My first experience with Alwife. Responded to multiple needs, graciously. Helpful evaluations and advice. I'll call them again! read more

Charged an hour of labor $170 to assess that they couldn't fix the toilet, then they charged about $500 to replace the toilet. Not sure if it's standard practice to charge for an attempt to fix and then the actual solution. But at least the pricing was available. read more

My wife and I have used Alewife for both construction and plumbing on many occasions over the past 10--15 years. Their work has always been superb. Today I had an Alewife plumber come to replace an upstairs toilet. He did an excellent job (he also repaired another toilet a couple of weeks ago), and everything is now back to normal. I will certainly continue to use Alewife for all future plumbing and construction tasks. read more

Reliable for many years. Skilled plumbers, easy to deal with, fair prices. Highly recommended.

Transparent with price and updated with pricing. Best service I've had in Cambridge area

Alewife did such a great job for us during our gas range installation. They arranged a date before delivery to disconnect the gas. Then followed up after a failed delivery to schedule the reconnection and installation. They came promptly after the delivery. Both plumbers did an excellent job and were very professional and courteous. Victor who answers the phone is knowledgeable and helpful scheduling the work. We highly recommend them. read more

Excellent company Have been using Alewife for over 20 years for many services and projects including plumbing and heating All of the Alewife crew are very well mannered, professional and knowledgeable. Scheduling service is easy and the office does a wonderful job with keeping customers updated on arrival times. Pricing is fair Also they offer 24/7 emergency service which is very comforting I highly recommend Alewife and plan to continue using them in the future Howard B Cambridge read more

Alewife has really gone down in their service but more importantly, their honestly. We have used them for years and have freely referred neighbors and friends to them as well--but no more! They did a plumbing job for us, fairly simple and straight forward, and within weeks had to re-do it and they charged us again. This is utterly absurd and unethical. I am wondering if they changed ownership or what has changed in the last 1-2 years because I have seen a drastic change in their service and honesty. read more

Good job several weeks ago. Resolved problems, plumber was masked. replaced Toto toilet valve. Other plumber suggested replacing toilet for $$$$$. satisfied customer. Will use them again. read more

The charge was $155. an hour for labor, and an additional $104 for parts, whereas the task was to replace a gasket for a faucet that dripped even though shut off. I think that rate was too high; there are just as good plumbers at lower cost. read more

I used Alewife Co to replace a leaking water heater that was out of warranty. Victor checked my current water heater for any applicable warranties and quoted me efficiently for replacement. Easily scheduled the install and was able to move up the replacement to an eariler available date. Phil installed the new unit quickly and answered all my questions throughout the process. Will definitely recommend Alewife Co for any plumbing needs. read more

I was a loyal customer for years, but have seen them go downhill over the last few visits. Most recently, I described a simple job to them on the phone and they quoted me an hourly rate. However, once the job was done, I was asked to pay a ridiculously large amount of money and told that this particular work carried a fixed fee. It was a fifteen minute job for them. If I had known the cost to me, I would have done it myself even if it required a couple of hours. Details: (1) The job required one part. I could have purchased the exact same part myself for half of what they charged me. (2) They did the job poorly and had to come back to fix it. Even worse, they tried to blame us for messing it up after they left, which is not true--we just turned on the water to make sure all was well. (3) They left a big mess on both visits, which we had to clean up. (4) They were rude. I had great experiences with this company in the past, with their plumbers being courteous, skilled, and reasonable in cost. Unfortunately, it seems that era has passed. read more

I'm not normally one to give out 5 stars, but after dealing with Addario's 0-star quality, fat-ass-plumber-butt-with-skid-marks-included shit show , the service from the Alewife Company was like a getting a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, personally bearing a gift basket of beer and brats wrapped in bacon, showing up on my doorstep lookin' for a good time. No joke. Now if they only actually had a real Dallas Cowboys cheerleader... Seriously though, the service was not only beyond the call of duty, but also priced far far below what something of its quality should get. In other words, great service, even greater value. I gotta hand it to these guys, they know the Cambridge clientele and speak the speak. I think my plumber may have had a PhD, he was that intelligent. I don't know what else to say - they were courteous, professional, punctual, and most of all, HONEST. Til next time. read more

Rob did a great job. He checked out our boilers, replaced an overflow valve (years ago while fixing a gas leak he noticed the valve was leaking and said to keep an eye on it -- as predicted, the leak eventually got worse and needed to be fixed). Rather than disassemble the boiler to see if there was any internal soot buildup he reached in with his cell phone to take a video -- saved at least an hour to confirm the boiler was clean. Highly recommended. read more

