R&S Plumbing And Heating

The water heater was fine for a little over a year and then went erratic. When I called to talk to Don (The Owner) I was blocked by a rude individual who identified himself as Trent. I requested that he inform the owner that I needed to speak to him, but never received a return call. After attempting Three times to speak with the owner, to no avail, Trent said that he would make an appointment for the following week. When I reiterated that we had no hot water and that wouldn't be acceptable, Trent then said he could make it sooner, but that it would be time and a half. He also stated that they would only replace the defective part at our expense! Not quite the wonderful "great and trouble-free" water heater we heard about during the sales pitch. So, a word to the wise shopper; If you should need a quality product backed up by the installer I would look somewhere else. Do NOT recommend!

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Took a long time but turned out well.

Great! Jeremy was very friendly and professional. He was able to diagnose the problem quickly.

Showed up early. Did a great job and provided a detailed description of services provided with invoice.

Don, the owner of R&S Plumbing and Heating, met with us for a quote and then later installed our boiler. Don is extremely knowledgeable and professional. He was always punctual and had all work completed on-time. We paid exactly what was quoted and not a penny more. He is military friendly and honest. I have had bad experiences with mechanics and plumbers in the past and been spoken to in a condescending manner and taking advantage of because of being female. Don explained everything to me like he would to any customer. It was a nice change to be spoken to with the respect any customer deserves. Everything in Alaska is expensive. Only a few companies are willing to install Lochinvar systems, ask for Don...he is the best. Be prepared to pay an annual $140 service call or your 10 year warranty could be voided. The rest of Don's staff is okay but no where near as knowledgeable, most are young adults and seem new to customer service and the plumbing industry.

Received a quote on services and set up an appointment for 9 am. Technician called at 9:22 am to let us know he was late. He had to get gas. He arrived and started working at 9:38.
The work was done quickly - he was writing up the bill 31 minutes after arriving. All appearances indicate the work was done correctly,  but he left packing materials in the bathroom, and the floor was covered with water when he left. 
Following the work, we called the company to let them know we didn't appreciate the late start or the mess left in the bathroom. We were told that we shouldn't expect a prompt arrival at 9 am for a 9 am appointment, because they open at 9 am and the tech has to drive to the site.......apparently it was our fault.
The response to all of our concerns was a repetition of the question "your work got done, right?".

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Gas water heater stopped working on a Sunday and I couldn't get the pilot to re-light. I called R&S (who did work for me some years ago) first thing Monday morning. I figured I'd have to wait a few days before they could schedule someone, but they said they could make it out that morning. A friendly repairman showed up right on time with the part he figured likely to be faulty. Sure enough, maybe 40 minutes later, the heater was up and running again. No complaints to this point; super happy, in fact. Then I got the bill. So, I haven't hired a plumber/HVAC guy in a while, and maybe any of them would have charged this much, but I was kind of shocked. The part was $100, an hour of labor $140. I understand that businesses need to mark up parts and apply minimum labor charges to be profitable, but wow. The part retails for $40 or less online. And at that hourly rate, I wouldn't have minded a few extra minutes toward the full hour spent cleaning up the burner chamber (which still looks gritty). Overall, they accomplished what I asked, did it sooner than I'd hoped, and provided courteous, efficient service, but at a price that took me by surprise. Lesson learned: always ask for an estimate, at least just to calibrate expectations if not for shopping around.

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He was so kind and understanding. He almost brought me to tears. My husband was away. I really appreciate all of his help. He deserves cake! I will always use R and S. Thank you!

Thank goodness, this was fixed. The gentleman was professional and efficient. He fixed it within 30 minutes. I really love R and S. The last time they helped with my water heater, they went above and beyond. I went in to compliment them and the gentleman at the desk said, that's what's expected of his workers. Perfection!
You can also go in to the workplace to make your payments.

It was an excellent experience.

Smoothly

They have always provided good service when they check our heater. I have not had any issues with them in the past.

Went great! Tom explained the different valve shutoffs relating to the water system.

Usually available on short notice, puctual and professional.

