Rite A Way Services

I wish you could give zero stars but one star is the lowest you can go. We were given this company by our home warranty and it was horrible from the very beginning. It took them 3 days to come out to fix a water main break (so we had no water for 3 days). When they finally got there the tech said he didn’t know how to fix it and only one of the techs Brian was able to fix it. Brian wasn’t available however for another 5 days. So we waited… when Brian came he told us that our warranty only covered inside breaks however he would «help us get it covered» up to $ 1000 but it was going to be another $ 650 on top of this out of pocket. He told us he was basically going to falsify our claim to get the first $ 1000 covered. When I told him we were going to get a second opinion he basically threatened me that he would tell the truth to the warranty company if we didn’t go with them and that we would have to pay the whole claim out of pocket. Well honesty was more important to us so we went with a different company and needless to say, Brian stuck to his word and told the warranty company this would not be covered. Best decision we made was not being bullied by this company and going with another company and staying honest. Don’t ever use this company!

Assigned through my home owners insurance. Had an appointment window from 9 – 1, of course the tech didn’t show up on time. Tried calling their main CS number, never could get someone to answer, says, all agents are busy then rings forever with no answer. Of course he doesn’t call, but then shows up at 1:30 pm, when I say I had a window of 9 – 1, he says «oh, you did». I explain the problem, and without doing any troubleshooting, or looking at the other bathroom affected, he immediately jumps to, «I need to cut a hole in your bathroom wall/​pipe, and perform a washout». This seemed extreme for a simple stoppage, so I called my insurance company and said I wanted a 2^nd opinion. I was given approval to select my own company, I called Drain Help, the tech came within 1 hour, walked throughout the house looked at all the affected bathrooms, and said all he needed to do was remove the 3^rd floor toilet, snake it out, and perform a jet mainline flush. He said cutting a hole in the wall as suggested by Rite A Way, would be the last possible thing you would need to do, not the first thing. The tech didn’t even have the proper tools to snake out the toilet even if he wanted to, he said he had a hand held snake that went a few feet longer than mine. Drain help tech had a commercial grade 75 ft electrical powered auger. I believe he suggested this extreme measure because its easier than taking the toilet off and actually doing work. Of course, even if I would have approved the work, he couldn’t do it that day because he didn’t have the parts, or tools. My insurance didn’t cover his suggestions and I would have had to pay their out of pocket fee for the repair. I would steer clear of this company, and call a reputable establishment, that keeps their word, and communicates with their customers. Not sure how they are still in business with what I have read here and what I personally experienced.

This is the worst customer service I ever experienced. I had an appointment window from 12 – 4 and its 730pm and still the tech is a NO SHOW!!! I suggest if they are the only plumber service available… Just do the job yourself. Nobody will show up and the people answering there phone will just lie to you. I would give them totally NO stars!!! This Unilocal makes you give them at least 1… Trust me they don’t deserve it at all…

If you are assigned this company through american home shield, you need to get them to send someone different. I highly doubt anything good will become of this duo, unless you consider your wallet being $ 75 lighter a good thing…

Quite possibly one of the worst businesses I’ve had to deal with in San Diego in the 9 years I’ve lived here. I got set up with these guys through my Warranty Company. My Plumbing for half my house has been down for 2 months because Rite-​A-​Way Services has stood me up for 3 appointments. They came for one appointment and FIXED my toilet and started (didn’t finish) to unclog the pipes. They then said they would have to come back so they made another appointment. The plumber no called and no showed for that appointment, no big deal the first time. made another appointment and the plumber came back. During this appointment I guess he forgot that he had already fixed the toilet, because all he did was fix the already fixed toilet and assess the problem with my pipes again. He Told me not to use any water or flush the toilet for half my house. Ok no big deal, or so I thought. Over the course of the next month and a half they made 3 appointments with me, all of which had 4 hour time frames (you know they tell you sometime between 12pm-​4pm or sometime between 2pm-​6pm) all of which were no call no shows. Today is December 3^rd and I’ve been having this problem since October 4^th. I just got off the phone with the company (Rite-​A-​Way Services) and they have assured me that the next plumber will definitely be there on December 14^th.

3^rd scheduled appointment. 8 calls to customer service before someone answered. They keep no showing. What in the world? Found a company with better reviews. I was the first appointment of the day from 8−10am window slot. Still not here, 15 minutes later. Sick of wasting my time!

