Palo Alto Plumbing Heating & Air

Great service and comes with a guarantee, they’ve come out three times now to deal with our tree root issues and have been very helpful.

I had an issue with my water heater. One of its plastic tubes succumbed to years of steam and heat, and it has started to crack and leak.
I called Palo Alto Plumbing Heating & Air, whose phone rep scheduled an initial visit to assess the situation. So I worked from home that Friday afternoon. The service guy showed up late for the 2-​hour window. He took three pictures of the device, and wrote a brief note in his car. He told me he would need to call the manufacturer on Monday to order the part, and then schedule a follow-​up visit later. The entire process lasted 11 minutes (4:05 PM to 4:16 PM).
Considering the simplicity of the initial visit and the service guy’s tardiness, I wrote a polite email later that day, asking Palo Alto Plumbing Heating & Air to consider waiving its $ 122 hourly rate for this visit.
I did not hear from them for 10 days, so I called again. I was told very politely that my email was replied to on the same day. The phone rep also said Palo Alto Plumbing Heating & Air decided to pass on the job. Immediately after we got off the phone, she forwarded to me the reply email, which was indeed sent only 40 minutes after my initial email, as shown below.
«Hello Sir, We will go ahead and cancel the one hour minimum. There will be no fee for the visit this evening. We will also pass this job, in it’s entirety. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to work with you, however brief.»
I realized the initial reply email probably landed in my mailbox’s junk mail folder, and hence escaped my attention.
For me as a consumer, the experience was less than pleasant. Here are some of my thoughts and comments to share.
(1) As a business, Palo Alto Plumbing Heating & Air has every right to decide NOT to take on a particular job.
(2) It was not Palo Alto Plumbing Heating & Air’s fault that I did not receive the original reply email in time, and that I had to find out about it 10 days later.
(3) In every phone interaction, their phone reps were polite and professional.
(4) However, the lack of appreciation for business, and for their customers, was astounding. I don’t ever recall a US business responding to a customer request saying, «We don’t want to deal with you any more», with such calmness and decidedness.
So I am taking my business elsewhere, this time and every time. At least this is something Palo Alto Plumbing Heating & Air and I can agree on.

We had both a toilet and bathtub back up in a rental unit that we own. I called Palo Alto Plumbing at 8:00 am and by 1:00 pm their technician, Dustin, arrived. Dustin first worked on the tub drain, but the blockage was apparently in the drain between the toilet and tub. We really needed to get this fixed the same day because the rental unit has only one bathroom. Dustin kept working. He removed the toilet and worked on the toilet drain. Before he left both the tub and toilet drained perfectly. Dustin very carefully cleaned the entire area before he left. It is very comforting to have fast and effective same day plumbing service.

It is supposed to dip into the 30s tonight, and my heater decided to quit. I called Max, who picked up right away at 7:15pm. He was helpful and honest over the phone. By 8pm, he already came AND FINISHED FIXING my heater!!! He was nice, straightforward, and efficient.
I would definitely use Max and Pall Alto Plumbing Heating & Air again! Thank you!!!

Needed a faucet replaced and toilet tune-​ups. Tech, Joe, was here spot on time; very pleasant; and worked quickly/​neatly. He’s helped us before. We’ll call them again any time we have plumbing or HVAC issues.

Max came out and took care of my furnace problem. A very knowledgeable gentleman.
Knows his business and is very professional.
Showed up when he said he would, returned my call promptly. Charged a very fair price. I was totally satisfied. I give him 5+ stars.

We needed a thermostat replacement. I just want to give a good review for our technician Jamie. He was very patient, friendly, and got the job done. Thanks Palo Alto Plumbing for your great customer service! –Granada Apartments/​Maria Lane Townhomes.

I have used Palo Alto Plumbing in the past to service my gas furnace. Finally time had come to fire it up again this year. I did some DIY maintenance, but noticed that only 3 of the 5 burners fired when I turned on the heat. Called at 5:15 fully expecting the answering machine — Max answered while on the road, I explained the situation, he told me how to fix the problem, @5:25 all 5 burners firing — you can’t get better free, spot-​on, after hours support than that!

I hired Palo Alto Plumbing to fix my heater and they did great. JAIME was amazing; he ordered the part then came back to install it. Heater works great now.

These guys have been my go-​to plumbers for the last 10 years and every time I’m impressed. I’ve had some really sticky drain problems, but with Palo Alto Plumbing and Heating, they show up on time, they’re finished in under an hour, and my problems stay gone. Moe in particular has given me impressive service on multiple occasions (he’s been with the company for at least several years). He came fully equipped and prepared for the job, and was clean, courteous, and very professional. He double-​checked my lines even after finishing with the clog I called him for because, as he put it, I’m «paying for the full hour anyways,» and gave me some DIY tips for addressing smaller drain issues. They also do emergency overtime/​weekend service that is not that much more expensive than their usual, reasonable rates.

