Hero Plumbing, Heating & Cooling

This company engages in deceptive practices. I initially contacted them for a standard main line snaking service, which they advertised for $123. Upon arrival, the technician immediately attempted to upsell additional services. After I declined, they performed the basic service but strongly suggested I pay extra for a camera inspection due to a significant amount of roots they encountered. When I refused again, they offered the camera inspection for free, which revealed a root ball at about 65 feet. They then proposed an upgrade to a larger blade, which I agreed to. However, when they returned the next day, they attempted to charge me the full price for the upgraded service instead of just the $100 difference. Although their system allegedly didn’t allow for the correct adjustment, they managed to apply discounts and coupons, bringing the total down to $102. Despite using the larger blade, they were unable to clear the root ball and recommended either a significantly more expensive chain service or a $11,000 liner service. I declined and instead hired Ron the Sewer Rat, who successfully completed the job using a regular blade with a camera inspection, without any issues. Save your money and avoid this company, as they seem more focused on upselling than providing genuine service.

I scheduled the $93 drain cleaning (They clear your drains or it's free) because my water was draining slowly. This was rescheduled three different times (I believe they schedule you right away so you go with them, just delay until their schedule frees up which is very inconvenient.) They attempted to clear my drain but could not and got their cable stuck in my main line. They told me I would need to pay them $1,300 just to have their cable removed and to be back where I started. I called to talk to a manager as this feels like such a rip off. I pay for their mistake? That much money to just be where I was when I started. He said no, then I talked to someone else who said I need to pay it. Then I sent a couple emails as this felt like a scam but they didn't return emails. Terrible customer service and feel like they'll do anything to make extra money. Beware.

Was once a huge advocate, new systems at multiple homes…chose them for plumbing projects, sump pump projects….always spoke against negative comments advocating for the benefits of convenience / service (with the understanding that I would at times be paying a premium for this). Long time customer now seeking a new HVAC/plumbing provider as the service is no longer here with HERO. I tried to get a tuneup on the system they installed, as I could tell there were issues with the system (hot days I couldn’t get he house below 80). Initial delay from May appointment that I was fine with, they said end of June for a reschedule….didn’t hear back, so called at the end of June. Was told by their paid external customer service group that It now needed to be rescheduled again for August…or near the end of the hot summer when AC is no longer useful for as long. hero, you’ve lost my business and support and I suggest to all others to consider a different company moving forward.

Less than a year with hero. Had them install a new furnace and within a few months it stopped working. I have also had appointments rescheduled twice. When I called hero about the latest one, the person on the phone said it was written in their system that I wasn't home when I or someone else was home all day. I have a doorbell camera that would have recorded someone knocking on the door. I would recommend not doing business with a company that blames you for their failures.

Their price strategy is an unhealthy business model and does harm the customer. A company without integrity can’t survive.The entire process was filled with misleading information and cheating. The customer service call told me that the diagnosis charged me $69.99. I felt it was good to help me figure out where the problem was. Krist opened the switch and took a look for 30 sec (? 30 sec for $69.99) and immediately closed the switch cover. He said he has to discuss with me the price. I was not handy at all. So I trusted him. He provided me with three options: the most expensive option is almost $2000. He said he might need to open the wall to run a cable. All the conversion was misleading to make me feel it was quite timing-consuming work. I told him $2000 is too expensive and then he suggested I can choose the second option $950. I told him that I called Angi (a handyman website) yesterday and based on my description(Again I didn’t know the real situation, the Angi agent told me via phone it would be a 3.5 hours job for the worst scenario and it would cost me up to $550, but it was an estimate because they need to come over to check first. After Kirs heard the estimated price of $550, he said he can make a call to his boss to see if the price can be adjusted. He called his boss quickly and quickly they said they can do it for $550 as well. I'm working at home and I had three-morning meetings that Friday so I didn't have time to carefully think about it. Since I thought it was 3.5 hours of work, $550 should be reasonable. I quickly signed the agreement and ran to my meetings. However, when Kris told me the work was done, I was so surprised because it might only take around 10 or 20 mins. Most of time, he was taking many pictures of the other appliances in my house( I don’t know why). I asked him if the cable was just behind the switch, right? He said yes. He knew I had to run to another meeting, He asked me to pay quickly. It was really a busy morning for me. I paid him and sent him out of my house. When I finally had time to recap it that afternoon, I realized that I was misled: he opened the switch, and he should know the cable of the fan was behind it, what he needed to do is to connect. Why he tried to make me feel it would be $2000 work? The only reason why I agreed to pay is it would be a THREE hours job. I paid him $69.99 to do the diagnosis so I have to right to know if it’s a simple job or not. Because of the misleading information, I lost my mind when I negotiated the price. Another thing that should raise an alarm bell but unfortunately I was not alarmed by it: how can they quickly reduce a price from $950 to $550??? Kris simply changed the numbers in their system to make a final price of $550. I should have been immediately alarmed by it. I regret that I didn’t have time to carefully think about it.

