A J Bono Plumbing

I got in touch with AJ Bono through my home warranty company. I had a clogged laundry drain pipe that was behind the water heater which was harder to reach but not unreachable. The plumber who came in said he had to move the dryer and clear that area to even look at the issue. He wanted to charge me $ 60 to just move the dryer out of the way so that he can look at the drain pipe. Obviously, no sane person would pay that for a 2 minute work. I moved the dryer myself so that he has the access. He looked the drain pipe and said the P-​Trap doesn’t have clean-​out access. So, he has to remove the existing P-​Trap, extend the pipe and install a new clean-​out so that he can clear the clog. He wanted to charge me $ 700 to do the work. That was an insane price for what I wanted to do. I said I will check with other plumbing company before I would do this.
I reached out to few others and found one who came in and cleared the drain clog by accessing the pipe through roof access. If you are curious about that company, read my Unilocal review about Power plumbers.
Not only did the AJ bono plumber failed to mention anything about accessing the drain pipe from the roof, he wanted to charge me an arm and a leg to do a work that was totally unnecessary. Now that I learnt what kind of plumbing company this is, I would cancel any plumbing request through my home warranty company if it goes to AJ Bono.

these guys were polite, and helpful. we’ve had them out a few times now due to our awful home warranty company, and they often came early (sometimes unexpectedly so). I wish they had been more communicative (but this could also have been the fault of the home warranty company– you can tell how much I like them, right?). I wish they had been a little more helpful in communicating with the HW company/​advocating for us as a few other plumbers we had out were. All around they were pretty ok however.

Dont waste your time. Completely disorganized, bont call you back, and twice now, didnt even bother showing up after we spend 2 Saturday mornings waiting for them

Terrible service.
First appointment: Came over and fixed or drainage issues. We have a leaky faucet that they said they couldn’t fix because of the poor design of the sink. I didn’t realize there were sinks that were unfixable by plumbers. We also had a water heater issue where our pilot light wouldn’t stay on. So the plumber that came over took a look and said we needed to get a part replaced. He took down my roommates phone number saying he would call her to schedule another appointment.
He never called. I called back a few weeks later and they scheduled another appointment between 9am and 11am.
Second appointed: My roommate gave up a shift at work so that she could be home to get our water heater fixed and the plumber shows up LATE! He takes a look at our water heater and says he needs to order a part for it! Says he’d schedule another appointment. Something he should have done after the first visit.
Third appointment: I had a scheduled appointment from 9am to 11am and he shows up at 1045am and isn’t finished working until 1125am.
It took them almost a month to fix our water heater, which consisted of me and my roommates having to light our pilot light about three times a day so we could use hot water throughout the day. It took them two visits to determine both times that a part needed to be replaced.
To shine some light on the whole situation:
When I called in anger and frustration about these issues, the man I spoke to over the phone seemed apologetic and stayed very professional. Also, the plumber that came by was indeed very friendly, despite how cold I was being towards him. Also our drains are going down just fine and I haven’t had to relight our water heater since they came.
Unfortunately, a friendly attitude goes so far and it doesn’t compensate for how poor quality of a company they are. Very poor follow through and execution.
I will never do business with these people again.
–4 stars: –1 star for every week my water heater was out.

I generally don’t take the time to write reviews but the customer service at A J Bono Plumbing
is terrible. Had a slab (concrete) leak under the kitchen cabinets at one of my rentals. The plumber never mention to my tenant that the kitchen counters had to be removed, so one
visit/​appointment was wasted. The next visit/​appointment, the plumber (David) went to
the property started work on the leak, said he had to get supplies and never came back
that day. He mention to the tenant about 4 hours later that he had to do another job and the saw to cut the concrete was needed and the day/​time slot was double booked by accident. The plumber never called the tenant or me with an update on Saturday. I had to ask the tenant to call for updates. The work was not done on the following day (Sunday) either.
I talked to one of their supervisor (Tony) and now he won’t call or return my calls anymore.
Don’t brother with this company and just find someone else.
The company was referred to me by my real estate agent and I have mention
to her that she should not be doing any more referrals either.

I wouldn’t doubt that the «good» reviews are coming from actual employees that made up fake names just to make it seem like the company isn’t as bad as the real reviews are stating. This company doesn’t even deserve ONE star.
I was referred to them by my home insurance (American Home Shield) so I didn’t bother Unilocaling them. I was called Monday to make an appointment for Wednesday between 5−7pm. On Wednesday I get a phone call at almost noon from the technician stating that he’s outside my home! I told him my appointment was schedule for 5−7pm and we hung up. A couple minutes later the receptionist calls me telling me she told me the appt was between 10am-​12pm. Umm NO! We went back and forth and she was adamant that I was lying and was the one that was wrong. I asked to speak with the manager but she was at lunch. I received a phone call from a higher up named CARLA and again I was the one that was lying. I was beyond upset at this point and told them they were the ones that made the mistake and that they need to admit to it. I mean, why in the world would I miss an appt to get my plumbing fixed when I can’t even shower at my own home!!! They kept trying to schedule me until Friday and by then I told them I didn’t want anything to do with their unprofessional service. That same day I called AHS again and was able to get a different company to go to my home the following day. Customers ask to speak to managers so situations could get resolved, but when the managers themselves are RUDE and don’t care about their customers, how would you ever want to deal with a company like that?! I would NEVER, I repeat NEVER suggest this company to ANYONE! They’re liars, unprofessional, untrustworthy, and I seriously don’t know how they’re still in business.