Max Jr came out for a gas leak that the city had identified and red tagged and I needed extensive tests and repairs. He spent hours identifying & fixing the problem and when he had to wait around for the city to show up, he made himself busy doing other repairs. What a great plumbing business. I won’t ever call anyone else. The office staff was helpful and efficient and walked me through the red tag process, which many other companies will not even bother to address. Thank you, Palo Alto Plumbing. Young Max is wonderful. Next time I have any maintenance issues I will be calling Palo Alto PHA first.

Plummer technician max jr was awesome! Gave them a call in the morning to see if they can swing by to check my non heating water heater and came thru at a convenient time for me later that day. Fast and friendly service. Came checked my water heater found out what was wrong and 30mins later fixed! So glad I got running hot water again! Wouldn’t hesitate to use this company again! If I could give 10 stars I would.

Had an emergency leak of my air conditioning unit over the weekend and called Palo Alto Plumbing Heating and Air. Max, the owner, answered immediately and was there Sunday morning at 10 am. He was extremely friendly, professional, helpful, telling me the exact problem. His honesty, integrity and willingness to come on a weekend was so much appreciated. I will call him for any and all future problems with my a/​c or heating and highly recommend him to all.

As a first time home buyer, I didn’t know what to think when the house inspector suggested I have a licensed plumber come out to assess the pipes and HVAC. On the recommendation from my realtor, I called Palo Alto Plumbing. Max (the owner) came out. He clearly knows code, and he gave me a very straight forward, honest assessment of various plumbing concerns. He pointed out positives, too, though it turns out there were far more negatives than positives for the property. He was personable, and he seemed to want to help me. Ultimately, he helped us make the decision not to buy the house, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

My 10 year old Water Heater went out on a weds night, and I called PA Plumbing the very next morning (they were recommended by a friend). Hannah was very nice and helpful on the phone, and offered her first available appt for the following monday. I mentioned that it was leaking all over the stand and floor too, and was hoping that I could get it replaced that very evening. Well, Hannah made it happen, and next thing I know, delightful Phil showed up at my house. Phil was so pleasant and personable, and had a smile the entire time. He was fast and efficient, and I appreciate all that they did for me.

Referred to Palo Alto Plumbing by a friend that has used them for years, and always talked about how great they are.
I’m a DIY’er, and had gotten to the point with a bathroom job where I needed a cast iron tub removed. It was a 2 man job.
Kyle came first, unhooked things, then Joe showed up, and together they removed the tub. All very orderly, neat and clean. And professional. And polite. And friendly.
I was really impressed. It may be a simple job (though it wasn’t to me – it’s always about knowing how and having the correct tools, so they made it look simple), but I will be back with them.
Honestly, the experience could not have been better.

Absolutely the best HVAC company I have worked with in years. Max the owner, will tell you he wanted to build the best company he could and he did!
Educated staff who will share cost saving approaches to meeting your expectations. Hyme (he was our technician) is fabulous, knowledgeable and cares that the work is done right. The office staff maintains timely communication, calls you back, gives you accurate estimates and books the right amount of time to be sure your work is completed before they leave your home. They are tops in our book!

Yes, I have stuck with Palo Alto Plumbing now for 4 years. They have been so good, and reliable. They have done A/​C work, furnace, pipes, fixtures and all the work has been good and I do not think I have ever been overcharged except when I called them on Thanksgiving (they came in 30 minutes!) but they told me how much it would cost — and it was worth it. Highly recommend.

We woke up with no hot water on a Sunday.
Called Palo Alto Plumbing. They answered on the 1^st ring, and said they could come by within a couple hours.
It turned out to be less than 1 hr; Max Jr came to our door, took a look at our pilot light, which wasn’t lighting, couldn’t get it to light either, and replaced a thermocouple that got us going again.
$ 180 for the hour labor on the weekend, $ 22 for the part, and we have hot water for showers and dishes and civilized life again.
Too bad the part failed on the weekend (weekdays would be cheaper), but we are very impressed such prompt and courteous service.

I had an old furnace replaced by Moe from Palo Alto Plumbing. He was very friendly and explained what he was doing clearly when he ran into unexpected issues with my apartment’s really old setup. He seemed very knowledgeable and experienced in what he was doing and also avoided additional construction work.
I had a great experience working with this company, from scheduling the appointment to finally having a heater that works!