need for me to comment on that any further.
No one stays in business for nearly thirty years by ripping people off.
At the risk I may seem to have misrepresented myself, I feel I would be remiss if I let get by the comment made that I live in Maplewood. I do not. I live in Manhattan.
My brother/business partner, David, lives in Maplewood and oversees the daily events there and in the surrounding area. Many of you know him and his wife professionally or otherwise.
I oversee our New York City projects. I come to our office in Maplewood about 3 days a week to settle paperwork or go on-site to various jobs in progress. My wife and I also frequent many local restaurants and other businesses here when we visit friends and family, which seems to be more and more frequently.
I am a New York City Licensed Plumber. David is a New Jersey Licensed Plumber as well as a NYC license holder.
As license holders, we have the legal right to the title “Plumber”. We also have the right to operate and advertise as a “plumbing” company. Those that are unlicensed may not.
They must refer to themselves as a piping or drain company.
Someone doing work that is considered “plumbing” without a license is doing so illegally. It’s not a terrible thing. Just know that there is a difference, especially where liability is concerned. It doesn't matter that they have insurance, they are not insured to do work for which they are not licensed. In the past, we have subcontracted some of our drain cleaning to those companies ourselves with good results.
Thank you for allowing me to help set the record straight.
Master_Plvmber
|
Rodney Normandia
Citizen
Username: Ronnie
Post Number: 1
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 7:54 pm: | |
Maplewood South Orange Sewer and Drains Inc. opened for business a little over a year ago in this community.
We are very thankful and grateful for all the positive comments and recommendations we have received as a new business.
My family and I are residents of Maplewood and over the years have had the pleasure of making many friends as well as in the business community.
With twenty years of experience in this industry, every service call is approached with the greatest of confidence.
While we are a fully insured sewer and drain business, with the help and support of our customers we look forward to growing our business and providing our clients with the highest level of service.
Thank You Again |
mwsilva
Citizen
Username: Mwsilva
Post Number: 381
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 8:24 pm: | |
I had Gateway do a job for us and a week later we had and emergency.
Now that I look back at the costs, I feel that we have been robbed.
Get bids. Do not get suck in the MOL ref. cycle.
Look at the the quality, the time and the problem.
Look for your best answers.
It seems that Gateway has taken control of MOL and plumbing issues.
After all, Gateway is just another plumber who has an online access with MOL. |
gtonne
Citizen
Username: Gtonne
Post Number: 30
Registered: 9-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 9:54 pm: | |
Master Plvmber -
My apologies for causing confusion about the location of your residence. It was an incorrect assumption on my part. I'm sorry that you had to 'set the record straight' due to my uninformed comment.
Regardless, you and your brother run a good company. I have always been happy with the service we have received and I believe the prices have been fair considering the high quality of work. |
Master Plvmber
Citizen
Username: Master_plvmber
Post Number: 185
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 10:21 pm: | |
No need to apologize.
I just didn't want anyone thinking that I wasn't being truthful about that. I know it matters a lot to some.
Master_Plvmber
|
magmasystems
Citizen
Username: Magmasystems
Post Number: 204
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 6:15 am: | |
With all of the stories running around about who charges what amount for what kind of service....
There is no excuse for not getting an estimate or two for a certain job. Of course, if you have an emergency, that's a different story. But for any non-emergency job, get a few plumbers in and have them give estimates. All plumbers know that giving estimates is part of the job.
I had some piping done a little while ago (before I knew about companies like Gateway), and although I was satisfied with the price, I asked an electrician friend of mine why it cost some much. He explained to me that, in addition to the $300 of materials they used, the plumber charged the price to cover:
1) Two plumbers working 8 hours at my house
2) Insurance
3) Purchase and maintainance of a fleet of trucks
4) The inventory of plumbing supplies that they must keep
5) The time it spent the owner to come to my house to do the estimate and write it up
6) Staff and office
and I am sure that there are more....