Replacing boilers suck! Especially when it's cold out (we did ours in April). They did a great job of completing it quickly, professionally and we always had hot water when they left. They had to fit a big thing in a tiny little closet space, and did a great job of getting it to work all within the state requirements for safety, etc. It only took them about 4 days to complete the process, including having the inspector come by. It's always spendy to replace a boiler, but shop around. At least contractors will call you back, since this won't be a measly paid job. Also check your home warranty (if you have one)...ours reimbursed us for it. read more

It matters a lot who you get. 2 years ago, they sent Rob to fix my furnace and he did an excellent job both of diagnosing the issue and educating me about what he was doing. This year, they sent Pat. He misdiagnosed the problem, and recommended an expensive solution that would not have helped (a friend later successfully diagnosed the issue). He was uncomfortable explaining to me what he was doing and became defensive when I started asking questions. read more

I can officially comment on the cost now. One plumbing company (Boston Standard) told us it would be $1,200 to fix our leaky bathroom sink. Alewife came out, charged $85 an hour for labor (1 1/2 hours), and instead of selling me their new faucet (which was roughly $80), they gave me a heads up to go to Home Depot and buy my own ($30). They installed that one for me, and I escaped with a much lower bill than Boston Standard. And again, everyone I've encountered there has been amazingly nice. read more

Alewife made a call on Saturday when water was coming into our apartment from the ceiling. Very knowledgable, professional, and great service to solve our issue. read more

Donald, was the awesome, friendly, professional guy sent to our house on first call. He showed up 7.30am on the dot, all prepared for action. And he was so kind in explaining what happened to our boiler (pilot light went out) and how easy it was for him to fix it. The folks on the phone were really helpful as well, even though I didn't get a call-back the first day I called, and had to call in again. I probably messed up telling them my number, but it doesn't matter. They were upfront about their charges during regular and emergency hours, we waited 2 days (since it was so warm out and it was half as cheap during regular hours) to get someone assigned. Another nice touch that I appreciated, he cleaned the soles of his shoes before trudging indoors with shoes on. We had a no-shoes policy at home. When your heat went out or basement is flooded? Who you gonna call? Alewife Company!!!! read more

I preface this review with the comment that I have worked for several service organizations. So I have little/no tolerance for service providers that cannot arrive within the range of hours they provided for arriving to perform the work. The exception is for individuals who work alone, as I understand a single schedule is difficult to manage. That is NOT the case for an organization that has multiple people to schedule and dispatch. So when they fail to arrive in their timeslot, they will receive a scathing review from me. In this specific case, it is particularly deserving as their indifference to their schedule affected more than 30 residents. Our need was for a plumber to address 4 issues, two of which likely required shutting off the main water supply. Our home is a multi-story, 30+ unit condo with a common water line and no individual unit shutoffs. Therefore getting the building's main water shut off requires first receiving a timeslot from our condo management company. Which we did and it was for a 4 hour period from 9am until 1pm. We contacted Alewife to arrange for a plumber. We told them the four services we required, and the day and time of our timeslot for having our building's main water shut off. They said they would be able to have someone onsite between 9am and 12 noon. Good enough, the water would only need to be off for no more than 30 minutes and even if they arrive at 12 noon, there would be time to turn the water back on before our 1pm water-off expiration. When water supplies 30+ condos, it is a significant inconvenience for the other residents to accommodate a water outage that is 4 hours in duration, and when at any moment in those 4 hours, the water could be shut off to their units. The day before our service, we called to confirm details. The day of the service, we had our house prepared - all items removed from under two sinks, washer and dryer moved out of the way, all areas cleared. 9am, no plumber, 10 am, no plumber. Called - the plumber is 15 miles away in another town on another job. 11am, no plumber, called, "he is on his way". 12 noon, no plumber, 1pm, no plumber. Called and cancelled the service as our time window for shutting off the building's water was now completely expired. Now we will have to reschedule (with a different company obviously) and once again inconvenience 30 other units with our need to shut of the building's main water. Others may disagree, but my opinion is that incompetent scheduling is a good indicator of a poorly managed company. We will not call them back and we will not refer them under any circumstances other than the most dire and even then we suggest you book their services at your own risk and expect the worst. read more

