Rodenhiser Home Services

I called Rodenhiser because they service Carrier brand. Everyone in the company was very professional and courteous but their pricing was considerably higher that other companies. I ended up paying them for part of the service but the compressor replacement was done by another company. I was not satisfied with the cost of diagnosing the leak (it took about an hour to diagnose and i was charged $900). I have been contacting the supervisor at Rodenhiser, having left a few messages but have not heard back from them. Start to Finish:===========There were two service calls for the upstairs central AC which was not working: In the first service call, the service technician from Rodenhiser diagnosed the problem to be a bad main circuit board in the attic unit. It cost roughly $700 to fix the issue but the part had to be ordered which required a second service call to install the part. In the second service call, after the part was installed, the compressor started working but was blowing hot air. The service technician said that it would probably take a few hours to start cooling so i should check in 3-4 hours and get back if there is still a problem. After 4 hours, the compressor was still blowing hot air so i called Rodenhiser and they quickly got the service technician back. The technician indicated that this is possibly a leak issue and depending on where the leak is it could take 4-5 hours to diagnose and then fix. I was charged roughly $900 to start diagnosing the leak. The technician pressurized the pipes with nitrogen and waited 30 minutes to detect a pressure drop. There was no pressure drop so he concluded that the problem was not in the house pipes but instead in the compressor. It took roughly an hour to do this diagnosis. The technician could not find the leak in the compressor and indicated that the compressor would need to be replaced. The cost of replacement was quoted at $4800 which at this point was too high for me. I decided to go with another company for the compressor replacement. I asked the other company what it would cost to do the diagnosis and they indicated it would be ~$200. I have been trying to contact Rodenhiser about the diagnosis cost, i have left messages several times but haven't heard back from them.

The project took a little longer than expected but they made sure the job was done correctly. The crew was friendly and they cleaned up after wards.

Did a good job, cleaned up and offered tips on how to keep the drain flowing.

Overall the service was good and we would hire them again.

This was a relatively small job, but was addressed one day following our call (offerred to come same day. though) and took about 1 hour. The cost seemed expensive but I don't know how it would compare to other plumbers. Rodenhiser also helped arrange for another Rodenhiser rep to come by and give us a same-day bid on replacing our heating system boiler, which we are still assessing but which appeared reasonable.

Service was good, the appointment was quick, and the guy knew what he was talking about and fixed the issue immediately. The C rating is purely because of the price. The part that failed was basically a large capacitor - I bought a spare one afterwards just in case it fails again, for $30. But it's presented to you as a '$500 and we'll fix it' kind of deal. That is to say, they don't come round, diagnose that it's a $30 capacitor, and charge you maybe $150 for the call, and $60 for the part. It's $500, pay it or you have to wait 2 or 3 days more to get someone else to come and fix it for less, and still have to pay Rodenhiser for the diagnosis. I understand they have money to make, and good luck to them, but knowing how they structure their pricing, would I ever use them again? No - I'll get someone else and wait a day or two longer to get it fixed.

I had them out to do an estimate on a repair to the central air conditioning system they installed several years ago. They charge $95 to come out, which is NOT credited towards the cost of the repair. Their estimate was $950 to replace a cracked pan. I learned that the part cost $75, and would take 1 hour to install. So, the estimate from the other company was only $250-300. DO NOT pay $95 to have them come out....they will take your $95 and give you a quote you will never agree to

Requested that they contact me about replacing boiler. Never heard back after several contacts.

Arrived on time, did the work well and then left. The only reason we might not use them again is we actually found someone else to do the work more cheaply but went with these guys because a friend had used them. We'll evaluate again after we've used the other electrician.

Sales person whom I dealt with earlier this year for A/C replacement responded to a text I sent him well past office hours on the night of 11/17. He called me back promptly, heard my tale of badly leaking gas water heater, called someone else and called me back to say someone would be there the next day between 4 and 6 PM to replace the unit. He also quoted me a price for the job. These texts/calls took place between 8:40 and 8:55 in the evening. I don't like to bother people after work hours but I knew that Rick worked late and he had told me he was never really off the clock. Confirmation calls were made to me by Jill in the office the next day. (to my work #, which is where I was rather than calling the house during a normal work day, which some outfits do) Service man Nick arrived at my house @ 4:00. Looked job over and began. He removed the old unit, installed the new one which was of a type, ( 40 gallon w/o electronic control since non electric controls on old one had been great benefit during recent power losses), that Rick and I had agreed on. Nick worked steadily and safely, answering all my questions. The original cold water supply had a non-code compliant clamp type tap to supply water to the humidifier on the furnace. During his install he replaced this with a proper shut off valve. He checked for leaks on his work before lighting off the heater. I helped by bleeding air out of the faucets in the kitchen. He wrote up the bill for the amount Rick had quoted me over the phone the night before and was on his way by 6:45.

