A Plumber in 1 Hour

We hired these guys through Amazon along with a garbage disposal replacement. The first guy come over and installed the unit fine. 7 months later the unit was leaking. Another guy from the same company came and said the unit was improperly installed and the seal around the basin was broken. They wanted to charge $ 120 to fix it. I talked to his boss and they would take no responsibility for their work beyond 30 days.

Had them install a water heater — they came out on Christmas Eve and were out within a couple of hours.
They were accessible, quick, and overall very easy to work with.
I had a very simple install and their initial price was a competitive ($ 250) but after additional fees, came out to just under $ 400. I wasn’t super happy with that, but can’t complain too much.

Julian did great work when our pipe broke. Came in on a Sunday with short notice. Thanks!

I thought about calling this business, but I then realized there isn’t a 1221 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The 5-​star raters are clearly shills. Sounds fishy to me.

Terrific job. I was very happy with the outcome of their work on my plumbing. They arrived at my house very quickly, and I could not have asked for a better price for their work. It’s been two weeks and everything is still working perfectly. This is the best experience i have ever had with a plumbing company, I am very satisfied. If I ever have any issues in the future with plumbing, I will definitely give «A Plumber in 1 Hour company» another call. They did an AMAZING job.

I went with this company because the rates sounded reasonable $ 165 for the first hour, $ 85/​hr after the first hour.
The plumber they sent to me (Gary) was kinda slow and unsure of what he was doing. It was a waste of my time. All I needed done was a kitchen faucet installed, drained pipes assembled, and dishwashing tube replaced.
This guy told me over the phone that its no problem he can fix it in about 2−3hours. When he got there he spent the first hour trying to figure out the dishwasher. then he said he couldn’t do it. He had to call an appliance guy to fix it. Then i paid him $ 165 for day one. and he said he’ll come back tomorrow with the right tools to install the faucet and drain pipes.
He came back the next day with his appliance guy whom i paid $ 100 to replace a simple tube. Then this plumber installed the faucet but couldn’t figure out how to install a drain pipe… instead of him to say «im sorry i dont know what the hell im doing» this guy kept wasting my time and money and just experimenting with the pipes. thats when i got upset and said just stop! cause you obviously had no clue what you’re doing.
Long story short, i paid him $ 265 + $ 100 for the dishwasher and still dont have a functioning kitchen. Now I have to find another plumber to do the job.

I needed a plumber to repair a toilet tank that was loudly leaking into the bowl. Glossing over the details, it wasn’t an emergency, but my toilet tank was very vocal at about 30-​second intervals by the time I finally got around to looking up a Chicago plumber. Again, not an emergency, but the sound – and after a while, the anticipation of the sound – was akin to Chinese water torture.
I may be exaggerating.
At any rate, after Googling «chicago plumber» and hastily looking through a few results (but, oddly enough, not Unilocal; shame on me!), I decided on A Plumber in 1 Hour. It was a very non-​scientific selection. They seemed to serve all of Chicago, and their website didn’t *totally* look like it had been put together in 1999 by a 14 year-​old (it’s still pretty generic).
I called on a weekday afternoon, hoping to make an appointment for the following afternoon. Like I said, it wasn’t an emergency; just another thing to tick off the «To Do» list.
The gentleman who answered the phone mumbled «Plumbing» and I said that I’d like to make an appointment. He asked, seemingly confused, «What?» and I repeated my request. We were not off to a good start, and I contemplated hanging up and trying somebody else, somebody whose dispatch was more professional.
Things improved quickly, however. The person with whom I spoke soon became much more friendly (and coherent), took my information, and was ready to dispatch a plumber immediately. Not having planned on that (in spite of the fact that I had called «A Plumber in 1 Hour»; I know, I know), I ended up making an appointment for three hours later that afternoon. They were totally flexible to my schedule, and I could pick any time that I wanted.
The plumber showed up right on time (a couple of minutes early, in fact) and was, as you’d hope, knowledgeable and friendly. He quickly diagnosed my tank’s problem (half of which I already knew), told me that he needed to go buy the two parts that he suspected needed replacing (again, half of which I already knew), went off to get said parts, and was back super-​quick. About ten minutes after he returned, my tank was no longer leaking, there was no more annoying running water, and I no longer felt constantly compelled to give up State secrets.
Based on my experience, I recommend A Plumber in 1 Hour. They worked with my schedule, knew what they were doing, and were quick and friendly.
That said, there are two things (probably pretty minor) that keep this from being a 5-​Star review: 1) I decided to pay by credit card (they take Amex; score!), and the whole card rubbing (which I never feel good about) plus Daniel H.‘s previous review have me ready to check my Amex statement just to make sure everything went smoothly; and 2) I can’t say that I know, precisely, what a fair rate is for fixing a non-​emergency leaky toilet tank, but – given the man hours (minutes?) and the parts – my Amex took a decent hit for a seemingly non-​major fix. Still, for all I know, the rate was completely reasonable.
Also – it’s worth noting that the A Plumber in 1 Hour website featured a printable $ 45 off coupon that I was able to use. For all I know, it’s still there, since their website looked pretty static. Similarly, if you go through the City of Chicago website’s plumber ad page, there’s a note there for A Plumber in 1 Hour that says they’ll take $ 35 off if you mention said webpage. Rock on, coupons.

I have called this place twice.
Let me start with my first experience. I called on a weekday desperate to get my clogged toilet fixed. I saw «a plumber in 1 hour» and thought, «It must be expensive to be on call like that.» I decided to try anyways. I called and they were unable to send anyone out til the next morning. So much for an hour, huh? Well, he came out and rodded our pipes for about $ 320. He did a good job with it and we were pleased.
My real problem came 3 months later. I got an email from my discover card that a big charge had posted to my account. I figured it was no big deal and I may have bought something and forgot. I logged on and saw a $ 900 dollar charge from them! It made no sense at all. It was 3 months later and my original bill wasn’t even a factor of $ 900. I just had no idea how this could happen. So I called the lady and filed a dispute with Discover. It became a pain simply cause it shouldn’t be something I have to deal with during work. I called and someone told me I would need to talk to the lady in charge of that stuff who wasn’t in that day. I called promptly the next day and got the ball rolling. She said she’d look into it. I got a call a couple days later asking me to fax my credit card statement that showed the charge. I did that and it took about a week for her to confirm that she got it and would apply a credit. All-​in-​all, it was on my card for about 3 weeks. No big deal, I wasn’t charged fees or anything, but it sure was annoying to have to deal with. Oh yea, the mistake was explained as an error in their system. Don’t know what that means or how that charges me $ 900, but whatever…
The second time we called them was our third clog. Why would I call after that accounting error? Well, they were cheaper and I was desperate. A plumber in 1 hour was considerably cheaper than Power Plumbing and Sewer Contractor, so I called them back. This time was a Sunday and I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I got the secretary lady and she said she’d have someone out in an hour and she’d call back. About a half hour later, she called and said their system was down and she couldn’t get anyone to come out. The «1 hour» failed again. She told me to call again the next day and it should be ok. I decided not to and went with J Stewart Sewerage & Drainage. Check out my review for them. They are by far the best of the three I tried.
I would give them a 1, but unfortunately I’ve experienced worst. This place is no different than any other plumbing business cause I can guarantee you won’t get help in an hour.

BEWARE! They are a scam. Basically an unlicensed plumber (Jason West) comes to your house, builds your trust, and then encourages you to contract with him directly (not through the business, which is Julien Bell & Gary Chapman). He took me for $ 2000. Calls to Julien Bell and Gary Chapman result in a hang up.