Alewife has come through twice now, delivering excellent service throughout. They are clear about timing (same day, arrived earlier than expected both times, called beforehand) and go out of their way to solve the problem. Behaved very professionally, taking their time to properly diagnose the problem, fix it (running out to get parts where needed), and to explain what happened. Importantly, pricing is very reasonable - they could take advantage of the situation (e.g., when something is leaking through your floor/ceiling) like other plumbers and don't. Tried a few other plumbing companies through the years and have been disappointed each time - Alewife is now the go to! read more

Our zone valve was about 1/2 century old. There was a question about whether the shut-off valves would hold. Our plumber was able to get the old shut-off valves to work and was able to replace the zone valve in less than an hour. The replacement zone valve that Alewife Company recommended has "replaceable innerds" so the next repair will be much easier, hopefully in another 50 years. The plumber was very courteous and timely. read more

Plumber was on time and responsive, but they charged me a ridiculous amount for my service. Nearly 4 X what the person said on the phone. If you use them get a quote confirmed in advance. For me, that was the last time I am calling them. read more

After a fill valve in my heating system gave out on a weekend and flooded my basement, Robert from Alewife Co walked me right through the process. They promptly returned my call, which isn't common in my experience with plumbers. Based on a picture I emailed of the valve, they walked me through the problem and explained what I can do to shut off just hot water and still have running water in my house. While they could have come out then, they explained all the options, billing rates, and set expectations of all the work that needed to be performed to fix the problem. The following Monday Robert came out and spent about three hours fixing that issue and a bunch of others with leaky valves found in my old heating system. Everything was explained; from the work that was done to what I need to do to look after my radiators in the future. So I'll absolutely use them again. The best thing about my experience was that they were very responsive, set the right expectations from the beginning, and did exactly what they promised. There weren't any surprises with the service or the final bill. read more

I had an ongoing problem with a leaky bathroom tub faucet. I had it fixed twice, but the drip would start again about 6 months to a year after each fix. Mark from Alewife came and found the core problem and replaced ALL the right parts. Both the office person and Mark the plumber were nice, professional and intelligent. I called on Wed and they came on Thursday. Standard pricing, $92 for labor per hour plus parts; but it is worth it to have to job done right. read more

I guess I will never have a chance whether these people do a good job or not because I have called them and left messages a number of times but nobody returned my calls. Judging from this, all I know so far is that 1) they don't care about new customers and 2) they are the most unprofessional business in the field. read more

I love Alewife plumbing, they are everything you'd want in plumber. Great response, clear explanation of the work to be done and the cost, on time, very fair on their pricing and professional! I had a different plumbing company out before them that said I needed a $260 repair, that Alewife did for $10, while taking care of another major problem. I can't say enough good things about them, after having all kinds of services on my older home, I wish they were all run like Alewife. read more

be using them for years...... had them go into tenants apartment and plumber literally spent 5 minutes and still charged $150...asked Victor for some consideration as they did nothing being a long time customer and they could care less... read more

DO NOT USE! I had no heat in my home and was told on a Wednesday before Thanksgiving they couldn't come out due to traffic. I was then promised a call and service first thing Friday morning. Never heard back until 130pm and when I called back and spoke with Victor he said all his guys were gone for the day. No notice and gave me a 15 minute window to be home. In my frustration as I have no heat he told me to find someone else and it wasn't his problem. It's not how anyone should conduct themselves professionally or speak to customers. I've never had a worse experience and unprofessional encounter in my life. Now I have no heat for my family for a week because Victor doesn't care about his customers. Be careful with this company. It's folks like this that show they don't care about people. *Follow up 12/7/16: Victor is clearly delusional as he responded blaming the customer. What company places blame on their customers begging for a service. Most professional companies do not require a customer to continuously call back and chase down a company when they know the customer has no heat and has requested service. You couldnt make it Wednesday due to YOUR schedule, didnt call me back as promised, gave me 30 minute window to be home on Friday. Wow, Victor, you are something else. And rates were inapplicable as this service was provided through my management company. Lie after lie after lie. I will be sharing this with everyone i know in the Boston area. There is a reason multiple folks have provided similar 1 star experiences. I hope you improve your professionalism in a hurry. read more

