James Brown Plumbing Heating & Air Conditioning

Very positive experience with Jim brown plumbing. My 20 year old furnace stopped working earlier this fall, Scott gave me multiple options of what I could do, which I really liked. Plus he was not pushy with any of the options, he just gave me the cost/​benefits of each options and let me make the decision best for my situation. I ended up replacing my furnace with one of the lower cost furnaces he showed me and he was able to replace it within a few days. I have had no problems since.

Recommended. Recently, our house suffered a frozen – and then ruptured – pipe in the basement. I called around to many plumbers, trying to get an estimate on what it would take to fix the one rupture in that one pipe.
Long story short, James Brown Plumbing was the only plumbing outfit that, over the phone, gave me a reasonable sense of what the repair might entail in terms of labor time (sight unseen, but I gave a detailed description). ALL of the other companies I talked with were maddeningly coy and downright evasive about their charges beyond the cost of the initial home visit/​diagnosis. (Incidentally, I found that the price range for an initial visit by a Plumber was: $ 44 to $ 125. Some companies let you apply that charge to the cost of the overall repair. Some do not. Even so, that’s quite a spread.)
The James Brown customer service rep («April») also gave me a solid answer on cost: $ 110 for the first hour, and then 25% of 110 for each 15 minute increment. Fair enough! She predicted the job MIGHT take about an hour or less. I understand it is impossible to know these things until the tech actually comes to the house. But she scored points for being intelligent enough to have a short, meaningful conversation about my problem and then to give me a conditional guesstimate. HIRED.
The owner, Jim Brown, showed up at the house within an hour or so and merrily fixed the pipe. No muss, no fuss. He even wrapped the repaired pipe with a length of coating, for safety. He was pleasant, professional, and a joy to do business with. The bill was exactly what April had predicted.
Thanks, James Brown Plumbing and Heating. I will tell others about you.

I’ve used these guys about a half dozen times in as many years, and wouldn’t think of calling anyone else. I recently had them do a commercial build out in a historic and historically neglected building. There were some challenges along the way and they couldn’t have done a better job of adjusting to them. Great communication throughout the entire project.
I knew these guys were good, but it wasn’t until other contractors on the project started pointing out some examples of their craftsmanship that I realized how good. I believe these guys care about and take pride in the work they do.
It’s not even that job that inspired me to write a Unilocal review (something I’ve never done before). Two days before the bad storm rolled in last week, my heater (at home) broke down and I called them out. After an thorough assessment, I was given my options. The next day, I had a brand new unit in place and working like a charm!
Small details like laying down drop cloths and removing wet boots to keep our floors clean also make a difference.
Informed, experienced and professional craftsmanship is not easy to find nowadays, but you just have.

Our AC broke while doing renovations on the kitchen and it happen on a 100 degree day in July. I called multiple vendors with only one calling back and asking questions — Steve from James Brown Plumbing. Instead of just coming out and charging a service fee, Steve asked some key questions and we identified it was just the circuit on the unit. I ran to get a new breaker and the issue was resolved. Not saying that it would always be a free consultation, but this was a great experience and suggest calling them for any HVAC issue first.

Awesome service and professionalism! I had a clogged bathroom sump pit that was overflowing in my shop last friday morning. I called James Brown PHVAC with hopes of getting someone to look at it by the end of the day. They were there in 15 minutes and had the problem assessed, fixed and cleaned up before 11:00 am allowing me to continue my work day. First rate service from beginning to end. I highly recommend them for any PHVAC work you need done.

