Blakeslee & Son Inc

Andrew was a wealth of knowledge and honest about everything. He was on time and friendly. He gave me a referral for another family run electrician. Not only does the company support the dog park in town, but his spouse works at a veterinarian’s office. I highly recommend this business to all people in the nearby area.

Company is listed as one of the companies that provides «backflow prevention device inspection» for plainfield township, but refused to book an appointment to do one. If you don’t wish to provide a service, don’t advertise it. Stick with a provider that takes all jobs, not just the ones that make them the most money.

If only there were a choice of ZERO stars. $ 85 just to show up and diagnose my problem. Then 2 weeks of delays with parts only to be told they couldn’t get the parts so I had to do a full replacement. Since I had the time I called two other plumbers and found their prices to be HALF of what Blakeslee wanted. I called them back and they were unwilling to discuss their pricing, negotiate or refund the $ 85 service call for which they were there 5 minutes and did NOTHING. I gave them a chance to make things right and they chose not to which is why I’m writing this review. Stay away from this place!

The customer service is excellent. Everyone is nice. But beware this company doesn’t charge an hourly rate. THEY USE FLAT RATES and the rates are EXPENSIVE! Yes they did a good job, and the staff is nice… But does anybody want to pay DOUBLE compared to what other reliable area providers charge? For a job at my home that took one hour: 450 $. The part: 100 $. The service charge: 88 $. I spoke with the owner of Blakeslee and he said «I don’t know what to tell you.» So I know I won’t be throwing my money away with Blakeslee & Son in the future. I know repairs are expensive. But I can’t see the logic of using services from a company with inflated flat rates when there are companies that charge in measured and transparent ways.

We had a leak underneath the sink and didn’t know whether it was behind the wall, or even how to diagnose. I called Blakeslee after reading on FB that they are providing the water for the new Rockford Dog Park and I was glad I did. Receiptionist was exceptionally nice and helpful and was able to arrange for someone to come out the next day within a 2-​hour window. She called to confirm the appointment when he was on his way, and he arrived right on time. He reviewed their work procedures and fee policy up front (they have a base trip fee that covers the visit and analysis, then they explain what the issue is and the estimated cost and get approval before proceeding). He was able to not only quickly determine the source of the leak and fix it (turned out to be minor, whew!) but also to fix the slow drain on that sink, and for a tub in another room, and to inspect a very aging water softner with me. He discussed and explained various issues in detail regarding the softner and our plumbing… obviously very experienced and knowledgable. He provided an estimate on a new softner with no ‘hard sell’…just facts and information that would help us decide how to proceed. We definitely will be contacting Blakeslee for our plumbing needs going forward.
Update:
January 2012: Blakeslee & Sons installed a new water heater, new water softner and filter, replaced the well pressure tank, and fixed several plumbing pipes due to aging. I never thought I’d say that going through all that would be enjoyable, but it was! After watching home shows like ‘Holmes on Homes’ for years, and with this being our first home, we were a bit nervous about contractors and wanted to make sure that we were ‘informed homeowners’ so we asked lots of questions. Throughout the process, Blakeslee & Sons, and especially Andrew, were wonderful. Every question was completely answered professionally with obvious knowledge, experience, and honesty. (If they didn’t know, they would find out and get back to us. If a price seemed high, they explained why it was that way.) During the visit for the estimate, Andrew fully explained our options, what his recommendations would be and why. During installation he again explained what was being done, showed us how the systems worked and should be maintained, labeled everything, and answered every nit-​picky question I could think of. The work was done in a completely professional manner, and Andrew followed up a week later to ensure that everything was completed to our satisfaction. Andrew seems to be one of those rare people who is both very proficient in his trade and can communicate well with homeowners so it became both a well-​done upgrade and a learning process for us. We will not hesitate to contact Blakeslee & Sons for any future work we might need done.