They are lucky they’re getting a 1 star because I have no other choice to go lower! Capped this company for a leak under my sink & two very young gentleman came in their 20’s which I was a bit surprised to begin with. I gave them the benefit of the doubt & gave them a chance. After their job was done, he didn’t even check to see if the issue was fixed or not! Told me I had a 1 month warranty & charged me $ 120. The next day I noticed leakage again & called the company. They had one of the same men return with another even younger guy. He told me that the problem was from garbage disposal pipe and not the ones he replaced & wanted another $ 120 to fix it! For one, he replaced pipes that didn’t even need replacing to begin with and just a bit rusty & didn’t replace the actual pipe that was leaking. I called the office the next day to talk to a manager & he argued with me & said he’d have someone higher call me back. A week went by and no news. When I called back. The receptionist was extremely rude and HUNG UP ON ME! I called back and as soon as I opened my mouth, she hung up again! Who the hell does that?! Especially if your a professional business! I def learned my lesson & kick myself for not reading the reviews prior to hiring this company. They have a 2 star for a reason!

Was coming home (driving on cypress in oakley) and the driver (pulling out from knightsen Ave onto cypress), with out paying attention pulled out into on coming traffic! I had to slam on my brakes and l almost hit him. Thank god my brakes work and my 2 young children were fastened properly in their car seats. He then proceeded through the intersection although I had the right of way with no waves of apologies or look of sincerity. If they work like they drive I will definitely not contact them for any type of help.

My Home Warranty company sent out Royal Services to unclog my sink. They said they couldn’t fix it and I would need to spend $ 600 to do the repairs which didn’t include putting in new sheet rock and painting! AJ Bono came out and had the sink unclogged in 30 minutes. They were super professional and nice. Felipe was my technician and KNEW what he was doing!

Another company had made a mess of installing a toilet in that the down pipe from it did not line up with the one that went into the ground. My home warranty company sent AJ Bono out to fix this. It involved a lot of jack hammering. I asked them not to damage as many tiles as possible, which they did (not damage them I mean) and did a great all round job.
They were late though (12.15pm for a 9am to 11am window) and I got contradictory reasons for this from the office and the actual plumber so I’ll ding them a star, but otherwise they were great!

I was connected with this company through our Home warranty — issue with water heater overflow leaking badly. Original appointment was scheduled a week out, but they called today and were able to come out because of another cancellation. The tech. Armando showed up on time and was very friendly. He quickly assessed what the problem was — a worn out valve. No need to replace the heater!!! He did not have the part in his van, but he went the extra mile to run down to the home store and find the part. He was done in only about 1 ½ hrs. Great service & on New Years’ Eve!!! I would recommend this company.

Terrible technicians! Always looking to upgrade service rather than service plumbing! Supposedly cleared main line, did find tree roots but you’re trying to convince me they’ve grown back in 3 days and clogged the line again, really!
Also, want to install a clean out when it already exists!!!
Yes, I’m a woman but I’m not stupid!

Called them through my home warranty to fix my toilet. They quickly replaced broken parts! Very satisfied!

A J Bono was called to our house by Fidelity Home Warranty for a leaking gas line. Felipe and Diego showed up early, they were friendly and provided a reasonable estimate for the work. They contacted the home warranty to get authorization for the work.
I have nothing bad to say about A J Bono Plumbing.
My experience with them has been great.

I gave them one star but only because its not possible to give 0 or negative stars.
Like everyone else we were connected with AJ Bono through our home warranty company. We had to have PGE come out because we had a gas leak in our garage, they found that our water heater had a leaky control valve, so they capped the gas coming into the water heater and told us to call a plumber to get the valve replaced.
So AJ Bono comes out and I give them the PG&E report. The guy comes back 10 min later and says that there is no leak that everything is working fine. I told him that like the report says the control valve needs to be replaced. They go to the store to get parts, come back tinker a little bit and tell my wife the water heater is broken and needs to be replaced. No idea how it went from everything working fine one min to needs be replaced the next but I digress. They also told my wife that to install a new water heater they would be forced to makes changes to get it up to code which the warranty won’t cover. My wife says ok and they schedule to come back in two days to replace the water heater.
So the next day I go into the garage and smell gas again so I call PG&E. The PG&E guy comes out and finds that AJ Bono didn’t actually replace the control value, instead they just replaced the input hose to the control value but connected that new hose to the same he same leaky control value and then left the gas running to it. The PG&E guy also said we don’t need a new water heater, that everything on the water heater is working fine but the control value needs to be replaced. Not only did they try to scam us into replacing a water heater that didn’t need to be replaced but they put my family in danger by not putting the cap back on the original gas leak and reattaching something that was known to leak.
I filed a complaint with the BBB, I suggest anyone who reads this that has has a similar experience should do the same. For anyone who has AJ Bono coming to do work on their plumbing, do yourself a favor, call you home insurance company and ask them to send someone else.

