Review and analyze now for company Bel-Carlos Plumbing and provide the analysis in the discussed format for the following reviews: '''OK.... here is an update.
After the first repair (they showed up 2 hours late) and six months later, the sewage pipe out of the kitchen sink cracked and water leaked out, causing the cabinets and floors to get wet. I called Bel-Carlos and Craig showed up as he promised to, and did the repair free of charge.
I offered give him money for doing the repair so promptly this time but he refused to take the money, saying that it was his job to take care of his repairs. I think he is overall a good, no-nonsense kind of guy.
He might just be overwhelmed by the amount of work he has so he might not show up on time every time. But once he is there doing the repairs, he does give his 100% best.
The one who come Craig was disrespectful and rude broke floor. The guy very rude cuss at me: One of your cars almost ran me over at a crosswalk, then the driver proceeded to open the window, yell slurs at me, tell me to "open my eyes" even though I was on a crosswalk with right of way, and then drive off, after flipping me off one more time.
BEWARE OF THIS CREEP!! I never write reviews, and I created a yelp account for the sole purpose of reviewing this company. If I could give 0 stars I would.
Not only did it take three reschedules to get Craig out to our home, he was incredibly sexist, racist, and rude. He said very inappropriate things to me due to the fact I'm a woman, and he used slurs while talking about my Asian husband TO ME.
On top of his rude behavior, his entire buttcrack was out in front of our small children! When my husband politely tried to ask him to pull his pants up in front of the kids he started spewing cuss words at him and screaming at the top of his lungs. As for the work done, he was at our home for much longer than anticipated(think weeks instead of days,) caused $10,000 in damages, and we ended up having to hire another (amazing) plumber to fix it (Regina Plumbing in RWC.) I would never, EVER let this man near my family or home again.
BELIEVE THE NEGATIVE YELP REVIEWS!! I was driving at full speed on El Camino Real in the right lane. Left lane was open.
The Bel Carlos plumbing truck turned left into the far right lane at high speed. I had to slam on my brakes to avoid a high impact collision that would have resulted in significant damage and likely injury to one of us.
I laid on the horn. I called their number later to report this, and the driver happened to answer.
All I was able to get out was, "Is this Bel Carlos plumbing?" and I got a rant in which every other word was the f-bomb. Didn't even bother to ask who I was.
How people drive and respond to others reveals a lot about their character. Would you want to do business with someone who is reckless, inconsiderate, and has an anger problem? Looks like Jonas L had a similar problem.
Super rude driver, honking people as parking lot and drive recklessly. I didn't use this service wouldn't recommend anyone using this company after seen how rude and reckless he/she drives.
Owner himself came and gave us a quote very quickly after we called. Tried Yelp's recommendations and most places won't give estimate without coming out but appointments just to give estimate will be longer time than Bel-Carlos to fix our plumbing problem already! And one quote we get from Yelp was higher than Bel-Carlos.
Of course we stuck with them (and a good friend recommended them). Owner came to fix our water pressure gauge and one thing...
stay out of his way!!! He does not like onlookers. But he did an amazing job with the final product! We were very satisfied.
He is obviously VERY EXPERIENCED in doing plumbing jobs. He even went through the house and check the water pressure of all our faucets and shower heads to check the pressure inside the house.
Overall, besides the owner's "gruffness", I would have given 5++++ stars! Will be calling him for any of my plumbing problem without doubt in the future (hopefully not again but who knows?) Our water heater went out and Craig came to the rescue! He did an amazing job. He cares and has passion for his work.
This showed by how much better his work was compared to the work done previously on the old water heater. He is extremely experienced and will give provide you details on what he is doing and why.
Thank you Craig!! Craig fixed a main drain clog that others couldn't! I called and he was there in 2hrs. He's been plumbing for decades.
Very knowledgeable!! The morning we were scheduled to leave the country for vacation we got a leak alert on an app we had installed that we were losing 1/2 a gallon a minute of water. After turning off the water to the house to no avail we determined it was a a major leak in the water service from the water meter at the curb to the house.
We called Craig in a panic and he was here in less than an hour. He assured us he would take care of the problem while we were gone and to go on our trip and not to worry.
He communicated with the city and gave us progress reports overseas while we were gone. He absolutely was a lifesaver and allowed us to enjoy our vacation.
We came home to a perfectly completed job and a spotless job. We will trust Craig for all of our plumbing needs in the future.
A++ Craig didn't show up for multiple appointments even after confirmation by text. He offered no explanation for this!! Bel Carlos Plumbing! OMG the worse company and Craig one of the rudest men I have ever met.
They removed all our pipes so we had no water and couldn't use the bathroom. We thought they would be out the next day to put new pipes in.
Couldn't contact them no one answered the phone. We had to purchase a porta potty.
Finally they showed up 2 weeks later out of the blue no phone call. We had just hired another plumber.
Craig called and told up he wasn't letting us out of our own driveway unless we paid him 1500 dollars for taking the pipes out. His men came to the door to collect it who by the way we're so afraid of Craig.
Craig obviously is money hungry and won't turn down a job, when he knows he can't get to everyone, so he just leaves you hanging there. THEY SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO OPERATE WITH CRAIG IN CHARGE HE IS SUCH A RUDE PERSON AND A CROOK.