Everything was great, at first. 6 months after the work was performed it began leaking and caused flooding in my basement. I was told that the "Hero guarantee" covers nothing and that they don't warrant their work. Considering they charge 2-3x as much as anyone else, I would NEVER recommend them to anyone for any reason. They also refuse to cancel my "Hero membership" That has been charging me monthly. Go with someone else, anyone else.

Terrible, tore up my whole yard what was discussed on estimate was not what was in contract, had ipad & just said sign,sign,sign. Ruined my 40 years of landscaping!!!

The Hero plumber (Austin Schmidt) was very knowledgeable and professional. He used the camera in the drain and clearly explained the problem to me and the proposed solutions. He completed the job in a timely manner and cleaned up after his work. Job well done!

New gas lines

Was charged just under $1000 for unclogging the basement drain in floor. Did not provide a detail billing explaining the high charge just stated clogged drain. He also broke a minor part after the work was completed and replaced it with a $50 charge added. When looking online standard price for this job is between $250-500 He also quoted us for replacing our garbage disposal and quoted us just over $1000 since he said the plumbing needs to be redone, stated illegal but upon further research is not illegal or against code. On the quote he put we requested the piping be redone under the sink. We were also told that due to covid he would be wearing a mask the whole time and a few times coming in and out he stopped wearing his mask and coughing downstairs. We have had to since sanitize the area he was working in or touched

The technician was fine. He didn't have one of his supplies, so he had to leave for about 30 minutes. He arrived at 8 a.m. and left at 11:30 a.m. when the job was completed. The cost of this replacement was $1897.00!! That is EXTREMELY high for that kind of job. To price gouge the public for a job that should have been $600-$700 MAYBE, is a disgrace to the plumbing industry!

Terrible. To replace a $50 plumbing part, their estimates ranged from $485 - $2,265. All I needed was a replacement cartridge installed on my bathtub faucet. If you ask them to repair a bathtub faucet, they'll try to sell you on a brand new shower head, tub drain treatment along with the cartridge instead. You can have the "silver", "gold" or "platinum" package. The cartridge and valve in my bathtub faucet handle needed replacing, and it's about a $50 part at Home Depot. They charged a $69 "trip fee" just to come to my house and do no work, look at the faucet, and then spit out 5 different estimates on their iPad for services I neither wanted nor asked for. I will not be calling them again.

The tech found the problem in 5 minutes. When he was talking to his superior to determine the charge, I was on the internet. What I found was a replacement motor was about $200 and a Utube video said replacement time is about 15 minutes. The tech then told me the work cost was $1800. I asked for a breakdown of service charge and parts and labor cost. He could not give me a breakdown, the home office would not provide that level of detail either. We are an elderly couple and wanted heat so we proceeded to have the work done despite the price goughing. The next day I got a free quote from a competitor. Of course, I told him what part was needed and he confirmed the $200 price.

Although I am happy to have a working drain again and satisfied with the completed job, I felt uneasy about the manner in which the quote was presented to me and really unhappy about the questionable charges (and more so after having researched the pricing for the job presented to me by the service tech). Under normal circumstances, I do my research in advance and go with companies that have a lot of happy customers, good ratings and ethical business practices. That said, I didn't do my research up front and I paid the price (literally) for it. The service tech presented me with a "bandaid" quote option of unclogging the drain at the source (the kitchen sink) and the more extensive and expensive option of doing more of a hydro jetting job in order to remove debris that I was told was most likely collecting within and from the greater water line. This means they use a special high-pressure hose to shoot water down the line from the kitchen sink and dislodge obstructions and debris. Although I opted for the bandaid approach at about $300, I was shown the extent of clog at the kitchen sink and was led back to the option of doing a more extensive hydro jetting job on the whole line. I was unsure as I know that there was no real way to know if the problem extended beyond the sink area or if this extra work was even necessary for the functioning of the sink drain in the long run. Essentially, the need for a bigger and more costly job was an unknown to myself and the tech,...no hard evidence is presented to the customer. The customer just is just presented with the possibility that they may have a lot of crud that exists in their system beyond the source. The company charged $1100 for the work (at just over one hours work). When I did my research after the fact, I learned that the average charges for high power hydro jetting/scrubbing for cleaning up a typical household sewer is $350-$600. So, I am left wondering if I paid for something I truly needed or not and if I was over charged.

