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On Time Elmer Plumbing

Electrical for Home Addition or Remodel - Install, Electrical for Home Addition, Electrical Wiring or Panel Upgrade,

About us

DBA Elmer's One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning. Additional website: www.onehourairsanantonio.com. San Antonio based heating and air conditioning service company. We offer 24 hour emergency heating and AC repair service. Additional phones: (210) 782-8550, (210) 525-9191. Additional fax: (210) 655-9451.

Business highlights

Emergency services offered
27 years of experience

Services we offer

Heating. Air Conditioning. Air Duct Cleaning. Insulation. Pools.

Amenities

Emergency Services

Yes

Accepted Payment Methods

  • CreditCard
Reviews
3.565 Reviews
Number of StarsImage of DistributionNumber of Ratings
5
52%
4
5%
3
9%
2
6%
1
28%
Showing 1-25 of 65 reviews
Brooke M.
Oct 2020
1.0
An inexcusable situation has occurred with an 16- Seer, 3 ton AC unit purchased on August 10, 2020. I have attempted to resolve this problem myself, but my attempts have been unsuccessful. The following event documents the incident: Was promised products that have a lifetime warranty(Amana) for both the condensing unit, compressor and air handler/furnace. Was advised of price difference between Amana/Goodman, but was still charged higher amount although I didn't receive the products that have higher warranties. Condensing unit fins and coils were damaged. Model GSZ160361BD 16 Seer/3 ton. I requested a new condensing unit with no damage and they were unable to provide an undamaged unit and did not provide discount for damaged goods installed. My neighbors had a Lennox Condensing Unit 16 Seer/3 ton compressor and air handler/furnace installed for $7,200 CHEAPER with a licensed local competitor. Deceptive and abusive sales tactics were used. Here were some of the things said to me, "When we offer 0% financing we have to pass along the cost to our customers. We are not the cheapest, but do you really want people going in and out of your home during this pandemic? We don't have the model/manufacturer until they get to the warehouse to pick it up for installation." I have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau and a price gouging complaint with the Texas Attorney General which are all public record. Due to damages and price gouging, I have requested an accommodation to be accepted within 60 days or a lawsuit with a Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act(DTPA) attorney will be filed. I procured the following name of company personnel with whom I spoke regarding the incident: Lorenzo and Ben Arsate Unfortunately, I felt it necessary that customers must also be made aware of the outrageous situation in which I have found myself. I am posting complaints on Google Reviews, Yelp, Angie's List, and Nextdoor encouraging you to shop elsewhere. -Brooke

Andrew P.
Jan 2020
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$89
It was great!

Wayne S.
Jan 2020
5.0
He came on time, was courteous and completed what we needed.

Samantha S.
Aug 2019
1.0
$4,000
First experience was ok, second visit for a problem they caused... horrible. He was rude, disrespectful. Told me to calm down in my own home as hes about to step through my ceiling, telling me to take things down that are hanging. The first crew of 3 people had no problem getting in my attic, they weren't pushing through anything. 2nd guy gets up there and starts pushing my antique lamp out of the ceiling. All I wanted was for them to fix the leak they caused. Instead hes looking at areas they never touched, like my a/c and water heater which are in the opposite side of my house from where they fixed anything. Spoke to a supervisor that told me this guy would be in to fix it and get out and no one has been back since. Wouldn't recommend these people to my worst enemies. "Most companies pay all their friends and family. To write 5 star false reviews , a lot of great customers want to tip our techs and we don’t allow tips, we will cheerfully tip them for you, if they do such a great job that you write a great review, there is certainly a very small percentage of people who see wrong in everything we do. I’m Elmer Zubiate an do feel like if our techs do a spectacular job we should bonus them , I feel It’s very important for our clients to be happy with our service." I read this on another review, which by the way I noticed there is a history of poor customer service, this statement is absolutely ridiculous considering we were vaguely threatened to take down a bad review on Facebook or they would be charging me for warranty work that I will not be paying for after already paying nearly 4000$. This is not a false review, I am an actual unhappy customer that's see you run a disreputable company and hire nothing but disrespectful, mouthy rude employees.

