I'm so FRUSTRATED. A few years ago we had BG&E install a sophisticated heating and cooling unit which cost us a fortune. On Friday, the air conditioning STOPPED working. A technician came out Saturday morning, could not figure out what was wrong and left us high and dry. No air again on Sunday. Monday we had another technician come out who also doesn't seem to know what's going on. That means another night in AUGUST without air. They're supposed to "call" in the morning but I'm beyond upset. I haven't slept in our bed for three nights, I'm exhausted, I have a raging case of poison ivy and am completely miserable. Our dogs are miserable, too. BG&E is installing systems they don't understand and can't FIX? I have a horrible feeling they aren't going to fix the unit, or it'll be weeks before they do. Clearly they don't care. The most recent technician had a very nasty attitude, and neither one of them bothered to stay more than a half hour. My husband was able to spot a problem on the outside unit the first technician missed. Do not purchase HVAC systems from BG&E! read more

I called BGE Home this morning because my hot water heater had failed. I figured that I could get it replaced the same day, since hot water is kind of important. After sitting on hold for 20 minutes I was told the " hot water department " didn't work on the weekend and I could call back on Monday to schedule an appointment. Are you kidding me!!! What a joke!!! So much for taking care of customers. I will never call them again! read more

I am incredibly disappointed in BGE Home. We have had an awful experience with them. Our HVAC system has broken 3 times in the past two years. The first time it took nearly a week before anyone could come fix our heat during January. We had to temporarily move out of our home because it was unsafe to stay in it due to the frigid temperatures. Today, there is an impending snowstorm. The heat broke again, despite the new part having been ordered just a year and a half earlier. When we called as soon as possible to avoid being heatless during a snowstorm on a holiday, they refused to problem-solve a way to serve us, saying that they can only serve policyholders. We cannot afford to be policyholders, as we just don't have the money to spend on problems we may or may not have. While I would understand not helping a non-policy holder in a normal situation, we are in an emergency situation with a snowstorm on the way and a holiday tomorrow. The fact that they could help policyholders but not us tells me that they have the capability to help but just won't. Their system is elitist and favors those who have disposable income with no thought for customer service let alone human decency. Furthermore, using BGE in the title is quite misleading. It lead us, as younger, newer homeowners, to believe that we had to go through them for our HVAC concerns. In actuality, we have no reason to use BGE Home as they are in no way related to our electric service. However, the representative with whom I spoke today did not relate that information to me nor did she suggest that I call another company, which would have been a helpful thing to do. I don't expect them to change their policies or endorse competitors in a normal situation, but I do expect them to work with their returning customers to calmly problem solve an emergency situation, rather than become defensive and speak condescendingly to their customers as the representative I spoke with did just now. We called another HVAC company after getting off the phone with the BGEHome representative and immediately got an appointment. read more

I've been a customer of BGE Home for probably 20+ years, even before they separated from BGE utility. Over the last few years their service has really slipped. Particularly, when my furnace went out this weekend, of course during the coldest weather this year. When I called to schedule my service Sat. morning I told customer service that it was most likely the furnace glow plug (or furnace igniter). They typically go up every couple of years or so. I was scheduled for sometime on Sunday. Got so cold by end of day Saturday, I went out at 10:00 pm to purchase another space heater. The tech showed up Sunday morning, which was cool. After some tinkering, managed to get the furnace to fired up. I asked whether he had replaced the igniter and was told he had no part and that it must be ordered. Only once or twice time had my furnace service over past 20 + year required any thing other than a new igniter, but this time my service company doesn't have one. The "repaired furnace worked for about an hour or so and then went out again! I called again to report this and I was told they must wait for parts department to open on Monday and maybe they could get it in by Tuesday. That would mean 4 days with no heat. I asked so what do I do i a frigid house, the rep said they could loan me some space heater, but that too would have to be after the weekend. I feel this is unacceptable. Things do break down and bad weather can occur on weekend. A company of this size and with the number of employees and truck (as TV adds indicate) should be prepared to service their Service Plan clients on the weekend. Hope they can get their act together or I may take mine's elsewhere. read more

We have service contract with BGE Home to inspect and service the heating and air conditioning on an annual basis. They supposedly serviced the AC in the spring, now that we need it, it doesn't work and BGE will not service for 5 days because they are busy. So why have a contract when they can't provide service and have inept staff to inspect who clearly don't know what they are doing. The annual service contract is a rip off. read more

Had a bad experience with the plan. They spent two and a half weeks trying to fix my furnace, then told me my vents weren't big enough even though the system had been working for 10 years. Finally got so frustrated, called a heating guy recommended by my neighbor. Took him all of 10 minutes to diagnose the problem and another day to order the part and fix it. read more