Hero Plumbing and Heating was called on a Saturday. I was told up front that the service all charge was to be $94.00 since this was a weekend. I explained the job was a small one and just needed someone to replace a cartridge in a bathroom faucet. I had the correct part from the Mfg. on hand. After the service man took photos of the handle and the area leaking, he said he would go out to the truck and figure out "what these services would cost". He was gone a while and when he returned, he came to me with 3 recommendations- Elite: 1,517.00, Silver: 1,394.00 and Bronze- 459.00. I only needed a new cartridge and some corrosion removed so I chose the Bronze package. He was trying to sell me on the need for a water softener. I informed him I had ran out of salt and the system had not recharged but recommended a new water softener system that they could put in for about $2,200 due to Hard water levels are at 19gpg. I paid the $94 trip charge and 459.00 invoice for a total of $553. The plumber was at my house for less than an hour. The whole process and price were outrageous. I would like a partial refund as $553 per hour is ridiculous, even on a weekend.

Hero Plumbing and Heating responded to the Angie's List referral. I was told up front that the service all charge was to be $89.00. I explained the job was a small one and just needed someone to replace a cartridge in a leaky kitchen sink faucet . .. I had the correct part from the Mfg. on hand. After the service man took photos of the handle and the area leaking, he said he would go out to the truck and figure out "what these services would cost". He was gone a while and when he returned he came to me with 3 recommendations each showing a payment plan of around 200$+. He was trying to sell me on the need for a water softener. I informed him I had a soft water system only 2 years old. and that I called the company to fix a leaky faucet.. he began to explain how the water in the kitchen was..XXXX hard and in need of a softener. I said again he was called to fix a leak in the faucet handle on the kitchen sink. I asked " How much for you to fix the faucet I called about.. and he showed me a bid of $209.00. I asked "even if I have the part?". He went on to explain how they were a union shop and not always the lowest priced service provider". The whole faucet was only 3 years old and didn't cost that much new. I told him I was not upset at him, but at the unorthodox business practice of his company.. I paid the $89 trip charge and told him this whole process and price was outrageous. he processed the charge and said he would send me a copy of the proposal.. I told him all I needed was the receipt for the service call and don't bother sending the estimates for replacing the soft water system in the house.. I feel I have paid a company to come out and try to sell me unnecessary system and this was a "Bait and Switch" I just paid 89.00 to have these people come out and sell me.. I'd like my 89.00 back

WONDERFUL!! We are so pleased with Hero plumbing!! They were so courteous, knowledgeable, kind, thoughtful....From the minute Garvin came and diagnosed our problem, he was so nice and explained everything. He REALLY is so smart and just really a great guy!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH GARVIN!!! And you know plumbing problems are tough because you know they're probably gonna be expensive, but you HAVE to have it done. Well this company took ALL the worry out!!! They were FANTASTIC to us!! They were very concerned with how we were doing and that our drains weren't backing up when there was a bit of a delay getting to our job which was fine because life happens, we understand. And their employees were excellent ! We really can't say enough about how wonderful they were! From Garvin who 1st came out and was just wonderful to us! To Maria at the office and all the other guys who worked the job Cam, Matt, John, AJ, Nick, I'm sure I'm missing some guys cause man there was an army out there! And Dave who was really great at explaining everything to all of us, without making us feel like idiots!! The other great thing was they were available for any questions no matter what at anytime which was wonderful! We would recommend Hero plumbing to anybody we had a wonderful experience and will definitely call them or recommend!!! We seriously can't thank them enough! And again they were so kind to us we really appreciate it THANK YOU hero plumbing!!

He proceeded to remove the garbage disposal. This work was at my 86 yr old mother's home. She is a vulnerable adult. The rep showed up and said he was running way behind. He proceeded to remove the garbage disposal! This was not the work ordered at all. I called and asked them to fix the problem they created and do the work that was ordered. We scheduled an appt. My sister took the day off work to be there. I received a call late morning that day saying they had too many "priority" calls that day and wouldn't be coming. Clearly accepting more work than they have resources. They agreed to come fix the problem and then had no regard for the appointment made. BAD business ethics. How are you going to make this right, Hero????

