Blythe Mechanical

I've been using Blythe for years for furnace service and plumbing needs. Recently I had a leak in a cast iron sewage pipe behind the walls of my 100 year old home. Blythe was the second plumber I called for an estimate. Tom came out, said he was in the neighborhood already, spent maybe five minutes asking what the other guys said and taking a cursory glance. Said he'd get back to me with an estimate. He didn't. I went with the other plumber for the repair. A couple of weeks later I got a bill from Blythe for $120 with a note that said he'd spent an hour on my call and that he hadn't sent an estimate because I never answered a question about how I wanted the job done. There is no way he spent an hour on my call. He had nothing to add to the assessment of my leak. He did not develop any sort of plan to repair it. He could have called or emailed me. He could have done an estimate with two options. He could have done any number of things that might have actually taken an hour and been wort

Blythe responded the same day I called . Vince replaced my expansion tank (part of my water heater) within 30 minutes, and was courteous and professional. I would use them again in a second.

I have used Blythe for years, both at home and and work, and always had good experiences, so this 2 star review is a bummer. They are a large scale commercial and residential contractor so I expect to pay a bit more, and up to now it has been worth it. Vince (who is a quality plumber) came to the house for a minor repair - albeit 3-5 hours later than estimated - but plumbers deal with all kind of variables, I get it. After spending about 45 minutes on the repair I asked what I owe. He didn't know. They had a new system. Instead of writing the invoice then and there, I would get a bill from accounts receivable. Okay. Two months later I received the invoice to see I was billed at 2.5 hours. 2.5 hours for 45 minutes of work?!? Ok, let's round that up to 1 hour. Still? I called to find out what was going on. I was informed that they now bill from the time the plumber leaves the shop to the time they return to the shop. So I was billed for 1.5 hours of time that was not spent on the job or