Marc
www.millburnweb.com
|
Mummite
Citizen
Username: Mummite
Post Number: 46
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 5:49 pm: | |
We were pleased when we used Weltman recently - extremely professional, intelligent guy came out on-time and fixed our forced air heating and fitted a new humdifier. Their telephone reception staff were helpful with both plumbing and administrative queries. |
Maxsdad
Citizen
Username: Maxsdad
Post Number: 43
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 6:28 pm: | |
We have used Weltman for years because of their reliability and professionalism. We know that we're paying a premium (if not more) for this service, but believe it's been worth it. The new furnace keeps the entire house warm and has lowered our gas bills, the new toilet never requires a second flush, the new faucets have more water pressure than we've ever had and the bathtub tile job is perfection. There are also the pipes they've replaced, etc., etc., etc. These old houses!!! |
Liz
Citizen
Username: Mschiquita
Post Number: 79
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 13, 2004 - 9:40 pm: | |
No company is 100% immune or infallible all of the time, even for top notch, reputable, well-loved ones...that said:
RE Weltman and their prices: We have a service contract with Weltman, because the previous owners did and RAVED about them. They came to service the central air and admonished us that our water heater was about to burst (or close to it) and offered us a whopping $1500 replacement option. Fortunately, my mom lives with us and having owned a home for 40 years said THAT IS HIGHWAY ROBBERY, EVEN IN THIS AREA! So we got numerous others quotes from Gateway, Kolher, PSE&G...and theirs were all about 1/2 that. We went with Gateway and have been very happy with them and truly feel they strive to do right by their customers. Fast forward to the Fall, Weltman came to service the heating system and low and behold found that our water pressure was out of control and told us we needed some very costly apparatus to fix it ($1000's). I posted the issue here and got all sorts of helpful advice...asked Gateway their opinion and they came out and took a look and said it was borderline but explained what was needed to bring the pressure down to appropriate level. Still a pot of $ at $400, but loads less than Weltman and not nearly the amount of hassle (Weltman's advice entailed digging up the yard and more).
Bottom line, I am pleased with Gateway, but they don't need my plug - I am interested here in communicating about Weltman - I find them vastly overpriced, and their guys must get a lot of commission for finding other problems when they come to service your system. And actually there were a couple other issues we had with them that were competency related that are not acceptable from a company that charges so much. |
Sjv
Citizen
Username: Sjv
Post Number: 1
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, February 21, 2004 - 10:45 am: | |
We used Gateway Plumbing (based on recommendations from this website) when we moved into our Maplewood home this fall. We felt VERY taken advantage of. We called them for routine boiler maintenance and installation of a new thermostat. Being first time home owners and totally unfamiliar with our heating system (steam heat) we were naive enough to let the guy fix whatever he said needed fixing, without asking him how much it would cost. In one case he said "If I don't fix this pipe you could die in the middle of the night from carbon monoxide poisoning...do you want me to fix it?" Needless to say we said yes, and were quite shocked at the end to be presented with a bill for more than $1,200 for the work he did.
I called Gateway the next day to complain and let them know that I wasn't doubting the work needed to be done (although I had no way of knowing), but I did feel that the service man should have clued us in to how much we were going to be charged for each "extra" repair. Again, as new home owners, we weren't even sure what was included in "routine maintenance" and what wasn't. We took some of the blame for not asking along the way (and paid the bill on the spot), but were none-the-less quite upset with the surprise bill.
At that point we were told we should be thankful that they didn't charge us for over-time since the guy was working after 4:30 -- of course he didn't even show up at our house until close to 4:00, at which point he left to go and buy a thermostat, and no one mentioned the possibility that we would need to pay for over-time.
For us, working with Gateway was a very bad (and expensive) experience.
|
magmasystems
Citizen
Username: Magmasystems
Post Number: 213
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 9:02 am: | |
I am sorry to hear of your experiences, but as a new homeowner, there are always two rules to follow:
1) Always get a firm price up front. Make sure it includes all parts and labor.
2) Try to get multiple estimates
Marc
www.millburnweb.com
|
grw
Citizen
Username: Grw
Post Number: 249
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 2:18 pm: | |
After reading Master Plvmber's response::
What's up with you sjv??? |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 2007
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 3:10 pm: | |
SJV-
We, too, had a furnace piping blocked up from chimney problems & a carbon monoxide leak. We found out when our newly-installed CM detector was going off on our return home from a weekend trip & the Fire Department told us they saw something suspicious in the firebox.
We called a chimney guy, who ended up taking apart our furnace (not his job) to find all the tiles from the chimney that had fallen in during the years.
It was inconvenient; it was an unplanned expense ($2500); it was dangerous (we are lucky the pets were still alive when we got home) -- all in all, in the middle of other, budgeted-for home projects, it hurt to scrape up the money.
I blame the furnace company (Essex Oil) who we had apparently been paying not to clean the furnace annually (not their problem, but they would've noticed the debris years earlier if they'd been doing their job) and the former home owners, who had never had the chimney cleaned; or at least not in several years (we'd been there 2 years at the time).
It never occured to me to blame the chimney guy, who found the problem, and worked with a heating company to get it fixed.
IMHO, you should thank the guy who found the leak. |
bobk
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 4748
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 3:38 pm: | |
This brings up an interesting question. What is the hourly charge for a plumber in this area now a days?