They were just great, they have been out here several times every time I have questions with regards to the newly installed system. They were very personable, considerate and kept everything clean, they clean up after themselves, and always available when you need their assistance. Their people are always concerned and always make sure that I was satisfied with their service. Their Pricing was very reasonable as well.

I was a member of their "Happy Home Club" paying $10 per month and receiving a free A/C and furnace inspection each year. This year, the furnace inspection was rescheduled twice and I was just told they can't get to me until January 2020 due to emergency calls and over booking. So basically they don't have enough people to do all the jobs they sold. I cancelled my membership and won't use them again.

Do NOT sign up for the Happy Home Club tune-up plan!! It is a complete bait-and-switch model. I signed up years ago when they were Uptown Plumbing for $10/month. The guy told me it was a great deal. The first few years they would call each fall to schedule the furnace tune-up, then each spring for the a/c. The past few years they never call to schedule. You have to call them and when you do, you'll be told it will be months before they could come out. Last year it was about 1 1/2 months. This year they cannot come until January!! You pay monthly for this plan and they don't provide the service they promised. And if you cancel now they come out ahead as you've paid monthly and gotten no service. When they do finally make it out, they will ALWAYS tell you something needs repair. You could have a new furnace and they'd say it needs repair. And their repair and replacement costs are at least 3 times higher than any other company. Years ago they quoted me about $4000 for a water softener - I got one put in for $800 from somebody else and it's worked just fine. I plan to cancel my service plan - they will come out ahead but in the long run I'll save money. You can find specials every single fall from any company on furnace tune-ups - and they will come out in Sept or Oct (not the middle of winter) to do the work. Hero will only make you a priority if you wish to give them even more money for a service call and repair. Don't fall for it.

If I could give a zero rating I would! Terrible company with such predatory business plan. We were on Hero's (formerly Uptown) Happy Home Club service plan. After three years of high pressure sales tactics for very expensive things that didn't actually need fixing/replacing I just cancelled the plan. For example, this year they told me I needed to replace my furnace for $12000! It was only 13 years old, and would typically last 25! After Hero taking several carbon-monoxide readings from two different technicians, I called a different company we have used before for for a second opinion. They read absolute zero carbon monoxide leaking and also zero within the flue - indicating a perfectly functioning furnace. Last year it was the hot water heater I "needed" to replace for $8000 - after a second opinion and 12 months later we have had no problems whatsoever with it. Before that, we "needed" to fix out 4 year old A/C for many hundreds of dollars. Luckily I always got second opinions and didn't do any of this totally unnecessary work. I am so glad to be finally done with Hero - it is a brilliant marketing strategy to call such an immoral and predatory company a "Hero". Don't use Hero - you will end up overpaying for service you don't need.

I recently took apart my bathroom sink drain to snake it, but couldn't get the snake down the pipe. With company coming to my home, I called Hero and they said the visit would cost $69. I asked if there would be an additional charge, but she wasn't sure. When the tech got there, he was going to charge a fee to assess it, which I denied since I had done this. Then he said the actual snaking would be another $299 ON TOP OF the $69 visit fee. That's $368 to SNAKE A SINK DRAIN! After I asked him to leave, suddenly he decided he could charge me a reasonable amount. When I gave him my TOP LIMIT, they charged me $1 less than that. They are trying to sell plumbing insurance. WHAT A SCAM! He then expected me to go online and give him a perfect rating once he lowered the cost to be within my absolute upper limit. AVOID THIS BUSINESS!!!

