I don't often write reviews. Only when I come across something that I feel needs saying . Well, here it is.
Please understand, If I'm writing a negative review, The experience had to be pretty bad. So here are the particulars. Grasshoppers guy arrived at my home to replace a thermostat. I had purchased a new thermostat at the Heating & cooling contractor supply on Railroad Avenue. Be aware this firm only does HVAC and are a major supplier to contractors in the area.
So, the guy comes in and takes the old thermostat of the wall. I inform him that I have already purchased a new thermostat and hand it to him. For the next 15 min. he tries several times to unscrew the back, almost breaking it at one point judging from the sound of cracking plastic. He then declares it defective and informs me I'll need another one. I tell him I just bought it from the contractor supply. He says " I'll call them ". He calls them and starts talking about the thermostat. I can here thru the phone as he was standing right next to me the contractor supply hanging up on him mid speech. To my shock, he actually pretended as though he was still talking to them and then
looks at me shaking his head yes as though they were agreeing with him.
Needless to say the job could not be accomplished with my thermostat. But fortunately he had one on the truck. It being the middle of winter I reluctantly agreed to let him continue. While he was installing the thermostat he provided, he seemed to be struggling a bit telling me at one point that he wasn't familiar with this brand. It was one of the most popular brands on the market. This was before the pandemic by the way, so this wasn't do to a labor shortage. He finished and the bill was 5 times what
I had expected it to be as I have had thermostats replaced before. Usually costing between $75 & $150. Depending on whether you supply your own thermostat. This bill was over $500. for an hour and fifteen minutes, forty five of which were spent trying to break the thermostat I purchased.
So I paid him. their was no arguing about the bill. Usually they leave and mail the bill later. After all, you live there, where are you going. Well, this guy demanded payment on the spot. He pulled out an electronic card reader and told me he needed my credit card. I gave it to him, what else could I do and after verifying that I had paid in full, promptly left.
I felt ripped off. So I drove to the HVAC store to return the thermostat and complain. After telling the HVAC guy that the grasshopper tech couldn't install this he refunded my money. I pressed him about the quality of the thermostat he had sold me. He simply answered " I sell these by the thousands to contractors with no complaint ". He seemed very sincere,
so I asked him what he thought about this Grasshopper outfit. He didn't respond verbally, he just put his head down and shook it from side to side.
I thought maybe they just had a bad technician on their crew. So I called Grasshopper . The woman on the phone was very nice and seemed like she genuinely wanted to help. I informed her that I had just returned from the HVAC store and the thermostat they had just sold me for $150. retailed at the store for $30. bucks. The exact same thermostat down to the serial number. I could her someone in the back round talking to her as she was pausing as she spoke. She informed me their thermostat came the a ten year warranty because it was " registered" by them. The $30. one in the store came with a five year warranty. At this point I figured these guys were gonna have an answer for everything.
So I ended up paying $150 dollars for a $30 dollar thermostat. But I did get a ten year warranty. Like who's gonna remember that in ten years? I also paid $350 dollars for a service call that should have cost around ninety dollars. I know because after this my other thermostat in the upstairs apartment needed replacing and since I bought my own once again, that's what the next contractor charged me. Which I thouhgt was a fair price. read more