Based on the $1,200 bill and assuming around $200 for parts it looks like it is around $200 an hour. |
magmasystems
Citizen
Username: Magmasystems
Post Number: 218
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 4:57 pm: | |
$200 an hour seems to be the going rate. Last year, we had extensive repiping done. The plumbers helpers spent 8 hours at the house. Figure $200 for the material and $100/hr for each of the two helpers (certainly no master plumbers.. more like tecnicians), and you get $1800, which was my bill.
By the way, the helpers broke a window in the basement. I would not settle the bill until the plumber fixed the window. he did and the bill was paid promptly.
Marc
www.millburnweb.com
|
wnb
Citizen
Username: Wnb
Post Number: 88
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - 6:49 am: | |
Sjv,
If I were a new homeowner and found myself in your situation I think I would have a much bigger beef with whoever did my prepurchase home inspection rather than the plumber who actually detected and fixed the problem. Your home inspector missed a serious, potentially deadly problem. IMO, your anger is misplaced.
|
Elizabeth
Citizen
Username: Elizabeth
Post Number: 274
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 8:38 am: | |
We have used several of the most frequently mentioned plumbers in this post. We highly recommend Corragio brothers--thoughtful, responsive, don't rush through their work. |
viva
Citizen
Username: Viva
Post Number: 368
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 9:58 am: | |
used Falcon Plumbing and Heating in Bloomfield to intall a new boiler. very reasonable and did the job quickly, efficiently. would definitely recommend them. |
Richard O'Connor
Citizen
Username: Roconn
Post Number: 171
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, February 29, 2004 - 7:36 am: | |
I'd like to note that having read this post (and the "In Response to Critical Post . . ." thread) Mr. SJV has yet to reply to the responses directed to him from other members.
Richard (ROC)
--Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.--
--AIM: ROConn |
Sjv
Citizen
Username: Sjv
Post Number: 3
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, March 11, 2004 - 8:07 am: | |
Okay, here I am, it's SJV... it seems by not responding sooner I have broken some unwritten rule of this message board.
Let me say first, I will probably not post on this message board again. I hesitated to do it for months, partly because people do seem to be downright nasty to each other some of the time and I find the sarcasm really off-putting (I suppose that’s what some of you really enjoy about it…), and second because I know that Master Plvmber (aka Gateway Plumbing) is integrally involved in this online community. But I thought neighbors looking for a plumber would appreciate hearing when people had a less than positive experience (in addition to their wonderful experiences) -- my mistake.
Second, I think my original post (In the Best Plumber Around thread) indicated that my complaint was about lack of communication around the cost of the repairs. Not about whether the work needed to be done. (or even the price itself for that matter).
As far as whether our lives were saved by the technician's efforts -- again, I have no way to know that. I'm not disputing what work did or didn't need to be done. I know the boiler and water heater have been there for a number of years and I know we have two carbon monoxide detectors, neither of which has indicated any carbon monoxide in the home since we've lived here. But I suppose that could change at any moment.
Regarding the call made by my husband to "express his gratitude for a job well done"... By the time the technician was ready to go he seemed a bit nervous about being here for so long. BEFORE presenting us with a bill he ASKED my husband to call his boss and let him know that he had been at the house the whole time. Because we thought the technician was a pretty nice guy, my husband didn't have any problem doing that. (And I'm sure he is a nice guy, I just wish he had communicated more clearly with us).
Having said all of that, I'll leave you all to it. In any new community it takes awhile to learn the rules. I suspected, and now know, that it doesn't pay to try and offer any criticism of those who are active members of the community. I think my original post was pretty honest and balanced (I accepted some of the blame myself), but I can see that this activity is not going to be one I will find enjoyable or satisfying in any way. I have no problem with Master Plvumber responding with his side of the story, but the responses from most everyone else make me feel a little like I'm on trial. This is my first message board experience and I guess I'm just not cut out for it...
|
wnb
Citizen
Username: Wnb
Post Number: 103
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 11, 2004 - 9:23 pm: | |
I still think you should call your home inspector and read them the riot act. All of this drama is after the fact you bought the place and it had a defect that a competent home inspector should have identified. Forget about learning the ins and outs of some message board. Your home inspector took your money and didn't do their job, and it put you in a dangerous situation that cost you a nice chunk of money you didn't plan for to fix.
|
Kevin
Citizen
Username: Computergeek2
Post Number: 11
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 9:11 pm: | |
Had a clogged main line. used Ronnie from Maplewood Sewer and Drain. He was great and came on Sunday. His price was very good. Good guy. I have since used him for a few other sewer and plumbing needs around the house.
Just Do IT! |
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page