Rob West Plumbing

Water heater went out and my landlord got a recommendation from a friend. They recommended Rob West Plumbing. Rob called me and told me his workers will be out on Sunday. Ozzie and Chad got here at 830 am and were done by 1045. Ozzie and Chad were great and told me step by step what was happening and even showed me how to light a new water heater. I’ve already told my mom about them and will be telling others. Thanks to my landlord Martha, Rob, Ozzie, and Chad for a job well done!

First-​time customer, and we would absolutely call him again!
The hot-​water pressure in my mom’s kitchen dropped with no warning – well, maybe a little warning. See, a few days earlier, the city did some water-​main work, which involved shutting off the water for the entire block. Generally, whenever there’s water-​main work in the area, we spend a few days unscrewing the aerator on the kitchen faucet to remove the little bits of rust and sediment that get stirred up by the work; but this time, even when we took the aerator off, there was about 20% of the normal hot water pressure. Not only that, but the dishwasher, which fills off the same hot-​water line as the kitchen faucet, suddenly had the same problem – no pressure, wouldn’t fill. So after a few days of hand-​washing forks (what is this, medieval days?) we called Rob West Plumbing.
He and his apprentice got here a couple minutes early – always a plus in my book – and they were efficient and clean. They unhooked the water line, and when they failed to find any blockages, they pumped compressed air through the lines to clear them. When they opened the tap in the laundry sink, apparently some good-​sized chunks of crud came out, and the water pressure in the sink improved substantially. His apprentice, Ozzy, also found an issue which we weren’t aware of – a crimp in a pipe under the sink which might have been making the problem worse – and fixed that as well.
Unfortunately, the dishwasher still wasn’t filling, but we weren’t too stunned – it’s a Maytag which is literally over 30 years old. But even here, Rob was ready to help – he contacted a colleague of his who repairs appliances, describing the issue, sending him photos of the dishwasher and the model info, and he was able to narrow down what the problem is likely to be. So we’re going to schedule with him, and we’re hoping the ancient dishwasher will be working as before.
I see a lot of comments in these reviews about «too pricey»; my reply to that is, «isn’t everything?» I didn’t think his rates were out of line at all, especially considering that it’s the city, and literally EVERYTHING costs more here.
I was definitely happy with their work. I would recommend them.

Initially I reached out to Rob’s shop because they were local and I like the idea of working with small businesses. Unfortunately, that is what plagued them in the end.
My needs were not an urgent plumbing matter– my shower only dispensed really hot water, borderline scalding, which is not pleasant to use, but I’ve been dealing with it for a few months now.
After playing some phone tag to reach them, I was able to explain my needs to Ralph. He promised he would call me back the next day with a quote on the work and to schedule a time to come out. Three days later I still had not received a follow-​up call. I called in and had to re-​explain my needs to a different guy, but ultimately he had to have Ralph call me back to schedule a time.
We scheduled them to come out on a Wednesday morning. I took the morning off of work to be home while they worked. They said they would be there between 7 – 7:30 and didn’t show until 8:30. After taking my shower apart, they informed me they did not have the right part and needed to visit their supplier and would have to take my part with them. They also informed me that it could not be done in the same day and they would have to come back tomorrow. There was also the chance that it would be a different technician. I was not very comfortable with the idea that the guy who would be putting it back together was not the same person who took it apart.
It was the end of the day and I still had not heard from Ralph about when they would be coming out the next morning — I’ll have to take off from work then too. I called in and Ralph informed me that they do not have enough guys to send out tomorrow and would have to wait until at least Friday before they could come out. This puts me without a usable shower for 2 days. They did eventually complete the job and which was satisfactory.
Bottom line is they are a small shop and they operate like one. Their prices were a little high. You might expect a lower price given they have less overhead than a bigger company.

Rob West and his team are amazing! I had a clogged kitchen sink, called Rob and in less than 30 minutes Alex and Sam were at my door! Luckily the pipes just needed a quick rodding and were clear. Both Alex and Sam were super friendly and helpful. I will definitely recommend this company to anyone and if the need ever arises they will be my first call! Plumbing issues can be scary and this was so easy and smooth… never fear when Rob West is here!