I originally called Hero Plumbing because I was having water backing up from a floor drain and flooding my laundry room every time I would run the laundry machine or dishwasher. The technician that came out diagnosed a rusted out drain trap in the laundry room floor drain. He said that absolutely had to be replaced asap because it was causing odors and possible carbon monoxide leaking into the household. This was job that required jack hammering the floor to pull out the old drain, installing the new drain, and pouring new concrete. In addition to that job, he also said that our main sewer line was on the verge of full collapse and needed to be replaced or rehabbed asap before it failed completely. They quoted us over $14,000 for this whole job of rehabbing the sewer main and replacing the floor drain in the laundry room. They said that since they just had a cancellation in their schedule, they would be able to work us in within less than a week and if we were willing to take that time slot, they'd give us a great discount and could get our price down to just under $13,000. While this still seemed an exorbitant price for this work, the technician did a good job of fancy talking my dad and I and convincing us that we had a complex case and they would usually charge much more, so this was really a bargain given the complexity of our home. Since we didn't want to lose our time slot and this "great discount" they were giving us for getting the work done right away, we decided to proceed and allowed them to come do this ridiculously overpriced job. They did a great job of using scare tactics to convince us that this job needed to be done immediately, at any cost, to avoid even larger home disasters. Now looking back at it, I realize that this whole story of "an unexpected opening in their schedule" was their way of getting us to commit to them right away and not having time to think about it or to get other companies out there to give us a second opinion or a better bid on the job. Literally 1 week after having our sewer main rehabbed by Hero, my laundry room started flooding again. Same problem we had from the very beginning! I called Hero to come out and take another look to tell me why my laundry room was still flooding after just paying them nearly $13,000 to fix everything. Now Hero tells us that the pipe that runs from the laundry room drain underneath the house and out the the sewer main that leads to the street has a crack in it as well. The only way to fix it would be to jackhammer up the fresh concrete they had JUST poured in the laundry room when they replaced the drain trap, and replace the cracked portion of that pipe. This would cost us another almost $4,000 to do. Why didn't they notice this cracked pipe the first time they were out and did their initial inspection? Well, the technician says it may not have been cracked then (a whole two weeks ago) or that the crack may not have been evident at the time because perhaps some rust broke free since then and exposed the crack. While that may all be true, I wasn't too excited about busting up my laundry room floor and paying another $4000 on top of what we had already JUST paid. Again, they tried to get us on the schedule within a week. This time, however, I decided to take the time to get a second opinion before spending so much more money with Hero again. So today I had another plumbing company come out and take a look at my drains and pipes. While the second company confirmed that there is a crack in the pipe leading out of the laundry room, that crack is NOT the reason my pipes are backing up and causing flooding. The reason for the back up is that when Hero installed the new sewer liner and replaced the floor drain in the laundry room, they did not drill out a proper drain opening in either location. I have pictures from the other plumber showing that there's only about a 1/2 inch opening where the new sewer liner connects to the house, and also only about a 1/2 inch opening where the new laundry room floor drain connects to the pipe. So essentially Hero left me with two clogged pipes! Not only that, but the second plumber told me that Hero charged me nearly double what the industry standard is for rehabbing the main sewer line. He said most companies in the Twin Cities would only have charge around $5,000-$6,000 for the job that Hero did. So basically Hero charged me double what it should have cost, did shoddy work, and messed up the job leaving me with another problem that causes me to still have the original issue I called them out for - which was my laundry room still floods everytime I run the laundry machine or dishwasher! I intend to call Hero and show them the pictures from the other plumber and insist that they fix their mistakes for free, but even if they do that, it won't solve the fact that they charged me twice what I should have paid for this horrible work. Not to mention the fact that the other plumber said the whole job could have (and should have) been done WITHOUT having to jackhammer up the floor in my basement to access the sewer main when they rehabbed it. There is other technology and equipment available these days where that job could have been done without busting up my basement. I'm a single mom on a very tight budget, and my dad had to finance this monstrous job for me, because I did not have the money to do it myself. And now to find out that we were soaked for twice what it should have cost AND they did it wrong and I still have sewer lines backing up into my basement, I just feel really sick about the whole experience. I would NEVER recommend Hero plumbing to anyone and will never use them for anything ever again. Don't let them talk you into accepting quick appointments to get overpriced work done by them! Take your time, get other bids and other opinions, hire better people who will do your job correctly. I feel terrible about the financial position my dad and I are both in now for having paid so much money and to be left with inferior work that was done incorrectly and left my basement a total mess. The only resolution to all of this that would satisfy me would be for Hero to fix the drain openings to how they should have been done the first time, free of charge, and to refund half of what they charged us for this whole project to bring the total price down to what other local plumbers are charging for the same work.

Immediately after the repair, it leaked all over my basement bedroom. I called them back, and a new plumber was sent out and reported it was a faulty valve. I was skeptical because the plumber who installed it had really struggled with it for a long time. They fixed it and sent out a painter to repaint and fix the water damage. Now a few years later, the repair have once again leaked, and when I called, they informed me that I had chose the "band-aid package" and so I only got the 30 day warranty. I expected that a professional plumbing company would stand behind their work no matter what, and I was wrong.