John G. Webster

After owning my condo at the Gallery @ White Flint since 2005, the dreaded water heater replacement day arrived.  My tenant said that he had to keep reigniting the burner constantly, to the point where he was smelling gas.  Called the preferred plumber for the building and Jeff was already in the building and met me within the hour after calling.  The gas valve on the water heater was shot and due to the unique placement of the water heater in the tiny one bedroom condo, a certain type of heater had to be used.  A forced-air unit where the water heater also generates heat in the winter time.....ugh....

This was a Friday.  The tenant was going to be without hot water for the weekend.  Jeff was able to secure a replacement unit and they would be there on Monday and promised a completion before the tenants come home from work by 5pm!

Monday arrives, Eric started work around ~10am and worked through lunch.  He was by himself.  As he has already replaced a few units in the building, he was able to get it done as promised by 3pm.

Tenant's happy....and that's what matters to me.

Good job guys!

I used JG Webster to install a mini split system in my condo. I know nothing about HVAC, but now, a few months removed from installation, I know enough to realize they took advantage of me.

First and foremost they did a terrible job with installation. They left holes all across my condo - they called them exploratory holes where they literally just punched holes in the wall and ceiling to see what was behind it. They did NOT reseal these holes and told me it would be an additional contract and charge to have the hopes filled.

They did not make any attempt to hide the lines they ran. My hallway ceiling is now lined with 4 pipes which they drilled to the ceiling. Above my kitchen cabinets where more pipes were laid, they made ZERO effort to conceal. There are literally pipes hanging over the top of my kitchen.

Francois (the president) shmoozed me the whole sales pitch and lied about almost every aspect of the the install. I realize now, he was making recommendations based off of what was cheapest and easiest for the company and had no interest in what was best for my space and the effective use of the machines. Now, my condo is poorly heated and cooled because they cut corners. For example, the noisy condensate pumps were only going to run once or twice a night but in reality, they turn on about once every two minutes and make sleep or watching a movie extremely difficult.

Speaking of pumps, the installers had to come back twice because of leaks. One of which caused water damage to the walls of my newly purchased condo. Other damage included permanent marker drawings on my bedroom wall because one of the techs left a marker uncapped and it drew all over as it hung out of his pocket while he was installing.

TLDR: these guys are dishonest and do a poor job.

John G Webster came to do two different jobs for me.  Both technicians were very polite, on time, and did not try to upsell me on anything...I was surprised how fair their pricing was.  For one of the oldest and most respected HVAC and plumbing companies in the city.  Highly recommend!

This company is the biggest set of price gougers I have ever met. It cost me $950 for 4 hours of work today. They took a radiator off the wall and capped it -- that was $500 and they still have to come back to put it on and I will owe them again for the second visit. Forget that! And they removed the toilet to fix a leak, which cost $350. They also charged about $100 for a diagnostic but did not give me any credit towards the eventual bill. One guy for four hours of time -- $950. That's $250 an hour. I will never use them again. Best to shop around for a company that charges by the hour/15 minute increments and that folds the diagnostic charge into the bill if you have them do the work.

So far, John G. Webster has done two big jobs for me, and both times they were excellent. They showed up on time, got the job done on time, and did the job well. Even more importantly for me, on both occasions, I had asked another company for a second quote, and the other company's quote was outrageous and included all kinds of nonsense, made-up stuff that they thought they could get away with charging me for. The John G. Webster quote was thousands of dollars cheaper to both fix my boiler and fix the water heater.

I used John G Webster for a repair during the recent heat wave here in DC. I'm giving 2 stars because he technician was competent and complete the repair.

But the company itself is a ripoff. I was charged over $400 dollars to replace the run capacitor on my compressor. It's basically replacing a big fuse and is a $30 part and a 10 minute repair.

The bill for this included a $95 service call and $300 flat rate for replacing the capacitor. I was not provided with up front pricing, as their website claims. The technician had limited English fluency and told me he had the part in his van and would replace it.

After replacing it, he told me he part cost $295 and he wouldn't charge me extra to install it. Apparently, what he really meant was that he was charging a flat fee. It literally took less than 5 minutes to install (it took the technician 30+minutes to walk to his van and back to get the part which should have been in his job bag to begin with). The technician added a $29 up charge for extra time.

When I called the company to get an explanation for the charges, one of the owners, Silas, gave a song and dance about being a 5-star company that has certified technicians and higher overhead. He also said a majority of the flat fee (which he acknowledged was high) covers a 1-year parts and labor guarantee.

When I requested a receipt, they removed the $29 up charge but there was no mention of the very valuable guarantee. I asked for the warranty in writing, twice, and still have not heard anything back.

Checking around, I found that $250 is the high end of the price range for a capacitor replacement and $400 is highway robbery.

Not a five-star company. Won't use them again.