Technician gave me estimate for work which I thought was high, but needed drain fixed. He spent about 15-20 minutes writing up the estimate. It took over an hour for him to shut off the main water supply, fix the shut off to the toilet and remove the toilet to start snaking the drain. (I can do these plumbing tasks myself. It should not have taken over an hour to complete this portion.) My daughter and I had stepped out for awhile while he was snaking the drain. We returned to the technician being very concerned about items he thought had been flushed down the drain. He had actually run the snake from the master bath into the half bath on the other side of the wall. The half bath is being renovated and the toilet is not installed and the drain had been "ragged off" to keep odors from getting in the house. The snake he was using had caught scarves, a birthday balloon, some socks and a few other items that had been on the floor outside the half bath and dragged them through into the mater bathroom. I honestly don't know how well the main drain was actually snaked since it runs at a 90 degree angle from these two toilet drains. The tech reseated the toilet, turned the water back on, ran water to drains which seemed better, was paid and left. I called a friend in the plumbing business later that day to ask if he thought the price was high. He did not think it should have cost more than six hundred dollars. It is now three months later and I am having the same problem again. Only one person lives in the house and is careful about what ever goes into the drains.

I looked for local AC contractors with good ratings on the list. Rodenhiser had many good reviews so I didn't shop around. A call on a Wednesday resulted in my speaking with a friendly human named jill, I believe. She said a sales/service man Rick could come on Thursday and offered to also put me into the service schedule for a $95.00 eval visit on Monday. Rick, who is an energetic and punctual former service man, came and said the unit was probably kaput. He gave me very close estimates to the actual costs for repair and replace. Chuck came out on Monday with test equipment and confirmed something was very wrong with the compressor. Actually showed me his price book so I could see what it would run me to fix rather than replace. I said let's fix. He called the office and Rick called me within 20 minutes and was at the house in less than an hour. With his energy, knowledge of the equipment he sells, and his easy use of his phone, laptop and standard contract forms, he was able to set us up completely for the job right there except for the install date. No going back to the shop and "so-so will contact you" and you have to explain all the details again. The date came in the form of a phone call from another friendly lady from Rodenhiser who reached me at the phone that I said I could be reached at the time of day when I was there. (home,work,cell) Another plus for me. They couldn't do it before the July 4th weekend, this was Monday, 6/27. The caller said they would be at the house on the 7th by 8 o'clock and work would commence. The two techs that showed at 7:40 that morning, Rick and Darren, had all the equipment they needed; tools, drop cloths to protect the floors and booties for their feet when walking through the house.They took away the heat rejection unit outside, replaced the coil and condensate pump inside by the furnace. They hoped to be done by 3 and I was signing their slip at 2:50. I am very satisfied.

It went well. These guys showed up got the job done and done well!

I called on a Thursday or Friday and was able to get an appointment for the following Monday. They charge $75 just to come out which I think is a bit excessive. (Tells me they do not like small jobs.) The window was 10 to 12 and they arrived at 10:15. They quoted me for a few jobs I wanted done. I thought the prices were very high but the work was done fast and very well. They sign you up for a service contract at $7 per month but if you buy it, they reduce the price of the repairs. The service contract paid for the the discount on the repairs. All in all, they do good work but are pricey. No complaints about the work.

Our system died at the beginning of the summer heat wave. The AC companies were swamped with repair requests. We selected five companies to bid on the job. Rodenhizer sent a representative to our house before any other company. Their bid was the lowest, even for superior equipment. They were the only company to send a complete contract with the bid so we could see what we were buying. They answered questions by email within a day. They started work a week after we accepted the bid. They installed the system in two days as estimated. It was during another heat wave; the attic was an oven, but they worked without complaint. They cleaned up, explained the system, and gave me the bill. It was exactly the same as the estimate.

