Better Plumbing

*** UPDATE 1÷11÷16 ***
Bumping up review to ‘3 star’ (average): got a message from Cameron @Better Plumbing. Explained that he’s been tied up with a big contract job and didn’t feel it fair to take time from a paying customer to respond to my problem. While I fully understand the situation he was in, I do think there were better ways to juggle current and potential new business.
The point is moot at this time as, while Cameron didn’t resolve my issue (Allstate did that), the effort he made to explain at length what was keeping him from getting back to me at least shows some consideration and customer service. I can’t rate him for his work, as we didn’t manage to conduct business, but I can rate the effort.
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Sorry, got nothing positive to say about «Better Plumbing», and I don’t like to write negative reviews.
I called 2 plumbers on New Year’s Eve before noon. NYE is not a holiday, but many people knock off early. I get that. I got a sluggish-​to-​respond machine at ‘Better Plumbing’ and left a message. Never got a call back.
I figured they’d be closed New Years, so not too surprised they didn’t call.
Called again on Saturday around 1:30p. Left another message. Never got a call back. The same with the 2^nd plumber (leaving same review for them given the same poor performance).
The fact that I had a significant leak (about 0.5gal/hr) and requested in my message at least acknowledgement of my call didn’t gain me anything.
I found another plumber (Allstate) who called me back within 15min of leaving a message and had guys at my house 1.5hrs later shows some plumbers understand business (and will get a great review).
Sorry ‘Better Plumbing’, but based on this experience, I think you should be «can do much better» plumbing.

Quick to answer the phone and my question. I requested a quote to run a line for an underground exterior drain for water off the roof. Rather than quote the job they suggested I contact a landscaping firm, as I’d likely get a better price.
I appreciate this direct and honest response.

Cameron NEEDS A RAISE FOR HIS OUTSTANDING SERVICES. He helps as soon as he possibly can and gets straight to the point. Hes honest, and very clear in his explanations. Very friendly and always makes us laugh. He knows what he’s doing and he’s good at it. If I could rate 10 stars I would. Thank you for your hard work and dedication! The world needs more people like Cameron!
&& I must add one more thing. For the rude people. Get real. You do his job for 20 minutes and see how long you last. Ohh and prices? Quit being cheap, his prices are very reasonable. We had people telling us the complete opposite of what our problem actually was and then he had to fix our problem and the problem the other plumber created as well.
Point is, AMAZING JOB !!

Semi-​emergency situation at our property in Milpitas on a Friday night. Consulting Unilocal,of course, Better Plumbing was one of the two companies I called. I didn’t really expect to get a return call on a Friday night and I didn’t, but … early Saturday morning, Cameron (owner of Better Plumbing) called me to let me know that he wasn’t available (out of town for his 29^th wedding anniversary). He recommended another company, I called them, got the work done quickly and efficiently.
I’m really impressed with this man caring enough about the problem of someone he’s never even dealt with before to take the time to call and tell me about a competitor that he trusts. I’m as sure as possible that Cameron didn’t make a penny on this and is simply a good guy. People like him are so rare that I’ve made a Big Note to call him the next time this problem comes up (tree roots in the sewer line).
Thank you, Cameron! And congratulations on your 29^th wedding anniversary!

Excellent. I recommend Cameron for all your plumbing needs. He is good at work and on time.

Contacted them on Saturday for a leaky shower valve. Cameron called back on Monday morning as promised. Said he was on an urgent call, so would let me know when he could make it. Called back around noon and said he’d meet me at 12:45pm. When he didn’t show by 1pm, I tried reaching him again. He called back right away and said he was 5 minutes away. Finally showed up another 15 minutes later (30 min behind schedule).
Not one word of apology for his tardiness (I had to take off from work).
Charged me $ 165 for replacing the shower valve seats and springs. He seemed thorough. Took him under 30 min, so it felt like a ripoff — my doctor charges less! Said his normal rate was $ 195 and he was giving me a break (wow, sure didn’t feel like a break — what is that, like $ 400 per hour?!).
He was communicative but unfortunately, very overpriced.
There is better plumbing — out there.
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I saw Cameron’s response below. attempting to justify his overpriced service.
IMHO, the menu-​based pricing is just a trick to extract more. He should be charging for his time.
Lawyers who charge $ 400 an hour also have the same overhead issues he does, so I simply don’t buy his reasons for the overpriced charges.