Seriously DO NOT USE THESE PEOPLE.  If you use them you are asking for major brain damage.  
They continued to make a mess of my system, there are leaks, the owner hung up on me, the tech refused to let me read his report while he demanded that I sign off on it.
I will be reporting them to the BBB.

Ive recommended this company to many of my friends. They are prompt and efficient. I especially like the technician Jamaal because he comes in, quickly diagnoses the problem and isnt too pushy on selling me stupid things I don't need like most companies. They are a great company that check back with their customers to remind them of simple things like changing filters which can be an oversight while living everyday life. For all your HVAC needs look no further!

I have used this company for AC replacement and plumbing.   They did a good job with AC replacement.   It took 4 calls and 4 broken promises of call back before the manager to return my call.

As far as plumbing, Our building hired them to inspect our plumbing.   They did call me to schedule a time until the day of inspection.   I asked the plumber to call me when he get there so I can tell them the issue.   The plumber did not call.   I called my mom and had mom give the phone to the plumber.   I explained our problems to the plumber and asked him to call me with his finding afterwards.   He did not call.   I called the office and they could not tell me anything and told me the plumber will call me back.   They plumber did not call.   I called a third time and ...

If you want the least caring and worst communicating company use Webster.

Reached out to request a sewer inspection due to a floor drain backing up. The technician was great, courteous, very professional. Did a camera scope and found the pipe eroded.

We requested a quote to fix the pipe, waited for days and never got a call back. Called several times and the person answering the call basically shrugged us off several times.  Waited a week, still no call. They obviously didn't want our business or couldn't handle the job.

We called a competitor and they had a quote the next day, and the job completed 2 days later.

Poor customer service starting at the top.

I've used John G. Webster for inspections, maintenance, and repairs to a condo HVAC system since 2005, and inspections + water heater in an old house.  Nervous and skeptical as I am, I can only say that they have been professional, prompt, accurate and fair. Just today -- a Sunday on Memorial Day weekend -- the came for emergency service on an air conditioning compressor: arrived on time, diagnosed in minutes, fixed the problem, and ran extra checks -- all in 45 minutes.

They do charge gargantuan markups on parts: something for $5 a Home Depot will list as $145 parts. So if you have fuses, thermocouples on hand, you'll save money. But who has that, and who wants to get a second service call for the installation? I've heard that the markup for tiny parts is normal for the industry.

All the service guys have been great. They're knowledgeable, and willing to answer questions. They take the time to do the job, and don't get flustered. Edwin has been out a couple of times and is over the top helpful and precise in his work. He arrives right on time, and wastes no time. He deserves special commendation.

For scheduled appointments, ask the dispatcher for the first in the morning visits -- but NOT on the mornings of staff meetings. Then the arrival window gets opened wide. Otherwise, they arrive right on time.

On major jobs in DC, the company will secure permits and even arrange for city inspections. That's a nice touch, in a town where most of the work, that even home inspectors miss, is done with no permits and no inspections by DCRA.

Very poor service. I called in for a HVAC service and were told some of engineers would contact me soon. I waited for 3 weeks and nothing happened. I had to call again, same thing happen again!

If there was an option for a negative rating, I would have selected it. Do yourself a favor and call a different plumber.  John G. Webster caused extensive damage to my home and then was not forthcoming about promises made to repair the damage at no additional cost.

My husband and I found a leak in our basement, which was caused by a leaking pipe in our upstairs bedroom.  The plumber (who I will not name on the review, but pm if interested), said that it was a big job and he'd have to knock into the plaster and dry wall in order to search for the leak and then repair the pipes. The leaking pipe ran the length of our wall from the bedroom into the basement.  So the plumber had to knock through large chunks of wall. In doing so, he nicked and damaged segments of adjoining walls that did not have to be impacted by the work.  He conveniently failed to mention this error to us and we found out after inspecting our home.  The plumber also was sloppy and in a rush (he was on the phone with his friends the entire time he was performing the work) and he failed to properly attach or secure the new pipes that he installed.  So we woke up the next morning to a brand new leak dripping from our plaster ceiling into in our entryway.  He also failed to properly cut the new pipe (he cut it way too short) that attached to the bathroom toilet and as a result, the pipe doesn't lay flat against the wall, but is at an angle.  Why he didn't do this the right way is beyond me. But in any event, it shows the poor quality of his work. Also, when he turned the water back on, the pressure completely wrecked our existing shower faucet and kitchen faucet. When we complained that at the end of all of this we wouldn't be able to use the kitchen or shower at home until new faucets were installed, he blankly stared at us and deflected blame, saying, these things happen.  Oh really? Well, unfortunately, your shoddy work was the thing that happened.  So on top of everything, we had to buy new faucets.