Charged $40 for a quote to instal recessed lighting.... Quoted $1400 to install six lights and said they would cut a hole in my ceiling for every ceiling joist which would have been 16 cuts. I did it myself with three small cuts in the drywall on the wall (not ceiling)... Thanks but no thanks... Waste of $40 bucks, cost me $250 bucks for everything. read more

I am totally in shock right now. I have had my BGE home contract for 8+ years - I have never used it. Well my AC stops working and I call to make an appointment for them to inspect my unit. When the technician gets to my house I tell him its the unit upstairs so he says Oh I will be right back. He returns to tell me that is not part of my policy! I really didn't understand what he was stating....I have full home coverage. He proceeds to tell me that only covers 1 unit and we default it to the first floor unit. I was in total dis-belief and went to get my bill and he still says that only covers one unit. He says to cover 2 units its an additional fee. I explain to him that when I signed up I wanted to cover my AC and that is what it states. No one ever asked me if I had 2 units. Why would I pick to cover 1 and not the other??? and only for an additional nominal fee. That just doesn't make sense. That's like getting 4 new tires and saying well I only want the warranty on the front tires. No one in their right mind would do this. I refuse to pay the $100 for the first 15 minutes and additional $$$ for him to inspect my unit. I have never used the service in over 8 years and this is obviously a problem with customer service that they would sell me the contract but not ask the appropriate questions. I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told they were busy and that someone would call me back. That was yesterday and I am still waiting. At this point I still need my AC fixed and I am not sure why as a loyal customer they would not work with me to get this fixed. I am holding on for some type of compromise if I ever get a call back. read more

Amazed at how reasonably priced BGE home services are. They came out to replace a faulty circuit board on my furnace. No lengthy delays in getting an appointment or to get the part, and they showed up on time. Both of the technicians were friendly, helpful and courteous. Best of all, the cost for the repair was more than $400 less than what another company tried to charge me. Highly recommended. read more

BUYER BEWARE!!!! I give BGE Home 0 stars for their customer service and warranty policy. I purchased a new life-time hot water heater from them in 2009 as they offered the best price, but I didn't buy a service policy for the unit (I never do). Well the heater started leaking last month and when I called to have them come fix it, I was told there would be a $100 service charge for a technician to come out and verify the problem was covered under warranty. If it was covered under warranty they would then have to schedule another technician to come replace the unit. I've never heard of any warranty that requires the customer to pay $100 to verify the broken unit is covered. After much yelling and asking repeatedly for a supervisor (never got one), I was told the fee would be waived. Technician came out, spent less than 5 minutes looking at the heater and sure enough said it was covered under warranty. The unit was replaced the next day and I was very pleased with the repairman's work. HOWEVER, a week later I received a bill in the mail for $104. When I called to inquire about the bill I was told it was for the first technician's visit. I explained that I was told this fee was to be waived, Nancy (supposedly a supervisor) said there was nothing in the notes and that it was a requirement of the warranty. After 25 minutes of being on hold and repeatedly asking for her supervisor and then asking for his supervisor, Nancy offer to SPLIT the cost. I refused and again asked to speak to her boss's boss. Finally after another 10 minutes I was told the fee would be removed. I guess the $104 fee is BGE Home's way of PUNISHING customers who don't buy a service policy. read more

My air conditioner stopped working on a Saturday and we called for service. Our scheduled appointment was for after 12pm on Tuesday. The repairman arrived at 8:30 pm on Tuesday, and determined that he would need to come back, due to the late hour and darkness. I called BGE Home Wednesday morning and they scheduled me for after 12 pm that day. No one showed up or called. I called back on Thursday and they scheduled me for after noon on Thursday. The repairman showed up at 1:30 and completed the repair, satisfactorily. The lack of communication was completely unsatisfactory. I wasted several days waiting for a repairman. They need a smaller window for their appointments. read more

Had BGE homes come to my home to get an estimate on installing ceiling fans. I was charged 40.00 just to have them come out and he walked around and then ask for the check for 40.00 and went to his van came back with a figure of 305.00 just to put up a little fan in my kitchen. What a rip off! read more

Awful, just awful! Terrible communication and over priced. ($99 for the 1st 30 minutes, then $33/15 minute block after that.) They didn't show during their 5 hour appointment window. They never called to let us know. We tried 5 times to get updates and each time they said they would call the technician and the technician would call us. Every time we talked with the company it was a complete run around. read more