They responded quickly and in a friendly way to our emergency calls. The workers arrived promptly and worked efficiently and considerately on our repair. A furnace expert arrived and "tweaked" the furnace to get it to work again and buy us some time so that we wouldn't have to replace the whole thing immediately, mid-winter, but the "tweak" lasted only a day. Rodenheiser came back the next day and did a more extensive (and expensive) repair to get us through the winter. The only negative is that the furnace expert who "tweaked" said he would get back to us with estimates for a range of replacement options, but we never heard from him. In the spring, our water heater leaked. One quick phone call brought the technicians in and they replaced the water heater quickly and efficiently--though, again, they were expensive. We also called them in for a foul smell/clogged laundry room drain. The plumber was helpful and informative, solving the problem for the short term and outlining what we might do to improve the plumbing in the future

I discovered water on the floor in our basement. I made some calls to no avail. I found Rodenhiser through Google. I called. They put the supervisor on the line and he diagnosed the problem over the phone with me in the basement. They had a plumber with the right part to our home in an hour, even though they are three towns away. He looked to make sure we had the right diagnosis, which we did. He told me it would be $529 total and I agreed. He replaced the unit and added a new cutoff valve for the unit. He was done in 20 minutes. I gave him a check. He gave me a receipt for $529 but with no breakdown. So I have no idea what the unit costs and what the labor was. Yes, it seems expensive, but not outrageously so. The unit was leaking badly so there is no doubt it needed to be replaced. We seemed to escape with no secondary damage from the water. The very prompt and professional and courteous service is worth a lot to me. I will use Rodenhiser again.

Overall, I think the company was very responsive to my request for service. The technician was very professional. My main concern was that the service was overpriced.

Rodenhiser sent two technicians to fix our Rinnai tankless hot water heater, which had stopped producing any hot water. They arrived on time and identified the problem. Unfortunately, the part they needed wasn't in stock. They had the part delivered overnight, however, and called to see if they could arrive *earlier* than expected the next day (how often does that happen?) When they then discovered that water was still coming out cold at the tap, they tracked down the source of the problem to some other work we were having done for a renovation and told us exactly what to tell our other plumbers to fix the issue. The whole time they were very professional and courteous.

We had just brought home a new baby and our heating failed. Rodenheiser helped by re-arranging their schedules to get technicians to our house within two hours (first thing in the morning nonetheless). They were very courteous and professional and we able to diagnose, get the system back up an running, a price to replace the damaged component, and the price to repair some other parts of the system (none of which were superfluous as I had noted the same things before). In the end, we decided to hold off further on some of the other repairs and there was no hard sell at all. We now have a warm house and were very happy with the experience.

The rep came out to my house and did a detailed survey. He asked many questions. He informed me about other options that I had not considered. I had inquired about a 90% efficient furnace, but he told me that the town regulations would probably preclude getting one because I live a townhouse complex and there wasn't physically enough space. He left and promised to send a quote, which he eventually did although it took longer than I'd hoped. He told me he came back to the house to look again at putting in the 90% furnace, but could not see a way to do it. In the end, his price was a bit higher, and I had been impressed with the service another company had provided so I went with them. However, Rodenhiser struck me as very professional, and I would consider using them in the future.

The people on the phone were friendly and accommodating. The employees who came out were very respectful of our house, putting on and removing protective booties every time they entered or left the building. They explained things fully and the work that was completed was done well and neatly. I appreciated the fact that the worker who gave us the estimate on our A/C (Matt) considered the fact that the unit is over 25 years old and did not try to pressure us toward the more expensive repair. The prices are competitive, if maybe a bit high, but in this case you get what you pay for. There was one occasion where we were promised a phone call that we did not receive.

They were wonderful. They were always on time and cleaned up after themselves. Whenever there were issues, they came back and fixed them immediately.

The work was done OK and the plumber took extra time to show me how to turn on the outdoor faucets from the basement. However, the pricing was pretty unpleasant. They charged $69 to come out and look at the situation, then gave me a fixed price for the work. I thought it was very high but went ahead because I just moved in and needed the work done ASAP. They explained that for the price I got two plumbers and a big truck. In actuality, I got one plumber and one trainee who knew next to nothing, so I ended up paying them to train their new helper. In short, their overhead is enormous and I paid for it.

I noted that this comes out to $200 to $400 an hour. He seemed a little stunned, but agreed that was correct. I told him it was a problem and I would call his office. I spoke to the shift manager, and they agreed to reduce the price to $303, because the shutoff valves didn't need to be replaced (go figure...why would they include those in the original price?). We agreed to have the work done, and it seems to be satisfactory. Needless to say there are real problems with this company's business practices. First, if they have a fixed price list, why not state the fixed price when the customer calls for an estimate? Second, if they're selling a quality service, why would you need to hook a customer to a $69 charge so they won't cancel the visit? We didn't use Angie's List, and we didn't do our homework. We're lucky things didn't turn out worse.