I, and our condo association (6 Units), have been using Alewife for years and we've always been happy with them. (And I've said as much when they called later for a phone survey) But they've likely just lost me as a customer in one fell swoop. We had to get our hot water tank replaced. I called and spoke to a very nice woman (Cheryl?) who quoted us a price based on our tank being under warranty (which she confirmed via phone after I read her the serial number off the tank). Later that day she called back and said that she was sorry, but she was mistaken - the tank wasn't under warranty after all. But she'd adhere to the quoted price even though she'd have to use a stock tank. We agreed, scheduled an install and I thanked her. Days go by and the morning of the scheduled installation I get a call from someone else at the office saying that they need the warranty information to get the quoted price. I explained my conversation and he responded, "I can't honor that price." He dropped the price a bit, but it was still almost two hundred dollars over what was quoted. I had already planed on being home for the day for the install, talked with the other members of the building about the details of getting the tank replaced and started to collect the reimbursement. I was in a bind and had them do the work because if not we'd have to start all over again and it had already been weeks w/o hot water for the laundry. They've always been really nice on the phone and the plumbers who come out to the house, which is why I gave them two stars instead of one. But now I know I can't trust quoted prices from them and know that they don't review these things until the last minute, leaving the customer in a "what do we do now?" situation. I felt screwed. That few hundred bucks to them just cost them my business and potentially the other 5 units in my building. I don't think Alewife is malicious or scamming people out of money - I think they just did the wrong thing when it came to taking care of their customers. I'm planning on going to Banner Pipe next time. I met the owner at a business meeting in Somerville and he seemed really nice and very customer focused. read more

Alewife Co may do a good job at fixing plumbing--in fact, as far as I can tell, that seems to be the the case. This company has left me feeling very upset, however, because of the way that it handled my credit card information, putting me at risk of losing a great deal of money. I have summer subletters staying in my apartment right now, while I stay in another city. A leak happened, so I asked if I could pay for something via credit card over the phone, and the friendly plumber reluctantly agreed. In the plumber's defense, he expressed hesitation about me paying over the phone. I suppose I should have just canceled the whole plumbing thing once the plumber sounded reluctant to have me pay over the phone. He eventually said yes, though, and I needed to get this leak fixed from afar, so I went ahead and paid over the phone. When I paid over the phone, the plumber wrote down all my credit card info on the receipt, which I find problematic because one ought to keep credit card information secret. The plumber left the receipt (and all my credit card info) with my summer subletters, and I presume he must have taken another copy of the receipt (also with all my credit card info) back to the office and left it laying around there. I guess, because the plumber usually takes payment in a different manner, he lacked training on how to handle credit card information. I forgive the nice plumber, but what happened next really bothered me. Two problems occurred: First, right after I used Alewife Company, someone started using my credit card to buy lots of very expensive things online, and I got a message from the bank warning me that someone had stolen my card. I doubt Alewife Co itself would steal my credit card info. I do think, however, that someone unscrupulous probably ended up seeing my credit card info because of having it all written on the receipt. An honest mistake on the plumber's part, but still very upsetting for me. Second, while on my bank's website examining the recent fraudulent charges, I noticed that Alewife Co had charged me THREE TIMES for the service! It seems the company accidentally charged me twice, and then, realizing the mistake, intended to credit me back one of the charges, but instead accidentally charged me a third time. Again, an honest mistake, but very upsetting to me. Because the plumbing cost a great deal of money, multiplying that money by three went far beyond my budget. When I called Alewife Co to point out that I had gotten charged three times, the person on the phone argued with me and insisted that I had only gotten charged once. I wish the person on the phone would have acted sensitive to how upsetting it feels to get charged so much extra money, and all this on top of having one's credit card info stolen. The person on the phone seemed rude and unconcerned. The person on the phone said that someone would follow up with me soon, but that never happened. I called myself to follow up and spoke to another rude person who refused to take a proper message about the matter. I then had to send a follow up email. Someone wrote back to my email, but, still, nothing happened to give me back my money. So, I contested the extra charges to my credit card company. My credit card company then called Alewife Co, and Alewife Co apparently told my credit card company (falsely) that it had paid me back via PayPal!? Then, finally, Alewife Co credited me back the two extra charges. In the end, the lease got fixed, and I have all my money. But I feel very dissatisfied and mistreated. read more

I called for an estimate and made an appointment at 7:30 am because I needed to get to work by 9 am. On the day of the appointment, 7:30 rolls around and... no plumber and no phone call. I call the office to see what happened, and the lady tells me that the appointment got pushed back to 12 noon because "something came up". Um, okay. Couldn't someone have called me to tell me that and ask if 12 noon is an okay time for me? Do these people think that I have nothing to do all day except wait at home for a plumber to show up whenever it is most convenient for him? They may be good plumbers but I do not want to give my business to a company that does not respect my time. read more

