A Payless Water Plumbing & Htr

11/19/09

Avoid Payless or you will pay more

by madmadeleine at Citysearch

I chose and paid extra for the top-of-the-line heater with the twelve year warranty. The quote said the water heater would be $549 but with installation and all the extra stuff we "needed," our total was $956. If I wanted the the top-of-the-line heater with the twelve year warranty, that was another $100, bringing the total to $1056.

The day of the installation after the guy took out my old water heater and installed the new one, I was told that I needed to replace our existing water pressure regulator. I balked at this, especially because of his timing. He waited until after installing the water heater instead of telling me before he began. It seemed to be a ploy to extort more money from me. I tried to avoid paying for this extra. Then he wrote a note on my receipt saying that if I did not replace the regulator the warranty would be void. Under duress, I agreed and paid the total of $1326.

Two years later, I noticed there was no hot water. I went into the utility room and smelled gas. I called a plumber, and he came right over. He inspected the heater and determined that the heater could not be repaired and needed to be replaced. He shut off the heater and the gas and water going to it. Because of the previous experience with Payless Water Heaters, I did not want to have them handle the replacement. The plumber took the heater in to exchange it. The staff at the place where he exchanged the unit made a photocopy of my receipt because they thought it was interesting. Bradford White, the manufacturer of the water heater, does not offer a water heater with a 12 year warranty. The heater that had been installed in our home was a water heater that comes with a 6 year warranty.

I also discovered that the workmanship for the installation was shoddy. The Payless installer had damaged our existing venting and it needed to be repaired. When the plumber replaced the water heater, he repaired the venting. I did get a "free" replacement for the defective water heater, but I had to pay for labor to have the replacement installed and for part and labor to repair the venting.

I am not an investigator, but if I were, I would be looking into the dealings of Payless Water Heaters. Perhaps the people who work at Payless Water Heaters are scam artists. I cannot say for sure. My experience with the individuals I came into contact with leads me to believe that it is true. I would like to express my opinion that Payless Water Heaters sucks. And I think Payless Water Heaters should be investigated and prosecuted for fraud. If you are looking to replace your water heater, I suggest you avoid Payless Water Heaters.

Let me be clear about whom I am speaking. The company has contractor number 836216 is owned by Scott Oksas and the salesman who set me up was Bryan Oksas.

• Pros: Not at installing water heaters.
• Cons: Probably.

10/16/09

Check prices before hiring them

by Fedelia at Citysearch

This is really a zero star rating.

They came to us via a warranty company. They quoted a price for heater removal and permit that was OVER FIVE times what another local shop charges. We are talking $438 more! Plus another plumber told us we could avoid the removal fee by calling our trash company to remove it for FREE.

The unit and labor being equal. It's so unbelievable that I had to ask for verification twice in case I did not hear correctly.

Then there was a rush telling us we needed to have it installed the next business day. Of course they want to rush us so we don't research the prices. Are these plumbers on commission or what??

Service not so friendly, but who cares about that if they do a good job and have fair prices.

After this experience I had to check local reviews. Guess I am not the only one.

• Pros: nothing outstanding
• Cons: price 5x that of another local plumber

08/26/09

GREAT SERVICE

by bobby c at Citysearch

On 8-20 -09 we came out to our garage and found are waterheater leaking.I then called the number on the waterheater and spoke to payless manger josh he said he could get a technican out within an hour.The technican chris arrived and shut the water off and advised us of our sitiuation.Chris then told my wife and I about a tankless waterheater.The nortiz unit is fantastic and we have plenty of hot water. My wife and I can not thank payless enough for the information and the great service.

• Pros: On time and well informed