Birnie Thos R & Sons Ltd

our exterior drains were clogged at the sewers and Thomas R Birnie and sons were excellent at fixing the problem and also ran a diagnositic on our entire house plumbing system that was done reasonably and fixed the problem. They were a pleasure to work with and honest and reputable. Would recommend to anyone with exterior or interior plumbing issues.

It started when last tuesday (1 week ago) they were to start replacing our water lines from 1/2" to 3/4". They showed up at 4:00 pm and just drop the machine off. They came back wednesday around 9:30 a.m. and started digging. The original quote was for drilling as we wanted to pave our driveway this year. It took them 3 days to dig and replace the first line. They did not tamp the ground at all before during or after they refilled the holes. The road, sidewalk and driveway were left a mess. My son pulled his vehicle in the driveway and almost got stuck as it sunk at least a foot. They also damaged our neighbors fence which we now have to repair. I called the company several times and finally got a call back. After speaking with the district manager, (he did show up at the house to see the issues that day) he said nothing could be done until Monday, but assured me the whole problem would be rectified for sure. The district manager showed up at 8:00 a.m. to meet with us and see all the issues. He gave us his word that they would redig, tamp and regravel the driveway. 6:30pm Monday evening they showed up with a mini bobcat, no tamper and not even a full yard of gravel. I felt bad for the employees as they were not informed they had to do all that. They were only asked to regrade the driveway. The sidewalk was not cleaned nor was the road (which was full of mud and stones). I went out to check things and the gravel on the sidewalk was like marbles. I slipped and fell injuring my shoulder. This whole ordeal is a nightmare and certainly not worth a dime. We are going to hire another company to come in and finish this. Obviously this companys word is not worth anything. It is now Tuesday, after me calling again, (seeing I have to be the one to call them all the time) the manager called back and said they were going to redig, tamp and grade the driveway AGAIN!!! which was supposed to be done on Monday, I told him come and get your machine as I am hiring someone else. 7 days and they were only halfway done the job. Even the meter was not installed where it was supposed to be. They just did nothing right. Believe me, I have learned from this mistake with this company. Just because a company has been in business as long as they have doesn't mean they are any good.

A few months back we called these guys to fix a leak in our kitchen sink. The guy who came told us the whole pipe needed replacing and charged us $750 to do so. Subsequently we started having problems with blockages until this morning we got a guy from a different company to come and have a look. It turns out that the new pipe was connected to the old pipe with electrical tape! And the TB guy somehow manged to get some stuck inside the pipe which is what was causing the blockages. Absolutely flabbergasting.

We hired this company to replace the main plumbing stack in our house. The old stack was cast iron, which was deteriorating and had begun to leak. A young kid from this company came by and he looked so youthful, that I was honestly a bit nervous. He began to explain the work he was going to do, and did so in such a professional way that all of my hesitations subsided. He worked on his own, and it took him about 5 hours to remove the old stack in its entirety, and install the new PVC drain. He did the job on his own, and was completely professional from start to finish. He did not complain for a second, in fact he kept telling me how much he loved his job and how much he respected his employers! I really wish I could remember his name!!
The stack was installed about two years ago, and we've had absolutely no problems with it. Very impressed!!

Jim, a great technician. Showed him the things I wanted. He gave me good explanations and three options for solutions all priced out in writing. I even asked him questions like, "This valve is old and I would like it replaced, but is it necessary?" He explained the pros and cons of each option and did not try to make an extra buck by doing work that wasn't absolutely necessary. I chose and he performed the work professionally, immediately and cleaned up after. I made an appointment, I got a call from a dispatcher, and a follow-up call from the company checking my satisfaction a couple of hours after Jim left. Great service. You pay a little more for the pros to come in, but it's worth it for the service and peace of mind. Oh yeah...1 year warranty included too. Will recommend these guys to others.

Our pipes burst in our basement, in a small dirt crawl space under the home. The men from this company crawled under in the freezing cold in a muddy flooded dirt space to repair the pipes for us. Our daughter is very ill and having running hot water for her health care needs means so much to us it is beyond words. These men were completely professional and went beyond their call to duty to make sure that our home was restored. We are so grateful that they were willing to undergo so much personal discomfort to help us in the terrible confined cold wet conditions. Forever grateful to these guys. I would recommend them to anyone. They showed up on time and they stayed right through till the entire area was repaired and cleaned up. Jerry was a gem and so nice about the whole situation. He was soaked through to the skin and cold as ice. We really appreciate everything you guys did for us.

