Dave Bischof Plumbing & Rooter

My mom called Dave Bischof Plumbing & Rooter to look at a backed up pipe. I wasn’t on the call, so I can’t confirm or deny Dave’s side of the story, but the bottom line was that my mom ended the conversation under the impression that Dave was going to charge $ 49.99 to snake the pipe.
I was in my room. Dave arrived and assessed the situation and talked it over w/​my mom for about 10 – 15 minutes. He ultimately wanted to charge for a job that was somewhere in the range of $ 300 – 400. My mom wasn’t expecting the level of work and pricing that Dave prescribed, so she declined the work. Dave asked for his $ 49.99 service fee and my mom reluctantly paid it. She commented that she wasn’t aware she had to pay a $ 49.99 service fee for no work done. At this point a mild argument ensued and I overheard a man’s voice being loud toward my mom. I went to check on things.
Dave was telling my mom that he wanted her business to do work for him for free. He was trying to make a point, but it was invalid because I told him that my mom would surely spend the time to provide details of costs and services for her business, without expecting anything in return from him. Should he decide to take her business, she would charge him for it.
We exited into the front yard. Dave commented on my loud tone and I commented back that his tone was also loud, which is what prompted me to join the discussion in the first place. He said that he was only being loud inside and now I am disturbing the neighbors. He suggested we try to talk through things more calmly and I agreed with him.
Dave then described that he uses a script and tells every customer the same thing, which is that he charges a $ 49.99 service fee which is waived if the work is done. He went on about how he doesn’t work for free and he was upset that my mom hinted at leaving a bad review on the internet. I told Dave that somehow my mom ended the telephone discussion with a different understanding than what he claimed was agreed upon and I suggested that he update his script to make the point more clear to customers. I told him that I would talk to my mom to make sure her criticism of him was constructive and he suggested that she keep her review «narrow».
We continued to debate: (his point) Why should I work for free? (my point) You didn’t do any work! I mentioned that it’s natural to perform an assessment of a job to determine the cost, before charging a client. He said he doesn’t want clients that don’t want to pay a $ 49.99 service fee. I asked him to return my mom’s fee, thus negating her as a client. He went on about not working for free and that I shouldn’t tell him how to run his business and he’s been in business for 30 years.
I just reiterated my suggestion that updating his script could prevent these types of issues and also prevent negative internet reviews. I told him that he used the same «foot in the door» tactic that he warned my mom against while he was assessing the damage. I told him, if he wanted to keep the $ 49.99 service fee and retain us as clients, we were going to provide a review indicating our dissatisfaction for no work being done.
In response to me telling Dave about leaving a negative review, he told me that he already had a $ 2+ million law suit against someone who defamed him on the internet. At this point, Dave was still on our property and I felt threatened by his comment. This was his second time suggesting we take a careful approach to our online review of his company. I really felt threatened. He was on our property, at our home. I yelled at him to «Get the F*#k out of here!» Dave proceeded to show me his cell phone and said that our contract gave him the right to record our conversation. I asked him if I said anything unlawful to him? I asked him if it was unlawful to tell him to «go F*#k himself». He still was not leaving and I told him again to «get the F*&k out of here». He told me this was public property and he could be there if he wanted to (even though he was still standing on our property and his truck was blocking our driveway). I pointed at his feet where he was standing and told him that he was in fact on our property and to «get the f*#k out of here». He backed up and went on his way.
Dave:
Here is my assessment of your business for FREE. At one point, in response to my criticism on how you run your business, you pointed to having been in business for 30 years. I actually responded at that time, confirming for you that I never said anything about your inability to succeed. I only commented toward the need to be more clear with your clients up front in order to reach a greater level of success. In hindsight, I realize why instead of taking my advice, you chose to: argue with us, warn us not to defame you because you had a pending lawsuit against someone else, and recorded our conversation. I remember when I was 7 yrs old, arguing with a neighbor kid, «I’m not on your property!» Never knew one could make a business out of that.

Charged me almost $ 400 to put in a gas shutoff and a water shutoff for my dryer and refrigerator, respectively. Spent almost the entire visit trying to convince me I needed expensive work on my pipes, sink, and water heater.
Spent 10 minutes rattling off his city and state council credentials. Failed to find a clog in my washer line that occluded flow by almost 90%, which even I could find just by running the hoses for five seconds.
Another plumber charged me less than half of that to fix the stuff that this guy missed. He’s a scam artist, and will charge you $ 200 just to show up. Strongly recommend against calling this guy for any reason.

