Mike Williams Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning

If I could give Mike Williams negative stars I would. I live in Panther Creek and 3 or 4 of my neighbors commented when they saw a Mike Williams van in front of my house. They conveyed that they believe these guys are crooks and after my experience with them I could not agree more. I signed up for their monthly service contract when I had 2 new water heaters installed to save money (at this point I cannot even tell you the amount). In any event, each time they came over (spring and fall) to do their check, they came up with literally thousands of dollars worth of stuff they claimed should be addressed. I know enough to know that most of this was b******* and overpriced and did the work that really needed to be done on my own at a VERY SMALL fraction of what they quoted. But, believe it or not, that is no the reason that I am posting this review. This morning I called to cancel my monthly service contracts. I was told that I had to provide a signature in order to do so, because you are registered with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That sounded very suspicious but more on that in a moment. I ate the complete inconvenience of driving over to the office on Clear Lake drive in Springfield. When I arrived I (probably a little heatedly) spoke about the ridiculousness of having to provide a signed document to cancel the contracts. The woman at the counter (don't know her name), just stuck with the mantra -- it is because we are registered with the Illinois Department of Insurance. When I pressed, she slid the window closed so she no longer had to talk to me. Wow, talk about poor customer service! In any event, I just got off of the phone with the Illinois Department of Insurance and there is fact no such requirement. Oddly, I can't file a complaint with them because Mike Williams is not an insurance company. In fact, IDOI doesn't even understand why Mike Williams is registered with them. My supposition is so that they can give their customers the b******* story they gave me in the hope that the inconvenience will cause them to delay or forget about cancelling. In addition to posting this review on as many review sites as I can find, I will also be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau as there in fact are laws (mostly as a result of similar practice by health clubs) to prevent businesses from doing what they are doing. I would strongly caution anyone who is considering using Mike Williams.

they did a good job of cleaning the drain; however, they will bill you $16.50 until the end of time if you do not remember to cancel the monthly fee at the end of six months. They will not allow you to arrange not to have the $16.50 cancelled ahead of time. In my opinion, this is just a rip off, particularly in the case of older folks who may not remember they signed up to have an automatic subtraction from a bank account.

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Things went well. A part had to be replaced in the outside unit. Cost also included a one year warranty.

unknown

They are real pricey.  Real good service.  They will push to make sales.  He talked me into a monthly thing.  It's $50.90 a month.  I didn't like that you have to keep the plan for at least six months.  They come twice a year.  Which I don't think that is quite a bargain.  Good quality and responsiveness. 

unknown

I got several other estimates.  The individual who finally did the work came in at at less than half Williams quote.  In addition, we found some less than satisfactory soldering work in the previous Williams' work.

see above

I really don't know if he was really checking our AC unit and furance good.  He said we do not need freon refill ( after 6 years of using AC for the entire summer and part of Fall)  I hope he's right because I will be so MAD if the freon is out during the HOT weather after he claimed he had checked and it's okay.

unknown

Good

EXTREMELY OVER PRICED FOR THE SERVICE PERFORMED.

I paid the $59.95 service call for this learning experience. They, of course, did not get the job. Had I agreed to sign up for the maintenance plan at $9.95 a month they would have installed the dish washer for only $711.87!

Will not even call them in future.  Way overpriced

I called MW inc on 9/6. I told them i was replacing my thermostat with one that is more efficient. In doing so I broke one of 5 wires coming out of the wall. I could not pull any more wire out of the wall to make a connection. I was told someone would be available and they would call back to let me know when they can come. Following that i stepped into my backyard for 10 minutes. During that 10 min i received 2 messages to call them back which i did immediately and was told it was too late and would have to wait till the following Monday.
When the tech arrived arrived he gave me his checklist spiel with $60 just for the visit and a diagnostic of $235. I said ok. the tech tried to pull more wire from the wall like i had tried to do earlier. he also could not get any more wire to come out. since he could not get more wire, I was told that the fifth wire was a common ground and was not needed. so he disconnected the wire on the other end inside the furnace. this is when he said i had a bad transformer and then wrote on his checklist the problem and the unconscionable cost to replace it at $633 (this not include cost of part). this I thought would include the two other cost quote.I was wrong to believe that.  so i then must decide should I reject this charge and pay $295 and have no repair or pay $785 (he subtracted $117 off the diagnostic) and my furnace would be fixed. i opted for the latter to with I regret. he then replaced the transformer with a low quality generic brand ($25 for part) that he had on his truck. I do not consider this as quality parts. I called MW and voiced my concerns and was hit by another useless checklist i.e. did the tech wear booties? did the tech lay out a welcoming mat? I got no satisfaction despite their  touted 100% guarantee. 
in conclusion  I will never use the services of MW inc again. this company employs the most ridiculous unjustifiable repair charges anywhere. one more thing, i declined their membership discount (@ $15.90 a month for minimum of 6 months) due to this being just a money making scheme to take more money from you for no efforts on their part. 
after i read the other reviews on Angie's list i could instantly tell who was trying to by on a working man's wage and those that have so much money coming out their a** they don't care what the costs are.
 

