A World War II veteran from Sydney has been quoted more than $35,000 to fix his broken toilet.

John Rose, 98, contacted Ferguson’s Plumbing after hearing “a simple glug” coming from his toilet when he was handed the excessive quote.

“I was working out how much money I had in the bank — so much in this one, so much in that one, and between the two of them come up with this 30-odd thousand or how much it was worth,” the 98-year-old told 7NEWS.

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Rose’s neighbour stepped in and saved him thousands of dollars that he would rather give to charity.

“Last financial year I gave away $30,000 to charity,” Rose said.

The toilet was in the end fixed by a plumber for about $550 in an hour.

Rose had already paid Ferguson’s $6,000.

Bad reviews

The company’s website is full of five-star reviews, but elsewhere customers tell a different story.

Various one-star reviews say the same thing: “DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!”

“Beware — Before engaging with this company ... they quoted me $12,500 to connect a washing machine,” one customer said.

“Absolutely shocked and disappointed at the final price,” said another customer.

“An extremely disappointing experience,” wrote another person.

Another customers called it the “worst experience ever”.

Ferguson’s Plumbing is a name used by Australian Trades (Pty Ltd), which also operates under the following eight company names: Andersons Plumbing AUS; Bob’s Plumbing NSW; Dan’s Electrical AUS; Dan’s Electrical NSW; Dan’s Plumbing AUS; Dan’s Plumbing NSW; Lloyd’s Plumbing and Gas; and Willson’s Plumbing NSW.

All have been banned for the next 60 days pending an investigation and could face harsher penalties.

Better Regulation and Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said: “We can impose significant financial penalties for those who are caught doing the wrong thing.”

“We could suspend or cancel their licence if the evidence holds up.”

Rose said he was telling his story in a bid to raise awareness about getting a second opinion.

7NEWS attempted to contact the plumbing company for comment.