This was our third or fourth visit in December to our home by Rand S Plumbing. They diagnosed and replaced three parts on our York forced air furnace that had failed: gas valve, condensate pump, and condensate pan. Replacing the gas valve and condensate pump were handled on a separate invoice. I'm disappointed that our 3 year old, highly efficient furnace had these part failures, but I am very pleased with the response, diagnosis, and repairs/replacements by Rand S Plumbing. Because of their several visits to our home, we met the shop's technicians and owner on different occasions. All were prompt, professional, and skillful. Importantly, they were all concerned about our situation and worked diligently to resolve our troublesome furnace issues.

Ordinary replacement
Nothing unusual

We waited about two weeks for R and S to call us back about the estimate, and finally called them ourselves. They said they never got the paperwork from the tech, but said they'd find out. Then the paperwork was found, but was incomplete. That meant they'd have to do a new estimate.
So we called Moore Heating, cancelled the 2nd estimate appt with Rand S. I assumed they wrote down the cancellation, but I still got a call from the tech (the day of the cancellation).
The tech from Moore came out, said the secondary issues with the pipes didn't exist. The heater is being replaced, but we got better service from Moore.

The primary worker and helper arrived as promised and began disconnecting the existing system and breaking down the abandoned oil-fired boiler. Breakdown and removal took the entire first work day.
They offered to provide space heaters to warm the house on the first night but that was unnecessary because we have a fireplace and our own space heaters.
Second day (as originally indicated) was installation of new equipment. They arrived on time. For the installation, the owner of the company also arrived and directed the work. Plumbing of new boiler and set aside hot water storage involved installation of new zone valves, zone pumps, shutoff valves, all of which were placed on a wall panel in almost an artistic manner while allowing for easy access and understanding of which zone is involved. Most of this panel had been prefabricated by the owner at the store saving countless hours in the crawl space.
The new system was a closed system which required intake and exhaust PVC piping using the existing exhaust stack with recovery of exhaust moisture, neutralization, and piping of water to the garage sink. All pipes were securely attached to floor joists and water run was attached inconspicuously.
Owner clearly explained operation and troubleshooting of new boiler, set aside storage tank, distribution panel, neutralization unit and pump, and service requirements before leaving.
Cleanup (without customer comment) was exceptional considering all the old equipment that had to be broken down and hoisted up through a crawl space hole.
We are very happy with the installation and particularly the resulting abundance of hot water. We are looking forward to a sharp decline in our natural gas bill next winter.

Very responsive. Up front on costs to come out on a weekend. Honest in identifying the problem and fixing at no additional cost.

This is the second unfortunate dealing with this service provider. The first cost us the price of a new boiler to the tune of $10,000.
Note: I had used Rand S for 8 years with good results. When the repairs work, there was no issue. It is when their repairs do NOT work or a significant cost is involved fixing a mistake that you will be left holding the bag.
My last 2 dealings in the last 2 years, resulted in significant expense and a complete unwillingness on their part to admit any fault. The lack of integrity and dishonest dealings was terribly disappointing.
In this instance I called Rand S to ask if a budget of $150 would be sufficient for me to install a connection on our garage sink faucet which would let me hook up a hose. The person on the phone explained that it might just be a simple coupler, and that I would have to pay the service fee call and a small charge for the coupler. I agreed to this charge.
The plumber who arrived told me that the entire faucet needed to be replaced and that shutoff valves needed to be placed at the bottom of this utility sink in order for me to hook up a hose. I explained my $100-$150 budget, and he said it could be done.
When he completed the installation he handed me a bill of $200 and showed me the work. (This was to be a surprise for my husband when he returned from a remote deployment). I unhappily paid the bill, calking it up to to experience. When I asked the plumber to leave the old parts, he tried to talk me out of it. I insisted, so he left HALF the parts, stating that the and quot;additional stuff was not in the box when it arrivedand quot;.
Turns out all I needed was that $4.00 coupler to attach the hose to the nozzle. Rand S turned a fun surprise for my husband (who likes to detail his car in the garage) into a $200 waste of money. I was taken advantage of and embarrassed at my lack of knowledge. I have since learned more...and will never use this company again.