Bishop Plumbing, Heating and Cooling
reviews and complaints

Bishop plumping was contracted under our home warranty for an emergency plumbing issue. They couldn’t come out for 24 hours, despite it being an emergency and our house being without water. They left after two hours of banging on the pipes without finishing the job, due to a “bigger emergency” (they said someone had a hole punched through a shower wall.) They said they would return the next afternoon, which meant we’d be without water for 48 hours. I called a more professional company who cleaned up their shoddy half-finished job and said Bishop turned a simple fix into a worse issue by cutting the water line/pipe, which was completely unnecessary. Do not use Bishop Plumbing.

Please read - stay away! Fake positive reviews! Please look through yelp first! My elderly mother reached out to bishop after her heater stopped working. This was the first time that she tried to do something on her own since my father passed away. They charged her $1400 for a bandaid repair - not bad for not even a full day's worth of work, right? I tried to give bishop the benefit of the doubt by reaching out to them, after my mother called me in tears, in hopes of working something out. I thought that they would have some human decency. After calling multiple times without any help I decided to send an email to the owner brian wilk, as a last resort. I finally get an email from their vp kristina curran. I cannot believe the cold-hearted response that I ended up receiving from her. Kristina did not even have the decency to pick up the phone to call me back in order to discuss this with me, instead she cowardly chose to write an insensitive response via email after I expressed to her employee gina how poorly my mother was treated by their other employee brian. Kristina responded as if I should be extremely grateful for the fact that bishop sent brian back over to my elderly mother's home to then have him get extremely aggressive and yell at her in order to intimidate her after she just spent $1400.00 for a repair on a heater that only lasted for 2 hours, to then end up sitting in the cold, without heat, for close to a week. But even though there is a language barrier and english is not her first language, my mother signed a contract so who cares it is not their problem.

How does a heating company not offer any warranty on their repairs, especially after 2 hours? And how do they not have 24 hour emergency service during the winter? When I called bishop I was told that they do not have anyone to send out during an emergency. Liars! Yet their listing on google shows that they are open 24 hours. It is very clear that bishop does not care about their customers once payment is received. How heartbreaking that they left a senior citizen in the cold, without a care, in the middle of winter!

I can honestly say that I have never dealt with a company as morally corrupt as this. They are supposed to be professionals. Their technician brian should have had the proper training to know when he needs to deem something as beyond repairable. He should have never tried to do a repair on a unit that he, as a professional, knew from the start that he himself could not repair or that it would only act as a temporary bandaid (especially if he needed to invest "20 hours" as their vp claimed). Absolutely absurd and such a joke! Bishop, nor brian their tech, invested anywhere near 20 hours of work.

Then after their horrible attempt at a repair they then tried to tell my mother a new heater would be 7k. They say that the pricing is due to them being licensed, insured and bonded. I contacted two other local companies (both licensed, insured, and bonded as well - one with over 30+ years of experience) yet bishop quoted my mother more than double their price.

All of this coincides with the reviews that I have read online claiming how bishop takes advantage of people by grossly overcharging them. They get customers locked in by not only charging a dispatch fee but then adding a ridiculously high diagnostic fee so that they get backed into a corner and just end up using them versus losing out on over $400.00.

After speaking with the state, and the city of des plaines, both mentioned that this is not the first complaint and that they have received numerous complaints about bishop regarding similar issues as mine throughout the years. Which makes me question how a company with a track record like theirs gets the state to continue to renew their license year after year.

My siblings and I found a great company down the street from bishop who charged just under 3k for a brand new heater. They couldn't believe the amount that my mother was charged for an attempt of a repair that should have never been done in the first place.

Bryan Helser from Bishop Plumbing came to our home to clear a blocked shower drain. He quoted us a price of $559.00. We foolishly agreed to the price because we don't know anything about plumbing and assumed it was a bigger job than we anticipated. It took Mr. Helser less than 45 minutes to rod the drain and we felt the charges were excessive. That is when the strong arm tactics were applied and he insisted we pay right then and there before he would leave because we agreed to the price before the job was started. We feel their approach is unethical and fraudulent. Stay away.