David K.
Aug 2018
2.0
$665
I called Elmer because we had a drain that kept clogging. The radio ads touting their cameras made sense. The guy who came out did fix the problem and recommended a maintenance package. I was caught off-guard (clearly, because I didn't read reviews here first) and said yes. I am now paying $665 for some guy to come to my house and pour Drano down my drains once a week for a few months while another guy watches him. I blame myself for saying yes too quickly, but I will say this company charges way too much.

Ricky N.
Jul 2017
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
...................................................................................

Shannon S.
Jun 2017
1.0
My AC froze last week. We got a tech out to look at it and diagnosed it as a leak in the freon line, which they weren't able to replace since it was raining. While the tech was here my fiance ordered new filters. Everything ok so far. This week the tech was due to come on Monday to fix the line. No one ever showed up and we never got a call. After making 3 calls to the office and getting a recording, we finally get a call back saying our appointment is for Tuesday. The tech shows up on Tuesday ONLY to deliver the filters. He was nice enough to check and top off the freon while he was here and schedule me an appointment for 9-11am on Wednesday with a note to make sure to be here (he was very sweet and knew I was very unhappy - the technicians that actually show up are nice enough for me to merit the one star minimum rating and the only thing good I've experienced with the company). Wednesday comes and I'm waiting for the tech. ONE minute before the end of the window I get a call from the office checking to see if I was home because the tech was on the way. Yay, finally! An hour later I call the office to find out where the tech is and I'm told he's on the way. When I inquire about an estimated arrival time, I'm told he's on the road so it should be 20-30 minutes, maybe less. At no point did she ever ask who it was on the line and who's house the tech was supposed to be going to. Forty minutes later a van finally pulls up outside the house. Yay! Give him a few minutes to check in, look over paperwork, etc. Check outside and the van is gone! I go out to see if he's still around, and he's pulled about 5 houses down, waiting. About the time I start walking over to let him know where he should be, the van pulls off and doesn't return. Several phone calls later and we're supposed to have the install manager coming personally to take care of it, a minimum of 4 hours after our appointment time, not to mention two days after our original appointment. We have lost work and wages waiting around for On Time Elmer's to actually show up!

Randall S.
Feb 2017
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
.

Elizabeth W.
Jan 2017
1.0
$25,000
unknown

Lorena B.
Aug 2016
3.0
$657
We have been a long time customer of OnTime Elmer (but only because we felt obligated to stick with them due to warranty on many different units and products) but more and more we are disappointed with their inconsistent craftsmanship. This last time, we called to schedule an appointment for our upstairs unit which was not cooling. The first appointment was cancelled by the Service Desk because the technician underestimated another customer's work. They then rescheduled for the next day. During the first appointment, the technician came, he basically serviced the unit and changed a fuse. The unit still did not work. We called back the next day and told them that service had not fixed the problem and that we were also noticing water was leaking from the backup overflow. The service desk said they would schedule "a quality follow-up." When the technician came back, he said that "something had been moved" which caused the unit to stop working. The only person who had been in the attic was him! He collected another $300. I wish he had explained what he was going to do BEFORE charging us again. Apparently he performed a service tune-up but he didn't explain that he was going to do that.

James H.
Jul 2016
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
.

James H.
Jul 2016
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
.

Phyllis S.
May 2016
2.0
$2,000
adam came to diagnose problem and give options to fix. Options ranged from 11,000+ to 2,000+. When I couldn't afford the recommendations he then got supervisor on phone to turn up the pressure and prices and scenarios are different based on my hesitation. I agreed to certain work and other people came, very unprofessional to do work, it was not done as agreed, ALL the debris and trash was left in my back yard and the actual workers did not even speak English so no communication was even possible. When I called to complain yesterday I was told everyone was busy but I would hear back first thing this morning...still mo word and it's 3:16....prior to service I was called at least 6 times!!! Now (crickets chirping) and I'm 2,000$ poorer and don't even know why!!! DO NOT CALL ELMER!!!