WATCH OUT! Craig is not only rude as hell but he is scammer. He will make you replace unnecessary items just so he can make some extra cash.
If a section of pipe needs replacing, he wont just do the section alone. He will tell you ALL the piping needs replacing.
Also he lies about having products at his "shop" which i believe doesnt even exist, he gets all his products from home depot. He replaced a water heater at my house and must have not noticed that the receipt was taped to warranty.
It doesnt bug me that much, but he lied about it. Also the way he disrespects his employees is completely unprofessional, i could hear him calling a worker an idiot and other displrespectful things that i do not wish to repeat.
He does good work but id rather give my money to someone who is respectful and doesnt lie. I wouldnt reccomend him at all.
Called and left him a message regarding my issues. Two weeks passed and still no communication at all.
What kind of business is it? Craig is the best he helped us fix every plumbing issue in our house for a very affordable rate is highly recommended. I will never use this guy again.Mister no show.He is so unreliable.
Called him over and over regarding a leak in my front yard.He said he'd be out to fix the leak. Totally ignored my phone calls.
Had to call out another plumber THANK GOD they came out within an hour to fix my leak. STAY AWAY FROM THIS GUY We had to eventually fix our mainline pipe since it was inevitable (gut out the drive way, replace the pipes from house to the city line, the whole thing).
...quite the project. Craig gave us a thorough plan from start to finish, and gave me updates any time the plan needed modification.
He takes pride in his work and it shows. He is also used to working with the city, so getting the permit, etc.
was completed in a snap. The strict city inspector came and went to review Craig's work.
If you have emergency mainline back-ups or need to re-do your pipes, give Craig a call! Craig is a very experienced, knowledgeable, and hard-working plumber. We have been working with him for years and highly recommend him.
Craig did a great job He was able to schedule me in the same day He finished in a timely manner Was very pleased Will use this company again I had sewer work and a water heater replaced many years ago. After 14 years, a new one was put in.
Today I noticed water around the base. Craig came out and checked it.
Luckily it was just condensation due to these cold days. He did not even charge me for the service call.
He knows his stuff and does good work that lasts for years. I highly recommend this company.
I don't usually write reviews, but this was not a good experience. Craig was across the street working on someone else's kitchen sink.
He said he would come by and check out our plumbing issue after he was done. He stopped by a few hours later and we had everything ready for him to take a look at the pipe outside.
In about 15 minutes he managed to completely destroy our garden, fix the pipe and then quoted us $200 dollars. He did not offer a "free quote" just got to work immediately, told me I "hovered", destroyed the garden, and said if we didn't pay him the full $200 we owed him he was going to take us to court and sue us for more.
This guy is not nice...he fixed the drain but honestly it wasn't worth it. I wish I would have hired someone else.
He came when he said he would and did the work and we haven't had any problems with the work he's done. He's a little rough around the edges but boy some of these reviewers are uptight.
Summary: Save yourself $150 and call a real plumber! These guys are either poor excuses for plumbers or total scam artists. The Delay: Thursday morning at 7am, I called Bel-Carlos Plumbing to check out a plumbing problem; I had no hot water throughout my house.
The receptionist told me that their crews were out on on emergency calls that morning and would be able to come by a little after noon. So, I waited patiently all morning and decided to give them another call at 1pm just to check their status.
This time, the receptionist told me they would be able to make it over in a couple of hours. It's now 4:30 and I decide to call again because I was concerned that they might have forgotten about me.
The receptionist assured me they were now on their way over. Finally at around 4:45pm, they arrive! I took a PTO day for this! I could have went to work and dealt with this when I got home if I knew it would have taken all day! The Arrival: As I open the garage door, in walks Craig Coccellato (Owner of Bel-Carlos Plumbing).
Craig aka "Butt-crack Bandit" shakes my hand without telling me his name, then heads right over to the water heater. I'm thinking to myself, Uh...okay...thanks for introducing yourself buddy.
By the way, you'll see where he gets the nick name once he starts reaching for things and his shirt makes its upward migration. The Crack Gets Shady: Craig starts going to work on my 4 year old water heater as I explain to him that I have no hot water in the house.
He tested both inlet and outlet nipples on my water heater, replaced ONLY the outlet nipple, and in 15 minutes later comes to the conclusion that my 4 year old water heater needs to be replaced. Oh, by the way, did I mention that my water heater was only 4 years old? Hmm, why didn't he replace the inlet nipple? We'll come back to this later.
This diagnosis cost me $150! Shady Negotiations: Here's where he tries to gank me. To replace my water heater, he quoted me $1100 if I decide to go with his Bradford White model or $400 for installation if I provide my own water heater.
Although, by this time of the day, its too late start on this job and the earliest that it can be done is tomorrow. My decision now is to see if I can get GE to warranty my current heater and save money.
The Following Day: I spend all morning contacting GE Tech support about getting my water heater replaced. I must have spoken to at least 8 different GE Reps and 1 manager about my issue.
They all tell me that my water heater is still under warranty but will not agree to replace it until they are able to confirm with the plumber that this heater is indeed broken. I call Bel-Carlos Plumbing several times trying to get Craig to call GE Support.
