A1 American Services
reviews and complaints

I agree, I lived a similar experience with A-1 American. They asked $546 which I have get it fixed for $109 by another company. Never call them again. Call any one else but them.

Hi Greg, Larry was great on saturday May30th 2015 he checked out the problem and did what he had to do in a decent time, also was very pleasant would call for him agian. than-you (Larry and A-1American agian. Have a great day

What a bunch of liars!

I called A-1 American about a frozen and burst outside faucet at 8:50AM. I was told that the dispatcher could get me on the schedule for the day and that they would be out sometime in the afternoon. At 4:44 they called and said they weren't going to make it until "sometime" on Thursday. So after taking off ALL day waiting on them and not being able to take of the next day...if they had told me that morning...or even called at noon and said they were running behind, I could have made other arrangements. Now, I'm stuck with water turned off and still have a burst faucet.

For all the advertising about 24/7 Emergency service...what a load of manure! If there was a rating scale...they would be so far in the negative they would never recover.

I agree with all of these reviews. I was overcharged too and wish I would
have checked previous customer
reviews before I called them. I will never use again and would not recommend

I CALLED A1aMERICA TWO GUYS CAME OUT AS THEY SAID, I ALREADY KNEW WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS, THEY WERE JUST SHOCKED I WOULD NOT GIVE IN TO THERE RIDICULOUS PRICE OF 375.00 FOR A DIVERTER VALVE.WHAT COMPANY IN I DON'T KNOW WHO'S NAME PUT A 3.76 DIVERTER VALVE IN FOR 375.00 .A1aMERICA WE CHARGE YOU NOT BY THE HOUR BUT BY THE JOB, BUT GUESS WHAT, I FOUND A STEP STEP BY STEP YOU TUBE VIDEO, MODERN DAY, FIX IT MY SELF I AM AM 40 YEAR OLD WOMEN, STEP BY STEP VIDEO.3.96 FIXEDFIXED, NO PROBLEMS! A1 charged m$78.00 for what I learned online, NEVER, EVER, AGAIN, AND I WANT RECOMMEND YOUR COMPANY to any of the nurses I work with.

Yep, I got ripped off too by A-1. They charged me $775 to replace a gas valve in the furnace. Asked the technician how much for the part, did not know and that he is told what to charge. He put in a temporary valve, ordered a new one and returned in two days to install. He spent at the very most, about one hour at the house. Looked up on line cost of valve, they run around $100. That means I paid this guy $675 for one hour of work, more like forty minutes. I believe in free enterprise but this is legalized robbery. The bill is not even broken down to parts and labor. Called A-1 to file a complaint, that was a joke, these guys should run for office, become a politician.

I called A1 about my AC Unit. I took off work early to meet them. Four hour later and severel calls they finally arrived. He really didn’t look to long, I could tell he wanted to go home. He told me it was the capacitor or the fan motor. He would be back in the morning with the parts. He returns and then tells me I need a new AC and duct work. It was not the parts he originally stated. He gave me a price of 9600 with an online discount. He kept going on and on about his knowledge of the systems and was very pushy. I smelled a con job from a mile away. Refused and had to pay the 78$ for them to show. I called another company and my AC is up and working for 300$. Watch out if you use A1! I’m still in shock that this company can get away with overcharging and ripping people off. Warning everyone I know.

I can't believe this company is still in business. They have a pattern of excessive charges. They are the proud owners of an F rating from the BBB. Hopefully the DA will investagate them soon.

High price! Here is the bill from yesterday to replace my hot water heater:
1 ea. 40 gal power vent water heater : $2799.65
1 ea. 3/4" cxc ball valve: $271.74
1 ea. expansion tank install: $896.69
total: $3968.08
Bill after a so called discount: $2499.00
I told them what I thought of their Rip Off price, but it didn't bother them at all.
Be Warned if you contract with them to do any type work you will be RIPPED OFF.
There are many honest local plumbers in this area, do your homework and find one.

