I'll tell you my experience and you decide.
Sheldon at APC came out to look at our water heater because of our A H ome warranty S plan sent them over.
Sheldon Quickly presented us with both with an estimate of a $400+ bill for work that needed to be done that the A H ome warranty S plan will not cover. Without even filing a claim. That didn't sit right with me, APC are plumbers not adjusters. It is up to the insurance company to asses and deny costs.
That evening we called our A H ome warranty S plan to find out what the details were about the work that instantly wouldn't be covered. A H ome warranty S plan had no clue, no report or claim had been filed by APC. So technically they couldn't comment on the work order, they could only summarize that Sheldon somehow knew ahead of time what type of work they wouldn't cover before A H ome warranty S plan had a chance to review the claim.
This morning I received my call back from A H ome warranty S plan supervisor as requested, they stated they will cover all the install and costs associated with install including some of the itemized costs from Sheldon's recommend worksheet (like disposable) except any "modifications". Sheldon has recommended $400 of "modifications" to a part that costs $320. Yeah read that last part again.
The insurance company would pay APC for parts and labor to install, but not the request for $400 of "modifications" needed to do the install install.
I asked the supervisor for the details on the modifications that were necessary, A H ome warranty S plan stated they were not sure but would follow up to get detailed analysis from APC. They did say they were covering the costs of the replacement and and install. Estimate would pay APC about $100 for labor & parts.
A few calls to other licensed plumbers I and received quick over the phone and email written estimates for the labor and parts. Cost is about $100-$150 for install + water heater of my choice or I buy from their company suppliers.
There are no modifications necessary, it's a standard 50 gal 22" 4ft water heater sitting 16-18" under the pipes with easy access. 3 short pipes to install and wiring harness to hook up. About 45-60 work and they will haul the old heater away.
You can buy the bendable universal adaptable connections over the counter at any hardware store that bend and adjust to any water heater, there's a selection of metal choices but all range from 12-19 each. Gone are the days where you would have to cut and solder many copper joints to fit in a water heater.
There is no gas line or exhaust, the only 'expert piece of the install would be the cutting and resolder of the copper expansion value pipe, that should take 15 minutes.
Guess what, upon doing some quick research on BBB, Gov and other review sites.... there are many complaints for the same practice for APC. More reviews posted here by real Yelp accounts. So I have nothing to do, so I'll add my complaints to the websites too.
Google and Yelp before you leap.