Action

After my initial frustrating experience and subsequent negative review, the owner, Kurt, reached out to me personally and genuinely apologized. I think you can tell more about the quality and integrity of a business by how they treat an unsatisfied customer than by how they treat a satisfied one, and I greatly appreciate that the owner himself reached out to both me and my husband personally, over the phone, and wanted to discuss what happened and truly wanted to make it right. That's awesome.

I'd rather go through a harsh Wisconsin winter with a broken furnace then call these clowns again.

I paid for a furnace tune up from these doofs and was charged $286 dollars for a new furnace filter.  After the tech left, I removed my furnace cover to find it still dirty.  They never cleaned anything.  When I called Curt (the owner)  he acted like he could have cared less.  Next time I'll call the local guy who will service the thing for $75.  I guess this time I was the one born every minute like PT Barnum said.

Action Plumbing and Ripoff.

$75 service call for a hard sell pitch to sell me an overpriced new water softener.  Not helpful at all.   A waste of time and money.

I called them due to having water leaking in the basement.  $195.00 Service call due to being after hours on a Friday night. (6:50 pm)  The guy showed up and took 10 SECONDS to take his wrench out and tighten a bolt to stop the water.  It took the guy MUCH longer to write up the bill.  Total time at my house was 15 minutes and it cost me over $200.00!  (My house was on the way home for the guy making the service call so it was not out of his way)   When I called to see if they would consider reducing the cost, by $75, the owner, Curt Johnson was a total jerk. Totally belittled the plumber I usually use, who was on vacation.   How he could feel right about charging that much for what was done is unacceptable.  A week later I go on vacation and when I get back in the mail is a $50 gift card for a restaurant.  As a single parent homeowner, that $50.00 could pay a bill but no, he sends a gift card.  Just didn't have it in him to lower the bill.  DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY!  His employees may be OK, but as a business owner,  all he is out for is the almighty dollar NOT his customers.  Another very highly known Company, known around the country, that could not make it to my house until later in the evening stated, when I told then Action Plumbing was coming to my house, 'you will be calling another plumber very soon'.  THAT says a lot.

I had an interview with Curt the owner today. Needless to say, it was one of the worst experiences I have had looking for a job. I know this is not a service comment, but it is important because it shows posterity and for those that are minorities or pride themselves on being an open and fair minded individual please read on. I am Hawaiian, and therefore a minority class. The minute I walked in the door, the receptionist gave me an icy look and asked me to fill out an app and give them my driver's license to photocopy (after my inquiry as to why, she stated it is standard). I then proceeded to be met by Andy (Who did the phone interview and stated they needed to make a decision and have someone hired asap) who walked me back to Curt the owner's office and stated he had other things he needed to do (even though he scheduled and CONFIRMED yesterday it was to be him as well as Curt). Curt took my paperwork with references etc. and didn't even look through it but proceeded to ask me why I didn't register my vehicle and had a speeding ticket in 2013. If that wasn't a horrible enough experience, he then stated throughout the 10 minute interview he was never going to change how he does things and only wanted to meet as many people as possible and put a face to a resume. He stated 4 or 5 times he needed to see the person to determine if they would be a good fit. It disgusts me to think there are people out here that are that nasty and have managed to stay in business this long. If he focused more upon his OUTDATED webpage (with misspellings and redundant information) and updated his Facebook page, he might have more positives than negatives in my book. But then again, it is all about the fact that he is a self ordained expert in starting and maintaining a business O.o

Totally legitimate review of this business Yelp.  Curt Johnson, the owner, has a miserable track record with his employees.  Great question to raise; if he can't treat his employees decently what then with his customers? Question this guys integrity, honesty, and accountability if you are to do business with him!

I am a Realtor in the Greater Madison Area and I choose to surround myself with professionals that react in a timely fashion, offer fair pricing, complete their task quickly, keep my clients needs in high regard, and GET THE JOB DONE.  Kurt, Andy, Angie from Action Plumbing are the perfect affiliates that I need as a Realtor.

