Wighton's Plumbing, Heating, & Air Conditioning

My experience has been one of poor customer service and communication. The actual work was competently performed (if one disregards the multiple times that Wighton's cancelled and rescheduled the appointment and that the technician arrived without the proper part, turning a short visit into an all-day event). But it was what occurred after the original repair was completed that caused my extreme dissatisfaction.

On December 19th I had a hot water heater anode replaced. To do this the technician had to shut off the water supply to the house, and once the work was complete he tried to re-open that valve. That is when he announced the valve had broken (I don't want to blame the technician for this, as the valve was possibly original with the house, built in 1997, although the people who ultimately fixed it--NOT Wighton's--said it had been overtightened when it was first turned off).

Unable to restore water service to the house, the technician offered to dig up the valve to provide an estimate for repair; he thought the digging would take about an hour and cost about $100, but any repair would require turning off water to the remainder of the property. Since it was now late in the afternoon and I was concerned about the potential for after-hours charges, I agreed with his suggestion to return early the next day with a second technician to hopefully resolve the situation. I would have no water overnight in the house, but since water remained available elsewhere on the property this seemed tolerable.

It was the technician who arrived the next day (12/20) who elicited a strong feeling of distrust. First of all, no one showed up until after noon, even though I made numerous calls throughout the morning, as I did not want to repeat the same scenario from the previous day. He did not seem to know what he had been sent to work on. Once he saw the circumstances, he immediately launched into a catastrophic assessment of the time and expense for this repair, as if attempting to create an emotional response. He indicated that the work could take days, saying we would have "no water for Christmas," and that there would be thousands of dollars in charges. He looked at a secondary shut-off valve and declared it too was non-functional (which turned out not to be true later, when others were working on the property). He said he could give me an estimate to dig up the original broken valve--which he decided would take 2 hours and cost over $600. At that point, I asked him to leave.

My neighbor came and dug up the valve to expose the pipe in 30 minutes. Knowing it was too late in the day to do the work, he restored water to the house by attaching a hose from a faucet elsewhere on the property to a hose bib on the house. Somehow, this never occurred to anyone from Wighton's, who seemed unconcerned about leaving us without water for a second day.

I received a call from the second technician the next morning (12/21); he said he was calling with information that might help me. Because this was a "big problem" and could cost "thousands" of dollars, and because I "will not have water for Christmas," I should know that Wighton's could offer me financing to pay for the work, because, in his words, "money seems to be an issue." I told him that money was only an issue when I was being overcharged and manipulated, and that I considered what was occurring to be very close to extortion. Then I hung up.

The next day the valve repair was completed in about 3 hours with the help of a second neighbor; the total that I paid for this work was under $1000.

At no time did Wighton's do anything to make me feel respected or valued as a customer: appointments were cancelled; technicians came late; necessary parts were missing; no one expressed concern about leaving us without water nor attempted to remedy this; I was not provided written estimates for the anode repair by the first technician and given wildly excessive ones by second technician. I definitely do not recommend this company.

I purchased a new washing machine and upon installation, I realized one of my water valves was stuck/seized and wouldn’t close/open. Fearful if I used all my force, I’d open the ‘flood gates’ by snapping it off and create a whole bigger issue. So, I decided to call Wightons. Giselle took my call, she was super friendly, she empathized with my situation and she immediately looked into how fast we could get some out here to fix this issue so we can install the new washing machine. Amazingly enough, she had an opening, day of! I couldn’t believe it! She said I’d receive a call from the scheduling team to confirm when a technician would be on site. Shortly later, Breanna called to confirm James was on his way and would take about 45 minutes to arrive. I’m absolutely stunned to call a plumber the day of an incident and they worked magic to get a tech out here in a matter of a few hours, it just flabbergasted me! Then James shows up, very polite/cordial, he came in and began assessing the situation. I know I’m not the only one who goes into these things with a bit of skepticism at times, I’ve been burned in the past from contractors and plumbers, so I always keep my spidey senses on alert. After James assessed, he gave me a couple options and truly turned this day around with his honesty, professionalism, and the ability to solve my problem with no additional cost to me, other than the service call charge. He finished the job in about 30 minutes, got me all dialed in, and even gave some pointers for when I installed the unit.
Top notch experience from my first call with Giselle, then Breanna, and James the tech. To have this level of service for this industry is refreshing and has restored a bit of faith for any future plumbing issues that may arise in the future. I will definitely call if needed again, and I’d recommend to family and friends!!
Special thanks to Giselle, Breanna, & James for making this happen so swiftly!

Wighton’s was the only firm able to perform a service call within a reasonable time frame. Mark and Jose were competent and very professional, and Amanda did a great job keeping me updated on when they would come. I highly recommend this firm.

Jose Alvarez was fabulous to work with. He fixed my heater/AC which was installed incorrectly by the developer. It wasn’t an easy fix so I appreciate him taking the time to figure out the best strategy. Would definitely refer Mr Alvarez in the future. Thanks!

I highly recommend Bells Plumbing in Atascadero over Wighton's due to Bells offering WAY better price (for the exact same service AND hardware), and customer service being the biggest difference. Here is why:

I called Wighton's plumbing to schedule a water heater swap from gas to electric because my current eater heater started to leak from the bottom.