My shower stopped working. The water didn't come out when I turned the handle. I thought the problem could be with some of the valve parts. I bought the replacement parts and called Alewife to replace them. I also told them, in case this doesn't solve the problem, we should go from there based on their advice. The appointment process was fairly smooth. One plumber came. He showed up on time, and replaced the parts. This didn't solve the problem. He thought the problem could be with another part (which I hadn't bought). Based on his recommendation, I bought the remaining part and replaced it myself. That didn't solve the problem either. After several trips to Home Depot, and several hours, I have identified and solved the problem myself. The issue wasn't with any parts at all. The water was blocked because of the accumulation of lime in one corner of the pipe. I bought CLR (calcium, lime, rust) cleaner from the local store. I cleaned the blocked area and put back the parts. The water started to flow again. Based on this experience, my evaluation is that Alewife provides pretty average service. They will get basic tasks done, but they will not necessarily solve "complicated" plumbing problems. They might also misguide you. In fact, in retrospect, my problem was hardly complicated. I would expect an experienced plumber to identify (or at least, think about) this issue before sending me out to buy new parts. read more

awesome, Awesome, AWESOME!!! I wish I had found them sooner - would have saved me at least $2000 on my kitchen and bathroom renovation. Bought my place in Cambridge 7 years ago and the boiler had a big sticker from Addario's Plumbing (now my ex-plumbers) on it so I called them when needed work done which wasn't often until the past year. Did not hire a specific company to renovate my guest bath and kitchen so I called them when needed plumbing. I was shocked when they charged me $600 to replace the old toilet with the new one I bought online and had delivered and waiting for them and another $770 to connect the new bathroom sink. They charge per "task" no matter how long it takes them and they bring a book with the prices listed for each specific task. The plumbers charge was more then the new tile, the sink, the vanity, new toilet, new fan, and lights all put together! The carpenter, electrician and tile installer worked way more hours their bills seemed reasonable. So I decided I had to look for a new option because I was going to need my new kitchen sink, faucet, disposal and dual-fuel stove hooked up and did not have several thousand dollars in my budget to spend on couple hours of plumbing work. I swear, am not exaggerating about their prices. So I turned to yelp looking for a plumber with excellent reviews and hourly rate and I found Alewife Company. This is where there should be an icon I could insert that would play the sound one hears in a cheesy movie when a miracle happens or an angel appears from heaven. I called them, told the guy on the phone I was getting countertops in the morning and wanted to know if they could come after 12 to connect everything. He said no problem and to call him day before when I knew exact times for counter installer. I was skeptical because was a week away but when I called to confirm times, he remembered the job and made it happen. Donald - my new plumber sent from heaven - arrived 15 min early and had to wait for me because I ran out for coffee. He was super nice, explained things to me and was done in 2 hours. Total price? $232!!!!!!! If I had called Addarios, just hooking up sink would have been $770. This review is already way too long so I won't go on about the emergency repair Donald did on pipes previously worked on by Addario's in a different part of my house. I have told everyone I know about my new awesome plumber :-) Now hoping for a second miracle because need a roofer... maybe Donald has a brother? read more

Used them to install a electric hot water tank that was under warranty. They charged $1028 that is $200 more than I paid for the new tank and this one was under warranty. It seems they have doubled the amount they charge for labor. $774 in labor charges absolutely ridiculous. Will not use them again! read more

Just had Jim from Alewife company check out my tenant's gas heating unit, he diagnosed the problem in no time and fixed it at a reasonable price, can highly recommend their services, Rob, another plumber there is fantastic as well. When calling the office, make sure to ask for Victor, he is the best! read more

Excellent from start to finish. Talked me out of a total kitchen sink replacement. Gave me all the info I needed to buy a good faucet. Plumber on time and quick. Work well done. read more

I have used Alewife over the past few years both at the business I GM as well as at friends' houses and my own. They have always proven to be timely, affordable, informative, and most importantly, good at what they do. They all seem happy, which proves that they are treated well and are all around a pleasure to work with! read more

BEWARE! For unclogging the sink which takes 10min they quoted the hourly $85 and when they do the work (in 15min), they want to charge $235, TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE!!! arguing that we quoted you for plumbing and not unclogging the sink. I ended up paying the $85 but beware!!! read more

One of Alewife's plumber came to unclog my toilets 2 hours after my call. He was really nice. He explained to me what he was doing and what was the cause of the clogging. 135$ for 10 min of working is a bit pricey though, especially for a poor student like me. I was expecting less. read more