Libby M.
07/09/2023 12:00:00 SA
After my renter moved out of my home, I put it on the market. The renter had disconnected the utilities, so I had to meet a New Mexico Gas Company (NMGCO) tech at my house to get the gas turned back on. While there, he discovered that my almost-new water heater, my almost-new HVAC system, and my gas-log fireplace were not up to code. More importantly, he found four gas leaks, so he couldn't turn the gas back on until they were repaired.
He told me that once everything was repaired, the contractors I hired needed to make sure that a solid surface was installed to cover the soffit venting three feet to the left and three feet to the right of the gas pipe outside my garage that extends from the ground to the roof.
My Realtor recommended Wagner Mechanical. The first time I met one of the techs, he found an additional massive gas leak underneath my house and told me the entire house needed to be repiped for gas.
I shared with that technician what the NMGCO tech had told me--that the soffit vent needs to be solid, three feet to the left and to the right of the gas pipe outside my garage.
I had a buyer lined up before this, but she pulled out of the sale, spooked by the major gas leak. So then I got another buyer.
The work took seven and a half weeks and cost around $15,000. You would think I would be considered a valued customer while spending such a large amount of money, but I was not.
The next 7.5 weeks were a nightmare. The house was vacant; I was living with my sister. I would receive a text saying a tech was on his way, but no tech ever showed up. So I would call, and the dispatcher would tell me, Oh, they'll be there tomorrow. I never knew if someone was going to show up or not. So I would call in the morning, and the dispatcher would say a technician was headed to my house, or I would receive a text saying someone was on the way. And then they never showed up. So I would call Wagner again in the evening, and the dispatcher would say, Oh, they'll be there tomorrow.
Meanwhile, my Realtor kept telling me, The buyer is getting antsy. She's going to pull out if this work isn't finished soon.
Knowing how frustrated I was, my Realtor called Wagner and got a supervisor involved. The supervisor called me, apologized, and said she would walk me through every step of the process until the work was completed. Then she disappeared for a few weeks. At one point, another staff member from Wagner did the same--he apologized for all the inconvenience and frustration and told me he would keep me apprised of every step of the process until the work was completed. I never heard from him again.
Finally, the house was ready for inspections! It passed the city inspection. Then a NMGCO tech came out to do the gas company's inspection. Well, guess what? Even though I had shown the Wagner tech what the previous NMGCO tech had said needed to be done--covering 6 feet of the soffit vent-- and even though I had emailed a photo of the gas pipe and the soffit venting to the supervisor and explained it to her, Wagner did not do that work. They were not listening to me. So my house failed the NMGCO inspection. I called Wagner and asked to speak with the supervisor, who had told me, You can call and speak to me at any time. Well, that's not true; the dispatchers screen all the calls. The dispatcher I spoke with said, Oh, you don't need to speak with Sarah; you just need to speak with someone on the re-inspection team.
This was over Memorial Day weekend. I scrambled, trying to find another company to do this work. I found a contractor who said he would do it for $455. But why should I have to hire another contractor and pay more money for something Wagner was supposed to take care of!? So I left a message for the supervisor. She called back and said she would make sure the work got done quickly. To her credit, she did.
After Wagner fixed that last piece of the work, I scheduled the NMGCO inspection. My Realtor went to the house and found that the HVAC fan was running but wasn't emitting cold air. We had to have a Wagner tech go out again. The reason? The previous Wagner tech did not bother to turn the system on.
Also, while the Wagner techs were working on my water heater, they apparently stood on top of my almost-new dryer and bent the top in. The dryer still functioned, but it looked awful. I told the supervisor about it, and she asked me to send photos of the dryer to her. I did, but she did not respond.
This was one of the most stressful, horrible, frustrating, never-ending experiences I have ever had with a so-called respected and reputable company. I am astonished that a company could treat a customer with such epic disregard for such an extended period of time and be perfectly OK with it. Things happen; I understand that. A couple of missed appointments here and there is perfectly understandable. But seven and a half weeks of getting the repeated run-around is absolutely unacceptable.