After hearing from Roto Rooter that I had a clogged sewer line requiring $ 6K worth of repairs in addition to property destruction, I decided to get a second opinion from a less corporate type of shop. Turns out my sewer line was only partially clogged on the city side. Rob West was more than helpful. After the job they even went through the house explaining the plumbing in general. Also, their employees are paid by the hour, unlike Roto Rooter that uses unlicensed plumbers who work on commission.

I liked Rob West when Tom was working for them. He was always friendly, professional, and honest… but Tom no longer works there and now they just blow me off… I sent a concise email asking for them to come by for service and after a few days of no contact, I sent another one and they finally called me that day. The guy asked me 5 questions — to which the answers for all were already included in the email. He said he would call me back and then never did… like really? I heard they lost at least one other plumber as well so not a good sign right now that they can handle jobs. I have also found that their ~$ 240 service fee is up to double of some other honest professional plumbers in the area… so I will never be calling Rob West again.
Giving 2 stars just because I had some good experiences with Tom but now that he’s gone, they need to get their priorities straight.

Let’s start with the good news — the plumbers were polite and clean. We have no problem with them. We have a huge problem with the «scam-​like» behavior when it came to the billing. We pay for services received but have a huge objection to the attempt to double charge. The job took four hours. The effort to charge an extra $ 150 (equivalent to an hour of work) for removing and replacing the a brand new toilet is absurd. That is called labor and is in the four hours already charged. My advice to you is to use a different plumbing company that is not known to attempt to double charge unless you like the idea of paying twice for the same thing! The last thing I need to complain about is the attempt to obtain credit card information over the phone which was another «scam-​like» behavior. When a customer is already unhappy an immediate demand for credit card information can sound very threatening and cause for alarm. Please be cautious when dealing with this business. A plumbing problem is stressful enough without the addition of a problem plumbing company.

Not properly staffed to do emergency work. I thought based on the reviews I could count on these guys because they were a small shop and responsive but being a small shop also means that they cannot service their customers in time of emergency. This is the second time they are fixing the same issue that I paid top dollar to fix 4 months ago. I was thinking that would make the difference to have the issue fixed and I am not happy that they were not able to diagnose and fix the issue the first time out. Now I can’t get them out here. I get the small business thing but you have to be staffed for emergencies.

I am a real estate broker here in Chicago, and have been using Rob West Plumbing and referring them for several years (actually refer dozens of clients a year). Overall I think that they do top notch work that is worthy of 5 stars, alas they along with every other contractor out there is not perfect.
As mentioned by other reviewers, their scheduling is not the best. Most services can give you a pretty small window, as they give you a big block of time, and say they will call day of. For busy people, this could be problematic where you can’t block off 3 – 4 hours of your day for a 30 minute service call.
Second, they sure are expensive! But if you want good quality service in Chicago you are going to have to pay for it.
At the end of the day their work is very solid, and a reliable plumber is hard to come by, thus they continue to get my business.

