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| - These guys came to the house relatively quickly, in a bout 1.5 hours to take a look at a broken hot-water heater. The quote was $1,100 to replace the heater. The repairman was dodging clear questions like "what is your hourly rate?" and "what is the part cost?" He didn't want to give me the breakdown for the cost.
He tried to get me to sign a work-order when I requested a written estimate. After refusing to sign the line that said "I agree to have the work done for $1,100," he then asked that I sign a line stating that I agree that the repairs had been completed and that i agree to pay. I had to say no 5-6 times.
They are also licensed and will require you to bring the water heater up to code, which includes myriad useless changes and installations, like a stand for the heater to get it off the ground, a drip tray, a drip catcher for the gas line, new hoses in and out, new straps to hold it in place, and a new shut off valve. None of these items are required if you hire a handyman or do the replacement yourself.
When I told him I would tell the homeowner about the cost, he repeatedly pushed me to do the repair immediately, saying things like "wouldn't it be nice to have hot water again tonight?" When I stated that we had checked into a hotel he prodded me to to other useless repairs, like replacing the copper fittings and the water shut-off knob, implying erroneously that they would stop the tank from leaking.
When he left he said sarcastically "well I sure am glad I made the trip over here," and stormed off, upset that i was not the clueless and fabulously wealthy pushover, desperate for hot water, that he was apparently used to dealing with. If you want to overpay and you want the repair done quickly, these guys will probably get it done, but you can get the same job done at half the cost if you use someone else.
UPDATE:
The owner contacted me and asked for the name of the man who gave me the estimate, but failed to respond to my reply. His purpose appears only to be an increase in his Yelp-rating.
To be fair, I spent 45 minutes on hold with Home Depot and eventually gave up. These guys picked up the phone immediately and arrived in under two hours, after business hours.
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