Hiring Daniel Fish Plumbing to replace my water heater was an expensive mistake. Like many people, I was influenced by the company's positive reviews - but I got burned. I paid more for less, and I will need to have the job redone, thereby doubling my costs.
Because I had been dealing with a home warranty company and one of their plumbers before making the appointment with Daniel Fish Plumbing, I had a list of code-related upgrades that were recommended to me. I presented the list to Daniel Fish when he arrived at my house. He said the upgrades were "horsesh!t" and just a way for those plumbers to charge more money for replacing a water heater. It seemed plausible to me at the time, but I later realized I was railroaded into the job that Daniel Fish wanted to do (i.e., a like-for-like replacement of my old water heater with a new water heater) - not the job I wanted done.
As shown by the pictures, the job did not turn out very well. The one request I stood by for the new water heater was to have a drain pan. Despite some protest by Daniel Fish, that request was honored - sort of. For reference, the specification provided with the water heater mandated a drain pan at least 34 inches in diameter. What did I get? I got a 28-inch drain pan. Why? Because the 28-inch drain pan was the only way Daniel Fish thought he could accommodate my request for a drain pan and follow through with the job that he wanted to do. (Indeed, the smaller of two drain pans he had on hand was used instead of the larger, more appropriate drain pan.) As a result, the manufacturer-recommended protective cover for the water heater could not be used. Daniel Fish will say that I had a choice, but I was really only presented a dilemma between using the drain pan or the cover (but not both). That said, the piping to the drain valve on the water heater does not leave enough room for the protective cover anyway.
Daniel Fish wanted to settle before the job was even complete. (It was Friday, and he wanted to go home early.) I wish I had bothered to ask him for an estimate before he and his assistant began the job. (But slog through some of the Yelp reviews and you will find Daniel Fish does not like providing estimates.) In the end, the job cost me $400 more than an estimate I received from the plumber associated with the home warranty company. That estimate included the code-related upgrades. Later, after a leak developed just 2-3 feet away from where Daniel Fish had worked, I called out yet another plumber to fix the leak. I asked that plumber for an estimate to re-install the water heater with the code-related upgrades. That estimate - which included the code-related upgrades - came out to almost exactly what I paid Daniel Fish for the water-heater installation without the code-related upgrades. As such, I paid Daniel Fish more for less.
It should be obvious, but I will add that I was not particularly well respected by Daniel Fish. In addition to overriding me on just about everything, he made himself a little too comfortable in my home. When I locked certain doors around the house restricting his access, I was likened to a "housewife." It makes me wonder how I might have been treated if I had indeed been a woman of the house.
Lastly, many people have made comments here regarding magnetic water-softening technology being pushed by Daniel Fish. Save your money! Magnetic water-softening technology has been around for quite some time, but there is a reason it is not a state-of-the-art technology: Magnetic water-softening technology is rooted in pseudoscience. That's right. It's "horsesh!t." Check out this 20-year-old study by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory published by the U.S. Department of Energy: https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/567404 In summary: "No beneficial effect was found when using the magnetic device."
Mr. Fish, if you are reading this, I am still waiting for the invoice for the water heater. My water heater is excluded from my home warranty until I can provide a copy to the home warranty company.
*** Update ***
After about 3 weeks, Daniel Fish fulfilled my request for the water-heater invoice and a partial refund. While I appreciate both the invoice and the partial refund, the partial refund was fairly modest. I really wish he would have met me halfway due to the fact that I need to have the work redone. read more