This is my first review I have ever left on Unilocal that was not an irate ramble in regards to how poorly I was treated and how awful the company was. Today is the first time I feel the need to write a positive review. I am shocked there are only bad reviews here for Dave Bischof, First of all, most companies will falsely create profiles to boost their rating and seem as if they have mixed reviews, or to at least offset their negative ones. Obviously based on the only negative reviews, Dave does not do this. So, first and foremost this exemplifies the integrity and honesty Dave has when it comes to his reputation. Everyone on here seems to have had rather minor issues… Well, I had a major one! I had a leak that flooded my apartment and the 3 units below me. I had never been in such a panic in my life, after finding the shut off valve I spent the next 20 hours cleaning up. Skip ahead it is now sunday morning, both my wife and I are in awful moods, and we have no water to shower or even use the toilet. My wifes father is a plumber, so naturally he was our first call, he informed us the piece needed would be impossible to find, and to call a plumber to replace the entire shower valve, needless to say this would be at least a 2K repair. We confirmed the necessity and cost with several other plumbers. At this point my wife told me she had found a plumber who is working on sunday and he is on the way. When Dave arrived I could tell he was knowledgeable because he confirmed the information given to us by the other plumbers. He, said he thinks the rest of it is in great shape, and although he could replace it he suggested a less expensive option. He informed me it would not be 100% guaranteed to fix the problem, but hes confident it would work in lieu of the original piece. I agreed to his price (less than $ 750, or a fraction of others), though I realized it may not completely resolve the issue, it was a band aid and would allow me the time to save up for the full repair.
Bottomline, Dave in an effort to help us after seeing how distraught and drained we were took it upon himself to research and try to find a piece that the manufacturer told me directly, there is no way to get and you have to replace the whole system. DavIe took his lunch and upon his own accord called some of his contacts who informed him they had exactly the part we needed. He called to let us know and my wife and I literally started jumping and hugging each other.
Upon his return he quickly installed the pieces we needed, charged us $ 0 extra and even explained what the issue was very thoroughly. I am a contractor and I understand the scenario is not as black and white as the homeowner always thinks. For instance, the fact that someone was charged for a return trip because the clog was only pushed down further? So what? Did Dave put that clog there, or perhaps not properly strain debris to allow it to occur. It should be his responsibility to fix un anticipated collateral issues, for free??? I find theses reviews highly unrealistic. Which is why I felt the need to write this review.
Dave Bisschoff is the most honest, knowledgable and forthright individual I had ever dealt with. I am a contractor, not a plumber, but I didn’t let dave know I knew anything. This is how I determine whether or not I am being bs’ed. Everything Dave told me was true, accurate and was being suggested to benefit me, despite him making less money.
BOTTOMLINE, I WILL NEVER USE ANOTHER PLUMBER. THIS GUY IS AMAZING, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIM. I’M BLOWN AWAY HOW MUCH HE HAD HELPED US. IF YOU WANT A MIRACLE TO OCCUR, AND FOR NO ONE TO CHARGE YOU MONEY FOR THEIR TIME, CALLING DAVE MAY RESULT IN A REVIEW LIKE THE OTHERS.
HOWEVER, IF YOU VALUE HONESTY, INTEGRITY, AND ARE COURTEOUS AND POLITE, YOU WONT FIND A BETTER INDIVIDUAL TO DO PLUMBING WORK. DAVE IS AMAZING AND I WAS SHOCKED TO SEE THESE REVIEWS WHEN I CAME TO SHARE MY EXPERIENCE, ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED.
THIS GUY IS THE ONLY PLUMBER I WILL EVER CALL FOR AS LONG AS WE ARE BOTH ALIVE. FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME ANYTIME TO LEARN WHAT DAVE HAD DONE FOR ME THAT NO OTHER PLUMBER WOULD. HE CARED, HE HELPED, HE FIXED, HE SAID SOMETHING AND IT HAPPENED, IN FACT IT EXCEEDED OUR EXPECTATIONS.
I BUILD NEW HOMES AND HIRE PLUMBERS ALL THE TIME, DAVE IS AN INDIVIDUAL THAT IS UNFORTUNATELY A DYING BREED OF PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS MAN.
DESPITE THE STIGMA THAT MAY GO ALONG WITH PLUMMERS AND SHOTTY OR UNECESSARY UPCHARGES THAT IT APPEARS SOME UnilocalERS ARE UNFAIRLY PUNISHING DAVE FOR. IF YOU NEED SOMEONE TO HOLD YOUR HAND AND PLUNGE YOUR TOILET, YEAH YOU MAY THINK HE IS EXPENSIVE, BUT IF YOU NEED AN EXPERT GOOD LUCK FINDING ANYONE AS GOOD AS THIS MAN. HE IS THE PLUMBERS PLUMBER, AND THE SILVER LINING FOR MY WIFE AND I, AS WE NAVIGATED 30 HOURS OF HELL.
WE ARE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL DAVE AND YOU HAVE CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE! ILL NEVER CALL ANOTHER PLUMBER AGAIN EVER! HE IS THE EPITOME OF A PROBLEM SOLVER, NOT TO MENTION A HECK OF A NICE GUY.