I had very bad experience with their service in San Diego: missing appointment, very poor customer service, incapable plumber who did not fix the problems in our rental unit and had to reschedule to next week. ZERO star… I called Home Warranty which asked Emergency Plumbing that came to the unit the next day, easily fixing the plumbing issues.

Do not call Rite A Way ever! They have the worst customer service and they are not knowledgeable about plumbing. I unfortunately drew the short stick when my warranty company assigned them to me for a leak. If only I knew what they were (not) capable of then I would have turned it down and asked for another company.
I have been waiting a callback from a manager for over 5 days now, I have called everyday and left a message with no calls returned, unbelievable!
Do yourself a favor and take your business elsewhere right away (pun intended). If only there was an option for zero stars on Unilocal

They sent someone out who was quick to solve the blockage on one part of the house. When asked about the other side of the house he just responded with no i cant do that and did not look at the house. Very unprofessional. However they did leave a nice extention cord which I will probably keep. Of course this review is after a homeowners warranty claim.

I had a stoppage issue with my washer that another company failed to clear twice. They do have the standard terrible 4 hour window but Ivan arrived 30 minutes after the start of the 4 hour window, great. He started the washer cycle, found the washer clean out and started clearing it of lint as the washer ran. After he cleaned it out, the washer was 10 minutes from starting the drain cycle, he waited and made sure it drained properly then cleaned up the area and explained to me how to clean it out occasionally. He was very professional and fixed the problem the first time.

WORST plumbing service. EVER!!! I would give it ZERO stars if that was an option.
First of all, we never called them directly. We are customer of First American Home Warranty and they dispatched Rite a Way to look at a leak we noticed outside of our house, coming from the water heater.
Unresponsive, unreliable, poorest customer service I’ve ever experience. Problem was going on for almost a month unresolved.
The plumber first came and said that the reason why my TPC valve on the water heater was leaking was due to excessive water pressure into the house and that the pressure regulator was busted and needed to be replaced.
He then said that our regulator was an unusual dimension and needed to be special ordered (later found out from the good plumber who fixed the issue that he could have walked to the Lowes nearby and purchased it).
Rite a Way then proceeded to cancel the new appointment THREE times in the course of the next 3 weeks, claiming that the part had no arrived.
When they finally came yesterday to replace the regulator, plumber had to try and install it 3 times before getting it done. A couple of hours after he left, there was a leak out of the regulator, flooding our garage. We called Rite a Way and demanded someone came back only to be told they had no one available and that we needed to bring the issue with our home warranty company.
We called a reputable plumber who came to our rescue, quickly identified the poor installation work done by Rite a Way (he was able to loosen the two nuts attaching the regulator to the pipes with his bare hands!) and fixed it the way it was supposed to be done.
The good plumber also told me that once the TPC valve in the water heater is triggered it must be replaced or the leak will never stop. Something that Rite a Way ALSO FAILED to identify. According to their plumber the moment they would replace the regulator the leak would go away. It didn’t because I checked after Rite a Way left and it was still dripping outside of my house.
If you ever see this company approaching anyone you know to do a repair and you have a chance to intervene, please do and save your family member, friend and/​or neighbor the nightmare of dealing with by far the WORST plumbing repair company I have ever dealt with.