Craig relayed a message to me through his receptionist (Veronica) that it was my responsibility to deal with warranty issues and not his. Luckily for me, Veronica was nice and helpful enough to get on several conference calls with me and GE Support.
Veronica spoke with GE and tried to convince them that Craig used all of his plumbing experience to come to his conclusion that my heater was bad. Still, GE would not budge.
"Sir, there is nothing wrong with your water heater. As long as there is good water flow into the tank and nothing obstructing the outflow, your water heater is not the problem." The Solution: Okay, its been 4 days now of no hot water.
What to do? The options I have at this point are to hire Craig, call another plumber, or pick up a new water heater and install it myself. After consulting with my friend's brother (Paul) who is also a plumber, I decided to have him come out to give me a second opinion.
Paul came by, checked out my water heater, and in 5 minutes diagnosed and fixed my problem. The inlet nipple on my water heater had a stuck backflow valve and there was weak water flow going into my water heater.
AH HAH! So, this is why Craig did not replace the inlet nipple! It would have fixed the problem! I have a message for you Craig "You are a dishonest fucking asshole!" If you need a good plumber, I recommend calling Paul Gutierrez: 415-412-3727 USEFUL TIP: Scroll to the last review below and click the FILTERED link to unlock the TRUTH! 4.5 Stars...Ummm....ya. I never do review but this guy Craig deserve my review!!!! Do not use his service ..
He is rude never show up. I call him to follow up he yell at me and said I told you I will call you I have another job and then he hung up on me.
Who does that !!! What kind of business is this !! Craig has saved our butts on numerous occasions from coming to our rescue on Thanksgiving with a full house of guests and a backed up sink to appearing with us in Small Claims Court when we had to sue our counter-top contractor for screwing up. He has also helped us out in choosing the right fixtures.
He really has an eye for quality and durability. Thank you, Yelpers, for leading us to Craig! We needed our water heater replaced and we met four different plumbers to get estimates.
Craig was the one we liked the best, trusted the most, and hired to do the work. Craig squeezed us in, which we really appreciated, since our water heater was leaking and needed to be replaced quickly.
He did a great job, everything was top-quality parts and cleanly done. They cleaned up before they left, which was also nice.
His bid was reasonably-priced and included the cost of city permits (which he arranged for us, including the inspection). We would definitely hire Craig again for our future plumbing needs.
He has a ton of experience and really knows what he's doing. As a commercial property owner on the peninsula, I like to give my business to other businesses within my local area.
I have had service over the years from most of the areas contractors and building services. Things do change in life and as we all should know, just because a company has been in business for a long time or under the same ownership, it is only as good as the new people they hire and he current service they perform.
A company is only as good as it's last service call, (s)..... I was in the position of having to find a new pluming service.
Contacted Bel-Carlos Plumbing and spoke directly to the owner Craig early in the morning as he picked up. Explained my position and requested a service.
He made a 10 AM appointment but never showed up. I called back at 10:30 AM and was told that he got tied up on another call.
Another first in the morning call? Hum... I was told he would be contacted and will call me back with an ETA, (estimated time of arrival), but he never did.
I called back again 20 minutes later and was told he was on his way. He finally showed up at 11:20 AM with no explanation of why he was so late.
I explained to him that I travelled to the location to provide access to the job and as I was offering a new account, found this initial meeting was not a first good impression. His attitude in response was not apologetic but rather dismissive.
NOW HERE IS WHERE IT GETS GOOD..... His van looks nice and clean on the outside, but he himself looked pretty disheveled.
I then asked him if he had a dog in the van with him? Perplexed, he said No! I responded by asking him why then does he have hair cuttings all around his neck and such hair matches his own? His expression was that of a child who just got caught with his hands in the fudge jar with fudge all over his face. The crushing moment of silence.....
I then said to him, you let me wait while obviously getting a haircut before meeting me after making a confirmed appointment. Completely caught off guard he rudely said go get somebody else and wobbled away....
Although I wasted my morning on this guy, I had to shake my head and laugh at the caliber of this man. After reading the periodic reviews here on Yelp after the fact, one can see a pattern of attitude and performance.
I was lucky in not having him provide any service. If he was my employee I would dismiss him and gladly pay the unemployment insurance just to get rid of him.
Him being the owner of Bel-Carlos Plumbing, well that is inexcusable on every level. I gave them a second chance; this time to install a new toilet and everything went fine.
First time, plumber was late and started at 12:20 (he got lost and called to find out how to get here at 12:00). It took him 40 minutes to install the faucet and I asked him to finish instaling my garbage disposal since I was paying by the hour.
He finshed at 12:15, but I was charged for 90 minutes PLUS the garbage disposal was leaking within 30 minutes after he left (he used the wrong hose). I called and they allowed me to replace the check I had written with one MINUS 30 minutes labor...unnecessary effort on my part.
When I realized that my sewer line was clogged (on a Saturday night!), I dreaded having to make calls to various plumbers at 2-3x their already outrageous rates. So I YELPed.
Thanks to all the Yelpers reviews! Called the first plumber and was quoted $250 - $325 plus I would have to wait until Monday. Then I called Bel-Carlos.
Quoted me $160 and would be would be here in 2 hrs. He was right on time and got the job done.
He reset my toilet and replaced flush mechanism in the tank for $50. It's Turbo now! In total he spent 3 1/2 hrs and got the job done.