Alright so I had a clogged garbage disposal sink, and he was very nice to have walked me threw fixing it rather then changing me the hundred bucks. Very nice man. I appreciate him doing this because like many others money is tight. If I have any other plumbing issues I will be calling him based on this one phone encounter. Thank you better plumbing!

Cameron is a pro. His knowledge is much more sophisticated than stringing pipes together, he actually understands and can explain the engineering behind the parts and their limitations. This is a great confidence builder, because no plumbing situation you really need a plumber for is straightforward. You want the guy that has the most knowledge and experience that can turn a bad situation into a strong solution for the future. He’s got the right parts and the right tools for any job.
Great guy to talk to and learn from as he works!

Cameron provides good, quality service. We had a real emergency with a leak at the main into the house. He came out in two hours, gave us a free estimate, a reasonable price and was finished with the repair in 4 hours!
We would definitely recommend him.

We had previously used Cameron of Better Plumbing so when the emergency water break at the meter occurred we called him again. He was quick to identify the problem and repaired it. It was a difficult situation as the water to the home had to be turned off for a couple days. He spoke with the owner of a neighbor property and got permission to hook up a hose from nextdoor to our property using a hose and special connection that he had. It helped greatly by being able to use basic water needs such as toilet and shower with the temporary hookup. The problem was quite difficult as tree roots had surrounded the water meter and made it difficult work. We would highly recommend him for any plumbing work needed.

Honest, quick and funny. Yes i said honest when speaking about a plumber, I called them on a Sunday and he told me he would show up after his current job and sure enough came in and found the issue and I told him I wanted a tankless water heater, instead of selling me on one, he took the time to explain all the issues I would see with installing one of them in my complex. He even went out of his way to call the company my water heater was from so I could save money on buying a new water heater. Who does that these days? These guys are legit and they have a customer for life. Thank you Cameron

quick fast and friendly, called better plumbing and Cameron called back with in 15 min. told him my problem and with in 20 min. he was at are mobile home and 30 min. later my problem was fixed plus a lesson on basic plumbing problems.

Cameron is a great guy, fun to talk to, and does a fantastic job. I’ve had him replumb my sink, redo a drain, and fix a job that another plumbing service botched originally! (It was a re-​pipe job) I should have called him to do the job in the first place.
Once he came out, looked at my water heater, told me that I could fix it myself easily, told me how, and left without charging me a cent.
He is our go to plumber!

Called in Better Plumbing with a Problem we were having at our home.
The owner Cameron came and was very helpful and provided excellent service. Fixed our problem. My family and I are very happy with Cameron’s work, he’s very professional and is very knowledgable.
We Highly recommend him.
10 Stars!

Cameron is GREAT. If you need a plumber I highly recommend this place. Cameron is knowledgable, friendly, and proactive in helping us with the problems. I am a landlord in Milpitas. I called him for a broken faucet, clogged toilet, broken dishwasher. He came out the next day, fixed the faucet and dishwasher, and found a construction defect with the toilet plumbing. So guess what he did — he showed me how to deal with the builder and get a warranty claim. He got on a conference call with me and the builder, and also wrote a detailed documentation so the builder will have no excuse but to honor their warranty. Thanks to Cameron’s experience in dealing with this builder and this type of problems, the builder is now very cooperative.

I was so stressed when my sewer line was backing up into my guest bathroom shower. It was worse than anything I could have ever imagined. It was late in the day on a Friday and the city of course wanted nothing to do with it. I called Cameron (Better Plumbing) and he was at my house within 15 minutes. He went under my house, located the sewer line and gave me some straight answers. Cameron and his crew worked so hard in the pouring rain and mud until they fixed the problem.
It’s difficult to imagine that anyone would work in such difficult weather conditions. Cameron, if there were more stars to give you… you would definitly get them! Thank you so very much!

An amazingly honest plumber. We had a problem with our tankless water heater on Friday night after 8:00 PM. It completely stopped working. I called Cameron and he had me send photos via email. He then called me right back and walked me through several possible ways to correct the problem. He could have easily came out, billed me extra charges for convenience, but didn’t. He didn’t charge me a thing.
We truly appreciated his honesty and integrity and he will be the first person we call with any sort of plumbing issue. Patronize this business, you won’t be sorry.