Kerrigan F J Plumbing Co.

We used Kerrigan on a couple of jobs and were completely satisfied. The plumbers arrived when promised and did good work. All very professional. Until yesterday. We called about a clogged downspout, and they gave us a window of 8:30 to noon but never showed. Someone in the office did call around 2:30 to let us know a technician was available. Unfortunately, no one was home at 2:30. The following day, they left a message requesting a courtesy call from us. Needless to say, we weren’t in a courteous frame of mind. Time for a new plumber.

Kerrigan does not stand behind their work. Their service is horrible and the do not follow up! I had a gas line installed by Kerrigan in my backyard 7 years ago which went under my patio pavers and was connected to my fireplace which has a gas starter.
My husband recently smelled a faint gas leak which was confirmed by the gas company.
We called Kerrigan who pulled out three pavers and said that the fitting on the gas valve may have gotten loose over the years and that he had tightened it, but it did look rusty so he was going to replace the part just to be on the safe side. I honestly thought that it was no big deal and that there would be a minimual charge for this small service. After never getting back to me and numberous calls, they came out a couple of weeks later without informing me. Of course they brought the wrong part and the plumber sat in his truck for over an hour while his assistant drove to «a warehouse «to get the correct part. They replaced the valve and left me to repair the patio.
THEN I got a bill for $ 600. When I tried to question why the bill was so expensive for a simple valve my phone calls were not returned.
Did the plumber really think that I would want to replace a valve «just to be on the safe side» for $ 600!!! He should have told me if it was going to be that expensive when he had already tightened the original value and there was not problem.
LACK OF COMMUNICATION and HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!
do not use this company or you will be sorry

Looks like it has been a while since anybody posted, so here you go. We had a clogged bathroom sink. I was pleased with how quickly they (james?) came out, (same day) and that they were able to repair/​rod out sink. However, I was a little disappointed in the billed amount. I believe the office quoted me $ 150.00 for first 30 minutes and $ 45 for each additional15 minutes. Final bill was $ 215 for less than 30 minutes of work in the house – Apparently you are charged the minute truck pulls up in front of your house, and for the time it took to get an extension cord (5+ min) on a trip back out to truck – also the time it took to write up invoice on another return to truck. These all added up to 15+ minutes which pushed me into the next threshold (45 minutes) also plumber told me the real initial charge was $ 160 for first 30 min, contrary to Liz in office– and equipment charge was assessed which was another surprise addition– just too many surprises and inconsistencies with what I was led to believe. leaves a sour taste ??

I want to be perfectly clear about this, I have absolutely no issue with the quality of the actual work that was performed. The plumber that came to our home was professional, courteous and efficient. Unfortunately, he works under the employ of Kerrigan and after our frustrating experience we have no intention of ever using their services again. Here’s why.
The parts that we needed replaced had to be made-​to-​order and we were quoted a lead time of 5 – 7 days. Seems totally reasonable. Three full weeks go by and we have not heard a peep from Kerrigan’s (to be fair we were extremely busy, so we gave them some leeway), so at this point we call/​email to try to get an update on our order. It takes 3 days before we finally hear back, coincidentally it was right after I sent a stern letter. This was not an anomaly, based on later experiences this total lack of urgency to respond to customer requests is standard behavior.
As far as I can tell, the rate Kerrigan’s charges for labor is not any more expensive than the other companies around Evanston. What they do to make up for that is to charge you for the time it takes their plumbers to commute back and forth from their offices to your home. Yes, that’s right, they charge you for time they are not in your home working on your plumbing issue. And apparently it takes 3 hour to drive back and forth between Wilmette and Evanston.
In the ensuing two months, countless emails and voicemails were sent and left ignored as we attempted to discuss our objections to the billing. If labor includes commute time, fine, but let’s at the very least be reasonable about it. When we finally get through to our project manager, he’s gruff and short with us. We expressed countless times our desire to resolve the bill as soon as possible, but Kerrigan was content to drag it out. They tell us that an adjusted bill is on its way, but we receive nothing for 2 weeks. They understand quite well that this is more work for us to fight this, than it is for them to fix it, so they’ve made it a war of attrition. If you value working with people who will do right by you, skip Kerrigan.

We had an urgent plumbing situation where water was literally POURING out of our basement wall, from behind dry wall. We could not figure out where the leak was coming from. I left a vaguely traumatized voice mail in the middle of the night and they called me right back in the morning. They were able to send someone out by about 8am, which was really great.
The plumber, Pete, was very nice and despite the ancient state of our plumbing and plethora of unnecessary drywall in our basement, he was able to figure out that it was likely the outside spigot. It had rotted within our wall and was spewing water every which way. He put in a valve to turn it off and explained what we could do to replace it in the spring. It was much less expensive than I anticipated and everyone I dealt with was friendly and courteous.
We will definitely be calling them again, hopefully not for an emergency situation!

Another big thumbs up for Kerrian and for my fellow Unilocalers who steered me their way. They were extremely courteous, prompt, and knowledgeable. Best of all for me, they told me to call Moen to replace a part rather than buy a new one since it was under warranty so they saved me some money. I highly recommend them.

Great service-​fit me in right away, arrived on time and fixed our issue in 30 min for less than $ 150 (two other plumbers had told me it would take half a day or more and cost $ 400-​$ 900).
These are honest guys who know what they are doing

Just had a great experience with Kerrigan. Gary came out to do an estimate on replacing my garbage disposal. I had just moved in and it had rusted so much from not being used the past few months that it wouldn’t move at all. Instead of trying to sell me a new model and make a bunch of money, he jammed a broomstick in there to get the leverage necessary to get the thing moving again.
So I now have a working disposal and was charged nothing. And in return, I will certainly be recommending and using Kerrigan in the future.

There we were with a leaky toilet. Anyone will tell you, holding a bucket underneath the drip was not a long term solution. We needed a quick fix and relied on Kerrigan Plumbing again. They fixed the leak in about 20 minutes. Easy pees-​y, lemon squeeze-​y. Now the toilet is working without any unexpected leaks.

My son flushed a lego contraption down the toilet… Never good. I tried and could not plunge it! I called Kerrigan and a couple of other plumbers in the area. Kerrigan’s rates were reasonable and they had someone out the same day. The plumber that came was friendly and efficient. I would recommend!

I used to live in the very corner of NW Evanston, I also used to manage many condo associations out that way. During those years Kerrigan was my go to plumbing company.
Take note, they are not the least expensive, nor are they insanely expensive. They are old school, meaning the job gets done right. No short cuts, just professional work with the proper materials.
So if you want it done right the first time and you understand that you get what you pay for give these folks a call.