Van Der Bosch Plumbing Inc.

Crooks.
Work was performed on September 01, 2011.
We had some clogged water supply pipes after having to replace our building’s water heater (turning back the water dislodged sediment, which then was pushed up against various valves and connections in the system.
I called the previous Friday, and talked to Hugh, the owner. He said he couldn’t get anyone out until the following Wednesday. He also told me that his people no longer work weekends, as his website claims.
One of his people shows up on Wednesday shows up to scope out the work, explains the worst case scenario for each issue, then quotes prices for each item. We swallowed hard, and agreed to have them do the work. Then they say they can’t come back until the following Tuesday. My building neighbor persuades him to get someone here the next morning. My neighbor tells Hugh that he has a business meeting out of the building and might not be back in time to give the guy the check, and Hugh says to just mail it.
They show up at 11:45 and start to work on the clogged shower line. I was asked to show one of the guys where the water cutoff was in the basement. By the time I get back upstairs (10 at the absolute maximum), the water is running. Clearly this is not the worst case scenario (where they would have had to open up the wall). Cost: $ 435. For 10 minutes work.
The other two issues were handled almost as quickly, and they were finished in 60 minutes. Total cost: $ 1342.54, strictly for labor, no materials.
Then the guy says that he needs a check. I explain that the building was paying for this, and my neighbor was told by Hugh that if he wasn’t back in time that he could mail the check. The guy says «Why can’t you pay, then get reimbursed?» Given that the project was being paid for by the building and my neighbor negotiated the pricing, I wasn’t about to do that.
We paid the bill, because we agreed to pay the prices they quoted, but we clearly were taken for a ride. Van der Bosch claims their approach of a fixed price for a job is fairer than time & material, but that’s not true for for at least some plumbing issues. They clearly emphasized how difficult and costly the job could become, but purposely avoided saying that there was a high probability that the fix would as easy as it turned out to be. They took advantage of their experience in this type of repair and our lack of same.
We got ripped off by Van der Bosch.

Outstanding customer service! And I greatly appreciate that they provide free estimates. I will definitely use them again for any future plumbing issues.

As a Realtor they are my go to plumbers for all of my clients.

Stay away from this company. Set up a date for a technician to come out and service my unit a week in advance. The day the technician arrives he looks at my unit and says I would wait it looks good to me. After I tell him I really need to get it done he say well it’s going to be $ 450 dollars. After agreeing to the ridiculous price he tells me, you know what I just got a call about a building that has no hot water can we reschedule. I kind of got the impression he really didn’t want to do the work. The worst part is I took the day from work to be here and now he doesn’t want to do the work. All I can say is lazy and super unprofessional.

Had an appointment this morning and John came out (I’m pretty sure that’s his name). He asked if I was told about the diagnosis fee and I had not been informed prior so I was a bit shocked. The job was at a condo for one of my clients so I was not at liberty to approve the charge. After trying to get a hold of my client, to no avail, John kindly and very quickly fixed the problem at no charge. My client may have other issues and I will absolutely be calling them back to do the work. I am also in the process of buying a new home and I will not hesitate to call them if I have any issues. It is amazing how a small courtesy can go a long way, a true mark of great customer service!

Had a great experience with Joe the other day. We had a sink that was not draining properly because the previous owners installed an upward sloping accordion pipe instead of a trap. We got two estimates and Van Der Bosch quoted ¹⁄₃ the price of the other. Joe was able to come out the next day, installed the correct plumbing within two hours, and rodded the pipes for free. So far the sink’s working great! I’ll be saving their number for next time.