I called them, although friendly, the people on the phone provided very disappointing service and here's why it was disappointing: I explained the situation, and that based on my
research I needed to hire an electrician to install the wiring to power the new water heater (which they confirmed as correct) as such, I asked the customer service rep for a spec sheet of the electric water heaters they are likely to offer. She explained she did not have at the time but that she would send it over email later. I was very clear and mentioned that the electrician asked me for this because in 2 days, he would go buy materials and perform the electrical installation ahead of wighton's arrival the following day. the entire day went by and I never received the spec sheet. I called the next day, asked for it again, and another day went by without receiving specs. the following day, the electrician showed up, and he asked me how many amps and what kind of wire to use, and I did not know. so I called Wighton's again, and the rep told me she could not get a hold of anyone. The electrician told me to ask her what models they offer, so that he could at least look up online and find out amps and wire needed
but she said she did not know and keep in mind wighton's was scheduled to be onsite the following day after the electrician.

So a friend recommended I called Bells Plumbing. and I was so glad I did. they answered right away, they sent me a spec sheet within 20 minutes from the call, and the person on the phone new exactly the brand and model they install. so, electrician was able to do the installation. they also sent me a quote, which was for approx $1,800 labor and parts included. and told me they were down 2 plumbers but they can be there first thing Monday

Wighton's guy shows up the next day (Friday morning) takes a brief look around, and gives me an estimate for well over $3,500 . I asked what kind of water heater unit they would install, and it turned out to be EXACTLY the same model that Bells Plumbing quoted.

I immediately and kindly told the plumber from Wighton's that the quote was way too high and that I had found a much cheaper option. let's keep in mind that they did not want to give me an estimate over the phone, and they were very clear that they don't give you quotes until they are onsite after they take a look at the job.

Then, after I said I didn't want them to do the work, their technician still asked me to sign something on his tablet that had language that more or less included wording around me accepting the scope of work, and that I was agreeing to a $1k down-payment.... so at that point I realized Wighton's unfortunately has a rather broken process, and they are totally overpriced.

Therefore, I do not recommend them for those of us who want to pay a fair price, and seek good customer service. I cannot speak to the quality of their work because they did not do the job.

Also the plumber from Bells was super nice. the plumber from Wighton's really changed his demeanor in a negative way after I rejected the quote and even more after I declined to sign on his tablet.

We moved into a new home and needed a new heater asap! Our heater didn’t work and we were freezing in the middle of winter! Wighton’s came out right away and installed a brand new heater. They were professional and experienced! They crew worked well as a team. The General Manager was also very communicative and helpful! I highly recommend using Wighton’s!

Today I received a call from the manager of Wighton's and he was very apologetic regarding my experience. John told me that he was recently hired and is trying to help improve service at the company through further training of technician's and also working with IT to get the pricing program to work well for the company and it's patrons. I felt better after talking with John and trust that he will make every effort to ensure quality service received from the company. I would recommend the company now that I have talked with John.

My original post: Last week after reading the google reviews for Wighton’s Plumbing, I decided to call them to unclog my kitchen sink. They said they’d be out the next day in the afternoon. When I didn’t hear from them at 4pm, I texted and asked if anyone was coming. I was texted back and they said they were sorry, but they’d come the following afternoon. 2 technicians came out to do a simple job and after checking several issues, I was quoted a bid of $325 and was very dismayed. I thought the bid was way too high, in fact that it was “highway robbery” for what I thought would be a simple job. They apologized and wanted to try to negotiate a price, and asked me what I thought would be fair. I said $125, and they said that they could not reduce the bid. I told them that I would not pay the price of the bid, and they reduced the service call fee to $77 from $99. I wrote a check and they left without giving me a receipt.

After they left, I called my handyman and he came over later that evening and together we were able to get the drain cleaned out within 30 minutes with just a simple snake through the drain vent and the hose. I could have done this myself had I been able to get the cap off the vent, but I wasn’t strong enough to turn the cap. I told the Technicians this and they understood. I also knew that they would not have to clean out the down spout to the main line and didn’t want them to for concern that pipes could get broken in the process which would entail more cost.

I am very glad that I turned down the bid from your company because for 30 min of work, I would have been even more angry if I’d paid $325. I am upset enough that I wrote a check for “no work done”.

I also called other reputable plumbing companies in the area, Rooter Rooter and Patriot, and asked them for a verbal bid for cleaning out a plugged kitchen sink, which I should have done when I called Wighton’s. Lesson learned. The verbal bids were $165 and $160 which included the service call and the work with a minimum of an hour of labor. Much more reasonable and half what I was quoted by Wighton’s. If ever I need a plumber again, I’ll call Patriots as the owner sounded very nice.

New mini-split system. Great job. Kobe and his crew did great job. Nice and warm house now.

Called to get a quote on work needed to sell house. Told them what I was needing to have done and ask if they perform that work and was told they do. When they arrived I told them what needed to be done also. After approximately 1hour (I believe 15-20 minutes they were on break and checking out prices) he came back with a quote of the smaller part of the job and told me they “don’t do chimney caps” which is the balk of what I needed. Then I was charged $99 for a “dispatch fee”, if they had told me they don’t do chimney caps I never would have ask for a quote! Honesty must not be part of their business. Thanks and shame on you! There will not be a second time!
Get everything in writing including if the can do the work. Even in a quote

After talking to a supervisor at Wighton’s they fully understood me being upset with their business. It was corrected immediately and a full refund has been made! Thanks Holly you’ve restored my faith in your company. I will keep you in my contact list. I would recommend them to anyone.

The representative for this company on the onset tried to upscale the work and try to coerce me into buying product from their company. He also stated that if you were to complete the task that he was hired for that he could not guarantee the work and if water should be leaking from the shower head area or from the wash basin that the company would have no liability on them. I told him that the company would be liable because they're licensed and bonded and that's what attorneys are for he then gave me a price of $1,500 US dollars for maybe a 2 hour maximum job needless to say I did not use this company and I would not recommend this company if it was the last company in the state of California!!