Recently I had an issue with an inspection report for a property I represented as an agent.  I called Angie M at 5pm in the afternoon said she would make it happen and would call me early the next day. Angie called at 7:30 the next day and had already scheduled 2 techs to be at the property at 8am that day.

Andy makes things happen at Action.  Same property needed a new furnace. Andy worked with the owner of the house, and by 10am, the Action Guys were installing a new furnace.

Kurt is the owner and runs a top notch organization.  If you have questions or concerns, he is quick to grab the phone.  Most importantly, he stands behind the work his people do......and that is called credibility.

First of all, they tell us they have a appt window of 4 hours!  Why can they not give us a specific time.  My husband took the whole afternoon off and they don't show up.  We call to tell them that we are upset and do not want to use their services and they don' even apologize.  They just try to set up another appt. for the next day. They have absolutely no customer service!!!

I've called Action Plumbing in the past and have never had a problem with them. However, the last time they were here to install a new water heater, they plastered their stickers on my water softener, furnace and circuit box. They've NEVER serviced any of those items. I called and complained and they seemed to dutifully note my concern, but I then heard from my furnace guy that Action Plumbing has done that in other homes he's been in. It's what they do. It's vandalism to plaster stickers on other people's property that you've never even serviced. I won't be calling them again. Let your work speak for itself, Action Plumbing. The overkill with the stickers shows a blatant disregard for your customers' property.

Super impressed with Action Plumbing! We hired them several times for both plumbing and heating and they always do a great job. They were quick, responsive and their communications are the best. They stayed in touch through the process to make sure I knew what was going on and what they did. Highly recommend!

Not super happy with this company. Installed water softener last July in my mother's house. We're selling the house now and inspection report showed leaks in he supply lines they installed. Call them to set up repair. I explain that we can't get a checking account for the estate for a couple of days because we're still waiting for the tax ID number. They refuse to work with me on billing, even though it's their workmanship that is the problem and we are repeat customers. Poor customer service. Can't recommend.

Edit to reply: if we didn't have warranty work, I'd have hired someone who would be willing to be flexible due to the unusual situation we are in. One size fits all policies might be great for the business, but are not good customer service.

Me being the typical do it yourself type of person went to Home Depot to get a new kitchen faucet to try to dress up our kitchen a little.  I installed the faucet with no immediate leaks or issues until several weeks later I noticed water under the cabinet I could not find the leak so I cleaned up the water and waited.  The next day we used as normal and water was back, which is when my wife had me call Action.  I was greeted on the phone and asked what the issue was plumbing heating or electric.  I explained the problem to the person on the phone who set me up for a service call and was told a technician would be out later in the morning which was great.  I received a call 20 minutes prior to their arrival and before entering the house he removed his shoes (which he did not have to do but glad he did) at that point he stepped on the rug in front of the sink that was all wet and actually noticed my floor was starting to buckle.  This is when we noticed the problem was more severe.  The technician found the leak rather quickly it was leaking from the faucet body itself and he told me the install was good which made me feel better and also scored me some points with my wife who thought I messed it up.  He disconnected the faucet and also put me in touch with a water remediation company who also worked directly with my insurance to fix the rest of the damage.  I was able to get new flooring and new cabinets and also paid extra to get new counter tops. Now this brings me to my next review of Action I scheduled them to come back and reinstall by faucet and new kitchen sink ( nothing to major ) the counter tops get postponed twice and had to cancel Action twice and the third appointment was scheduled for Friday pm and again the counter tops were not finished.  They called me and offered to come out on Saturday morning to finish the install for me with me even asking.  At this point I was with out a sink and faucet for almost 3 weeks and another weekend would not of been good.  My technician came over at 8 am and was done by a little after 10 am which was awesome I thought and then I asked him to install my dishwasher which I thought I would do and he said no problem.  Top notch service from start to finish,  their advice from start to finish was fantastic and customer service when I had to cancel on them 3 times and yet for them to offer me next day service on Saturday was outstanding.  
I will definitely use them for all my plumbing heating and electric from now on.  I may be able to figure things out on my own but why when there is a place like this that can help you from start to finish.

