Best Water Heater Repair in Boston MA

Two stars because the work itself was fine (edit: Downgraded to 1 star. They damaged the seal on our tub so the kitchen ceiling leaks when we shower... Yeah, not great.) Administration and payment were a nightmare!

My husband scheduled the initial consultation and appointment for replacing a leaking pipe. That itself was $195, and he was given a verbal ballpark of $1800 for two plumbers for 6-8 hours for the rest of the work. Okay, sounds good. He talked to Donna at Big Blue and was told that a formal quote would be emailed for our review. The quote was never sent (I didn't know this at the time... husband was arranging things up to this point)

I work from home so I can be there while they work. They're supposed to show up between 8am and 11am. One of the two plumbers finally shows up at 11:40am and the other one shows up at noon. Still, not a big deal, I'm home all day.

Around 4:10pm, they finish up and start talking payment. They want a check for $1800 on the spot. Now, this is a company that accepts credit cards, they advertise this on their site, we paid them by credit card for the initial consultation, and they spent way less time (9 plumber hours instead of 12-16) than we were originally told. So I have some concerns.

One of the plumbers calls up his boss says she's saying she doesn't want to pay, hands his phone to me, and now I'm talking to Kevin, the owner of the company. Kevin pressures me into paying the $1800 by check, then says he'll accept a credit card as well. I say well, you know, I'd like to see some paperwork, I was never sent a quote, we were told 6-8 hours with two plumbers... He says what, you're not going to pay? and My guys did the work and I just want to make sure my guys get paid! Basically accusing me of refusing to pay.

Now I'm standing out on my porch with this guy's phone, the plumbers are both staring at me by their truck with a combination of worry/anger, I'm sure they think I'm some deadbeat.

Then, to his credit, Kevin does say Okay, what do you think is fair to pay? The problem is, I have no clue. I don't know what they bill per hour, I've never seen a breakdown of services, I have absolutely nothing to go on here. So I just said I don't know what's fair which doesn't seem to be helping my I really DO want to pay you, but not $1800 on the spot without any sort of paper trail argument. Kevin's pressuring me into some lopsided on the spot negotiation so he can get my credit card info. It's REALLY uncomfortable.

Kevin says that he can't send me any sort of invoice because the office is closed. So the office is too closed to provide any records or quotes or information about the jobs, but not closed enough that you can't harass people on the phone for payment? Okay.

So I call on Monday asking for an invoice. They say they'll get me one later. I call on Tuesday asking for an invoice, they say they'll get me one on Thursday. On FRIDAY, they send me a paid in full invoice for the original $195 consultation. I call again asking for the invoice I actually care about.

The Friday call is a mess. Donna thinks that Kevin sent it, Kevin thinks that Donna sent it, the woman I originally reached can't access work records. Finally, I find out that the invoice is apparently around $1200 (not the $1800 Kevin tried to get me to pay) and the plumbers had inflated their hours from 9 to 10 hours. They're confused as to why I'm upset about this, and their lack of professionalism.

One of the women (I think her name was Jenn) actually said Listen, when I had some work done on my house, it was just a couple guys in a truck! I paid them and I didn't even get an invoice! Like, okay, thanks for telling me that story. Now can you send me the invoice I was told I was going to get yesterday?

Finally just got the invoice, for $1,194.66 (with a due date that says two days ago!?). I emailed them back asking how to pay by credit card (no links or payment info anywhere). I really don't want to speak to these people again. Hoping it can be handled online and we don't have to deal with them.

Edit: Apparently they don't check email. We were sleeping in on a Veteran's day holiday Monday and got a friendly reminder wake up call from Kevin this morning at 7:44am. (got invoice Friday afternoon, Kevin called Monday morning to check in). Paid the a******s. Good riddance.

Summary: Plumbers were late, original verbal ballpark was 3-7 hours over the time it actually took. Seal on tub drain was damaged, leak is worse than the one they fixed. Owner and the two plumbers at my house pressured me to pay $1800 on the spot by check, without any sort of paper trail or invoice, and accused me of not wanting to pay them. Had to call three times to get an invoice, which totaled just under $1200. Called us Monday at 7:44 am to harass us about an invoice they sent Friday afternoon. I've dealt with lots of contractors before, but this was an incredibly shady and mismanaged organization.

I highly recommend Greg Ostroski Plumbing as a result of the excellent service and competitive prices they provide. Greg has installed numerous items  for us and no one could match their price and quality of work! We got a prompt response, the work was done professionally and there was no mess left in our home. In emergency situations, Greg is definitely the plumber to call. Not only will they make you a priority, they are also the most honest company to work with. I will always recommend Greg to my friends and family. Thanks for the hard work!

Angel has helped us on multiple occasions now. He returns calls promptly and has been able to make time in his schedule to come very quickly. Our sewer pump broke and he went to Worcester (we live in Boston) to pick one up and came first thing the next morning (on a Saturday) to install it. He's a nice guy and a straight shooter. Definitely the only plumber I'll ever use!