My 85 year old widowed mother was charged $1000 to replace her basic kitchen taps and sprayer with a slightly upgraded model. The bill did not outline the cost break down and doesn't unless approved by a manager. Flat fees charged for services only! Total ridiculous billing and costs for this job - taking advantage of seniors.
Avoid this company at all costs.

We discovered 2 days ago that gradually there was little to no hot water in the house. This morning we called out a plumbing company that we waited for for 5 hrs. When the plumber arrived we believed the quote was way too high and we sent him away with a bad taste in our mouths especially since he charged $99 just to come out. Thankfully we then called Thos Birnie & Sons. The people on the answer service/dispatch were courteous, helpful and knowledgable. The tech they sent out was Tim, who I would highly recommend. He came in, diagnosed the problem with a reasonable quote. More importantly he was friendly and explained the options, pricing and the methods he was going to take. Whilst the price was less than the first company it was more about this company's awesome attitude and excellent service. We will definitely recommending this plumbing company to our friend and family.

Over a few weeks my husband and I noticed water stains in the downstairs bathroom. We assumed it was moisture from showering so we started using the upstairs bathroom more frequently. It got worse. Turns out the drain upstairs was leaking, and it was a tight spot for a repair. We called Birnie, who we've used before and they came the next day. We had a drippy basement fixed at the same time. They were fast, and courteous (-: We have used the again, and again. Would highly recommend (-:

I hate this company. I hate poor customer service. - Booked a full day for a lead to copper pipe change. They called the day before to cancel, after I had already booked off work, informed child's school and daycare, to say that someone didn't have water and that meant I wouldn't get serviced. - Gave me an "all in" quote that wasn't itemized, then when I found out I didn't have to pay for the more expensive permit, told me I wouldn't get my money back. - The men who actually did the job (2 of them) were very nice, skilled and as fast as they could be. - I was told that if the ground sank after they refilled the 8 foot hole in my front yard, to call and they would come and refill it. The ground DID sink 6 weeks later after a few days of heavy rain, so much that my concrete porch support became unstable and started falling into the hole that they had dug right in front of it. Also the valve was sticking slightly above the ground. When I called them to ask them to fill the hole and please lift the concrete support before doing so, I was told a note was made and I heard NOTHING back for a week. I called again and was told it would be taken care of and then heard NOTHING again. Left a message. NOTHING. when I finally got annoyed after THREE weeks, I called and got slightly irritated. what I got in result was some tools coming to my house and throwing a pile of dirt over the sunken area AND my porch support which I had specifically asked three times for them to raise before they filled the hole. I called again to complain about having to go and dig this out myself despite making clear requests that the support be returned to it's previous state and still heard nothing back. After another few weeks I began to ask for someone higher up in the company to deal with and spoke with the manger. He also was not the best at returning my calls, and apologized profusely for "forgetting" when he promised me the work would finally be done, but it wasn't. After that final straw, and also calling him on his company cell quite a few times with no response I informed them that I no longer had any patience after over 3 months of waiting and would file a claim to recoup my money to have someone else come and fix my porch and my toilet. The work was promised the next week and was done.

Part of the quote was for them to fix a toilet in my basement. The men who came had NO idea they were supposed to fix the toilet. When I asked them what the problem was, they said it was just "switched off". I the fool, believed them and didn't check. Now I just realized that the toilet is STILL not working and I'll have to call these people back (this makes probably more than 6 calls now) to come and do this properly too. When the plumber came he informed me that the men who were there previously were not plumbers and so would not have been able to assess and repair the toilet properly (which was nice to find out after the fact). He fixed the problem in less than 15 minutes and to their credit, the parts were free as I had waited for FOUR months after my original quote date to get this done.

I told the manager in no uncertain terms how disgusting I felt their treatment of me as a customer, and a business owner myself, was when it was their policy to do the job properly and quickly. He was understanding and both apologized and sent a card after the work was done.

I had read bad reviews about this company and decided to take my chances since they're the "largest" in Hamilton and have been around for generations. But just because someone does a lot, doesn't mean they do it well. You have been warned, avoid these lazy inconsiderate owners.