Guy B.
May 2016
1.0
unknown

Rolla B.
Dec 2015
1.0
$8,700
The sales persons talked fast and marked off options before my parents could understand what he was saying.  He over sold the unit and then sold a financing plan the nearly doubled the cost with 6 months of interest paid prior to the first payment on the principal.  The company has refused to return phone calls and will not respond to requests. <br /> One thing they have done is switch out thermostats.  The original thermostat was a Sensi, it requires a smart phone or tablet to set up the schedule and to make adjustments to the program.  My parents do not own either of these and explained that to the installer, who spoke limited English and my parents speak no Spanish. <br />

Orben G.
Nov 2015
1.0
$6,000
<p>We were happy with the work at first.  It is SERVICE AFTER THE SALE that is very poor.  The grout in the new tile has cracked and fallen out in several places around the pool. The cement work around the flag stone has also cracked, chipped, broken and come lose in large pieces. It was difficult to get someone from the company to come out and look at the pool.  After several calls a representative did show and informed us that ELMER would not stand behind his work. Elmer has three different businesses and it would be  no surprise to  me if he has refused to honor his work in all three.  My recommendation is don't use this outfit.  Save yourself the headache, time and money. AMENDED COMPLAINT UPDATE AS OF 12/28/15: Upon returning from Christmas vacation and checking the pool, we discovered that 13 tiles had either fallen into the pool or were hanging from the side. This is just a continued indication of the poor work that On Time Elmer provided for us. UPDATE, We used the  Angie's List (AL) resolution dispute process to help resolve the problems with Elmer. When contacted by AL, Elmer denided having done our pool work. When presented to the  two cancelled checks I wrote to Elmer, by AL Elmer did not respond.  Elmer is no longer listed on AL and I would not recommend Elmer for any kind of work. </p>

Deborah B.
Oct 2015
1.0
$30,000
This is an update on my earlier review under On Time Elmer Plumbing on June 23. <br /> <br /> After writing my review of the job On Time Elmer started on Feb 2015 that was not completed until June 2015 (I was told it would be a 10-11 day job) another problem arose because of the poor work On Time Elmer did. <br /> <br />On July 1, I see water and sewage spurting up in front of my house where On Time Elmer was working. I call On Time Elmer. <br />For the eighth time, through this now 5 month ordeal, I ask to speak to Elmer and for the eighth time he refuses to take my call. His front man, Lorenzo, comes on the phone...spoken to him many times before...why, I don't know...he is an air conditioning man. Lorenzo tells me Elmer will never speak to me, because he pays Lorenzo to deal with unhappy customers. Anyway, they send plumbers over who cannot figure out what the problem is and basically state that since they didn't see it happen, it didn't happen, and they leave. <br /> <br />I eventually called Quarter Moon Plumbing who determined within 5 minutes what On Time Elmer had done wrong. I paid quarter Moon Plumbing thousands more to complete the job that On Time Elmer botched. The silver lining is that Quarter Moon Plumbing knew what they were doing, came to work every day and got the job done quickly. The difference in working with Quater Moon Plumbing versus On Time Elmer was like night and day. <br /> <br />I have done everything in my power to get Elmer to take some responsibility for the stress, inconvenience, poor and incomplete job they did at my home. All to know avail. I'm sure they laughed all the way to the bank. They probably don't get a new widow to take advantage of every day. It was their lucky day when I foolishly called them. I was an easy mark for a bunch of con men. <br /> <br />

