Hello Plumbing

TLDR: I have used Hello Plumbing before and before this incident, whilst a little high in price, the work was of a great quality and I was very happy. However, this current experience has me strongly recommending that all of you look elsewhere for your plumbing needs. Hello Plumbing may do a good job of the work, but as you will see from my story below, they will also apparently charge you for repairs which didn't need doing and charge you what a specialist doctor would for their labour! The full story: I had a slow dripping leak from the bottom of my toilet cistern. Called Hello Plumbing in for a quote. Plumber was very late (3-5 hours late), but kept in touch throughout the day and I appreciate the inclement weather so am not complaining about the lateness. The trouble started when the Hello Plumbing staff arrived. Hello Plumbing staff said that the inlet and outlet valves both needed replacing, as did my wall water tap and hose. Stated that a new cistern would be the surest way to resolve the issue. So I asked for a quote. The plumber in question gave me options, as many others have stated here. However, the pricing of all options was exorbitant. He also refused to provide a breakdown of labour and individual part prices separately which was highly suspicious, particularly after comparing to quotes for the same work from another plumber. Below, I break down what I was quoted and then compare to what another plumber stated that the costs would be for this work: Hello Plumbing Option 1: Hello Plumbings first option was to replace the wall hose/tap and inlet valve, then use silicone/etc to seal up the leaking part of the outlet valve - costing ~630 AUD. I spoke to another plumber (NOT HELLO PLUMBING) because this sounded very expensive. The second plumber explained that the stainless hose is somewhat costly and can be $100-150 installed, but inlet valves retail for 15-40 dollars and wall tap/cock sells for 10-20 AUD. The job would take roughly 1 hour, so it would appear this plumber trying to charge $400+ in labour alone!? Hello Plumbing Option 2: The second option was replacing my entire cistern, wall tap and stainless hose - at a cost of 936 AUD. Shockingly, the second plumber highlighted that the cost of a ceramic cistern of similar quality was ~$200 retail. Adding in the costs of the wall tap and hose (outlined above), this would appear to entail an even higher labour charge than the $400+ for option 1! Naturally, given the above, I told Hello plumbing that I would look elsewhere. Hello plumbing plumber said to me that one reason for the high cost was that they bill for their time going and collecting parts from their suppliers. I have used many trades in recent years and not one has ever billed for that! Would anyone honestly accept paying for the time a trade spends to collect supplies from their wholesaler before coming out to do your job? This is not the norm. The plot thickened when my second opinion plumber (not Hello Plumbing) arrived to my home the following week to take a look for himself. Second opinion plumber tightened a locking nut on the bottom of the cistern connecting to the outlet valve and leaking has stopped since. The second opinion plumber highlighted that whilst the inlet valve was a little old, it doesn't need replacing as it still works. The outlet valve he explained is not damaged at all, nor was the wall tap. He kindly did not charge for tightening the locking nut, and I have not had water leakage since. So glad that I didn't go with Hello Plumbing, and I will not be engaging their services ever again.

Friendly and prompt service, quick diagnosis of the leak, several alternatives and prices quoted prior to work undertaken. Work undertaken quickly with good communication and evidence of fault and fix.

Timely service, good communication - called to advise he was on his way and then the office followed up after to check that we were happy. Plumber did a great job. Would definitely use them again.

We used Hello Plumbing for the first time after seeing positive reviews on Facebook. Extremely happy with the service, very courteous, price competitive, punctual and left absolutely no mess. Will use them again for sure and would certainly recommend them.

I've called in the guys from Hello Plumbing on 3 occasions in the last 12 months. They're always happy to help and most important is that they turn up when they say they will and get the job done. Quick and efficient, I highly recommend them

On time and delivered a fantastic service. I would highly recommend for anyone looking for work done. They cleaned up the area after the job and we couldn’t be happier with the results.

The taps in the shower started whistling after being replaced recently. Called up Hello Plumbing who had Callum and Krishor out the same day. Callum and Krishor had the problem fixed quickly, and were happy to offer some advice regarding some other plumbing queries I had. Top shelf work and friendly, would highly recommend. Cheers lads!

However, their was dust from cutting into the ceiling that wasn’t cleaned up after the job. The Plumbing was completed to a professional standard. Although, apart from that issue, excellent job.