We are another customer of this unprofessional company that wishes we could give them a negative rating. Unfortunately American Home Shield sent this company out to us to fix a few leaky faucets. The technician Daniel seemed nice and competent at first although he turned my leaky shower head (handheld) one from a leaking but working mechanism to a non-​working shower telling me it «cracked» while he was attempting to fix it. This was on a Monday and he assured me that he would be back on Wednesday with the necessary parts.
Wednesday: we call because no one has shown up in the morning as promised only to be told that the parts were not ordered by accident, but the error was taken care of, and they would fix my shower first thing on Friday.
Now, let me interject here that I am disabled due to a serious heart illness and back injury/​botched surgery so can only use the shower in the Master Bedroom as it has enough room for a seat. I can not stand or walk yet for more than a few minutes. So I have now gone five days without a proper shower.
Friday rolls around and you guessed it, we get a call stating our parts are not in again and can they reschedule to the Monday of the Thanksgiving weekend. I am still being very accommodating here, but am wondering how hard it is to get parts for faucets I purchased at Home Depot. I do tell the office that it now imperative that I get at least my master shower fixed especially since their technician broke it and I have family flying in from out of state on Tuesday for the holiday.
Monday rolls around and no one shows up or calls. When I call to find out where Daniel is, I am rescheduled again to first thing on Tuesday morning. I have explained that the shower is the top priority, let them know I am have to have a shower myself and for my guests that are staying with me. I am having a hard time believing that parts are not in and all the girl at the office can say is «that the part delay is not their fault». Yes dear, I imagine it is not, but the lack of communication and follow-​up is certainly your fault!
Tuesday comes and at least the technician returns my call at 830 am, but again he doesn’t have all the parts. My pain level is at maximum and my patience is running thin. He states that the parts are expected in in later that morning or afternoon at the latest and if he gets them will come by. I am half asleep as I had a rough night with pain, but call him back to ask if he has the parts to fix the shower. I can wait on the other minor stuff.
And get this, he does!!! Daniel says he is only missing a part for the other minor leak from the guest sink lever! Now I am annoyed. I have shared with them my disability and need for the shower and the fact that I have relatives coming to stay. Wouldn’t you think he could have offered that information to me? But no, I have to call and ask. Daniel says that he will be at my home in an hour and get my shower fixed.
An hour goes by so I call to find out the status but now his phone just rings and rings with no voicemail kicking in for me to leave a message. Who operates a business this way?
I finally end up calling American Home Shield three hours later for help. Neither Daniel nor his office have bothered to let me know the are running late or when I can expect them. AHS finally gets ahold of the office, but the office states they can’t get Daniel to answer their calls either. I try texting his cell phone that he answered in the morning since it was not taking messages. Still nothing. I am incredulous at this point and pretty livid. It takes a lot to upset me, but now I am furious with Daniel and what is definitely the worst, most unprofessional manner I have ever experienced.
From what his office person says leads us to believe he is still coming by, but got stuck at a previous job. Now, here is the icing on the cake and this is going to sound like I am making this up, but at 600 pm my Mom calls and the receptionist claims that Daniel told her that «he came by our home at 5 PM». If I was not so tired, needing a shower and facing a houseful of company in the next few hours, I would have found this idiotic lie funny. This was a blatant lie. My Mom and I were waiting all day. We have a working doorbell and knocker. Plus, he has our number.
Needless to say, I filed a formal complaint with AHS. Incidentally, AHS informs me that zero parts were ordered as all parts have to go through them. So, idiotic blatant lie number two. This company really deserves an award for the worst service.
Don’t use this company. The only reason they are with AHS is they are too lazy and lousy to build customer loyalty.

Technician Bruno came out to service a clogged sink; I had already determined the problem would require snaking because I took it all apart. Fortunately, I was right and within 30 minutes, the sludge was cleared. Bruno then put the pipes back together and cleaned under the sink and the kitchen floor surrounding the sink. He explained what he found and how to prevent it from happening in the future. He called when he was 15 minutes out, was on time, and was professional and kind.
My only complaints: (1) the company couldn’t come out on the weekend and (2) as others have mentioned, I provided my own towel for the clean up and most of my paper towels, too.

Incompetent lazy thieves. I had to deal with this company by way of American Home Shield. Which is another useless company who doesn’t care about their customers. These guys cant get their heads out of their butt cracks. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

Pro: my washer drain was snaked and drains now
Cons:
–It took 2 trips, seperate days, to snake a drain because the tech was not prepared and did not have the right tools for the job
–Was supposed to call when the tech was on the way, but just showed up, lucky I was home
–Needed to use my extension cord and my towel. Again, not prepared
–Made a mess in the garage and didn’t clean up. Didn’t roll my extension cord back up or say «here you go, thanks.» Didn’t wipe all the dirty crap off the washer, or even push it back in place. Didn’t clean up water on garage floor.
All in all, pretty lame service. I’m sure there are much better plumbers out there. I don’t recommend these guys.

Wow quick response and fantastic service, thanks Evan. I had a shower valve break with the shower in the «on» position. No biggie I will shut off the main valve to the house and go without water until I can get a plumber out for the repairs. Not so fast, unfortunately the main valve was old and would not completely shut off, leaving the water running.
My Insurance policy set up an appointment with Rite-​a-​Way. After originally reading the Unilocal reviews on the company I just knew I was in for a nightmare experience. The only thing I could hope for is that if and when a tech showed up it would be Evan.
I received a call from Karina who said the scheduled service time was later in the afternoon. I told her that we had water running and there was no way to shut it off because the main valve was broken and I would prefer to have someone respond Rite-​a-​Way. She asked me to hang on and she would talk to the the tech. She came back on the phone and said the tech would be on his way. Wow, I was thinking I will believe when I see it.
20 minutes later the tech arrived and guess who? yep Evan. Needless to say I was super impressed with the response time and the fact Evan showed up, and of course he was everything his previous reviews spoke about. He was very efficient, professional, knowledgeable, worked as fast as the job would allow him to work and a down to earth guy, and best of all no up-​selling (like ARS Rescue Rooter, don’t use them they are salesman not plumbers). I later found out that Evan had dropped all his required paperwork for the week to answer my call, now that is a great employee who puts customer service first. It just keeps getting better, Evan didn’t have the parts on his truck that was required for the job. So of course the kind of person he is, he drives all the way to Chula Vista to pick up the parts and returns to finish the job, are you kidding me. This is nothing like reviews said on Unilocal.I figured I would have top wait a week for parts and reschedule another appointment. I hope this company appreciates this employee because Evan alone will drive up their ratings.
Evan is the type of person that every company wants as an employee you folks scored big with him.
Thanks Evan, Karina and Rite-​a-​Way Services for a professional and excellent job, keep up the good work. Yes I have you on speed dial for any future work.