$210 out the door on a Sunday, Thank you Bel-Carlos Plumbing. I'm Happy.
It's what I needed. I recommend his service...but just understand that he has a unique personality, and all will fine.
Super Craig to the rescue... again.
"Craig was here" He will come. He will get straight to the task.
He will not stop or waste time. He will get things fixed and if it requires more time he will get to it so the job is done.
He will not fool or try to rip you off. He will CLEAN UP before he goes and for that matter he will clean up better than your housekeeper who has spend her entire life cleaning homes...
When your plumbing is now perfect and your old problem area is now sparkling white glove check approval clean - everyone will know that... CRAIG WAS HERE! Call him.
Craig has unclogged my kitchen and repaired a leak in my backyard for the past 4 years. He generally commits to the times he provides and at times within the day if an emergency.
He provided a quote upon request and has been consistent with each visit. I inquired about fixing a leaky valve after his last visit to see what he recommended.
He came back an hour later with a brand new one and replaced it for me free of charge. I would recommend Craig as a reliable plumber who would go the extra mile as part of building a good business relationship.
Craig and his team have helped us out twice. Last year we had a sewer line break, and Craig came out, diagnosed the problem with a video camera passed through the broken line, and showing us exactly what was wrong.
They did a fantastic job getting the line replaced, and even helped us do a little remodeling of the affected bathroom, which now looks great. Needless to say, we were in a bind, but Craig worked with us calmly and got the problem fixed quickly and at a fair price.
Last week we had a much more minor (thankfully) problem, but they were just as attentive to getting the job done right. We will definitely call them with our next plumbing issue! I connected with Craig after the pipe sending my bathtub and toilet water to the sewer line busted under my house in my crawlspace.
I called Bel Carlos and 2 other companies on a Friday afternoon. Craig said he would stop by that evening and the other 2 couldn't get out until Monday.
When he arrived he rattled off the names of 3 or 4 of my neighbors whom he has also worked with which provided me with some peace of mind. He came out to "stop the bleeding" and said he would return on Monday to finish the job.
He and his assistant Oscar showed up on Monday @ 8:30am and by that evening I was back in business. Craig is a little quirky and you need to be ready for his dry sense of humor, but he's a nice guy and overall I had a very positive experience with Bel Carlos Plumbing and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.
I've used Craig to service all my plumbing needs past 5 years and I've always had a positive experience. I had some landscape work done two years ago and the landscape contractor must have damaged the sewer main in the rear unit.
I've had no less than five sewer stoppages over the past couple years. Craig has provided an excellent customer experience on every occasion.
I highly recommend Craig! This is my first time ever writing a negative review, but the experience I had with Craig at Bel-Carlos plumbing was beyond awful. Craig was openly hostile and disrespectful to me, and I sincerely hope that nobody ever has an experience like this.
I'm a personal assistant and my boss asked me to contact Bel-Carlos to fix a leak in the kitchen sink they had previously installed. I had a difficult time scheduling an appointment: each time I called I was told (very nicely) by a receptionist that Craig was booked with other jobs and that it would be best if I called early every morning and they would see if they could fit us in that day.
I did this several times (maybe more), but every time was told there were no available appointments after 3pm or 4pm (which was the best time for me). I totally understand that Craig is busy, and that scheduling can be difficult, but I did find it a bit odd and inconvenient.
I finally called and left a message explaining that I really wanted to nail down an appointment time, and even said that it could be for one or two weeks in the future. My call was never returned, so after a few days I called again.
Eventually I was told by the receptionist that Craig might be able to come out to the house the next day at 9am, but that she would need to check with him and would call me later to confirm. It turns out she did call back and leave a message on my cell confirming the appointment, but the voicemail showed up a full day later (my phone was acting up, which is, of course, not their fault).
Craig showed up at my boss's residence and nobody was there to let him in. He waited about 5-10 minutes and then left.
When I realized what happened, I felt terrible for wasting his time and called the receptionist to apologize. She was very understanding, acknowledging "these things happen" and helped me reschedule the appointment for the next day at 9am.
I showed up at 8:57am the next morning to find Craig sitting in his truck in front of the house. I approached him and greeted him.
Agitated, the first thing he says to me was "I was about to leave." I was confused. He tells me he was only going to wait a few more minutes because last time he came nobody showed up.
I understand he probably had a negative impression of me (I'm not sure if his receptionist told him how sorry I was for the miscommunication as I had asked her to), but I was surprised that he was openly annoyed. I let him into the house and showed him the kitchen sink.
He asked me a question about the sink, to which I responded "I actually don't have any other information about it..." Craig cut me off, and raising his voice angrily yelled "Come here! I'm trying to show you something!" I was very uncomfortable with his tone. I'm not sure if he is just a loud person but I found it intimidating and unprofessional.
As he was assessing the job, he asked me in a condescending tone "So who are you?" to which I replied "I'm his assistant." He scoffed and asked "How old are you?" I was very offended that he asked something so irrelevant and so I said "Why does it matter?" and he said "Well, you look like you're sixteen." To anybody reading this, I can assure you that it has been many years since I was sixteen. I found it disrespectful that he would ask these questions.