As for the plumber himself- basically this guy was either unqualified or too inexperienced for the job or at the least was off his game that day/didn't care.  Because his quality of work was terrible! His personality wasn't any better.  He made a mess of our home and slammed doors repeatedly while going in and out of the house.  And to boot, he was pissed that he was called back to our home on a Sunday to repair his mistakes! Frankly, after the damage he caused we didn't want him back, but had little recourse at that point. He even threatened to not come at all unless we were nice to him.  Ha!  Someone needs to rethink being a plumber because they don't have the skill or work ethic for it.

The manager of the plumbing company (again, I won't name him here...) promised my husband to pay for the cost of installing the faucets and promised to pay for the repair damage the plumber caused.  He also promised to pay for us to have our ceiling leak fix and plastered.
However, this was all a lie, because when push came to shove, the manager denied ever making these promises.  We paid for the faucets and the plaster repair work. In the end the company paid for only a small part of the damage they caused. My husband and I spent thousands more than we initially expected and were angry that Webster refused to take responsibility for their employee's errors.  

Luckily, we hired an amazing plaster/painter who has since restored our home. That's the only silver lining here.

My house was at 38 degrees when we came back from vacation. Called their emergency service and they said the on-call person would call me back. They never did.

John G Webster is the best HVAC company in the entire Washington area !!! The prices are fair . All of the technicians are professional and knowledgeable . I have used their services many times and always refer my friends and neighbors to use them whenever needed for hvac or plumbing services . I highly recommend this company and especially a specific hvac technician named Thao . He was so professional and a pleasure to have in my home .

I had an outdoor a/c unit which wasn't running. The technician, who was polite and professional discovered it was just an outdoor fuse. He told me that he had the fuses, but even though I needed only one I had to buy the pack of two.
 I happened to ask the price of the fuses. He said they were $187.50 for two (this didn't include the service call fee).
 I looked up the fuse on my phone. It is a Bussman FRN-r 30a.
The fuses were available for $3.10 each! They were not only charging me
a ridiculous price, but they were going to make me purchase two.
  I went to the local hardware store and the two pack was about $15 which is a high price. And, I installed it in 4 seconds.
 I called J Webster to ask if this was possible and the guy couldn't explain why the fuse cost so much.
   I'm shocked because had my wife taken the service call she wouldn't have thought twice and would have been taken.
  I'm amazed because my wife used this company for years and they have a great reputation. How this happened I can't imagine.

They have the worst customer service! I just spoke to a woman about exchanging my hot water heater and her question to me was the whole hot water heater? When I told her yes, she stated they didn't  do that type of work, although according to the manufacturer's website, they do. When I asked to speak to the manager, she hung up on me. I would never give them my business!

We had a great experience with John G. Webster Company.  We had about five service people come out to our house or speak with us on the phone regarding heating our old Capitol Hill row home.  One service man from a different company actually recommended John G. Webster to us.  Francois at John G. Webster came out and walked through our house for almost 45 minutes and gave us a free estimate.  They were the only company to follow-up with phone calls and were readily available to work with us and answer our questions.  Once we were ready to pull the trigger, the work was done in a timely manner and has been to our satisfaction.  I would happily recommend them.

Installation Great. Service Expensive and Useless.

Webster installed my spacepak system about a decade ago. Two years ago the system stopped working, so the sent out a tech, Zach, to fix it. Zach was unable to get to the system in my attic, and kept insisting that they original installers must have used a different way to get into my attic, because the clearance was too tight.

After a few paid hours of arguing with him, and hiring my handyman to go up and confirm that the system was accessible, Zach found an out. He said the system was out of Freon, so he filled it up and charged me handsomely.

The next year the system failed again. So, I called Webster and asked for someone other than Zach. They said he was their most senior tech, so they sent him back. After a shorter period of arguing over whether or not the attic had sufficient clearance, he found another out. He claimed the system had too much freon, so he vented it. Then he charged me because -- in his own words -- he didn't want to have to admit that he had made a mistake.

This year, the system failed again. I asked Webster to come fix it properly, and I haven't heard back. But, I did find a bunch of other qualified techs on Yelp..

Buyer beware. We were sold two units during this past winter. One was a dud and needed to be replaced within a few weeks. The next unit crapped out three days ago. This week has had the hottest days of the year, and John G Webster's management cannot provide an ETA for a solution (repair or replacement). Their workers promise that we will receive phone calls back, but we find ourselves having to call in multiple times in order to speak to someone who is familiar with the situation.

Defective units, poor communication, and no alternative other than sweating and waiting.

I will update this review if the situation changes.

**EDIT** The workers from John G Webster left my AC unit disassembled in my living room the last time they came, and said that this would help them move faster the next time they came. However, the next day they called to say I'd need to go through the manufacturer for a fix (despite me having a warranty with John G Webster). The manufacturer can't get parts and a technician here until the middle of next week, so now I have a useless AC with parts strewn across my living room.

