Plumbing reviews in San Rafael, California

I needed to replace my furnace and ducting at my home. Alex not only came out & accessed the situation right away but he was readily available for all my follow-up questions. He was very nice, helpful, knowledgeable & patient.

**ATTENTION!! PUBLIC BEWARE**...The plumbing company is trash and the epitome of terrible customer service. The appointment which was scheduled days before was suddenly moved to a later time. I had to take time off of work to be home and was now stuck waiting and waiting. I finally called the company number and got the typical answering service flunky who told me that the tech would NOT BE COMING in the allotted time specified and in fact they had no "idea when the tech would be finishing with the job they were currently doing." The company didn't have the common courtesy to call me and let me know this little tidbit of information. So I had been waiting at home for 4 hours, thinking they were coming. I immediately cancelled the appointment. Never got a call from the owner or a manager. Not even a sorry for the inconvenience that we wasted your day....NOTHING! John Owens plumbing is a BIG company out of Petaluma CA, with 30 trucks and they don't give a damn about the average working class person or our time. They're interested in doing big construction jobs. Not sure why they advertise as residential? My advices is if you're looking for a plumber, go with a small, local company who still cares about their customers.

Cody arrived timely. I told him the problem I was having with my furnace and that I thought it might be the thermostat. He quickly checked the system and confirmed it was the thermostat and suggested that I could save money if I felt confident I could swap out the thermostat myself. I did and thus saved several hundred bucks. He did make some recommendations regarding replacing the system, which is quite old, without pressuring me to do it right away. I will have him and his company at the top of my list when that time comes.

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⭐️ Review of John Owens Heating & Air Conditioning (Petaluma)

I recently had a very disappointing experience with John Owens Heating & Air Conditioning in Petaluma.

I have a new home that required a full installation of air-conditioning equipment, a new hot water heater, and a new furnace. At the outset, the experience was excellent. The salesman was prompt, courteous, knowledgeable, and professional. Both my contractor and I were impressed. He assessed our needs carefully and provided a bid that—while high—seemed justified by the quality of the equipment and what we were led to believe would be reliable service.

Unfortunately, once the bill was paid, everything changed.

The very first night after installation, the hot water heater did not work because the pilot light had never been lit. That should never have happened in a new installation.

Over the next couple of weeks, it became clear that the furnace system was badly imbalanced. The lower floor of the house—where two bedrooms are located—was freezing, while the upper floor was excessively warm. This appeared to be a relatively simple adjustment.

I scheduled three separate service appointments to address this issue. Each time, the appointment was either canceled or changed within 24 hours by the company. The office staff insisted they had given adequate notice, which was not accurate. I had already hired someone to be present at the house to meet their technicians, so I incurred additional costs each time.

The behavior of the front office staff was especially troubling. They were dismissive, condescending, and spoke to me as if I were a child. I was addressed casually by my first name and told that they had “no time” to come because there were “older people with no heat at all.” I explained—repeatedly—that I had no heat on the entire lower floor of my home, but this seemed to carry no weight whatsoever.

The overall message I received was clear: once the equipment is installed and paid for, the customer is no longer a priority.

As of now, my heating system is still not properly balanced. I have yet another appointment scheduled weeks out, and frankly, I have little confidence they will even show up.

For a company charging premium prices, this level of service—or lack thereof—is unacceptable. I would not recommend John Owens Heating & Air Conditioning. Their follow-through is poor, their office staff is rude and inconsistent, and they do not stand behind their work.

This experience has been shocking and deeply disappointing.

All of the people that I have encountered at John Owens have been professional, personable and responsive to my needs as a homeowner-from the person who answers the phone and questions, and to the service people who come out. In this last visit, the service person was very thorough and so honest that he indicated that I didn't have to have all the work done that I was worried I would need. He explained what he did do, and what I should do to avoid further problems. John Owens is my first call whenever I need service from a plumber.

Tim was prompt and thorough in his assessment of my boiler issue and gave me helpful information on the needed replacement. While the issues were greater than originally thought, he didn't try to upsell or do more than was needed. Appreciate the affordable diagnostic price, which was 3 times less than some other companies.

John Owens Services provided us a very competitive quote for a new furnace. Alex came to our house the same day we contacted them and provided a straightforward quote. I was left with a very positive impression of the company. Ultimately we chose another company, but we will definitely consider John Owens Services for any future work.

Second time in 2 months I've used them. They ran late for my scheduled service window and called to let me know which I appreciated. Once they arrived they quickly identified the problem, consulted me about recommended solution and got my approval before proceeding. Went into house and verified heat was coming out in the vents. Quick and efficient service. Would recommend and will use again when the need arises.

I was putting a gas fireplace insert into my existing fireplace and asked John Owens Services for a quote to run the gas line. I subsequently agreed to their quote. After multiple discussions with the plumber regarding where the gas line should come into the box and 2 weeks later i was informed that the quote only covered the gas line TO the outside and not into the firebox and there would be an additional charge. When I asked how they thought the gas line would get into the firebox they suggested the fireplace company usually does that. I called 3 fireplace companies and all said they never heard of that. Very disappointing!

I have revised my review because John Owens Plumbing did reach out to me, albeit 10 days later, to offer completing the gas line into the firebox at no charge. Unfortunately I had the work completed by another company but want to acknowledge that the company did reach out to make things right and appreciate that they showed that they are a company with integrity. I also want to add that Keith, who did the work was punctual, professional and always available to answer my questions.

Great customer service and professional. They were on-time, identified the issue fast with my water heater. Unfortunately it needed a replacement than a fix. Quote was provided but i ended up going with another company as the quote was quite high.

However, they do offer a quote match for apples-to-apples line items. I didn't know that before i proceeded with another company. Either way, great people and will recommend and will recommend a quote match if you would like to move forward with John Owens.