The difference in our experiences between 2013 and 2014 was remarkable and extraordinarily disappointing. My husband and I truly like to support local business but in the case of Rob West Plumbing we will not be doing so again.
In September 2013, our kitchen sink/​garbage disposal clogged. Rob West Plumbing was able to get a guy out to our house quickly for a charge of $ 140. Simple de-​clogging took 30 or 40 minutes and I must say we were pretty satisfied with the process and outcome.
Fast forward to last week when we again had the same problem with our sink/​disposal. They provided us with an appointment time of 7AM the next day. 7:25 rolled around and the plumber finally made his way over — no call, no apology for tardiness. Like I have nowhere to be… just standing here in my scrubs waiting on you so I can get to work. They started the job (which we made as easy as possible by having the circuit breaker turned off and the cabinet cleared out in preparation for their arrival) which took all of 18 minutes. At the end of the service call, I asked what I owed. The plumber called Tom, the field supervisor, and notified him of the job’s completion and asked the rate which he proceeded to tell me was $ 250. Sure wish I had referenced my old checkbook register to get my September 2013 charge so I could have inquired why on EARTH the same repair cost $ 110 more 9 months later, but as I said, I had to get to work and these guys were already making me late with their original tardiness. Also, why do you have to call your field supervisor to get the rate when you supposedly charge $ 250 for the first hour?
My husband immediately contacted Rob and Tom via email and followed up with Rob via phone. We assumed their had been a miscommunication with Tom thinking the plumbers had ACTUALLY been on the call for 45 minutes (remember, they were 25 minutes late) and $ 250 was their hourly rate. Needless to say, we were incredibly disappointed to find out they «do not pro-​rate charges.» And not a single apology for tardiness was made– just some excuses about construction on the 2 lane, low-​traffic road between our house and their office. Not buying it. I could walk to their office in 25 minutes.
Both Rob and Tom offered us a discount on our next service call. My husband requested written confirmation of this promised discount… still haven’t received that but they sure did cash that $ 250 check the same day it was written! And do you really think we are gonna call you guys again?! Can’t imagine what your prices and new policies will be 9 months from now given the rate increase we just experienced. Thanks but no thanks. So much for repeat business. If your business isn’t thriving it’s not because you don’t charge enough, it’s because you lack professionalism.

OH MY GOSH! So I paid them to install a shower drain when they had the floor jackhammered up from my overhead sewer install. They told me they did it, charged me for it, and marked an X in the concrete where I was to «tap with a hammer and the drain would be right underneath». Later, I got a quote from them to do the shower pipes and pan — $ 2000! where everyone else was between $ 1k-​$ 1300 (three other plumbers) so I went with someone else*. My new plumber had to rent a jackhammer to go down through 6″ of concrete (hardly a «tap»), then dig another 10−12″ down to find the horizontal stub out for where the shower drain SHOULD have been. Called Rob, and he said «oh, we made a mistake with the concrete, why didn’t you call me?» Um, hello, calling you now… «Well what do you want me to do about it?» Um, send someone out or refund me? «Yeah, I’m a contractor, I’m not going to rebate you.» Even for work you said you did, that you didn’t do, and you charged me for it? Unbelievable. Said he’d call back, even texted him, no response until 5:30 (after my current plumber left). Talked and talked and talked, would insult me then immediately take it back and say that that’s what they always do (even though his employee told me something 100% different and my invoice says «shower drain» not «shower stub»). So basically I had to pay my current plumber to rent a jackhammer and dig for a half a day to find the «shower drain».
*Another part of the reason I went with someone else is that I called him back in the fall/​winter and told him I had a leak from one of his pipes. He said that I had an old house, how did I know they were his pipes? I told him I was looking at them, it was his work that he installed a year and a half prior, and should not be leaking. He would not come out to look at his work (for free) unless I agreed to have him camera the sewer for tree roots (totall 100% unrelated, he pushes it every time he talks to anyone I know in Oak Park). He talks in circles + a mile a minute which wears you down, so I finally agreed and he said he’d send someone right away since I was going out of town. Never sent anyone. I figured it was a sign. Talking to him always feels like he’s talking me into something I don’t want to do or don’t agree with, feels very scammy. He says he stands behind his work, but he really doesn’t (and with leaks and charging me for things he didn’t actually do, why would he?). Find someone else, trust me.

I didn’t use Rob West for my leaking dishwasher issue but I’m giving him 5 stars for taking the time to talk through my issue and suggested I go with an appliance repair person so I didn’t end up paying twice if it ended up being something outside of his expertise (appliances). I’ll definitely use him when I do need a plumber.

Rob West is fantastic!
I am a Property Manager in the Chicago area and I use them for ALL of my properties!
Tom is my go-​to guy! He is incredibly responsive. He is willing to answer questions I have and help me with any issues immediately. He is always available via phone, email, and even texts!
I have used them so many times that I have lost count, but I was pleased with the work every time. They are amazing! If you are looking for a reliable and knowledgeable plumber, I would give them a call!