**Update** GE has notified me that John G Webster installed the unit incorrectly and voided the manufacturer's warranty by disassembling the unit after it crapped out. Still no word from John G Webster regarding a solution.

The Webster Company is A1 in our book. Being new to the DC area they were reccommended by a neighbor and we have used them for multiple needs in our 100 year old home. Our first experience was for moving gas lines in our home during a kitchen remodel followed by addressing plumbing needs that required an unconvential approach. I would have Jimmy D work on our plumbing any day of the week.

We recently had Ralph come to ou r home to evaluate the replacement of a poorly constructed original unit and he was thorough and extremely informative about our situation and our options. The mechanics (Ash and Zack) that installed our new furnace and air conditining unit were consumate professionals. They were very knowlegeable  and were able to quickly problem solve any obstacles encountered. It was clear these guys had been well trained when it came to not only their trade but also  customer service. I am not your typical consumer and I am a perfectionist that  personnally conducts much of my home rennovation on my own and know quality work when I see it. John G. Webster is the real deal.

I unfortunately had an incredibly bad experience with John G Webster that I have tried to resolve amicable through email and calls which were unreturned. At this point, I will relay my experience with them here to hopefully prevent others from exposing themselves to what I perceive to be poor service and bad business practice. These are the facts of the service:

* Two years previously, John G webster installed my HVAC/PTAC unit and thermostat into my condo.
* I recently diagnosed that the wireless thermostat was no longer communicating with the PTAC and needed to be replaced or fixed.  I spoke to someone on the phone, explained to them my issue, and scheduled a service.
* I also gave them my credit card information because at this point I had a tenant in the unit who would manage the service call at their convince.
* After the appointment, I received not one but TWO separate bills totaling almost $400.  The diagnosis after their expert service: the thermostat isn't working and needs to be replaced for $500.
* When I called, I asked why in the world they needed 2.5+ hours, 2 separate service technicians, and $400 to diagnosis what I had initially told them was a thermostat issue.  They responded that they needed to ensure there was nothing else wrong with the unit.  I noted that the error notification lights on the unit itself showed no issues and asked if they had disconnected the thermostat to test the unit itself.  They explained that they had not. In my opinion that is a no brainer 1st step.  
* I asked if they were the owner the unit if they would have been ok with paying $400 to diagnose an issue when the issue was already identified. The manager would not give me a response because I believe he knew that he would not.
* I asked and emailed requesting the owner give me a call.  I received no response.

I do not believe these people to be very skilled and they will charge you more due to their own lack of knowledge.  They also authorize additional technicians and services without your approval if they have your credit card on file and just invoice you after.  I would NOT recommend giving these people your credit card information ahead of time. I will be sharing this information with the BBB and I will not be doing business with this business moving forward.  I would not recommend this business to anyone.

I definitely would not recommend this company to anyone. I signed a relatively expensive contract with this company to perform work on my property (of which I originally thought was overpriced originally, btw). The start date was nearly a month after my signing but their head representative, Francois, explained that its because they are in high demand. But I bit the bullet because I needed work done (had multiple contractors dependent upon their work), they seemed to be among the best of my leads then, and time wasnt a HUGE factor. So I sent them drawings (of which they disregarded) and after coming for two site visits, I signed.

Then, on the day the work was to be done, they changed the scope of work on which we originally agreed and, after expressing my frustration of the scope change, they told they would implement the work with the original approach for an extra $1,000.

I refused to pay the extra money and now, because they won't implement the work, I have lost a ton of time. I now have to look for another company to do the work which is going to delay my project even further, costing me more money. Beware...

Shortly after moving into an old rowhome in DC in the winter, we realized the existing HVAC system was terribly designed and unable to heat our home comfortably. After talking to a dozen HVAC companies about how to improve the house's comfort and energy efficiency, I came to the realization that there was no salvaging the HVAC system--it needed to be completely redone.

I really enjoyed talking to Zach from John G Webster; he was my sales contact, and he ultimately did most of the work himself, usually with another technician. He was very knowledgeable, and always answered my questions patiently. Zach's knowledge, as well as the fact that Webster's quote was more favorable than another companies, led me to choose Webster for this large job. Zach gave us quotes for four different options for redesigning the system. We ultimately settled on a multi-zone system with both ducted and ductless mini-splits running off of a single rooftop outdoor unit.

The job took several weeks. There were a few snags, as there always will be in a big job like this, but Zach always kept me posted, got me involved when a decision need to be made, and texted me regularly about when the crew would be coming the next day.

Everything was done with a high degree of care, and we are very happy with the results. Previously we had an energy-inefficient system heating and cooling three floors in one gigantic, inconsistent climate zone. Now we have a multi-zone system that is quiet, energy-efficient, and quickly gets to the desired temperature. Mini-splits are a great way to improve your home's HVAC system, and John G Webster is a great company to install the system for you.