We needed a new outdoor faucet installed. The work was done quickly, and the person doing the work was professional. BUT, the price was EXTREMELY HIGH. For 1 hour and 10 minutes of work, the labor charge was $272. That's right: a two hundred and seventy two dollars labor charge for just over an hour of work. (The material cost was high too. I'm less able to judge that, but it was $150 for the faucet.) The total bill for this simple task of replacing an outdoor faucet was $445.

I attempted to get a quote from this company and two months after someone came out I called back to have a guy, Andy, be rude and tell me they aren't cheap.  I tried to explain that the quote they were providing was significantly higher then all other quotes I got.  I was told the guy who wrote up the quote may have taken, too good of notes, and he is no pinger with Action and maybe why I didn't get my quote.  

Why is it always tough for a company to take responsibility and not deflect to the client or in my case someone who will never with with this company.  
BE AWARE!!! Their quote was much higher then the other companies in town.

First, the person answering the phone was not nice at all.  I called to schedule a plumber and was given a 5 hour window of when I can expect someone.  They were obviously busy, that is fine.  What I don't understand why they didn't have the ability to look at the job schedule for the day and give a more reasonable  window of when someone would be available.  I don't think a customer should be expected to wait upwards of five hours.

I'll pass on this service. Had them out on two separate occasions. The guy who seemed very an experienced and sold our dishwasher wrong and then it fell out of the wall. They were out again for my toilet, and next time I know better not to call action.

After replacing our water heater with a new power vented one, the installer discovered that he was unable to vent the heater to the outside. He then reinstalled the old one that he already had hauled out to his truck.  In the process he left a big mess in the furnace room and on the rug in the hallway outside the furnace room.
Had he been competent he would have been able to visually determine that venting was impossible even before he entered the house.  This is what our next plumber did.

To add insult to He wanted to charge over $400 for his efforts.  We ended up paying over $200.  We will never again work with Action Plumbing.

this place is all about get in get out no quality or craftsmanship. one of there policies is never go above and beyond without charging place is a rip off, and very bad inexperienced service work, would not recommend this place to anyone.

So we called Action to help connect the new NEST thermostat.  They said we needed another wire to fix the connection.  Well, $375 later, and it was not working because we needed to link the thermostat with an App on our phone.  I do NOT recommend this company for any future work.

Furious.  Started on Friday morning, now end of Tuesday day...58 degrees in the home.  No call today ...called them as part had to be ordered and now, wrong part ordered.  Left work on Friday for 5 hour service window, yesterday roommate sat home all day, today roommate and I sat home in shifts and cancelled MD appointment as couldn't give as a smaller window of time.......

My shower was leaking and I was having trouble identifying the valve type. The team showed up, didn't know how to remove the cap, (no fault on them), took pictures and sent them to their service manager telling me we'd hear from the SM on the valve type then left after charging for the visit.

So I'm out $167 to pay a team to reach the same conclusion I was stuck at when I decided to call a professional and never heard from the SM at all. Finally fixed everything myself.

I find no fault with the team, but don't tell me someone will call me only to have them blow me off, VERY unprofessional.

The owner called after reading our negative review to apologize for our problems with them last year. It was nice and he pointed out that we should have called to speak to someone at action after being treated crappies by the person who came to our house, which I agree with, but at the time we were too frustrated to want to deal with them any more. It is nice that he cares.

Very happy with their service. My AC went out today (on a rather hot day) and they responded within an hour. The repairman got to work right away, replaced a part and walked me through what he did. Being an emergency call, I figured I'd be paying out the nose, but when all was said and done, it was less $$$ than I had anticipated. I got an additional $25 off by going to their website and mentioning an online coupon to the repairman.

