Dean's Professional Plumbing, Inc. Dean's Plumbing, Inc. Dean's Plumbing - high prices, cost overruns, low quality materials, shoddy workmanship. Rogers, Minnesota

We hired Dean's Professional Plumbing, Inc., of Rogers, MN, to do some remodeling work in the bathroom of our Minnetonka home. Since nearly all plumbers in the Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota area charge for estimates, it's hard to get comparisons without spending a lot of money. We thought that Dean's would be a good contractor, as it is rated well, and accredited by, by the Better Business Bureau. Were we ever wrong. So is the BBB. Here is our story.

We called Dean's a couple months ago, talking to Dean Adelman, owner of the company. He arranged a date and approximate time for his technician, one Robbie Christensen, Minnesota Master license number 5177PM, to come out late morning on a Thursday. My wife took the day off to be at home. Robbie didn't show up. We called the next day to reschedule for the following Tuesday. Same drill. No one showed up.

Upon calling him, Dean Adelman was very apologetic and insisted that they would not do another no-show. Robbie Christensen did make it the next day - 4 hours late - and installed the plumbing fixtures. What a clusterf--ck.

After finishing the job, we got a bill $700 higher than the estimate. Robbie Christensen said there's an "escalation clause" in all their contracts, essentially giving them a free rein on final cost. The customer is basically screwed. The plumber left a huge mess, not cleaning up anything, and leaving greasy footprints all through our house. The dumb clod was too lazy to wipe or take off his work boots coming in.

The work he performed was shoddy and poorly done. It was a nightmare. The tub was not caulked correctly and water seeps between it and the vinyl tile floor. Christensen got the hot and cold water switched on the sink, so now if you turn on the cold tap, you will get burned. The shower stall was installed crooked, and the sliding doors do not close all the way. The city inspector has refused to sign off the work, saying the fixtures may need to be completely re-installed.

We have refused to pay the bill, and now Adelman has slapped a mechanic's lien on our house. Our complaints have fallen on deaf ears. We will have to go to court to get this problem resolved, not to mention hiring another plumber to fix the screwups caused by Dean's Professional Plumbing. They are anything BUT professional.

You would be better off hiring a bunch of drunken lemurs to do your plumbing work. Stay well away from Dean's Professional Plumbing!