Save your money. Find someone else to do the job!
I called dave bischof to stop a leak in my kitchen. He quoted me $ 89 over the phone. Apparently, the conical washer was not installed far enough on the copper line. He unscrewed it, pushed the washer back a little and screwed it back on. 5 minute job cost me $ 365.00!
He is way over priced and he talks too much.
The kicker is he did not give me a receipt then proceeded to say «I fixed it but I shut your water off. I don’t recommend turning it on as it will probably start leaking again»
Why did I just pay him $ 365.00???

I had to call the authorities on him for battery… He physically grabbed my wife and spun her around in my garage just because we wanted to re-​read our invoice which we declined. Master scam artist, and way too expensive DO NOT USE!!!

I totally agree with the rest of the reviews. Be aware Dave Bischof is way overcharging for minor problems. He appears very knowledgeable in the field and the bill is going to go up and up. He charged me 1250 dollars to fix a broken plastic pipe that leads to the sprinkler and promise to take care of the problem in 24 hours. He said the price is non-​negotiable and that’s just the overhead for running a plumbing company. Nevertheless the problem wasn’t fixed in 3 days. After getting flooded several times next to the house and being without water, finally the job was completed on the 4^th day. He claimed he couldn’t shut of the water just to the sprinkler system because the valve is old and to replace it would cost an additional 190 dollars. I said, I charge an inconvenience fee and it’s also non-​negotiable and next time I hire someone with a smaller overhead.

We had a tiny pinhole leak in an exterior copper pipe. Bischof told my wife what needed to be fixed, but did not offer the price. She needed it done, and told him to proceed. He was here less than two hours, and presented her with a bill for $ 785!!!
There was no breakdown of parts or labor on the bill. When I called him for an explanation, he said that was just the overhead of cost for running a plumbing company! Next time I will hire someone with a smaller overhead! His monthly overhead certainly isn’t my problem.

I would not recommend his services to anyone. We had a plumbing back-​up and he came out-​$ 89 service fee just to take a look. He did get the water to go down, but apparently only pushed the clog further. Less than 4 hours later, after taking a quick shower, none of the water was going down. We called and asked him to come back and fix the issue since it had not been resolved. He said he would charge us all over again to come back out! Let me get this straight… you come, don’t fix the problem, leave, and then want to charge the client all over again to fix the job you didn’t complete to begin with!!! Give me a break. Talk about poor professionalism and ethics. Honestly– not even worthy of one star.

Avoid this guy at all cost!
After canceling on me twice, I finally got to meet Dave. I initially asked if there was a consultation fee to which he answered no. When he arrived, I showed him my issue. He spent 10 minutes talking about how any ideas I had to fix the problem were «Ray schooner fix it’s «. What ever the heck that is! I assume it was his way of being demeaning. After he offered Zero ideas he asked for his consultation fee. I regretfully handed him my credit card. I later emailed him, telling him I intended on writing a bad review. Instead of an apology he sent 4 pages of contractor by laws bla bla bla. Called another plumber and he fixed it in 30 minutes with a 10 dollar part. Goes to show that I should read Unilocal reviews first. Lesson learned.

My tenant calles this guy out to fix a clogged. he said it was tree roots and could not unclog it out. I ask them how much you got the job would cost. he could not answer me. he said 500 to 10 000 there’s no telling. I called my usual guy and he uncloged it for 150., he’s either doesn’t know what he’s doing or he’s trying to rip someone off. I can’t believe the recommendation he had, when my other guys took 15 minutes unclog a pipe. beware I should have