Avoid. If I could give it zero stars I would.
After my toilet was broken by an overzealous party guest, I turned to Unilocal for help. Good stars for JBP in the past, but I ended up surprised — My experience with them went from good to bad, despite other good reviewers. I think the potential for them to be good contractors is there, they are nice enough to start, but they didn’t do good work, and their immaturity turned into rude behavior and harassment when I complained.
It started with them arriving late. Miscommunication with his partner/​son he said, no problem I said. I did have time to confirm with him that the toilet his son recommended I purchase from Home Depot was a good one. «If it’s got the Kohler name, it’s great», he said. Fine, I ran to my meeting while he did the install.
When I returned, he was gone. Everything looked in order until I flushed the toilet and I then just knew. It had no power, only half the water went out the bowl with the flush. Yes, it was a low flush toilet, but so was the prior one, this one just didn’t flush fully. I decided to just give it a trial run, if you know what I mean. Yeah, it sucked, or didn’t suck as the case may be, half the stuff never went down. Believe me I tried repeatedly. He was also supposed to fix the leaky sink but it was still dripping. I was surprised.
I called and he came back out and tinkered with the flapper on the toilet. Now he said, «that toilet is not a good toilet, and maybe it has a defect.» Okay, perhaps, but why didn’t he tell me that before? As a pro, wouldn’t he know that it sucked as soon as he installed it, before he left the first time? Hell, I flushed it once and could tell it wasn’t going to work well, he’s a pro, right? He tinkered with the sink again as well, and it still leaked after he left. I was concerned.
I called again and we agreed I’d buy a new toilet. Coincidentally, the son was at Home Depot the day I went to pick it out and he graciously agreed to take the new toilet in his truck, my Honda being a bit small. I appreciated that.
Honestly, I know how to install a toilet, it’s not hard, I could have done this myself, but I opted to pay a pro to do it for me, so I expect pro advice, like «that toilet sucks I don’t recommend it» or «I installed it and I can see it insn’t going to work well, are you sure you want it?». I got none of that. No problem, I’m still hopeful.
About a week later they came and installed the second new toilet. Unfortunately again while I wasn’t there. When I came home, I went upstairs to check my new throne, I had to go you know… and nearly killed myself as the owner hadn’t installed the toilet seat. He set the seat on the toilet, loosely installed one screw, and left the second screw completely off, like he was in the middle of installing the seat and got an emergency call and ran out the door. You can imagine what happened when I went to sit on it, I can’t make this up. Insult to injury, this one flushes only a bit better than the last. And my sink still leaks.
So I call. Twice. I text him. Twice. Each time I say, hey, this wasn’t $ 400 worth of work, I am not happy, let’s cut a deal and move on, I’ll pay but not that much. No reply. At this point, I have not yet sent a check and payment is overdue.
Then I start getting the second invoices and angry calls and text messages. «We’re going to sue you if you don’t pay», he texts. He calls me names. I’m «one of those» customers he writes. I suppose he means ones who won’t pay full price for a incomplete or unsatisfactory job. I clarify that I will finish the job and we should discuss the price. No deal, it’s all my fault he says. Riiiiiight.
I’m busy so I paid them the full amount and will find someone else to do plumbing work next time. Yes, they did unsatisfactory work, and he just bullied me for the money, but frankly I have better things to do with my time. You however are reading this review so you can save yourself the aggravation by looking elsewhere.

I just moved to Phoenixville recently because my wife grew up here, so I don’t know anybody to get a personal recommendation from. I found JBPH&AC on Unilocal and gave them a call because I accidentally drilled into a copper pipe for my heating system. (Dumb mistake) Scott was polite and professional as he explained the entire heating system to me so I knew exactly what was being worked on, and the problem was fixed in no time. I highly recommend these guys, they’re top notch.

Scott Brown is a first rate professional and will find great ways to help you conserve yours and the earths resources for your heating and cooling needs!

It was a Tuesday afternoon when I found a puddle on the floor of our reception area. Before I even open the closet I knew what had happened– hot water heater breakdown! I gave James Browh PHAC a call and Scott Brown was ready to help. I didn’t even need to wait till the next day. Scott was out an hour later with a new water heater ready to be installed. Affordable, timely, and most of all professional. We weren’t just another water heater install. Scott truly cared about our problem and did not hesitate to come help.
Thanks Scott!

Scott is installing my toilet and sink in my new bathroom as I type this. His work is of obvious diligence. His work is thorough and for sure a degree of difference. I highly recommend James brown plumbing Heating and air conditioning for any work. Although this job is basic, one view of their pics online show the degree of technical ability they are more than capable of. A++ American company!