In Sep of this year, I needed to have a kitchen sink drain rodded. Based on a referral, I contacted Bishop Plumbing to have the work performed. In two separate phone calls, I tried to get the service rep to give me some idea as to what they charged for that job, but was rebuffed both times, saying that they don’t do quotes over the phone. Two years ago, I had the same exact job done by Jespersen Plumbing Contractors at another site. They charged $106/hr for 2.5 hrs plus materials for a total of $310.00
When the Bishop service man arrived, on 9/21/12, he informed me that they don’t charge by the hour, but by the task, and each task is a separate charge. He said that the charge to rod the drain was $594.00. I thought that this was an incredibly high amount, but as I was leaving on an extended trip shortly, and had to get the drain cleared, I agreed to that fee.
The task consists of removing the P Trap, a small U-shaped pipe, rodding the drain pipes, and replacing the P-Trap. The service man broke the P-Trap when he removed it. After he completed the rodding, he informed me that replacing a new P-Trap pie was a separate task for which the charge is $330.00!. At that point, what choice did I have? If I had said NO, he would have left me with an open drain. So again, I agreed. When he was done, I told him I wanted to pay half the $925.00 charge and discuss this whole thing with management. He called and agreed to that. Can you believe they charged me $925.00 to rod a kitchen drain?
My complaint is two-fold. One, the charges are INCREDIBLY EXCESSIVE as compared to what others would charge. Two, I have been charged for 2 tasks when only one was performed. The task of rodding requires removing the P-Trap, rodding the pipes, and replacing the P-Trap. Just because a different pipe was used, should not make it a separate task. I should be paying for one task, and it is dubious as to who should be paying for the pipe broken by the service man.
I have since spoken with a Customer service rep, the Operations Mgr, and the Vice President, none of whom have offered any significant relief to this issue. I have asked to speak to the owner but have been told that he is not available. The company line here is that everything they did was LEGAL, and I should have no complaints. They are VERY defensive about this and I can certainly understand why!
In doing follow up research, I have found that the BBB of Illinois has received 39 complaints for these EXACT practices, in the past 3 yrs alone.
Although they may run their business legally, their practices are deceptive, and their charges are WAY out of line of the hourly rates and fees charged by their competition. I honestly feel that the $450.00 I have already paid is more than sufficient for the work performed. James J. Lomonaco

AVOID THIS COMPANY! We had an emergency plumbing situation that cost $9000. The one good thing we can say is that the plumbers that came to do the fix were nice and courteous. However, they did not have our job inspected. We spent several days working with the city inspector and they were possibly going to have to dig up our yard again to see the job. Bishop Plumbing has lied throughout the inspection process. When they have tried to be contacted to resolve the issue, they won't return the phone calls or emails. When we finally reached Brian by phone to try to explain why we would not use the company again, he spoke over us, gave many excuses (which are not true), and became unprofessional. He then hung up on us. That is the type of service you get for $9000.

I can't agree more with the other NEGATIVE reviews I've read about BISHOP PLUMBING. I called them to check my hot water heater as the water wasn't hot...just lukewarm. All I got for $79.95 was a series of quotes: $343.50 to do a "minor diagnostic"...any parts needed would be an EXTRA charge; if it was the shower valve, it would cost $530.90; if the water heater needed to be replaced, the cost would be $1732.25; to remove the old and bring in a new water heater would cost $240.00; replacing the upper and lower elements would cost $945.50!

All quotes had these mysterious code numbers and letters. I had the salesman (he said he was a licensed plumber) leave as I told him his prices were way too high. Yes, the "plumber" was neat and clean and the trucks are clean and look very professional, but this company is a RIPOFF. BEWARE...

I called another plumber, he was here within an hour, he did a COMPLETE diagnostic and determined that NOTHING WAS WRONG, it just needed to be set at a higher temperature. He checked both elements and thermostats. The TOTAL cost (INCLUDING the complete diagnostic) was $89.00 and he accepted a $25 coupon (from the phone book) for a final cost of $64.00! This plumber told me to replace an element would run $125.00 and the second element would be less. Call someone else other than Bishop. I called HERITAGE PLUMBING CO in Hoffman Estates and HIGHLY recommend them.

I wrote a letter to Bishop to complain about the $79.95 fee to provide estimates and I was told they would not make any adjustment. In fact, the lady was argumentative to boot when she did call in response to my letter of complaint.

There are many other reputable and honest plumbers trying to make an honest living. AVOID Bishop Plumbing...