Great goto for plumbing and have also used them for boiler repair. Staff is professional and knowledgeable. I know people don't love their commercials but don't let that deter you

Called Action in 12/29/2015 bc my heating wasn't working... flashing lights indications whats wrong described on furnace.  Action guy came and took an hr cleaning the furnace then it worked but was only working on and off! After a few months it stop working totally... Called action talked to Rep... ask them to send someone else w more experience twice - rep stated thats their most experience guy and gave me excuses of why its not them doing it incorrect... instead of offering options to correct them self or check it before telling me different reasons of why its not working!  Its not about getting a deal or getting free service its about letting Action correct them and not being charge if they are NOT doing the job correctly!   instead they provided bad customer service.  Called back to cancel appt and called Hillstead heating -they came within 30mins and fixed it! knew right away it was ignition from the same flashing lights indicated on the furnace i told the first Action guy about who didn't know... save money and go with a company with better customer service and know heating!

thank you Leslie J from Action for responding to my experience from your rep.  Im glad HillStead was able to help and take care of my heating in mins.  I have updated my review from 1 to 3 bc of your caring response.  I appreciate you following up!  ty

Action's bid for mini-splits was a bit higher than my neighbors thought fair, but they gave honest advice, good communication when first plan (to replace 1 head) fell through, and answered the phone quickly when I needed to accept quickly, and let me talk to the tech.

system is quiet, thorough and has better features. They looked at my toilet too.

Had a water line installed for a new refrigerator/freezer.  I got an appointment right away.  Installer was punctual and answered many other questions. Bill was far more than for my other one a few months earlier, with another company..

We found out we needed a new furnace.  Action was there the next day, and had it installed in less than 2 hours.  The installer made sure we knew how to operate the new thermostat before leaving.  It was clean, fast and efficient.  We've used Action for years for our maintenance, and will continue to use them and recommend them to everyone.

Our A/C was old and died, so we called Action since their sticker was already on the Heater in the basement.  Sales came out, gave us 2 quotes and mentioned tax breaks on the pricier more efficient unit we went it.  So far all seemed normal.

Day of, installers do not show within window.  We call Action, our appt had been moved to PM.  No notice given.  Install occurred.  They leave, our thermostat is not any getting power.  AC outside just keeps spinning.   Friday PM, we call, they offer Saturday.  Technician calls back, no Saturday appt, they'll be here Monday.  We turn off the breaker to quiet the newly installed AC unit, but now we have no running heat for the entire weekend. Monday comes, switch was left off on install, turned off all is well again.

Few weeks later, we look for the tax credit info.  We email Action back.  Are now informed the Tax Credits are only available if AC and Furnace are installed simultaneously.

We email back support with our disappointment.  No response.  Do not recommend this company for your HVAC needs based on our experience.

Nightmare expensive diagnosis of a old tankless water heater. Given its age, cost of replacement and new venting required a faster analysis than the well intentioned troubleshooting that left me with a big bill, no hot water and no guarantee of a fix if the parts ordered would even do the job...

The service guy was affable, but unable to address the issues. The next plumber I called took one look and suggested a different plan and prioritized it getting it do as he understood the need for hot water.

Meanwhile I called Action, they said they would take some money off the cost of a tank, but the. Quoted me $200 more for the appliance than the other guy. I said I needed hot water now. About a week later I get a message. Avoid these guys...

Well this isn't good. That's what the plumber kept saying & what I say too about the visit. Took the faucet apart & put it back together. Said it was still dripping.. He didn't know it was fixed. Has been working just fine since. No dripping.

This is my 2and time using Action Plumbing. Both time the servicemen were professional and friendly.  Fair price and good service.

[Edit]
Received a phone call from Andy who discussed the issues I had experienced with the company. He explained that they like to ensure that their company provides the best service they can and offered to refund the service fee they had charged for the work performed on the follow up visit. I have upgraded the review from 1 star to 3 stars to reflect the nature of their sincerity.