Paid $ 300 to get our drain unclogged. They were friendly and fixed the drain, but way overpriced for what amounted to a half hour of work. Made the mistake of calling them back recently when we needed the leaky hot and cold valves replaced in our bathroom sink, and a small metal piece of the drain replaced. They quoted me $ 536.34 for the valves, and $ 436.94 to replace a broken piece of the drain… IN WRITING. «You’re kidding me.» I said. «How long will this take, a day?» I asked. «45 minutes» was the reply. Yep, that’s almost $ 1K for 45 minutes of work!
I got two other estimates after that, and both were under $ 300. Finally went with Rocket Plumbing, who fixed the valves for $ 285, and theb replaced the broken drain part in about 2 minutes for free.
***update 12/​30/​2014***
VDB contacted me (see below) about this review justifying the estimate w/​step-​by-​step detail. I give them one more star for friendliness and sincerity, and I have no doubt their plumbers are very well-​trained. However I stand by my review and that $ 950+ for this work is exorbitant. Also, my understanding was that the 45 min. was for the total amount of work, not just the drain. In fairness to VDB, it took Rocket over an hour to do the both jobs, but again the work cost a fraction of what VDB wanted to charge.

WARNING!
Van Der Bosch plumbing recommended $ 6,500 of work that was unnecessary to a catch-​basin pipe under my condo unit. Luckily, I pushed for a second opinion independent of our condo’s management company — Wesley Realty.
Power Plumbers determined that the pipe Van Der Bosch said needed replacing was not in use.
PLEASE NOTE
If you live in a gut rehab in Chicago and Vander Der Bosch recommends you have your catch basin pipe replaced PLEASE get a 2^nd opinion. When most buildings are rehabbed, they forgo the catch basin and go right to the sewer line.

Extremely friendly and professional. They were able to come out within 24 hours after a botched job from the Plumbing doctor and did great work. Very happy with their service and work!

I had some water leakage problems on a toilet in my Rogers Park Condo. I’m not home often and my roommate didn’t know what to do. I contacted VanDerBosch as they had done a fantastic job for my partners home a few months back in Andersonville with fixing (2) sink leaks and replacement of some faucets all done at a reasonable price and relatively quick amount of time. Upon calling VanDerBosch, Lauren helped get me scheduled for a tech to come out within a couple hours. Upon arriving at my home, Joe, my technician, was able to figure out what the problem was and called me to explain what was happening and gave me a free quote on the spot. Since it was a minor fix and we had a temporary answer to our water leak problems, I chose not to have them do the work as I can do it myself but I know that I have a trusted «guy» that I can call on for any future problems. I feel confident in referring this plumbing company to others since I had a good experience and I have seen completion work performed at my partners home and the tech was polite, low pressure and the area was left clean. Thanks Lauren and Joe for your help and advise without the pressure. You have earned a new customer today.

We’ve used them twice now (2^nd bath sink) and just now with our master shower. John came out and gave an estimate and then came right back once I had approval from our landlords to do the work. On time, pleasant to work with and clean! Great company, I highly recommend them.

I spoke with Hugh and he said he would send Joe out for an estimate on our condo plumbing issues. Joe came out in the freezing cold and got the roots out of our main line. He was professional, honest, and gave me multiple option on ways to help maintain the line. I will defiantly call them again for our yearly maintenance and any other problems we have.
Thank you Joe!

I used this company to install a tankless water heater some time back. They were very prompt at coming out. After consulting with them I decided on a tankless water heater as I like the concept a lot.
After a number of visits the work was completed, but I have since had plumbers into my house who have noted a number of issues. The gas line that was installed was not done so correctly, the water line attached to the old pipe is incorrect and will cause corrosion due to the two different types of metals.
I have called in an attempt to get this corrected, but have yet to hear back.
I also found out that the tankless heater installed did not apply for the federal credit despite being told it would.
Be aware of this company. Work initially seemed pretty good.

Had a leaky toilet that we’ve fixed once before, and decided to have a professional look at it (as well as some other small bathroom issues). Talked to Hugh on a Friday afternoon and he came by the next day.
It’s one thing to have a professional do the work, but the fact that he took time to explain the problems, recommend products, and offer a few DIY tips made it worth so much more than what he charged. While he was working on it, we picked his brain about bathroom remodeling and he had some great advice about how far to go for the type of condo we live in.
Guarantees his work, told us he’s accessible if anything goes wrong, and super friendly.