My husband and I purchased a new AC/furnace for our home. We got the brand we wanted and the install went great. However, the sales experience was less to be desired. We asked about financing and our rep gave us an incorrect quote for our monthly payment and rate. We instructed our rep to not proceed with the financing contract and to send us a new one so that we can pay it in full since it made more sense for us. Our rep told us that he did not put the financing contract though and that a new contract would be on the way. It took 3 days to see a new contract and I called customer service to see when I would get my final bill in the mail. The final bill came and it was for the financing option we declined to go forward with! This caused more headaches for us since we now had to call the financing department and clear this away. Also, we didn't get a courtesy call after the install to check on how things went or if we were satisfied with our purchase or if we had any questions. Out of all of this with contract delays, bad communication and a huge invoice mix up, I am mostly disappointed that no one bothered to check on a new customer's install. I had to call the customer service line to give them feedback myself! I am unsatisfied with my customer experience and will not be using this company again. read more

My mother has been with BGE for the past 2 years and for whatever reason, BGE has NOT been helpful in resolving our hot water issue. I'm not sure why we are paying a monthly fee for services when we are not receiving any services for the past two months. Please have a customer service rep contact me/my mother ASAP so we can resolve this issue together. read more

I waited 5 hours for the repairman to arrive, only to find out they don't work on wall/window AC units. WHY don't they tell you that on their website? I wasted half a day and now I have to search again for someone to repair the AC or just go ahead and buy a new one. I will never again consider BGE Home again for any service. read more

I called Best Home Services because I got the coupon in the Valpak mailing. The customer service person asked me, "When was the last time your carpet was cleaned?" I told her "Over two years ago." I was surprised she didn't recommend any additional services but I didn't complain when she gave me the price. They gave me a great quote over the phone $102.71 for cleaning 2 bedrooms, living room, hallway and 2 couches. They gave me a scheduled time of 10 AM -1 PM on Thursday. This is where things start going WAY wrong. Well, 10 AM, 11 AM, 12 noon passes...I call them at 12:15 PM because I have to pick up my son from school at 1:30 PM and can't imagine that they could be finished in one hours time. The dispatcher connects me directly through to the technician who lets me know that he will try to get to me before 1 PM. He and an assistant arrived shortly after 1 PM to just "look at the carpet". After further inspection, he says the carpet needs a "deep scrub" and tells the quote I was originally given was incorrect for this particular service. He then tells me it will be like $339 to deep scrub my apt. and couches! What in the...?! I let him know I didn't have that kind of money so he lowers the price to $200 (because he was late, the original price I was quoted was too low, etc.) Eager to get my carpet cleaned, I told him I would have to find the rest of the money to get the carpet cleaned. The tech says, "OK we can come back around 5 PM today after another job in the area." . At 5 PM, I call the technician on his cell phone to let him know I am home. He tells me he is currently in Glen Burnie, MD (over an hour away with traffic) and he would try to make it. He didn't make it, but did however get me to pay by credit card over the phone to "hold the price" of $200. Stupid me.... I call him back Thursday evening after not showing up at 5 PM and he tells me he can squeeze me in on Saturday at 3 PM. He didn't show at 3 PM, or 4 PM or 5 PM....I called him a little before 6 PM to see how I can get a refund and he tells me he will squeeze me in on Sunday after he leaves church, around 1 PM, before going to a job in Upper Marlboro. (Hope he said a prayer for telling me that fib!) On Sunday, after not showing again, I left another message on the tech's cell phone and with the after hours office phone for someone to call me back so I can be refunded my money for service that I have not received. I can't fault the technician because honestly, he's the one that gave me the best customer service so far with this. The times I spoke to him he was courteous, apologetic and really seemed like he was trying to solve my problem. He apparently is spread too thin, across too many locations. But that doesn't take away the fact I've paid for services that I have not received. Hopefully this will get resolved quickly, but I am currently waiting on my refund. BTW, I googled Best Home Services and found a laundry list of other patrons that had similar experiences. I wish I had done my research before selecting them to clean my carpet. read more