[Original Post]
Where to start. We had a sewer gas smell in the basement, on a weekend. We had an overall good experience on the first night. We determined a set amount of work to be performed the following Monday. The price for weekend work roughly $200. (It's okay, I understand weekend rates). Monday rolls out and the two workers came and only did half of the work, and charged $200 for that day. I returned to the sheet for the original scope, given to us on the weekend, to find the work had not been completed.

I called and informed them of the error, they would return to do the work without a service charge. Guess what happened when they came the third time? Charged for an additional $200 service anyways.

The nail in the coffin: Our utility room, no where near the plumbing issue and in a separate room, has two Action plumbing stickers (marketing) adhered to our furnace and water heater. Neither had been serviced by them. So it seems they spent the time to attach stickers in a room that they had no obvious reason to be in.

$600 for 4 pieces of PVC and to clean a dirty trap.

Sure they solved the problem, but that doesn't mean they are responsible nor a referable company in any regard.

I have used action twice in the last month for plumbing and electrical and both times Troy and Gary/Ian were professional, friendly and helpful.  

I have also used them for HVAC maintenance.  They are my go-to service company and would have no concerns recommending them to you.

There is another Action HVAC company in Fitchburg and I wonder if some of the reviewers are getting these companies mixed up.  I have never had a problem with this organization, which is based in Sun Prairie.

Gregg M.

My landlord called action plumbing to deal with a clogged pipe issue in my bathroom . They came out checked everything. I thought they were going to snaked the drain.They decided to pull my toilet up and leave a big hole in the floor when I asked them why they did that I never got a straight answer. When asked them put back in they said they couldn't. I have had plumbers that snaked my drains before never had a problem but this was something else. They left my toilet in middle of my bathroom! Had another plumber correct the mess they made! I hope my landlord never hires them again!

Refurbishment of kitchen led to installation of new circuit for wall oven and cooktop to bring up to current code requirements. After delivery and install by Best Buy contractors could not be completed (they used wrong wiring for the one thing they did wire), Gary came and did a superior job. Pleasant, beautiful and efficient work! New circuit, safely and professionally installed.
Call these people! They are outstanding to work with. Gary is very efficient and pleasant - a pleasure to have working in your home.

We needed a chandelier hung in a room that was previously an office, with no overhead lighting. They scheduled our appointment within a week and came out on time. A different electrician was a no show. They originally hung the fixture about 6 off center, but returned to fix it the following week with no qualms. We were very happy about the end result. We provided the chandelier, dimmer switch, and bulbs. They did everything else. The only thing I wish they did was fix the drywall after, we have to hire another person to come in and patch it. Thanks for the great service and understanding! Will recommend.

I have the same problem others have complained about.  There are Action Plumbing Stickers all over the place in our basement including on the fuse box...which they certainly did not service.  This should not be allowed!!  It is a very deceitful business practice!!

I asked my technician Ben about the owner's Super Hero cape, and it turns out he's real, honest, trustworthy guy who built this great repair business with his wife. Not surprising. I called at least four other HVAC Repair businesses, quickly realizing these are actually HVAC Sales businesses. One would only recommend replacing both the A/C and furnace (wait, what?) along with their exclusive service contract  I would definitely need going forward. Action was the only one to give me an honest to god estimate over the phone (less a $25 coupon!) Not even 24 hours later the awesome Ben was here fixing the small issue with my A/C. He also took the time to show me how to clean it. Oh, and the right way to use my thermostat to save some $$ on the gas bill. Doh. Really great experience all around.

Purchased a 97% efficient furnace, but am getting less than 92%.  The furnace has multi-stage fan and modulating burner, but the installer configured it the way you would set it up with a 1-stage (dumb) thermostat.  The actual thermostat is capable of 2-stage. The furnace gets much less benefit from the modulation and fan speeds.