Best Pumps And Backups in Chicago IL

The Vanguard team were very professional. From the moment I called, Jan handled himself quickly, courteously, providing detail (including basic costs up front) and quality customer service. The plumbing professional, George was thorough, careful, detailed, quick yet made sure to get the job done properly. George kept things clean and took pride in leaving a spotless environment behind them.
I can’t say enough great things about Jan and his company, Vanguard Plumbing. In simple terms, he is not only the best plumber that I have ever worked with, I would go further and say that he is the best trades-person with whom I have dealt. First, he provides great service. He is easily accessible and responds to calls very promptly by phone or e-mail. He provides clear and comprehensive quotes listing the prices he will charge for a project. The quote is backed up by a written confirmation.
I have used Vanguard plumbing for several projects in my home, including installing 6 ball type valves, inspecting ejector pump and plumbing fixtures, replacing toilet, replacing existing valves on main water lines with ball valves, and replacing kitchen faucet and installing new angle stops. The work he has done for me on those several visits has uniformly been of high quality with no problems.
I would definitely have Vanguard Plumbing back again and highly recommend them personally and the plumbing team as a whole to anyone that wants a job well done. Thank you Vanguard Plumbing.

I called Right Away plumbing to help solve my water hammer issue.

Day 1- Plumber Jorge shows up, drains water system, still have issue. He assures me that his colleague Tony, a master plumber will come the next day to help solve the issue. If he can't do it no one can.
I pay the pre-agreed price of $250 for the hour of work draining my system.

Day 2- Tony is convinced my issue is from air in the lines. Drainage #2 does not help. Tony tells me that removing the air chambers may help. Reading through many plumber forums, I never saw anything about air chambers causing water hammer. In fact, the reason they are installed is to prevent water hammer.... Interesting. But what do I know right? This is the master plumber we are talking about here.

Day 3- Jorge quotes me $388 to remove 4 air chambers. He removes them in 45 mins (and only removes half of 1 of them because it is hard to reach... Charge top dollar and only do half the job... what a joke). While the water is shut off and he is removing the air chambers, I tell him I want a shut off valve installed in between the shower and the sink to see if that helps isolate the issue. They scoff at the idea but I insist. This took another 45 mins. In fact, when they were installing the shut off, they almost put it in the wrong spot! I had to stop them as they were putting it in and tell them it was wrong!

They turn the water back on. Removing the air chambers did nothing. However, once they turn the shut off valve that I suggested, no more water hammer!

Jorge writes up the work order and charges me $650 for 1.5 hours of work. I am frustrated because removing the air chambers for $388 was already insane (but I was willing to pay for an EXPERT'S opinion). They add $250 for the new shut off valve install. I was NOT told that adding the valve would be an additional $250 charge. They should have told me before putting it in. Tony agrees to give me a $45 discount. I tell him that is not enough. He turns to Jorge and says, ok, pull out the new valve, we are leaving. Things were tense. I was frustrated with the price, and Tony was frustrated with me. Tony pulls out his licensed plumber card and puts it in my face to intimidate me. Very unprofessional. He says 2 plumbers for all this time, we are losing money! Well, removing air chambers and putting in a shut off doesn't require 2 plumbers. And neither of you figured out the cause of my issue, I did. I remain calm and collected the entire time, even though I am deeply frustrated.

I pay over $850 for them to drain my system, remove 4 air chambers, and add a shut off valve. And on top of being overcharged, I was bullied by Tony.

If it took their expertise to diagnose the problem, then I wouldn't have had an issue with the price because I wanted the water hammer gone. They are more knowledgeable than me with plumbing, I humbly respect that. But, it is painful to pay so much money knowing that in the end it was my suggestion that isolated the issue (while getting bullied).
Now, I am out $850 and I still have water hammer. At least I know now that my shower is the issue.

UPDATE: I search online forums and read that faulty cartridges can cause this issue. I replace the shower cartridge myself, and problem FIXED. You would think a master plumber would know this. Based on my reading it doesn't seem to be that uncommon of an issue. Now I'm left wondering if they purposely ripped me off, or just aren't very good at their jobs. What a shame. Be careful who you hire! It's sad that they have such good YELP reviews, they certainly don't deserve them.

I hope this review is helpful to others

-Peter Monteagudo, MD, MBA

Fantastic customer service! Patrick, the plumber, was very professional and got the job done quickly! I have used various plumbers over the years, and Fettes Love & Sieben just might be the best!

Mike and Dan are very knowledgeable and honest! We were having problems with our sump pump . They came explained problem and fixed it quickly. I never recommend people, but I would definitely recommend them!

They came over to replace the toilet flush valve and to repair leaking shower valves. This is as simple as it gets as far as plumbing goes.
They used no parts and were there less than 2 hours.
They charged $724.15..... RIDICULOUS!
My mother in law got these guys out of a church bulliten, thinking they must be honest.