They gave an estimate to run and connect a wire from the outside air conditioning unit to the inside system. the wire and connection cost was $460.00. This did NOT include service fees and labor. I declined the repair and contacted another company - with a cost of Seven dollars and Fifty cents! - Yes $7.50!  Mike Williams company is consistently over priced and quotes between ($400 - to $600) for any given visit.  This is WITH the service contract with this vender!

Contact with the office, emails and calling before service guys get there is outstanding and professional.  I read on Angie's list, after I'd made the appt, about how they found things wrong and tried to get you to do a service contract and do needed repairs so I was leary - almost cancelled my appt, but didn't since it was already on their calendar.  The outside unit had lots of dirt and cobwebs - in asking if they "blow" those out, while they have it open the answer was "no".  In opening the inside unit in the basement there was mold on it and it needed some cleaning.  Again, they noted that and added that to their list.  They did check the freon too.  I was having no problems with the heat pump but wanted to have it looked at before it got too hot to make sure there were no obvious problems, needing immediate attention.  Again, I thought it would include cleaning and oiling any parts.  Then they sat down with me and put a paper in front of me for my signature, like it was something I had already agreed to - the service contract for a year.  They went over the 1 year contract and what that entailed, but I declined.  They did say they could go ahead and clean it for me if I paid them $134 more, on top of the $59.95. I again declined at that point.  I had a refrigerator coupon for $25.00 off, I then gave them.  They said it didn't apply to what I had done but did say I could call the office to talk to them about it.  He said it was about 3 years old but the coupon did not have an expiration date on it.  I did not call the office to check any further about it.   I did appreciate knowing what they saw and about a part that i might want to get replaced on the outside unit, for about $300 but since it is still working, I declined that as well.  It was helpful that they wrote it all down on the receipt they left me, so I can refer to it later, if needed.  They seemed knowledgeable but I didn't care for how it was presented,.  I probably will not use them again.

Called for estimate to replace water heater and to replace furnace and AC. Never did get furnace estimate and water heater was double other plumbers.

see above

WENT AS PLANNED, BUT QUITE EXPENSIVE.

So, finally, he's going to leave, so he writes up the ticket using his notebook of set prices. And get this -- he charges me $400.00 for draining the overflow tank!! I'm not lying! I said, I'm not paying you $400.00 for that!! To which he replied, that I had authorized the work by agreeing to let him drain it, and if I didn't pay, they would take me to court. I should have said "Fine, take me to court!" but I was so upset and angry at him, I paid the money. Overall, these people are crooks and extortionists! Don't ever call them!! They should be in jail.

They were extremely professional, clean when they work and do a fantastic job of explaining to you what they are doing. They are expensive but the work they do is top notch.

I will never use Mike Williams.  My family and I live with my mother.  While she was in Mexico on vacation, the air conditioning broke.  I called Mike Williams because they had serviced the AC unit before.  I told the receptionist that my mother was on vacation in Mexico and could not be reached.  They insisted on calling my mother for her permission to work on the AC.  I am 40 years old and have not needed my mother's permission in over 25 years!  They called my mother and left a message, then called me and stated that they could not do anything until she called.  They called my mother on a Monday, she was not due back for six days.  I called Allied Plumbing and Heating and they came out without calling my mother.  I called Mike Williams back and spoke to another person and told them it was ridiculous that they needed permission, especially since I live there and pay half the mortgage.
Allied is perfect.  I will use them again and recommend them.

I like him. I have used him for the last ten years.  I have a plan and they come whenever I need them.  Some people say they expensive but I don’t know – I don’t use anyone else.  I think they’re okay.  You always want the price to be less but you get what you pay for.  They have been very prompt when I’ve called them; they have come right on time.  They come in and they’re very clean.  They put little booties on and they don’t mess up my house.  I don’t like to give anyone grades that are too high because I don’t want them to get a big head.  Some things do seem a little expensive; one time I had something done in my bathroom and the guy made an estimate but I wasn’t sure I wanted to pay that much.  What they do, they do well. When they fixed my toilet, they knew what they were doing.  It was good.  I don't mind if I pay more as long as I know it's going to be good; I don't have the money to do it twice.