Unbelievably poor service!!! I'm a Service Manager at a large multi-national company and have been on the provider side of the equation when things don't go quite as well as hoped. Services are a people business, and the human factor makes it difficult to eliminate variability, so even the best company can have an off day. My experience with BGE Home is that their front line troubleshooters/sales staff are decent, but the actual repairmen AND their administrative staff are absolutely horrible. This is especially egregious when their rates are 10% - 15% above market level. Here's the story ... My gas furnace stops working in the middle of a pretty cold night (below freezing - cold for Maryland). When the family woke up the next morning, it was pretty cold inside the house ... already in the high 50's. After a quick troubleshooting effort, I concluded it was a tripped rollout switch. After resetting the switch and firing the furnace back up, it was clear (once the fan motor kicked in) that I probably had a crack in the heat exchanger. I was in a hurry (had my own job to do) so I called in a professional ... BGE Home ... to confirm my findings and get the fix underway. A few short hours later, a Tech arrived and immediately went about a deliberate troubleshooting routine. He was neat, professional, and after going through his routine, confirmed my suspicions. He also knew that the heat exchanger was on a 20yr warranty (yeah!!!) but informed me their fixed price charge was still $1,100 to make the repairs (in their defense, it is a 6hr task). Now comes the disaster... Two Techs show up at my house. I wanted to treat them right, so I moved my vehicles out of the garage so they could back their service vans into the garage if desired (it was a sloppy day), strung some work lights in the work area, and plugged in a space heater (getting colder). These guys were definitely a cut BELOW the previous guy ... disorganized, complaining about working, everything you DON'T want your service employee to do. It wasn't long before they figured out they didn't bring the secondary heat exchanger with them (the model number should've tipped them off at the office if they had ANY organization to their methods). They called a buddy who showed up an hour later with the part. Fortunately, they called the RIGHT buddy, because he obviously knew what he was doing and immediately started instructing the other two on how to get the job done. They finally finished and left. But did they clean up? No ... left a pile of trash on the floor (including three broken drill bits). I was concerned (I'd have read my guys the riot act for leaving a jobsite is such a condition), so I opened the furnace back up. They bent the housing so bad getting the old unit out that the door now attaches with a bow to it. All the tie wraps were removed (expected), but not a single one was put back on ... and of course - more trash INSIDE the unit. The best was the can of flammable PVC cement (for reinstallation of the exhaust duct) that they left on top of my gas water heater right next to the exhaust duct. INCREDIBLE!!! 5 days later, we notice a strong odor of gas near the furnace when the furnace wasn't running. Obviously this is most likely a connection that wasn't reinstalled correctly, so I called BGE Home. Their response? Call the utility company to come and turn off the gas to your house, and then we'll come out and look at it. When I tried to explain that this was a warranty issue with recently performed service, and that their Tech could simply turn off the gas at the furnace using the service disconnect JUST LIKE THEY DID WHEN THEY PERFORMED THE SERVICE, their administrative staff wasn't budging. UNBELIEVABLE ... Bad Service followed by bad warranty administration. My guess is that you'll get better service from almost ANYONE else. read more

I have used bgehome in the past with good results but dealingwith the administration of their home improvement(windows and doors)has been a nightmare.after signing a contract(which I couldn't get out of ) it took 8 weeks to get anything done and only after I filed a complaint with the better business bureau.i paid by check when the job was completed and it's going on 2 weeks and they still haven't processed the check.i don't like to keep large amounts of money in my checking account because it has been compromised in the past fraudulently.i called and the lady said they have the check and would process it .that was Thursday and this is Monday,11 days after they got the check , and I bank online and the check still hasn't been processed.if I were you I would stay away from bgehome contracters because they are the worst business I have ever dealt with in management. read more

Lets go back 5 years to when I was paying for hot water heater and heating and cooling coverage. My hot water heater went up and when I called to schedule someone to come out and look at it, they told me the hot water was to old and wasn't covered under the policy. Well I asked them why they freely accepted my money for something so old, they couldn't answer that. So I replaced it myself and canceled the plan. Six months later they called to see if I had replaced the hot water heater and offered me a plan to cover and service it. Well I laughed and hung up. Over the years we have had them come out and service our heating and air conditioning service through the plan we have. Well this summer we started having trouble with the AC and we called for someone to come out. They inform us that we owe them money. We asked them how and why. They explain that they haven't received payment from BGE. SO we contacted BGE and they send us copies of all the payments over the past two years. GO FIGURE, they received payments. When we called BGE Home back and had a three way conversation with them they informed us the billing department would call us tomorrow. Well Tomorrow never came. So we called back and they charged us $40 because of some mess up. So my wife paid to get someone out here. The coil on the system was caked with ice, which means there is a leak somewhere. Keep in mind while I was outside cutting grass, Freon was blowing out the unit outside. The serviceman tells me the system is old, the coil is leaking and the system should be replaced. Mind you he never checked to locate the leak at all. Well two weeks later we called again for the same thing. This serviceman tells me he recharged the system and it's holding pressure but he is unsure where the leak is. He said just because the coil has ice doesn't mean that's where the leak is. So now six weeks later, we call them this morning, Aug 22, 2014, and guess what they tells us... We owe them $150 from 2012. So no service for us. They claim the direct billed us when all the other years we paid through BGE. We never received any bill for this and why would the billing cycle change for one year. So now the fight with them is on. Their billing procedure and receiving departments need to be revamped. read more