A customer's age or whether or not they are the owner of the residence should not dictate how they are treated. He also made comments like "I've been doing this before you were born." Perhaps this is true, but I felt he was trying to undermine my authority because I seemed young to him.
He had to come back the next day. I assumed we had just gotten off on the wrong foot, and was expecting much better interactions that day.
I approached him and said "Hey, how's it going?" He did not answer. I figured he hadn't heard me, so I let him into the house and as he walked right past me I said "Thanks for coming out again." He completely ignored me.
It was so openly hostile I was relieved when he rudely said "Keep the door open. It's stuffy in here." When it came time for me to sign off on the bill, he asked how I would be paying.
I had called his receptionist the previous day and asked about methods of payment. I did not want to give my credit card over the phone so she had said they could "bill us." When I repeated this to Craig, he yelled "Bill who???" and acted as if this would not be possible.
I ended up mailing Bel Carlos Plumbing a check (which I quickly suggested to calm him down). I want to say that Craig's work was not a problem.
He assessed the issue very quickly and fixed it. He even ran the dishwasher to make sure the leak was truly fixed, which I appreciated.
That said, I found him to be hostile and rude. Maybe if someone had been at the house to let him in the first time he showed up, my experience would have been much more positive.
But I believe that he should not have agreed to come back and do the job if he was too upset to provide decent customer service. We used Bel Carlos for several projects.
In every case they have been fast, honest, and great to work with. First was a water heater that the bottom just fell out of one morning and flooded our garage.
Bel Carlos was there within hours and by that afternoon we had a dried out garage and a new, working hot water heater. After that we decided to remodel our home.
We discovered that we had old piping so we had Bel Carlos do a total copper repiping of our house, including adding a new shower, moving sinks and toilets around, and upgrading to recirculating hot water. Everything was terrific.
We wouldn't hesitate to recommend Bel Carlos to anyone! This the first time and the last time I will use this company ,it took two weeks the order the toilet, up on arrive the did not order the correct toilet , forgot to buy toilet seat , and now one of my toilet is leaking Spoke with service manager Andrew Clark; it will be addition charge to repair the same problem again Very unprofessional Craig was prompt in servicing our kitchen plumbing problem. He replaced our p-trap line from plastic to brass.
He ran into an alignment issue but was able to repair the pipes in a reasonable time. Craig did a great job fixing my broken water heater! I called them for an emergency at work and the guy they sent was really rude and obnoxious.
He totally tried to rip us off! I got the work done for half their price. I guess they take advantage of folks in a bind.
Shame on you! Don't know what to think - after reading all these positive reviews, Bel-Carlos never showed up for appointment with me! :-( It went like this yesterday: 12:00 pm - called to make an appointment for 4 pm. Confirmed.
4:15 pm - called to check "The plumber is on his way" 5:10 pm - called to check again "Let us find out what happened ..." That's it, no call back ever again, no explanation, no apologies from Bel-Carlos. This morning called another plumber and the job has just been completed.
Bel-Carlos Plumbing did not show up when promised. They didn't show up at all.
No phone call. That's okay - I'm going to work my way through the long, long list of plumbers that serve this area and anyone who breaks their promise gets 1 star.
VERY DISAPPOINTED!!! I called Bel-Carlos Plumbing first thing in the morning with a pipe leak. They said they would send a plumber out around Noon.
Noon comes and goes and no one shows up. I figure the plumber got held up a bit at his last job, so i wait.
(A courtesy call would've been nice) Now it's 2:30pm and still no plumber, so I call Bel-Carlos back. The person contacts the plumber in the field and lets me know he should be arriving within one hour.
I think as long as he shows up , it should be fine. 3:30pm and still no plumber...
i give him the benefit of the doubt and wait a little longer... 4:00pm and again no plumber.
I call Bel-Carlos and no one answers. 4:15pm and still no plumber.
Call Bel-Carlos and again no answer. 5:00pm, 6:00pm...
NADA So I basically waited all day for a plumber that NEVER came. The worst part is they never contacted me to explain or apologize...
they just didn't show up. Not that day, not any day.
No calls, nothing. If they had told me ahead of time they might not make it out, i would've tried other plumbers.
Instead, now i have to take two days off instead of one. VERY UNPROFESSIONAL.
I suggest everyone call someone else first and use these guys as a last resort. If i could give negative stars, i would.
This was a horrible experience. This review is on behalf of my senior citizen parents.
DO NOT GIVE THIS CHEAT YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY! What a terrible business owner. My parents remodeled a tiny bathroom (80-100 sq feet) in a rental house.
We are talking toilet, sink and tub with shower head with tile work. First, The first impression of him was of an unkempt sloppy guy.
He did not come on time to the appointment, they had to wait for him. Second, he gave multiple estimates for different venders that he would have to hire.
Apparently he is unable to do much himself. He doesn't even have his own crew.
Next, our job that we estimated to be approx $8-10k, turned into just under $20k. HE IS A LIAR AND A THIEF.
He told them that the sewer line needed to be replaced from the house next door since it was shared by both my parent's property and the house next door that just sold. He came to my parents and said that they were responsible for half of the cost which was $11k.
He even had the balls to say that "It is a new law that you have to pay half." WTF? We never bought or sold so why would we have to pay? That should fall on the seller or new owners! My dad went to City Hall to find out about this "new law," and told it didn't exist. So, Craig tried to make money off of my aging parents of over $11k.
