Jenny C.
03/12/2017 12:00:00 SA
High pressure sales tactics & OVERPRICED! If you're not knowledgable about whatever you're calling them to fix OR if you're not rolling in cash, don't use Dean's. They take advantage of your lack of knowledge and try to rip you off big time. I was in such a hurry to get my hot water heater working again after it went out (and it was on a Friday, so I didn't want to go without hot water for the entire weekend- first world problems- I KNOW!), so when Dean's was able to come out I was so relieved. Problem was, my water heater was only 3 years old, and still under warranty- BUT, the warranty only covers the parts (the first Dean's repairman told me they charge $300/hr labor!), and the two elements that went out were only worth about $30. The repairman also replaced the two thermostats, again- the parts were not expensive. He quoted me $900 to do the repair! I was flabbergasted! The water heater only cost me $1200 INSTALLED a few years back! I was able to talk him down to $700, but was still sick to my stomach thinking of all the money I was paying him. If I didn't decide to go with this $700 repair, I'd still have to pay them the $80 trip charge, and- like I said before, I wouldn't have hot water for at least a few days while waiting for a different plumber to come out. So, because I hadn't done my research before calling Dean's, I told him to go ahead with the repair. I felt sick for weeks afterwards thinking about how much they ripped me off. But, at least, I thought- this repair would be covered by a one year warranty (because, as part of my talking him down to $700 from $900, I agreed to sign up for their monthly plan- which was only $4.25/month and I figured I'd just cancel it after a few months anyway). Fast forward 6 weeks- hot water heater stops working AGAIN! Repairman #2 finds out that the bottom element in my water heater was once again completely corroded. After 6 weeks! He blamed it on our city's hard water and showed me the several inches of sediment sitting on the bottom of the water heater. Yes, our city has hard water, but for a brand new element to last only 6 weeks?!? While repairman #2 was here, I was able to get a hold of a friend of mine who is also a plumber and explained the situation to him. He said that repairman #1 didn't properly flush out the water heater. The first set of elements the water heater came with lasted three years, so the only reason the bottom element on the second set didn't, was because it was sitting in the sediment at the bottom of the water heater. If repairman #1 would've flushed it out properly, the element would've lasted *at least* a few years, like the initial elements had. So... I went back downstairs and told the Deans guy that I just wanted him to replace the bottom element, since the repair was under warranty. He informed me that it was NOT under warranty because the water in my town was so hard! I couldn't believe it! I raised my voice, threatened to call the BBB, and went back upstairs to call my plumber friend again. After about 20 min, the repairmen came upstairs to talk to me- he said that he talked to his manager and the best course of action for us was to buy a brand new water heater and a water softener so the sediment build-up wouldn't happen again. Only about $4000. And let me repeat- this water heater was only 3 years old to begin with, and was still under warranty! Long story short, I asked him why he couldn't clean the sediment out- he said that wasn't possible- I needed to buy a new water heater. (So in effect, if I buy a new car, and 3 years later it needs new brakes, a guy like him would tell me that I actually need to buy a new car rather than get it repaired.) I freaked out at hims some more, he called his manager back and they finally decided that they would replace the bad element today, but the repair would no longer be covered under warranty because of my hard water. Again, he didn't flush the sediment out of my water heater. I had another plumber out yesterday (not from Dean's)- he was able to flush a lot of the sediment out of the water heater, and he showed me how I can do it in the future to keep it cleaned out so it will last the full 10 years+, and he gave me info for a reputable company to buy a water softener from. I paid this plumber less than $150, and the water softener will cost about $800 installed from the company he referred me to. So I'll end up paying less than $1000, vs what Dean's wanted me to do which was buy a brand new water heater and water softener from them for almost four times that amount.
I wrote about this situation on my neighborhood's nextdoor.com page, and not surprisingly- I had quite a few other people comment that they'd had similar experiences with Dean's. So if you want my opinion- STAY AWAY. There are so many more local, reputable companies to choose from who will be honest and not overcharge you.