TL;DR: Don't use this guy. He is overtly dishonest, only out to make a quick buck, and likely won't make things right if and when his work causes a problem.
In December 2017, I contacted Sunnyvale Plumbing via Yelp message here. I got a prompt response, and the next day, a plumber Shin came and took care of a couple faucets for me. The prices were very reasonable, and the work done was great. The only issue less than perfect was that Shin's English was quite poor; it was often hard to communicate.
I had Shin come out another time for a separate issue in June 2018. Again, his work was great. If I had remember to submit a review at that time, it would have been a 5-star review hands down.
In September 2019, I had a water heater that needed to be replaced. I called Sunnyvale Plumbing. To my surprise, Shin was nowhere to be found, and instead a guy named Simon showed up. I didn't think much of it at the time since I just needed a plumber, and Simon seemed to fit the bill. He quoted me $1200 to replace the water heater (documented by text). I was unable to be present that day, but a friend of mine "babysat" for me by being on site. To my later surprise, Simon told my friend that the fee would be $1500, and so my friend dutifully wrote the check on my behalf. Only later did I hear about the discrepancy. I didn't raise stink about it since I wanted to be nice, figured that replacing a water heater is hard work, and assumed perhaps Simon encountered some unexpected costs during the project.
Now the ugliness began. In my home where the water heater was replaced, slowly over the next several months one shower after another stopped working properly; in all three stopped working. I asked Simon to come take a look, but he avoided me like the plague. In the past he was always very responsive via text; now I couldn't get him to respond. He wouldn't answer the phone or respond to messages. I was confused but assumed he might have some issues going on in life. Finally, I went with another plumber, who quickly figured out that the showers stopped working because Simon's work on replacing the water heater resulted in debris clogging the hot water lines somewhere. I tried to contact Simon again to notify him; again, he ghosted me.
Despite having tried hard to give Simon the benefit of the doubt, now I finally understood Simon's behavior; he knew his work on the water heater caused problems but didn't want to have to make it right. After all, he already had my money in hand.
Earlier today I texted Simon to ask him to contact me about the above, telling him I was hoping we could come to a mutually agreeable solution. He actually called me to simply say, "Go find another plumber," and hung up on me.
So there you have it: This apparently is the kind of plumber and person Simon is. I miss Shin; he was great. Simon is another story.
Today, I hired another plumber. He too (like Simon) is Korean and knows Simon and says they used to work together in the past. He said, "Simon isn't very good. Bad work, dishonest person." Yep. read more