This company is a scam. They work with many home warranty companies and they give them a discount for using them. Well then they tell you that they have to make modifications to the lines so you have to pay extra because the warranty doesn’t cover that. When confronted about why they have to make these modifications, the tech could not really explain it. My husband is in construction and so he was asking him technical questions about the changes and the tech said «I don’t know, my boss just tells me to put that on all work orders». So basically they are trying to make us pay that difference because they are giving a discount to First American Home Warranty (who are awful too). I called to see what kind of water heater we would be getting, and they said they have no idea until they pick it up because the warranty company decides what kind. Well how the heck do you know you have to make modifications, if you don’t even know where the connections are on the water heater because you don’t even know which model you are using. I found several water heaters at Lowe’s that have the same connections we already have. This company is very unethical and I think their relationship with the warranty companies is a scam. I think every warranty company should cancel their contract with them because they are dishonest. We called the licensing board and they said to have them do the install and then submit the complaint to them. We told them that if there was anything they charged us for that we felt was not needed we would report to the licensing board. The manager in the San Diego office we spoke too became very irate and said he did not want to do the install anymore. Maybe because he knows he was trying to rip us off since his employee said he tells him to put stuff on the work order and can’t explain why.

Terrible! These guys never showed up or called to reschedule an appointment. They left my tenants waiting all day for nothing!!!
I wish I could give them 0 stars!!!
By the way this company should change their name because Rite a Way is the exact opposite of their real service!!!

TECHNICIAN LEO came out today after my call to home warranty company re stoppage in kitchen drain. He did arrive at the very end of the 4-​hour window (many companies nowadays schedule a 2-​hour window).
I am on 4^th floor, with no ground level cleanout accessible. Unfortunately, home warranty company does NOT cover this, but they «forgot» to tell me this. Leo nevertheless examined everything carefully, and even asked me if there were any OTHER plumbing issues he could help me with. I mentioned a leaking faucet in laundry room, and he fixed it in about 2 minutes. He also checked shower drain to make sure it was running smoothly.
I am completely impressed with this company, and with Leo’s professionalism. He was prompt, courteous, and made an effort to make sure I was completely happy with the work AND with his explanations of what he had done. I am NOT impressed with my home warranty company’s lack of clarity about what was covered (I did ask).
I asked Leo for an estimate for doing the work that the warranty would not cover — I had already gotten another estimate, and Leo’s estimate was completely in line with the other estimate. He was willing to do the work immediately, but since I was late to an emergency meeting, I had to let him leave and will schedule the work later.
Leo and Rite-​A-​Way Services would get 5 stars if the time window had been more closely adhered to.

Same story here. I filed a service request with American home shield for a (minor) leaking toilet. Shortly thereafter, I got a call from Rite A Way Services to schedule the appointment between 1 and 4pm. The technician (Leon — nice guy) came the next day @ 3.15pm and diagnosed within 10 sec a leaking wax ring. Unfortunately, he was out of seals. So, I had to schedule a second appointment. Two days later he came again towards the end of the 4-​hour window, unmounted the toilet and realized that it was not the wax seal. Again, since he did not have the required parts in his truck, I had to schedule a new appointment. Two days later, again towards the end of the 4-​hour window, Leon came and fixed the minor leak. Unfortunately, 24 hours later, I realized that the toilet was now leaking really badly. I had to schedule a 4^th!!! appointment and specifically asked to be put first thing in the morning (between 9am and 1am). The day of the appointment at 1pm, I called Rite A Way and they told me that the plumber is running one hour late. Seriously?!
Hope that I won’t need a fifth! appointment with’m!