My experience with Payless Water Heaters was disappointing
from beginning to end, and it's not over. My old tankless water heater needed to be flushed out with vinegar or CLR, most likely, as it was not making enough hot water; so, I called in Payless based on Yelp reviews in Thousand Oaks. They didn't have a single Yelp review here in Santa Barbara, so that should have been my first clue to stay away.
It turns out that Payless Water Heaters isn't a plumbing company; they are a tankless heater company--and they do install the units they sell; when they come to your house, their business model is to sell you a tankless heater, not to repair a broken unit. I know this because they quoted me $2300 to repair my unit--or they could offer me a "fantastic" deal on the purchase and installation of a brand-new unit. The price of this new heater, with the same11 GPM heating capacity as my old unit, along with installation? $5000. And that was not a top of the line (Noritz) 11 GPM water heater.
I was in a rush, and the salesman (heater installer) was persuasive with his PowerPointpresentation on his cool iPad, so I foolheartedly decided to purchase the 11GMP for $5000. I paid for the purchase in full by check, as required.
Then the problems started: the master bedroom shower could not produce as much hot water as even the old, "broken" unit, as I could not shower while someone was in a second bathroom using the shower. Additionally, the hot water in my kitchen sink was not nearly as hot as the other sinks. It was clear that the heater was defective, right out of the box... or there were problems during the installation that prevented equally hot water from making it to all sinks, tubs, and showers.
I called the company and had them come out to repair the new unit on the second business day after the initial installation. They could not find anything wrong with the unit--they said it worked fine, so I requested that the unit be removed. This was my first request to have the unit removed and my money refunded because the unit did not work.
That's when Bryan Oksas, the owner of Payless Water heaters called. He said was sorry to hear about the problems with the heater but begged me to let someone from the firm come out again (with a real plumber this time) to repair the problems. He stated that he was pretty sure the problem with the new water heater was the "mixing valves" in the shower and kitchen. He said hi guys would put in new mixing valve washers so that the unit would work correctly... But NO effort was made. This made a liar out of their company's owner, Bryan Oksas, who told me they would replace the mixing valves at their own expense if it was determined to be the problem. Bizarrely, the Payless people said that they do not replace mixing valves at Payless Hot Water Heaters--they didn't know how and they were not a plumbing company.
Bryan Oksas failed to respond to my numerous communications, so he will soon be contacted by the Better Business Bureau where I am now forced to file my complaint. Incidentally, a check of the Payless Water Heater section of BBB illustrates that this company is bad news.
As a quick aside, I looked up the price of the Noritz unit that
they sold me (Noritz EZ111) and was surprised to see if advertised by Home Depot for, get this: $1250 (versus Payless Heaters' $5000 charge). They charged me almost 400% more!
I find myself in a position where I must file a complaint to the Better Busines Bureau to help me gave the unit removed and my money refunded. What a pain in the neck.
By the way, did you know that in the state of California a contractor that installs something fairly expensive item in your home, the contractor, by law, must leave the homeowner with a "3 days quit" notice? This is required by law and requires that the seller/contractor leave the 3-day quite notice with the homeowner in case the homeowner changes his/her mind. Not only did I tell Payless that I wanted the unit removed and refunded within this three-day window, but I also informed Bryan that his company is breaking the law by not giving his customers the "3 days quite" notice. He didn't seem to care, so I assume they break CA law all the time by now leaving this required document.
My advice is to stay away from Payless Water Heaters. They were not honest with me, they installed a heater that does not work, and they overcharged me for that unit by almost $3000. Plus worse, the owner has lied to me many times. That said, if you're feeling lucky, or if you are made of money and like challenges, then Payless might be the right company for you. read more