Birnie Thos R & Sons Ltd

I hate this company. I hate poor customer service. - Booked a full day for a lead to copper pipe change. They called the day before to cancel, after I had already booked off work, informed child's school and daycare, to say that someone didn't have water and that meant I wouldn't get serviced. - Gave me an "all in" quote that wasn't itemized, then when I found out I didn't have to pay for the more expensive permit, told me I wouldn't get my money back. - The men who actually did the job (2 of them) were very nice, skilled and as fast as they could be. - I was told that if the ground sank after they refilled the 8 foot hole in my front yard, to call and they would come and refill it. The ground DID sink 6 weeks later after a few days of heavy rain, so much that my concrete porch support became unstable and started falling into the hole that they had dug right in front of it. Also the valve was sticking slightly above the ground. When I called them to ask them to fill the hole and please lift the concrete support before doing so, I was told a note was made and I heard NOTHING back for a week. I called again and was told it would be taken care of and then heard NOTHING again. Left a message. NOTHING. when I finally got annoyed after THREE weeks, I called and got slightly irritated. what I got in result was some tools coming to my house and throwing a pile of dirt over the sunken area AND my porch support which I had specifically asked three times for them to raise before they filled the hole. I called again to complain about having to go and dig this out myself despite making clear requests that the support be returned to it's previous state and still heard nothing back. After another few weeks I began to ask for someone higher up in the company to deal with and spoke with the manger. He also was not the best at returning my calls, and apologized profusely for "forgetting" when he promised me the work would finally be done, but it wasn't. After that final straw, and also calling him on his company cell quite a few times with no response I informed them that I no longer had any patience after over 3 months of waiting and would file a claim to recoup my money to have someone else come and fix my porch and my toilet. The work was promised the next week and was done.

Part of the quote was for them to fix a toilet in my basement. The men who came had NO idea they were supposed to fix the toilet. When I asked them what the problem was, they said it was just "switched off". I the fool, believed them and didn't check. Now I just realized that the toilet is STILL not working and I'll have to call these people back (this makes probably more than 6 calls now) to come and do this properly too. When the plumber came he informed me that the men who were there previously were not plumbers and so would not have been able to assess and repair the toilet properly (which was nice to find out after the fact). He fixed the problem in less than 15 minutes and to their credit, the parts were free as I had waited for FOUR months after my original quote date to get this done.

I told the manager in no uncertain terms how disgusting I felt their treatment of me as a customer, and a business owner myself, was when it was their policy to do the job properly and quickly. He was understanding and both apologized and sent a card after the work was done.

I had read bad reviews about this company and decided to take my chances since they're the "largest" in Hamilton and have been around for generations. But just because someone does a lot, doesn't mean they do it well. You have been warned, avoid these lazy inconsiderate owners.

Had my rented unit with a repeat problem of both toilets not flushing.
The service right from the telephone call through to the after-service follow up call has been very good. The plumber was on time, clean, helpful, courteous, took off his shoes, etc. I could not have asked for anything more from a customer service stand point.
My one complaint would be the pricing. $255 for 2 flapper valves and one handle seems a bit high to me. I was expecting in the $150 range, maybe $200. Since I know the valves at Canadian Tire to be around $20, the bill shocked me.
I would be happy to use them again, but would certainly shop around for better pricing before committing.

The technician, David, was very thorough, explaining everything to me and offering me a list of the services that could be performed. I choose the service that included videoing the main line, which proved to be very advantageous as the line was clogged with grease, which we could see with the camera. David worked long and hard to clear the line as he and I did not want to have to use the hydrosrub option to clean the line, which is the most expensive option. He discovered we have 'bellies' in our line which meant hydroscrubbing would not have helped. After a couple of hours of effort, David managed to clear the line. Because of the bellies, I had a locate done which will aid in locating and repairing the bellies in the line.

I plan to have Birnie's do the plumbing work for us as we are about to start some kitchen renovations.

I am pleased with the service provided by David K. He was professional, informative, and wanted to make sure that I understood all the options before he started the work. He worked happily in a very stinky environment! He cleaned everything thoroughly and ensured that the work was complete. I know that the prices are set by the company, not the technician, and I find the prices high, but the quality of work is good.

Our story begins with a horrible sewer smell wafting through our home and our drains making gurgling noises when we would flush. Birnie & Sons sent a technician within 24hrs. Bryce was professional, patient and informative. He completed the job in a few hours. He was fabulous to followup with us the following day. Thanks Bryce and Birnie & Sons!

David K turned a plumbing installation into an experience. He is highly professional, knowledgeable, and excited about plumbing. It was a real treat to have him install a washer hookup for us. He explained options regarding bringing the pipes straight up vs. a laundry box and made it a "plumbing work of art". I have never seen anyone so excited about plumbing, he was great! My wife thinks she heard him actually singing about the job as he was going about things.

I highly recommend Thos R Birnie & Sons and we would not hesitate to call again, and we will ask for David, to be sure.

Very happy with the service call. Technician David K arrived on time and made sure I understood the options before proceeding with the work. He completed the job and cleaned the work area in acceptable time. There were no hidden costs and ensured my satisfaction with the work completed before leaving. For such a disgusting problem, David was a professional solution.

We were very pleased with the work we received from all the employees . The had to dig up our laundry room floor, replace the sewer line,install a lining in the crawl space , install a back water valve and put in a new liner from the house to the city property line. The job was completed on time, the crews were professional, polite and very patient with our questions.

This company is AMAZING! The emergency response is excellent and Bryce (who was at my home most recently) is not only incredibly skilled and professional, but also very reassuring in terms of dealing with a crisis. I highly recommend this company and suggest to all whom I know to become a "service member" with Thos Birnie because it is worth every cent up front for the great service you get going forward.