AAA Service Plumbing, Heating & Electrical

Reviews 3

JE

Jeff Brothers

March 7, 2017 Mr. Mike Enright AAA SERVICE PLUMBING 5550 Marshall Street Arvada, CO 80002 Dear Mr. Enright:: I am writing to express my unhappiness and disappointment with my recent service from your company. Last week, I called for service at my rental property, for a gas smell discovered by my tenant who lives at the address. The office person scheduled a visit for the next day by your plumber. The person indicated that there would be a service charge of $29 which would be waived if service was needed when the plumber was there. The next day your plumber, Jimmy, arrived and was let in by the tenant to determine the problem. Indeed, there was a leak behind the gas stove in the kitchen and the source was the flex line from the gas pipe to the stove. The line was easily accessible and the solution was to change the flex line and tighten the connections. He indicated there was a crack in the existing line and it needed to be changed. He relayed this information to me by phone and indicated it was a dangerous situation. I then asked what the cost would be and he responded with a $439 charge. I then asked how long this would take and what materials were needed. He said the company did not charge by ‘T&M’ rather the charge was a fixed fee for the type of service. I then asked again how long it would take to do the work. He said less than an hour. At that point I was so taken aback I didn’t know what to say. We discussed the type of work he was going to complete and how he was going to do it. When I asked if there was an alternative, he stressed the importance of having a certified service like his company perform this work since it was risky and dangerous. I also asked if Xcel should be called to address the problem to which he said it would only delay the fix and I could do whatever felt was best, but something needed to be done. He did offer to reduce the charge by waiving the service call charge and allowing a 5% discount so that the final charge would be $409. My dissatisfaction is with 1) your apparent policy of not disclosing the fee structure at the time the service call was made and only providing the all too reasonable service fee of $29 as an apparent inducement to schedule the service and 2) the pressure applied by the plumber to correct the problem knowing that I had little alternative under the ‘circumstances’ and 3) the obvious taking advantage of the situation of a gas leak that needed to be fixed. Most trade services are on a time and material basis and to assess a fee in excess of $400 for 30 minutes of work is an outrageous and unconscionable sum given the resources needed to correct the situation. I ask you to reconsider this charge and to tell me if you feel this was fair. When I told my 92-year old father, who is a master plumber himself, he just shook his head and sighed that the world isn’t what it used to be. Lastly, one of the reasons I called your company was a direct result of the advertising you have done over the past few months with the friendly smiling faces and the sense that your company is an honest player in the trades. The dramatic tenor of your advertising made one feel a sense of deep caring and attention from your company. I cannot help but feel I was duped by the charming ads and the cute production by your ad agency and your message which now I can see was not really representative of how you do business. I will not call your company again, ever, and I will be happy to tell my story to as many people as I know. How the story ends will be up to you. Sincerely, D. Jeffrey Brothers

TH

Thorvald Heimdal

tldr; Avoid at all costs. fixed service based price is a blatant ripoff and way overpriced. I couldnt live with myself knowing what profit they make on a water heater replacement. Go buy a unit yourself and pay a qualified person to install it based on an hourly rate. Saved $2000. Full story: My hot water heater was not working and needed replaced recently and I called AAA based on their high ratings from Google. I was contacted the next morning and had a person there the same day to estimate the cost of the replacement and to complete the work. The estimate came in at a minimum of $3000 with a club discount! The 20 year warranty was upwards of $4500! In our discussion of the high cost, the rep told me they would replace the vent to the furnace with a 4" vent (maybe 30 minutes and a minimal bit of materials). In addition, they would replace the old gate valve with a new valve ($25 part from HD and a maybe an extra joint). Of course they are going to get the permit from the city as well (minimal cost and some time). I can understand all the "added time and cost". The rep also stated that the premier water heater would cost about $1500 alone, which is fairly close to what I found online. The rep also stated that it could be completed in the 2hr window which was reserved. Lets stop and do the math now, $3000-$1500=$1500. Say another $150 in parts and $100 in permits (generous). Now we are at $1250. Dont forget 2 hours right? So that ends up being $625/hr. Oh but with the $3000 you get a 6 year warranty. 6 year warranty? Most water heaters come with at least a 6 year warranty alone and if you are paying $1500 for a water heater the manufacturer better have at least a 6 year warranty. But once again they will tell you that the 6 years covers any issues you may have with their work or leaks from their work. If i am expecting to get any use out of that 6 year warranty, then there is some shoddy workmanship going on (which I wouldnt expect). They sell their services based on a flat fee service type and its a blatant ripoff. I just cant believe they are swindling people for their hard-earned money. Companies like this give the industry an atrocious reputation. Do yourself a huge favor and talk to a different company or do what I did and buy your own unit from HD/Lowes/Sears/etc. and pay a company on an hourly rate to install it. All said and done I am only in it for $1000.

ER

Erin Nordlof

Im not sure who is reviewing these guys, they have SO many on here compared to most businesses that they either are incenting customers to write positive reviews or else they have someone fulltime on the staff (and since there is an owner response for basically every single review, I wouldnt be surprised) writing reviews. Beware of the huge amount of reviews.... We did not have a good experience with these guys. This morning we called and asked for them to come inspect our leaking water heater. Yes, we knew that they were old (we have 2) and that they would probably need replacing. After looking, we were told that to replace two 50 gallon water heaters, the cost would be $6000..... I know that these tanks go for $500-$800 (40K BTUs, energy star, 12 year 50 gallon tanks) retail - yet apparently their warranty, the tanks being super awesome and their service supposedly justifies the extra 5k or so in labor? We called Mr Rooter and Home Depot, both of which had comparable (actually better) tanks available, and would install same day for $2500 (labor and materials). So we promptly cancelled with AAA. Also, we asked about the possibility of tankless and the tech told us for the size of our house, (2 adults and a 6 year old and baby live here) it would cost is about $15K. (other plumbers told us 4-5K). We live in a nicer neighborhood and I truly believe these guys took this as an opportunity to to rip us off. We mentioned this to the plumber from Mr Rooter who we have used 5X now (we were unable to get ahold of them immediately this morning and were calling around for quotes, AAA just jumped on the opportunity faster), and he agreed that sometimes he has seen that happen. Watch out and do your homework before you hire these guys - know the materials costs, typical labor costs, etc....maybe some of the techs are good but the one that came today wasnt honest or ethical to try and scam us out of 6K for a 2 hour job (which they said would take 5 hrs... 1K per hour?) and usually that kind of thing reflects the business.

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