I totally agree with the dissatisfaction by customers of A1American plumbing. As far as i am concerned they are gravely overpriced and perform their responsibilities at a level lower than a politician or used car salesman. I was charged over $1200.00 for the installation of a new hot water heater. I was at fault for accepting the contract to perform the work however i was never provided with an itemized invoice that would indicate the cost of labor and the cost of materials. i have spoken with numerous company personnel over a lengthy period of time requesting an itemized invoice that also would identify the warranty period and have I have been given the run around with idiotic reasons and excuses. It only leads me to believe that they grossly overcharged me and don't want me to know about it.
Don't trust this group.

On 2/20/2010 (a Saturday) I was replacing fence posts in my yard and discovered my sewer pipe. Then I discovered it had a hole in it. I called A-1 American Plumbing. That was my first mistake. Bob told me that if he came out on a weekend it would cost me $150.00 non-refundable service charge just to show up. If I waited till Monday it would be a $78.00 service charge and if I agreed to have the repair done, he would deduct the $78.00 from the price of the job. I made the appointment for them to come out on that following Monday (2/22/10). Bob told me they would be there between 9 am and noon. I had to make arrangements to leave work to be there when the plumber arrived. At 11:30 am, there still was no plumber so I called the office. They told me that I was on his route sheet for the day. About 12:00 noon I got a call from the plumber saying he was running about 30 minutes late. He finally showed up at 1:00 pm. There was no lettering on the truck. As soon as he got out of the truck he had me sign the invoice for the $78.00 before he looked at the job. Then he looked at the job. I already had a 3 foot by 3 foot hole dug and the sewer pipe was exposed and the damaged part of the pipe was clearly visable. He said he had to go to the truck and call the boss and get a price. When he returned he had a price of $820.97 minus the 15% coupon I had from the telephone book was $714.97. Well, when I saw that I pretty much lost all my sense of professionalism! I told him that his boss should be ashamed of himself to even think of a price like that for a job so simple. When he saw how irate I was, he commenced to tell me that he was just the messenger and he gets this type of thing all the time. This place has the audasity to call itself A-1 "AMERICAN". They should be ashamed of themselves to even associate themselves with Americans with the business practices they employ! Since I am somewhat of a handyman myself, I went to the local home improvement store and bought the materials to complete this job and I had it done in 15 minutes. At 55 years old, I really didn't feel like this was something I wanted to do myself, not because of any complexity, but because I didn't feel like getting on my stomach and cutting sewer pipe. But after the experience with A-1 I managed just fine. I wasn't looking for a hand out, I was willing to pay a fair price for an honest job. I really don't know how those people at A-1 can look themselves in the mirror.

I should have written this complaint 3 months ago but did not have time to do it and forgot. I just remembered to do this now because I saw a leak at the supposedly fixed area. We called A-1 American in June because the PVC pipe connecting the water pump broke. The job was as simple as to remove the broken adapter and re-pipe. The guy Tommy Spivey charged us $544 after some discount for a job that took less than an hour and worth less than $20 of materials from Home Depot. I am not sure how much is the rate here in Chesapeake but that's way too much money for a non-complicated issue. I should have had the patience to do it myself but the grass was turning brown and at the time I was extremely busy. The worse thing is now water is leaking out of the T-piece connection. I WOULD STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY.

I called A-1 based on their ads. I had a leak behind one of my shower fixtures. I told the company I wanted the valve replaced and that no diagnosis was needed. A guy arrives in a no name truck. He comes in and tells my wife it will cost $945 and that he does not have any parts. Of course we say no way. He makes us pay a $78 diagnosis fee. I went to Lowes, bought the part for $40 and installed it myself in half an hour and I'm no plumber. This company is not a company. It seems like they drive around all day, propose outrageous fees and then just take the $78 with no intention of doing any work.

I was ripped off yesterday by them. They should no be aloud to have a license to screw people. Specially older people. When you call, to ask questions, they become hosteled since they can not come up with the true. Everything mention in their reviews(complaints) are true and more...