The lady called and said the guy will be there around 12 and he will call you 10 mins before he arrives here he comes at 4 o’clock calling me THIS IS THE PLUMMER WHY ARENT YOU HOME I WILL NOT WAIT IAM LEAVING, and he said that the lady who told me that they will call is stupid !!! so unprofessional. they lady over the phone was really nice. and his name was Alex

Yep, another home warranty assignment very bad taste story. The technician wasn’t trustworthy, tried to lead me to a solution that would cost and extra $ 300 and then didn’t do what he said would do (reduced the scope of the work). Made multiple commitments to return follow through and DIDN’T. When people showed up it was mentioned this is extra. Spoke with the supervisor who questioned me, why do you think he said that it was free? «I’ve never seen that before» kind of response. After nine calls in total to get the job done it was insult after injury. Technically, they can get the job done and do it well, but the lies, attitude and business practices make it a miserable business transaction.
I ended up paying extra to end this horrific business experience. Hope you enjoy my money: it’s the last you will ever see…

AJ Bono was contracted by my home warranty provided, Fidelity, to replace a leaky water heater that I encountered last week.
Like many other reviewers, I was worried about the end result after reading all the past reviews. However, when you are faced with a hefty bill versus a minor charge… well, I decided to bite the bullet and see how things go.
To be completely honest — I am pleased with the end result. Edwin showed up a couple hours after I placed a call to Fidelity and confirmed right away that the heater is beyond repair (bottom of the tank rusted, top leaking from the valve). He gave me the exact rundown of how much it will cost me out of pocket and explained that some of the work is simply not covered under warranty but required to bring the entire install up to code — I have enough experience to know there was no up-​selling; what he was telling me was the truth with no sugarcoating.
Unfortunately, however, he did not have a compatible heater with him that day and as such, I had to wait for the next morning to get it replaced.
When Edwin returned with another tech, Junior, they got to work right away and within an hour and a half had my heater replaced. The work was impeccable and they did not mind answering any of my questions, explaining in detail what they are doing and ensuring that everything was done to my satisfaction. They even swept my garage and patched a hole in the wall after the first attempt of routing the pan drain pipe hit a hidden stud!
The only reason for 4 stars as opposed 5 is the fact that, as others have stated, I got a 48 gallon 40K BTU Rheem tank as opposed to old Bradford White 50 gallon 40K BTU tank. Granted, though, it does not seem to be making much of a difference and I may add the one extra star depending on how my bill changes but initial review appear to indicate the heater is not any less efficient than my old one.
So the bottom line is — I can’t really comment on past low-​rating reviews — who knows what may have happened back then. But my experience was quite pleasant, and aside from mixing and matching my first name with my wife’s last name — I have no qualms and will considering using them again in the future.

HORRIBLE PEOPLE!
Disreputable business practices, missed appointments, belligerent plumbers either drunk stoned or who knows what.
Do yourself a favor, call someone else or demand that your home warranty send someone else. They will often collect your service fee and return MONTHS later. They often use old salvaged parts and call them new so they fail quickly and return to charge you for a bigger job.
DO NOT TRUST THEM ALONE IN YOUR HOUSE!

My problem was with a conventional 50 gal gas Hot Water Heater failure. Seems to specialize in home warranty claims from the major insurance companies. They do so much business with these companies that their bills are categorized by company — ORHP — FAHB — AHS — BWHC — HMGRD — CHW — HMS — lastly Retail and other.
I have no complaints with the technicians that serviced my claim with HomeGuard home warranty by AJ Bono Plumbing. The technicians who performed the repair as they were on time, very capable, polite, and efficient workers.
However, the replacement unit was a 48gal unit and was less efficient than the previous 50 gal. unit. (See comparison of name plates an federal energy stickers in attached photos).
The biggest annoyance however is that they needed to charge me an additional $ 297 for non covered upgrades which are completely invisible to me. These were $ 140 for unspecified code upgrades and $ 157 for additional venting. Since no additional venting was installed, I find this charge very suspect. I paid the additional and now have a second class hot water heater because the old unit was leaking badly and I had to use the HMGRD insurance.
The combination of home warranty companies and this plumbing contractor seems very suspect to me. It reminds me of the old days of auto insurance and repair shops.
I would not use this contractor if I were hiring directly for hot water heater replacement. While the technicians were very good the cost overruns and provided equipment were very unsatisfactory. You may need to consider this when you select a home warranty service as you get stuck with this company for plumbing repairs and equipment. I will let my realtor know of my dissatisfaction privately.