Incredible rip off. They will refuse to quote a rough estimate, even for a standard job. A toilet install, faucet, etc, should be pretty much the same. I completely understand if they arrive and there are circumstances which may add to the price, but they can tell you that before they start the job. The price they quote you, once they arrive, is RIDICULOUS! Being at the high end of a range in a market is one thing, but this is in the extortionate range. If you refuse, they will tell you that you owe them $79.95 for coming out, despite not doing any work at all. Find a plumber who will be honest with you and provide a no-charge estimate. Even if they are higher priced, you'll save a lot of aggravation.

Knowing nothing about plumbing, had Bishop come in to rod a tub. Their charge $594...though steep, maybe the going rate these days.Both tubs in two bathrooms are backed up. We agree. After 45 minutes of trying to rod, tech says that he can only go so far, showing bent rod heads. He then says he has to see the piping which involves cutting a hole in ceiling below those bathrooms. He shows another book cost of $415...OMG...what is the problem. We stupidly agree, he uses a flashlight and states that we have illegal piping...probably where the clog is stuck. Will need two guys to come on another day to undo the pipes, unclog and refit with updated piping...another $1500. We stupidly agree to addtional work...plus we added a few things since the ceiling is now open. We didnt read..stupid stupid stupid. We were inhurry to get to a kids game and signed and initalled paperwork. After telling a neighbor.shocked he referred us to his licensed plumber who then comes out and successfuly rods for $150. Now we are feeling scammed and ripped off. So we call and speak to Brian who explains that his attempt/labor still costs that $1009. So basically Bishop doesnt charge by the job as stated by their advertising with no funny business...they charge by the labor regardless of success. UNBELIEVABLE. Now reading my paperwork more, realize they write "attempt"...tricky word...also I apparently signed away all my consumer rights to cancel..a nice little consumer protection right that consumers have...cooling period of a few business days (accept in emergency) to cancel a job by a contractor who comes in your home to protect you against pressure tactics. Bishop has a nice litte waiver that basically waives your rights...companies are suppose to verbally tell you about your rights...I didnt know about this...but stupidly initialed areas that state they did verbally tell me. I discuss this issue with Brian about style of billing, unecssary work and not being told waiver. He tries to explain their waiver to cancel consumer rights is to protect him against unscrupulous consumers when they come out to do an emergency job...we didnt have an emergency job... After researching this consumer protection right...it is already built in to cover companies in the event of emergencies...so they hope stupid, trusting home owners dont read all their little legal details and ask you to inital here and here and here...and then you are screwed because you were an idiot to trust these scammers.They dont care..they believe they are justified in their cost...but I of course cancel the addtional so called work of $1500. After researching a bit more on this company..realize BBB has many similar scenario complaints as does Angies list. Try to complain to the divisions that handle plumbers...goverment agency doesnt care either...they tell you to send in your complaint and they never respond or return your calls...so really you are just screwed.

Terrible company w/terrible people. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY -
They charged us $600+ for fixing a leaky bathtub faucet. It was described to us as 'you need the valves rebuilt'. In actuality, he plumber Brock Dullum (incompetent) replaced two washers in 1 hour.
To add insult to injury, he didn't even clean out the faucet aerators in the various sinks after he had shut off the water main. He left us with little water pressure in the sinks, I had to fix this myself.

DO YOURSELF A FAVOR, CALL ANYONE ELSE EXCEPT THIS COMPANY - DIANE AND BRIAN ARE THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE PEOPLE YOU WILL EVER COME ACROSS. STAY AWAY

We called Bishop Plumbing because we had heard that they have done business in our building before and I thought it would be easier just to have them hook up our new sink and faucet. No major concerns of leaks when you have a pro do the work. The new sink was in the same location as the old one, so everything was right there under the sink. When we called, they said that there would be an 80 dollar charge to come out if we didn’t have them do the work (not totally out of line but not totally happy with it in case we decided not to with them). They arrived and looked over the work and gave us a cost. This cost would be a final charge, no matter how long it would take to complete. I was amazed with the figures given to me that I could only start to laugh right there asking what kind of hourly rates are they charging more than $400.00 a hour?

These are the costs, hand written on my copy of the paperwork
Install customer supplied faucet $533.00
Install 1-1/2” chrome trap $222.80
Install 1-1/2” waste arm $194.45
Shut off water and install angle stop on cold water side $366.45

These charges add up to $1316.70 but he told me it was going to be just over $1500.00. I’m not sure how he came to that figure maybe taxes. When he asked if I was concerned with the price and I said yes, he called for a price reduction. The new total cost was about $200.00 less.