Joe C.
Aug 2015
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
unknown

Deborah B.
Jun 2015
1.0
$30,000
My husband died on 12-15-14. About 6 weeks later I started having problems with sewage back up into the master bath. I called 3 companies for a diagnosis of the problem and an estimate for the cost of repairs. "On Time Elmer" was in the same ballpark as the other companies that gave me estimates, but I chose Elmer because of a sentimental song and dance they gave me that made me feel I could trust them. <br /> <br /> <br />"OnTime Elmer" has a fleet of pink trucks and vans that I was told are in honor of Elmer's deceased mother whose favorite color was pink. Foolishly, because of Elmer's alleged respect for his mother I thought "On Time Elmer" would be trustworthy, and fair with a new widow. <br /> <br /> <br />I was told this job would take 10 to 11 days to complete. The job was started on Feb 11, 2015 and was just completed on June, 8, 2015. <br /> <br /> <br />So, my 10 day job took 120 days to complete. During that 120 days they would disappear for days or weeks at a time with no communication. When They did show up to work, they had no compunction about looking me straight in the face and lying to me. They often contradicted themselves in the same conversation because they could not keep their lies straight. <br /> <br /> <br />I can only surmise they took my $30,000 to fund other jobs they were doing, and since they already had my money in hand, I could be ignored and they would just get to my job when they were forced to. <br /> <br /> <br />During this time I had no master bath. Fortunately, I had a second bath I could use, but this meant going up and down steps to get to the other bathroom. One night, about 2 months into this nightmare, I miss-stepped and fell down the steps and injured my leg that has still not healed. Something that would not have happened if my master bath worked and I had not had to be going up and down the steps in the middle of the night. <br /> <br /> <br />I left a minimum of 7 messages for the owner, Elmer Zubiate, to call me. He did not return a single call. I have yet to ever speak to him. <br /> <br /> <br />It was not until I told them I was going to call all of the television stations that they completed the job. <br /> <br /> <br />My husband died only shortly prior to this ordeal. Not only was I grieving for my husband, I had so many other things I should have been tending to in relation to my husband's death. Instead, I was overwhelmed and unbelievably stressed for months by this company. <br /> <br /> <br />I feel "On Time Elmer" very deliberately took advantage of my situation, and the fact that I was still in shock over the sudden and unexpected death of my husband. If there were a way that I could press criminal charges against them, I would. I feel the way I was treated was criminal, even if technically it is not a crime in the eyes of the law. Fraud at the very least. "On Time Elmer" is a company to stay far away from. It's name sake and owner, Elmer, doesn't even have the integrity to speak with a customer who very clearly has a legitimate complaint. I'm sure his dear mother would be so proud. <br /> <br />

Dawn H.
Apr 2015
3.0
$15,000
I

Raymond M.
Apr 2015
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$4,000
They came exactly when they said and charged exactly what they said they would charge. Everything went exactly on time and I was very pleased with them. We called them on Friday night and they started the work on Monday morning and completed it by noon. They also came back on Tuesday to check it out. We couldn't have been anymore happy with their service. They were extremely friendly, courteous and very knowledgeable what they are doing and the end result in detail. Someone called us ahead to let us know that they are on their way. Center Point energy sent their men after they were through and he found absolutely nothing wrong with it and he said that they have done a good job and he was impressed also.

Keren N.
Oct 2014
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$50
unknown

Barbara W.
Aug 2014
1.0
We purchased a Goodman Gas Heating /AC system because their prices on a Trane systems were too high for the seer rating we wanted. We ended up with a 13 Seer.  This year I didn't call in the Spring as I normally would to have my system cleaned and checked for running the AC again after Winter ended.  I made that call today to get someone out to check the drain line and blow it clean since I can hear a stressed out sound in the closet while the AC is running and cooling.  I usually have to wait about a week after I call to say I need a box of filters (ours uses special filters I cannot get in the store).  I was shocked at what I heard over the phone and I actually thought the guy was joking when he said "We can get you an appointment in October."  I went off about how he's got to be kidding and asked if the company is short staffed or maybe some of the guys are on vacations?  Before I declined to have them come out to service my unit I heard him ask once more "Do you want us to come then on October 6th?"  I said oh, h no!  That's rediculous! I said I'll call up someone in my city and get it serviced within a few days to a week!  He said yes but with us you only pay $35 with your service plan.  I'm thinking.....why would I want more to go wrong with a fairly new system all because I let it stress even longer as it runs.  From todays' date until October 6th would be exactly 52 more days!!!  That's insane!  I will not be using "On Time Elmer" ever again!  I also found out the same year we bought our system that if we had paid just a bit more than that $7,100.00, we could have gotten a Trane system like I originally wanted!   :/  This company has since changed names after we bought our system.  Makes me wonder about them. <br />

Dawn F.
Jun 2014
2.0
unknown

Muriel C.
Jun 2014
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
unknown
Showing 1-25 of 65

Licensing

State Contractor License Requirements

All statements concerning insurance, licenses, and bonds are informational only, and are self-reported. Since insurance, licenses and bonds can expire and can be cancelled, homeowners should always check such information for themselves. To find more licensing information for your state, visit our Find Licensing Requirements page.

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FAQ

On Time Elmer Plumbing is currently rated 3.5 overall out of 5.

On Time Elmer Plumbing accepts the following forms of payment: CreditCard

No, On Time Elmer Plumbing does not offer free project estimates.

No, On Time Elmer Plumbing does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.

Yes, On Time Elmer Plumbing offers emergency services.

No, On Time Elmer Plumbing does not offer warranties.