People need to do their research before choosing A-1 American Services. My heater wasn't working and the technician supposedly determined that I needed a new pressure switch and a draft inducer motor. They wanted to charge me $463.00 for the pressure switch and $1100.00 for the inducer motor. I ask that people be aware that a pressure switch cost about 30-40 dollars and takes less than five minutes to put on a inducer fan, I would also add that a inducer motor is under $200.00 and takes about 30-40 min to put on. What were they charging me for? According to their website you pay for the job not by hour.? $1500 for a job that takes less that an hour to complete and parts that cost less than $200.00. Oh, by the way that wasn't even the cause, got a new pressure switch and draft motor still no hot air.

Never ever use A-1 American, they are overpriced, will not return call or e-mail after they take your money. I complained to the BBB and they lied to them in response. I cannot state strongly enough that you will be much better off calling anyone else to have work done.

They ripped my daughter off. They charged about 400 dollars an hour to replace a toilet flange. Please check the BBB before using this company, they are a total rip off

What is you see is not what you get. I called A-1 because of their commercials - they seemed like a reputable company. I expected someone to pull up in a nice red van with a large A-1 sign on the side. Instead, a guy pulled up in an older white van with no signs or anything to indicate who he worked for. He was nothing like the professional-looking gentleman in the commercials, either. His shirt was untucked, buttons were undone down to his chest, and his gold chains were swinging back and forth. Before he came, I spent a couple of hours doing a lot of prep work to make things easier for him (moved washer, dryer, and water heater so he could get easy access to drain line. I dug down to the clean out outside in case he needed to get in that way.). I told him what I had done to try and remove a clog and where I thought it was. He agreed with "my assessment" and told me it would cost $510 to snake out the 12 foot section of pipe. "BUT" since he was a little late he would knock the price down to $410. I told him I could not and would not pay that. I had to pay the $78 that was supposed to pay for him to diagnose the problem (which I already did - I just couldn't reach the clog with my equipment). I feel that this company misrepresents itself and gives a false impression of who they really are through their advertisements. Their prices are ridiculous as well. I called another plumber (who works for Smith and Keene) and he was shocked at the price I was quoted. He told me "If I charged those prices, I would not be able to sleep at night." I am very disappointed with this company and feel sorry for the elderly and widows who think they're calling the nicely dressed, well-groomed, clean-cut man who promises quality work at a fair price. Instead they end up getting ripped off and taken advantage of.

A1 American charged my Mother $600 for a simple residential bathroom clogged drain. She is an elderly Filipino woman, taking care my Father, whom is a white disabled, retired, Navy Veteran. She asked the guy why it was so expensive and he replied with "that's how much it costs in this economy". She wrote a check and never called them for their services again. Just for the record, a simple residential bathroom clogged drain, with no additional repair work during regular operating hours (and with an appointment), should yield about a $70-$80 price range from a reputable, experienced plumber. Call around. LOOK FOR SOMEONE ELSE. THESE GUYS WILL RIP YOU OFF. HORRIBLE.

This company is the absolute worst for ripping people off. I have a number of friends who were quoted large prices, including price of a new unit, when it was not necessary. Former neighbors of mine were told that a new unit was necessary. They got a second opinion & the total cost was the price of a gasket. I shared this story with our mailman & HE TOO had issues with A1 American. I contacted News Channel 3 with this information since their commercial is always on & I was that it would be looked into. Since they still advertise so it's clear they, along with other news channels, think more of their advertising dollars than their viewers. I can't believe this company has survived this long...well, yes I can...by selling whole units instead of being honest. I can't even stand to watch their commercials.

I called A1 american because of the ad on TV and the coupon plus the yellow pages Guarantee. I was promised someone would be out before 2 p.m. I called after waiting until 3 was assured the tech was delayed and he would be out shortly I waited another 1 hour and called back another delay. They would have the tech would call me back. Thank God no one ever showed up.