I am in the trades as well; I thought that the prices given to us were a total rip off. All I could think about was the fact that some people would just pay this amount. We did not have them do any work so I can’t talk to the quality of the work.

I went to the local hardware store and bought the parts needed to hook up the drain and strainers for the sink. The total cost was $58.00. Including the time to get the parts I was completed in 2.5 hours with everything including the faucet (no extra parts needed). The only thing I did not do is shut off the water to install a new angle stop.

Beware of prices given you to do work. Always get more than one quote before you give the approval to begin, if it is not an emergency there is no harm in that as long as it is compared apples to apples.

I once read that you can tell the true character of a person by the way they treat children and the elderly, well you don't want to subject your old mother or father to Bishop Plumbing. They came out when my mother's plumbing temporarily froze and wanted $4000 to remedy the situation. She had already paid $179 just to have them come out which was charged to her credit card over the phone prior to them coming. Okay, she agreed to that.

If you don't want to read all of this, I will tell you right now that two nonprofessionals with a heat gun fixed the problem!

When she got the addition quote for $4000, she called me and I spoke to the plumber, Joe, on the phone and told him it was ridiculously high. He said that he had to get two ice breakers, one he had with him, and the other he said which he wasn't sure he could locate and we would be lucky to get over to the site. I told him I wanted to make some phone calls for some additional quotes and information and would call him back within 15 minutes and in the meantime he could see if he could locate this ice breaker. For those of you who may not be familar an ice breaker is a machine that transmits electrical currents similiar to a battery cable. Ask what the dangers are in using this because I was told by someone else that the pipes can crack and if the meter is not disconnected properly, it can be damaged.

I called Joe within the time period I mentioned and lo and behold, he tells me that he is setting up ice breaker! Amazing not only because neither I nor my mother told him to go ahead, but he found one at the office and managed to get it there and off the truck even though his office is more than 15 minutes away. Keep in mind that I had asked my mother NOT to sign anything and she hadn't at that point. She also told me later that no machines or cables had been brought into the house and nothing was set up outside.

I reminded him that we had not authorized this job and that I had found someone else to take care of the problem. He then informed me that he wanted $325 for having diagnosed the problem and I asked him to leave the bill with the owner's phone number and I would take care of the following business day. He agreed over the phone then tells my frail, scared 85 year old mother who weighs less than a hundred pound that he can't leave her house without a check! Exact words, he can't leave. Then he demands a check for $660 (double what he told me) and has her initial the invoice that she said he was writing out as he and I talked saying that she agreed to the charges.

You can only imagine the words I hve for him. And guess what --- he did not, I repeat, did not diagnose the problem correctly.

Please, if you have frozen pipes, try a few things first. It's not all that difficult and will save you lots of money.

First, located where the pipes come into the house and wrap them with a heated insulation product that you can buy at the hardware store or if you can't get out, use a hair dryer or a heat gun. If the pipes are in a basement or crawl space, try to get the room warmer even if, as one decent plumber told me, you have to use a fan to draw warm air from one room into the subject room.

If you think you have any exposed pipes outside, make sure you check them! In our case Mr. Joe the Plumber did not check our sump pump and did not know that that was the problem. In some cases, esp. where the system has been in place for a while, some of the main water line coming in from the street is exposed- meaning if you pick up the manhole cover you will see the pipe is not covered by dirt, hence will not be under the freeze line. All it took was 15 minutes with a heat gun to get the water going. If you have an exposed pipe like this, it is possible you may have an electrical outlet in the area for the sump pump (we did, but the outlet is not functioning correctly). Get some heat wrap and plug it in during the winter months. (Most electrical outlets accomodate two plugs, one for the sump and another for the heat wrap or whatever.) If you can't get heat wrap, use blankets, even hay. Yes, hay is a great insulator even though I realize it may not be readily available but use your imagination. I am not a plumber, but esp. ladies, do not be intimidated by these things. Ask questions, read books. I've even heard of another plumber charging an old lady $100 to change her toilet seat. Come on. It's two screws and you can buy one at the store for less than $15 with tax!

Last thoughts - I hope this saves some one else money and do not be afraid of contacting your local state's attorney and complaining.