I had a furnace problem and called on a Sunday night. They took my order and assured me that someone would be out to my apartment first thing Monday morning. They showed up around 1 PM, worked on the furnace for a half hour or so, then told me I needed a new part — which I was welcome to order myself, since they didn’t carry it. Here’s the bill, bye now!

I can’t say enough great things about Rob West Plumbing.
Due to the jerk that is the Polar Vortex where our temperature dropped to –10 degrees, the water pipes burst in my apartment.
I found Rob on Unilocal at 7:22am in a total panic. I said that I didn’t know where my water shut-​off valve was in my building but begged him to come over ASAP because water was freely flowing into my living room.
Luke was in my house in 20 minutes. He turned off the water immediately, found the problem, fixed the problem and gave me a price of about half of what I was expecting to pay for an emergency plumbing call.
Rob West Plumbing is the BEST! They totally could have taken advantage of the situation and charged me whatever they wanted because I would have paid it, having no basis of comparison. But, Rob West Plumbing was super fast, honest, and efficient… Which is so completely refreshing, especially in Chicago.

I really can’t say enough good things about these guys. I had a drain pipe break in my basement, and they came out on pretty short notice. They also did a very good job and charged a very reasonable price. I’ve also used this company quite a few times for larger projects and have always had good results.

We have used Rob West Plumbing a few times and they have always come through for us. Rob and his team are professional, responsive, knowledgeable and fairly priced. Our last issue was an urgent sewer line repair and they came out and repaired it right away. Will definitely contact them again for future plumbing needs.

Total waste of 245 dollars. Nice guy, but what I got for a 215 dollar service call is a faucet that was «fixed» only to have the same problem when he was done the next day. Now I realize that fixing things means some trial and error, but all other service people I have used do not charge the entire «new» service fee for each subsequent visit out, just their hourly rate if it is for the same job.
His thought was that I would pay him 215 $ again so he could have a second try at fixing it. So for 430 $ I will get a guy to «maybe» fix a faucet. He literally stated that if the second fix did not work I would have to pay another 215 $ for him to come out to put in a new faucet. 645 $ for installing a faucet!
HE IS TOO EXPENSIVE!!!

I’d like to say I really appreciate them making an early morning appointment for me to look at my disposal before work, to get me taken care of sooner rather than later especially with drain-​clogging-​idea of Thanksgiving at my place looming.
The guy that stopped by was very polite and even showed up a little early.
/​compliments
He flipped on the disposal, heard nothing and immediately told me that I needed a new one…$ 300 incl new disposal and labor. He spent a total of 2 seconds jiggling an allen wrench underneath it and that was it.
Me, being the frugal-​minded cheapass I am, figured «well if I can do it myself, cheaper, I will!» So I said «thanks, but no thanks.»
TO THE YOUTUBES!!!
Immediately I found a video on how to troubleshoot a disposal. Step 1: if you don’t hear anything, check underneath. Push in red button. — Voila. Disposal fixed.
Now I’m not a professional, but I expect the professionals to know this. Maybe it was an honest oversight, but c’mon, to quickly assume the entire thing needed to be replaced… for $ 300??? I’d like to think they’re taking care in exploring every option first.
Half a point for not charging me for that 2 min «assessment». That woulda hurt.

Rob West is the so the best (yep it rhymes, and yep i am that cheesy)!
As a Property Manager for 50+ single unit condos and multi-​unit buildings, finding reliable, professional, and honest contractors to work with is like finding gold, period.
Rob West Plumbing has been so wonderful for at least a dozen (and I am sure many more in the future) service calls I have required their help with. Rob, the Owner, is responsive and very knowledgeable. Luke is efficient and hard working– no nonsense type of guy, and Tom is my go to guy when I need about 5 billion questions answered, advice for my Home Owners and whatever else plumbing related.
All of them are text-​friendly, email and phone responsive.
Their work is solid and I recommend them to anyone.
SO happy to have found these guys!