What an asshole! My parents had used him before and never had any issues like this. They trusted him to be honest and do a good job.
If it wasn't for my parents going out of town when all of this was happening, they wouldn't have used him. It was sort of out of desperation since it was a rental and the plumbing was leaking and pipes needed to be replaced under the floor.
PLEASE read other reviews since we are not the only ones that will never use him or his company again! Showed up on time when he said he would, efficient work, and reasonable rates! What else could you ask for in a plumber. Oh and he was very courteous and nice as well.
Left the bathroom very clean afterwards. Would recommend and very glad we used him.
They got the job done right with three visits. We have a TOTO toilet leaking water from the tank.
Craig came out and replaced the flapper with a TOTO parts, unfortunately the flapper deteriorated within three months and the water started leaking again. He came back and put in another TOTO flapper but it still leaked water from time to to time.
After few weeks to find an opening in his schedule, he came back and replace with a Corky flapper that finally solved the leaking problem. I have to spend time to wait for him few times but he was very responsible and owned up to his work.
He only charged me for the initial work. Called Bel Carlos about a clogged sink and Ross came out a half hour later.
He was able to unclog it (it was a pretty tough clog too - I could hear him really jamming at it) in about fifteen minutes. Since I had to pay a minimum of an hour ($150) he offered to work on anything else I needed help with for the remaining time.
Great honest company! I would gladly use them again! Craig is a great and honest guy, reasonable price! Only problem is, he is always LATE you will have to wait for him all day! But besides that he does a good job! We can call l Him Craig Late have you seen him latetly??? Highly recommend if you don't mind him being late on the job with all his excuses, but he is a very nice guy! i would have given him 5 stars if he was not late....Hehehe While digging in the front yard, I hit the main water line, which was buried a mere 3 inches or so below ground! It was Saturday 5PM. Great! Of the 5 or so places I called, Bel Carlos was the only one to return the call, and within minutes.
Craig came by Sunday morning, and suggested to replace the water line since it was no longer to code and there are no more fittings available for the material that was used. His quote was reasonable, and the next day we had a brand new copper main line, 18 inches below ground (no more damage while digging).
I highly recommend Craig and Bel Carlos. Don't ignore the many reviews here that clearly show that this is a company that is terrible at doing business.
Craig Coccellato is an insufferably rude guy, who doesn't care if he does bad work or if you're unhappy with it. He turned a $5,000 plumbing job into a $10,000 plumbing job at my home, where I had to get another plumber to come do it right.
To boot, while he was hear, he screamed at his guys, then called the County inspector names and screamed at him, too. He's not someone you want your neighbors or your kids or you customers around.
What a jerk. Keep moving and look at another plumber! So far so good.
I work for a school and we have a preschool bathroom with kid sized toilets. the toilets always have problems.
I usually end up calling every few months for service. In the past I have used Cabrillo plumbing but I always felt like they were over charging me and the issue was never fully resolved.
Yesterday was the last straw with them when they quoted me over $400 to fix the recent problem. The tank was taking way to long to fill up (like 10 minutes).
So when the next person used it there wasn't enough water and it would clog. Cabrillo said they could replace the tank for $489 and that would solve the problem.
I decided to get a second opinion and asked another employee for a reference and she referred me to Craig. I Bel-Carlos and spoke to his receptionist first.
she was very nice an listened to my whole drawn out story. She then said that she would have Craig call me back.
About 30 minutes later she called me back to let me know that she was leaving for the day (it was later in the afternoon when I called) but she would email Craig and that he should call me later in the day. She then said she would follow up with me on Monday to make sure he got the message and called me.
What great customer service!!! I really appreciated her updating me. Anyway, Craig called me about 30 minutes after that and was able to come to the office within the hour.
He looked at both little toilets (the other one was having some issue at that point too) and was able to fix both toilets for half the price that Cabrillo quoted me. Everything seems to be working great now.
I will be switching to Bel-Carlos for all our future plumbing issue at the office (and let me tell you...with 50 students, we have a lot!) Craig and his helper arrived a bit later than appointment, but with everything needed to clean our plugged kitchen drain. A great job and they were very neat and did a perfect cleanup.
Great plumbing company. Found them thanks to Yelp.
I've known Craig/Bel-Carlos Plumbing a very long time. I've had him deal with any plumbing problems I've had over the last 20 years or more, and I've never had an issue or bad experience with him in all that time.
He comes when he says and will call if he's delayed. He gets the job done, and charges a very fair price.
Give him a try--I recommend it! When you have a 45 year old house and things are original, things break down and need to be replaced. Bel Carlos has fixed the shower head, redid our kitchen sink pipes, replaced our waste pipe, and replaced the heating ducts in the past 9 months, not because we wanted to but b/c we had too.
Our old heating ducts were so corroded that the metal was crumbling into dust. Craig was did a lot of the work himself and we really trust him.
He is completely honest, explains what needs to be done and more importantly, explains the cost of things! I have Bel Carlos programmed in my cell phone b/c I know that I can call them and someone will come and fix whatever our problem is asap! I highly recommend Craig and Bel Carlos Plumbing. Call them and they will fix your problem! My parents had just arrived from England and unfortunately the guest bathroom/main toilet blocked! No fault of theirs, just a back-up.
