I placed a call to them and a very friendly and helpful woman secured my appointment. Two professionals arrive the following day at 2:00 pm, again very friendly and chatty. I explained the problem which was my water heater working intermittently, the burner was essentially cutting in and out. They made a number of checks to diagnose the problem, they checked the venting, flame sensor, and igniter. All seemed in working order. They determined that my gas valve was not working properly (something about an internal magnet that was failing and closing the gas on and off). They quoted me $415 to replace the gas valve and I agreed for them to go forward. After a few errors were made in securing the correct gas valve they arrived to replace it. After the replacement the water heater acted in exactly the same manner it had previously. Obviously a misdiagnosis. The two gentlemen worked tirelessly in figuring out the problem until one of them departed for another client and job at approximately 6:30. The remaining gentleman continued and determined that it was a venting problem (of which he initially checked and determined not to be the problem). He finally gave up and advised me that I would require all new venting with an estimate of over $4000, and this did not include a new water heater which would be $3300 installed.
Now, I am a logical man, not a plumber but a logical and somewhat intelligent man. I could not understand that when this unit was installed in 2003 only now the venting was not efficient enough to provide the proper venting? After all, it had for 13 years. The Gentleman Plumber suggested that the venting of which was two inch, had over the years obtained a build up of materials and dust from the 13 years of operation that was now restricting the exhaust gas fumes. It didn't make sense. What made sense to me was that perhaps the blower fan was operating inefficiently due to dust build up over the years. The plumber waved the cost of the new gas valve and charged me the $69.00 service call and an additional $100 diagnostic fee. Once again, I was left with an estimate of over $4000 for new venting. It should be noted that they arrived at 2:00 pm and left at 8:00 pm. After he left I used a can of CO2 that is typically used to clean dust from computers and blew out the blower fan, turned the tank back on and it works like a charm with ZERO issues. They didn't deserve the diagnostic fee due to being wrong twice.
Long story short I believe that these plumbers are gentlemen, however completely inept in resolving my plumbing issue. Also their price guide is ridiculously inflated. It would seem to me that they could take pretty good advantage of a senior or person with little knowledge and too much trust. We've taken for granted our taps with instant hot water and to do without is unfathomable. I just received my Better Business Bureau of Central and Northern Alberta 2016 Consumer Guide and listed in the 2015 Top 10 Complaints is Plumbing Contractors,...buyer beware!
Good luck to you all. read more