Absolutely, hands down the best plumber and one of the best contractors I have ever worked with. Jodie, office manager, is on top of everything.  Every phone call is returned promptly.  I manage a large museum-lots of plumbing-and Consolidated Plumbing has been a pleasure to work with.  And I've been working with them for years.  Never a disappointment.  Can't say enough nice things about this company.

I've lived in my condo going on my third winter.  I have yet to have all those mechanical gizmos down in the basement looked at, checked out or whatever you're supposed to do to them.

I have had nightmares about getting a bad contractor - let's face it - there are more than a few bad contractors out there.  Ok so please don't crucify me here but I spent the money on a subscription to Angie's List and checked out plumbers/HVAC specialists.  Came across these guys who had good reviews that were recent.

I called them about setting up an appointment for service and got a call back from a nice guy.  We set up a time a few days later first thing in the morning.  

Bill from Hinchey came out and looked at everything I needed done or wanted quotes on.  He was extremely knowledgeable and personable and explained things well.  He looked at all those gizmos and ran some tests.  He gave me the lodown on my furnace - he needed some parts but didn't have them on his truck so he would have to come back on Monday.  Since my water heater was out of warranty by a few years and didn't look all that healthy I decided to also have him come back to replace the water heater the same day.  He actually suggested doing it the same day so he could bring an apprentice with him and have help carrying the water heater down into the basement without me paying for an extra guy to help him.

All in all they replaced the water heater with a larger model, they replaced several parts on my furnace after taking it apart and cleaning it and they were both here pretty much all day.  The job was done neatly and they cleaned up after themselves.

The price was competitive...for good work and warranteed.  I'm having them do more work so they'll be back.

Have to give Eric C. Foster Plumbing a 5 star rating for today. Another local company canceled on us at the last minute. We called around to a few places. Eric C. Foster got back to me right away and had someone at my house within two hours. Corey and his apprentice, Tony, did great work. They hooked up our new gas stove and dishwasher in no time. They were friendly, clean, and very reasonably priced. We will only be using Eric C. Foster from now on!

Call this company because I needed a water heater replaced they came on time and did a
Great job a highly recommend this company great service

had them put in a new boiler and oil tank they did such a great job. I could not believe how quiet and efficient they were  they left the place cleaner than when they came. All workmanship was top notch and very professional .If you need service or a new boiler these are the people to call. Thanks to all the crew and the girl who called from their office you are the best

Water pressure was low and they came to resolve the issue right before my wife decided to threaten me with a divorce if it's not fixed.

I'm super impressed w Andrew! Smart, honest, arrived exactly on time and fixed all of my little plumbing problems. My house is going through the beginnings of a move and renovation, and he was super patient w the craziness and clutter, and remedied a problem that two other plumbers couldn't solve, in minutes. He was friendly and pleasant to boot! I'd definitely use him again. Thank you!!!!!

I'm not sure if all these reviews are authentic. We had a completely different experience with Frank. He kept complaining about his health and charged us $95 to tighten some screws and give an estimate.

Had a problem with upstairs toilet. Called 4  people, couldn't get anyone here within a week. Call Mass Plumbing and Heating, Welter came within 3 hours.  Welter was respectful of current Covid issues, he was efficient, cleaned everything up, and in general...a nice guy to have working in the house. Highly recommend! Barbara C.

Great job! Responded right away can right on time. Charlie was personable and I could tell he really took pride in is work. The fee was reasonable and even told me what not to do. Would definitely use again!

I've used Casper a few times now for both routine maintenance as well as an emergency call. They respond promptly, are transparent with estimates and pricing, and most importantly do a great job.

I'd absolutely recommend Casper.

we had an oil burner service company for 20 years and the owner retired a few years ago.  we thought we would never find that level of service again. we decided to convert to natural gas, and we used mainstream mechanical. we also installed a whole house generator.  these guys do great work, are professional, and know their stuff!  we are always assured that no matter what time of the year, day or night, if we have a problem they are there!  we highly recommend mainstream.  Lisa and Richard M.

I just built a custom home in Chelmsford, MA and Macco did all of my HVAC and plumbing. They did a great job and the customer service was good. I highly recommend them.

Had the pleasure of having Ron come out and replace the shut offs on my washing machine. He was on time, courteous, used Covid precautions and was very professional . He was able to come by the very day I called them and was very reasonable with his pricing.
 I would definitely recommend them and look forward to working with them again in the future.

Mike did all of our plumbing for a bathroom renovation, and all of the work to install a new heating system.  I would highly recommend him.

I usually read reviews before I call a company but I didn't this time cause it was an emergency. we had no heat on the most coldest day in feb 2015 . he took 5 hrs to get here. looked at my furnance said it was filthy with dust blew a little dust out w his mouth and said we needed a new furnance cause we hadent  been keeping up w maitnance. bottom line he charged me $182.00 for ten min of work. took out my filter and said it was filthy and didn't replace it he said they don't carry filters anymore. you would think for that price I would of gotten a filter. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY he did fix it though and I don't need  a new furnance this place sucks