How to check a plumber's reviews and complaints in Phoenix

Reviews on Google and other sites are useful, but they are easy to misread. Use them to find patterns, then confirm what matters in official records.

• Sort by newest. A company can change owners, staff or subcontractors. Reviews from the last year say more than the all-time average.
• Read the one and two star reviews. Look for repeated themes such as no-shows, surprise charges, pressure to replace instead of repair, or warranty disputes. One angry review is noise. The same complaint five times is a pattern.
• Look for specifics. Useful reviews mention the job, the price, the part replaced or how a problem was handled. A burst of short five-star reviews posted within a few days is a reason for caution.
• Check that the review fits. Reviews that describe a different service, a different city or a different company name may not be about the business you are calling.
• Read the replies. A calm, specific response from the owner to a complaint is a good sign. Blame, threats or no response at all are not.
• Search the name with the word complaint. A search for the company name together with words such as complaint or scam can turn up problems that a star rating hides.

1. Search the license. Look up the business in the Arizona ROC contractor search and confirm the license is active and in a plumbing classification. The ROC recommends checking again on the day you sign the contract.
2. Call the Registrar. The ROC's before you hire page says the only sure way of knowing that your contractor is licensed is to call the Registrar of Contractors, and that you should ask whether the license class covers the listed work.
3. Confirm the person. The same page advises verifying that the person you negotiate with is an authorized representative of the licensed firm, by calling the number on the license record.

The BBB suggests checking a plumber on BBB.org, where you can see the rating, customer feedback and any complaints. Read how the company answered each complaint, not only the letter grade.

The Arizona Attorney General suggests asking for references, contacting them and, where possible, looking at the finished work. The ROC's before you hire page also advises getting several estimates and references. For work that needed a permit, ask for the permit number and whether it passed final inspection.

• Pressure to decide on the spot, or a "today only" price.
• A request for cash only or for the full price before any work starts. The ROC says never to pay in cash.
• Door-to-door offers of low-cost work, which the ROC advises avoiding.
• No license number on the estimate, or a license under a different company name.
• A refusal to pull a permit for work your city requires one for.
• A large repair proposed without evidence, such as a sewer replacement without camera footage or slab demolition without a located leak.

Put the problem in writing to the company first, with photos and the invoice. If that does not resolve it, the ROC accepts complaints through its online complaint portal. For remodels and repairs, the ROC says to file within two years from the date work was last performed, and A.R.S. 32-1162 sets the same two-year limit after completion of the project. An investigator is assigned once you submit. For homeowners who live in the home as their primary residence, A.R.S. 32-1132 establishes the Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund, which can compensate eligible owners damaged by a licensed residential contractor's violations.

You can also file a complaint about the business with the BBB. For help choosing in the first place, see our guide on how to choose a plumber in Phoenix.

Plumber Phoenix Pros is an independent homeowner information website, not a contractor. We publish no reviews, star ratings, testimonials or customer counts, we never buy or write reviews, and we will not pay anyone for a review. The contractors listed on this site are listed without payment and without a rating, so the list is not a review or a ranking. Check each one with the steps on this page.

The Federal Trade Commission's Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials is codified as 16 CFR Part 465. It was published in the Federal Register on August 22, 2024, and its sections cover fake or false reviews and testimonials (465.2), buying positive or negative reviews (465.4), insider reviews that do not disclose a material connection (465.5), company-controlled review websites that claim to offer independent reviews (465.6), review suppression (465.7) and fake indicators of social media influence (465.8).