There was nothing we could do to fix it. I tried two places and no one could come out.
Bel-Carlos said he'd be round in 15 minutes. He kept his word, fixed the issue and I happily paid him.
Within 45 minutes we had averted a very nasty situation of my parents visiting and having to use our only other bathroom in our bedroom! Excellent job, very nice guy. Totally recommend them.
Sometimes you just can't believe everything on Yelp. This is one of those cases.
I saw some bad reviews on Craig. I don't know where or how that happened.
I had great experience with him. I had main sewage backup at my house.
I went out and rented power snakes, ran it through the pipe. Didn't work.
I knew pipe was damaged. I called Craig late morning on Saturday.
Didn't think I would be able to get him out to my place. Few hours later, He showed up to my house with his assistant Tony.
They couldn't run the camera down at first because there were too much water in the pipe. He ran his professional strength power snake on my main sewage line.
He was trying his hardest to open up the line. Other plumbers would have left long time ago.
He was able to opened it up enough to run the camera down. We saw where the pipe broke.
He ran the snake with cutter head in again, hoping to open up the pipe. This man does not give up that easy.
He tried so hard that he damaged the tip of his snake. Thank you again, Craig, for trying your hardest.
Now, we will have to open up the sidewalk to fixed the issue. So, this review will be updated when the whole job is finished.
So far, so good. I'm very happy with his services.
We had to fix our lateral under the street. Checked out many options and many plumbers.
We ended up to do the pipe bursting. Craig is the best.
The job was done exactly as planned. To us, once we decided to hire Craig for the job, everything was stress-free.
Our water heater stopped working on a Friday and we had no hot water on a freezing day! Big bummer! The husband attempted to fix with a kit from Lowes. Bad move! PG&E had to come out in the evening to cap the resulting hazardous gas leak.
I called Craig (owner of Bel-Carlos Plumbing) that same evening and he came to the rescue the next (Saturday) morning. He was on time and assessed that the (11 year old) water heater could not be fixed (and was even beginning to leak water- which we were unaware of).
Craig drove to San Francisco to pick us up a new high quality made in the USA water heater and installed it the same day! We were thrilled to get a hold of a plumber to fix this issue immediately! After paying, I mentioned to Craig that we had a slow drain in the bathroom and he snaked it for us at no charge! I recommend this honest, reliable, and hard-working plumber! Craig has been handling my plumbing needs for over ten years. I own three homes in San Carlos and one home in Redwood City.
Craig always stays until the job is complete and won't try and rip you off. If something he has fixed breaks or malfunctions he is quick to make things right for you in a timely manner.
Bel-Carlos Plumbing offers superior service with very reasonable price. The owner Craig is very polite and friendly.
He along with assistant Robert came on the same day I called for our clogged bath tub drain. It was a very tough clog but they did not give up until the job was done.
They also repaired our toilet with high water pressure flushing system. We have called a well-known plumbing company in the area earlier and was told that it had to be replaced as they could not repair it.
They are very quick to respond and perform superior jobs. Thank you, Craig! The people at Bel-Carlos Plumbing are honest and hard working.
They did a very large project for me. A broken sewage pipe was replaced and clear-outs were added according to county's requirement.
Before Craig gave me an estimate he did a complete research. He got PG&E and county to come over and mark the location of all of their pipes.
He researched the permit requirements, etc. Also he documented the work by taking pictures of the broken pipe.
The reason this review gets 4 rather than 5 stars is because after they completed the work they replaced the gravel on my driveway with way too much gravel. I need a 4x4 to get to my garage now! :) Great service - great product - great price.
I needed a new hot water heater. I did a lot of research and got a lot of quotes.
Bel Carlos was an installer for the product I selected, they were very knowledgeable, answered ALL my questions, and had a great price. On the job, they were curteous, quick and clean.
You can't ask for anything more! And they are a family owned business which I am delighted to support. Thank you Yelpers for referring me to Craig and Bel Carlos Plumbing!! They really did save the day for me too! As all the previous reviews stated, this company is top notch and trustworthy.
Craig and his team were reliable, knowledgeable, on time, and on schedule. Craig took the time to explain my plumbing problems in lay terms, and was patient with my many questions.
Not to mention, he has quite the sense of humor. It was a pleasure working with Craig and Bel Carlos Plumbing! Craig is the only plumber you will ever need to call.
He has done work for me over the years and I am always extemely satisfied with his services. He is a great guy on top of it all.
He was doing a job for me recently and while he was there a leak happened in the house (he was outside doing something entirely different) he stopped what he was doing, fixed the problem and then did the work he was hired to do! no extra charge. he said he was there anyway...
he is one tradesman who is timely, neat, honest... the list goes on.
Call him! I cannot say enough good things about this guy. He's been doing this for years and really knows what he is doing.
Call him! Craig, the owner did an excellent job! He came out, immediately sourced the problem with my water heater and then proceeded to show me a safety concern with the gas piping and the lack of ventilation in the ceiling. He replaced the gas pipe and created ventilation without charging! He also replaced my subpump and let me know how all of the piping and other structural items looked.
Essentially he did an informal inspection with no incentive for extra work. The place is in good shape.