On Weds nite I noticed a drip coming from my 20 yr old water heater. Thursday I contacted them, explained the problem, told them I needed a new water heater installed. Was scheduled for between 7:30AM and 6PM on Friday. Someone would call to confirm. Friday morning around 9 I got a call from the technician and was told he would be here between 1PM and 5PM. Cool ! Then about 11:30 I get another call that he is on the way. He arrived just about noon. Looked at the water heater and told me I needed a new one. He wrote down info from the old heater, took some measurements, and went out to his truck. He came back inside and handed me his phone to talk to someone at the office. We talked over several options and decided on a choice. Price $890.00. But they would have to do it tomorrow. OK. Then after handing the phone back to the technician I was told there was a $99 charge for showing up today to not install the water heater I asked for. First I'd heard of it. I didn't have a choice so I paid him. The next morning(Saturday) I get a call at 7:15AM from an installer telling me he'll arrive in 15min. He arrives, looks at the water heater and tells me it will have to be rescheduled because wires to my furnace and furnace flue are in the way and it will be a "bunch" more than what I was quoted. The earliest an HVAC tech can get there will be Monday or Tuesday. The five wires were attached together with wire nuts and all wires were of different colors which matched the wire nuts. But he couldn't handle it. Same for the 18 inches of flexible flue pipe. Not his job. I told him to get lost and called a local licensed plumber/HVAC company and left a message. He called back ten minutes later. He asked me to read some info off of the old heater, quoted me a price of $875(same unit, same warranty and I said yes. He said he would be there in a couple of hours. He and a helper arrived around 10AM. He had no problem with the wiring or the flue pipe. I had already drained the old tank and turned off the gas and water to the heater the day before. They were done by noon on Saturday. Will be the last time I call BGE home for any repairs. BTW, the company that finally did the job was Atkinson Plumbing/Heating in Harford County. read more

These guys are a joke. Where to start? First off, they give you a 10 hour time frame window....really?! Second off, I had the first tech come out, told me that I was low on freon but said due to the age of my unit it would be a waste to charge up. 1) It's my money 2) it's only 13 years old and hasn't been serviced since I've been here 8 years ago. Normal wear and tear causes leaks. I then called and had an appt 2 days later for the tech to come out and charge up on freon. Appt was from 12pm on. 9 pm I received a call (!!!) and the first thing the tech said was, "I understand you need a charge up, do you realize when you need a charge it's because you have a leak." Ummm....yes I realize. All units leak. If units weren't suppose to leak then you wouldn't sell freon charges!!!! The tech told me I would be taking a $700 gamble and that he spoke to the lead tech who came out to my place 2 days ago and confessed to saying "we dont' want to do it." REALLY!!!! I am paying you to come out and do what I need you to do!!! I think these guys are lazy and pitiful! Also, don't give your customers a 10 hour window. That's insane. I will be going else where to have my heat pump serviced. Someone who will perform the proper care, charge up and come back to check for leaks. NOT TELL ME THEY DON'T WANT TO DO IT!! Please do not use these guys. Thanks for a wasted Saturday staying in my house waiting for your lazy techs to call me just to say they dont' want to do the work. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! read more

BGE Home is NOT the BG&E company that most of us grew up with and relied on as a dependable local utility company and service provider. I purchased a one year contract at the rate of $45.00 a month which was attached to my utility bill. It was my understanding from the phone sales pitch that I was purchasing a contract that provided once a year pre-season check ups on my furnace as well as my air conditioner plus whole house coverage of appliances. I called yesterday to schedule the once a year inspection of my air conditioning system and was told that I used my one time inspection having the furnace looked at in October and I would have to pay for a pre-season check up of my air conditioner. I have paid 10 months on this policy or $450.00 and all I got was a 5 minute check up of my furnace in October. I am a senior citizen on a fixed income and I have been misled and taken advantage of. I have been a homeowner here in Maryland and also in Texas and never once was I ever sold an annual policy on heating/ac that only allowed one inspection per year. Every other contractor I have dealt with sold policies that covered both a Spring and Fall inspection of my heating/ac units. I asked for the policy to be cancelled. I could use the remaining $90.00 due under this contract to hire another contractor to come out and do a Spring inspection of my central air. I was told someone would call back before 5 pm to confirm the cancellation and of course no one called me. Stay away from BGE Home. Do not be mislead in to thinking that this company is in any way affiliated with the former BG&E. They are a total rip off/scam artists. read more