Called them with an emergency today — a gas leak in my daughter’s room that ultimately led People’s Gas to shut off our gas (and heat) in the middle of Chicago winter.
Hugh arrived an hour earlier than expected, inspected all the problem points (four separate leaks), and issued us a quote for $ 1200. He worked for 6 straight hours completely dismantling and reinstalling the piping to my boiler, my water heater, my dryer, and the furnace we have on our second floor. He even did me the courtesy of hanging around until People’s Gas came back, just in case they had any issues and refused to turn the heat back on. Needless to say, we’re warm again, and I’m in Hugh’s debt.
Despite finding a few surprises along the way, when bill time came, it was exactly what was quoted.
Look, I’m not a plumber, so I can’t tell you if there are better prices out there for the work that Hugh did. A lot of people seem to think Van Der Bosch is overpriced, but when the time comes to do a job, they over-​deliver. Feel free to shop around, but if you want a job that will definitely be well done, give ‘em a call.

I just got my tankless water heater installed by Hugh from VanDer Bosch and couldn’t be more pleased.
Professional and courteous complete with boot-​covers to protect my carpeting! A very clean job and a huge truck full of tools made for a quick experience.
I plan on calling them again if I need a plumber.

Van Der Bosch is the best plumber to call if you want to be absolutely screwed.
The plumber quoted me $ 400 to replace the water source tube to a toilet tank. It cost $ 10, and took me 30 minutes to complete the job myself. I highly recommend calling them if you’re not too attached to your money. To their credit, they’re very responsive, but if you grossly overcharged your customers, you’d answer the phone quickly too!

Van der Bosch is excellent. They have solved problems that other plumbers could not on more than one occasion. As a result, I wound up paying for two plumbers (the jokers and then van der Bosch). They are extremely careful in your house and do not leave a mess. Yes they charge first-​time customers to come out for an estimate and as do many good plumbers. Once you are in their customer base you do not pay that fee again. The money you will save because it will be done right the first time is significant.
I had a serious leak. The first plumber that came wanted $ 4,000 to re-​plumb the master bath because the «old plumbing was not done right». Van der Bosch found the real problem, repaired it and charged $ 1,000.00.

*BEWARE* VAN DER BOSCH PUTS THE «CON» IN CON ARTIST!
If you love getting ripped off, rude employees and the bait ‘n switch, these guys are for you. Here is how they operate. They will not give you an estimate over the phone, which is not that uncommon I know, but they tell you its for your «own good.» They do tell you if they come out, give you a quote and you don’t use them they will charge you a «fee.» However, THEY WONT TELL YOU HOW MUCH THE FEE IS!!!
So when they get there, they look over your job and quote you a HUGE PRICE. They figure that most people are clueless to plumbing (and they are right) and most figure that plumbers over charge anyways, so odds are you will take them up on their offer. HOWEVER, if you don’t take them up, they still get their fee. For us it was $ 80 for 10 mins of consultation. NICE WORK HUH???
THEY ARE COMPLETE RIP OFF CON ARTISTS!!! They were going to charge me $ 1500 to reconnect my sink. I have called 2 other places who estimate it will cost $ 200-​$ 300. Yes… you read that right. They play the odds, maybe you take their high price and they win, or if you dont take their offer they still get their fee. They are rude, insulting and liars. BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE…
Look at my other Unilocal.I am pretty fair, these guys are bad news

Do not use this plumbing company! They wanted to charge me $ 500 for a small job that I discovered I could do myself in about 20 minutes. All I needed was to replace the pop-​up thing in the drain of my bathroom sink. They said it would take a while to «locate» the matching piece (it’s brushed chrome — not exactly a wacky, hard-​to-​find color.) I did some research myself and found the matching piece online in 10 minutes! Now, I’m out the $ 80 they charged just to come out and give me that astronomical estimate, but I’d rather pay that than $ 500!
I know plumbers are infamous for over-​charging, but this is ridiculous. I almost wonder if they were taking advantage of me because I’m a woman. Well, guess what! I’m doin’ it myself! :)
If you do end up using these guys, just make sure they’re not trying to take advantage of you — a small job should not cost this much.