Very pleasant, honest, and I am having him back again! I called Bel-Carlos Plumbing this morning at around 7am when I realized my water heater was leaking. I didn't get an answering machine, someone answered.
I told him my problem and he said he would be here at 8am. Craig arrived on time and presented himself as professional and honest.
My water heater was old and corroded and clearly needed to be replaced. He wrote me up what I thought was a fair estimate and got started.
The job was completed in a timely manner and looked great. The cleanup was impeccable.
I would call Craig without hesitation if I ever need a plumber again. Bel-Carlos Plumbing is great.
My wife and I own and operate several Mexican Restaurants and they always come through for us whenever we have a problem. They are very professional and knowledgeable.
It is wonderful to know that they are there for us and will keep our restaurants open. I wanted to write a very positive review for Bel Carlos plumbing.
I had on a Sunday night issues with a clogged main plumbing line so the showers, toilets etc. were all backing up.
I called on Sunday night and they picked up the phone (amazing), talked me through some things I should do that evenig and then moved their calendar around to come by first thing the next day, Monday, morning. The owner and his staff were professional and fixed the issue so everything was back working by 8:45am Monday.
Thank you for the great work. regards, very happy customer What started out as a hot water heater replacement ended up including a furnace replacement as well.
I was so pleased with the hot water heater project and Craig's quote for replacing the furnace. The hot water heater project went just as several other 5 star reviews have indicated: efficient, good workmanship, clean.
In addition, Craig had his assistant replace and greatly strengthen the earthquake bracing and strapping. On time, on budget, results greater than expectations.
Fair price for professional results. Replacing the furnace and making all the necessary ducting alterations was a more complex job than the hot water heater, but boringly enough, it went just as well.
This time Craig added a customized addition to the furnace allowing for my ultra-easy replacement of filters. Quick start, on time, on budget, and results greater than expectations.
Also a fair price. These were my best two encounters with plumbing repairs and hot water heater replacements ever.
These guys have become my "go to" plumbers. Arrived late after several phone calls for a clogged drain.
Upon arrival accused my wife of giving him the wrong address or directions, and wouldn't back off. I finally sent him away.
Nobody needs this kind of attitude in a service business. Try Bell instead.
Seemed polite on the phone but never bothered showing up. Told me they would be here between 3 and 5pm.
3:15, I call, they don't answer. 4:45, I can again and they still don't answer.
No thanks, I have better ways of wasting time. Sadly, I am yet another person who had this business not show up and not return calls.
There are three other reviews on the main page and two in filtered where the same happened, this is looking like a pattern. My 95 year old mother in Millbrae called Bel Carlos Plumbing for a leaking bath tub faucet.
The plumber who came out charged her $160 for the visit. He told her she needed a new faucet which would entail tearing out the tile and wall because parts were no longer available for the faucet.
She call me and I went to the hardware store and bought the needed parts and installed them myself. Bel Carlos is either incompetent or dishonest.
I called Bel-Carlos Plumbing on a Friday afternoon. Since it was a non-emergency plumbing situation, I arranged with Craig to have someone come to our San Carlos home Monday P.M.
We waited all day. At 4:45, I called & left a message, thinking perhaps I had "misunderstood" our appt.
It is now Wednesday; we still haven't heard a word from Craig. Needless to say, we have another wonderful plumber fixing our toilet and kitchen faucet.
If Craig didn't want our small job, he should have just said so. A really reputable business person would do so.
Last night my kitchen disposal clogged beyond the repair of Draino. :P I called Bel-Carlos plumbing at 10am and Nick of Bel-Carlos Plumbing showed up right on time at noon.
He was knowledgeable, respectful of me and my home, and fixed my drain in 30 minutes! My disposable has NEVER sounded so good! In the remaining time, he cleaned out both of my bathroom shower pipes! I will definitely use this company again and will recommend Nick and Bel-Carlos Plumbing in the future! With water pouring out of the bottom of my water heater, I went to YELP and looked for a top-rated local plumber. Craig was out in about 30 minutes, determined that yes my water heater was beyond saving, and by the afternoon, we were in hot water again.
It really does help to see YELP ratings, I find, and use it a lot (esp for services like this one). Craig is a little quirky, but amazing and has had all of my plumbing business for 10+ years.
I have used Craig's services for years. He not only can repair anything, quickly, but is proactive in preventing future problems.
I can call him day or evening, and he quickly responds. He and his crew are considerate and tidy.
Their clean-up after the job is great. Bel Carlos Plumbing is the best.
Craig replaced the trap under my kitchen sink. 7 months later it started to leak.
I called him since his work has a 1 year warranty. He showed up two hours late with no phone call and insisted it wasn't leaking even thought there was clearly a water stains under the trap.
I asked him to just tighten the connections and he refused. Once he left as water was dripping from the pipes connections I had to tighten them myself.
They were so loose I could turn them with my hand!!! I have never done business with someone who was so rude. Surprised he is still in business.
After reading the reviews here, I called Bel Carlos and Craig and his assistant Robert did an excellent job. I had a job that Boudreau Plumbing wouldn't/couldn't do (see my review of them), and Bel Carlos really came through.
They were prompt, friendly, and did exactly what needed to be done. In addition, their prices were better than what I had been quoted elsewhere.'''.
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