Ranger Plumbing & Heating

Had two great interactions with them on small projects, so I decided to use them for a big project. Communication was terrible. Work was terrible. Got half finished and disappeared. I went up the ladder at the company to try and get help. I received an apologetic and hopeful conversation and was "put on the schedule" for 4 months out. I called them 4x after 3 months of waiting to make sure I was still on the schedule. None of my calls weren't returned. I then emailed and got a reply that I actually wasn't on the schedule and wouldn't be until "spring." In Montana, that could be f-ing July. I cannot move back into my home until this project is done and Ranger wasted 4 months of my life and patience when I could have called other companies.

Highly unfortunate, unpleasant experience. Upon receiving bills for relatively minor repairs that took less than 1.5 days, Scott Lemert submitted bill for upwards of $3500. Upon review of the bill and work by another certified plumber, we were told the charges were exorbitant and unreasonable. Parts such as the pressure tank and filter housing were marked up by Ranger from standard RETAIL (not Wholesale) prices 100-300%. There were charges that were completely unethical such as $100 and quot;haul away chargeand quot; This company and its individuals are dishonest. Do not use. UPDATE: since hiring a new plumber we have spent minimal amounts to fix furnace, water heater and radiators that Scott Lemert claimed needed wholesale replacement and would not work again. It is clear he uses the and quot;full replacementand quot;racket (with his 300% markups on retail prices) and is probably selling the items that and quot;would never work againand quot; second hand. Additionally, prices we obtained from other vendors that were less than half of what ranger plumbing charges were the EXACT same model, year, and brand…his arguments about quality are specious. We stick by everything we've said about this company. Steer clear…you be the judge.

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I called on a Friday afternoon and we were able to set up an appointment for 2 pm the following Monday. They say on their website that they always answer their phones and in my case they did answer each time I called. They were candid with the day's schedule to help me get an idea of the size of the time window and offered to call 30 minutes prior to arrival at my house. This was all important since I was trying to minimize the amount of time I would be away from work.
On Monday I received a call late in the morning notifying me that the technician had finished his other work early and could arrive at my home by 12:30 pm. This worked even better for me than 2 pm since I could combine the time off work with my lunch break. The technician was about 10 minutes late but that's not too bad.
Within 10 minutes, the technician had diagnosed the problem: the temperature and pressure relief valve needed to be replaced. But the temperature and pressure relief valve needed to be replaced because an expansion tank had never been installed. During a call with the office (the boss, I think), the technician relayed my question about whether this expansion tank was required by local building codes and he said it was and had been for a long time. I was a bit surprised that the building inspector hadn't mentioned this when I bought the property but it was clear I needed the expansion tank now.
The technician then told me he'd have to leave to get the parts he needed for the job and threw out an estimate of $100 in parts. When I asked about the length of time required to complete the work he said installing an expansion tank took about 30 minutes. He also estimated that it would take 15-20 minutes to get parts.
The technician returned in 45 minutes and said traffic was a bit rough. Fair enough. He then completed the installation in approximately the amount of time he said. However, I was still a little surprised when the bill totaled $340. I was charged 2 hours labor at $85/hr and $170 for parts. Ultimately I think the price was fair but I didn't like that the technician underestimated both time and parts. After the install I learned that the technician had worked for this company for about 10 years.
After the technician left, I inspected the new hardware that had been installed and noticed a small bead of water at the joint that connected to the new expansion tank. I wiped away the bead of water. I hoped it was just something remaining from the installation but put a paper towel under it so I would know if any water leaked while I finished my work day. Sure enough, when I returned home a few hours later there was a large bead of water at the same joint and a 2and quot; diameter wet stain on the paper towel. This was a very slow leak so I wasn't too concerned but I was a bit disappointed that I would have to schedule another appointment to make sure there was no leak at all.
The next morning I called Ranger and they said they'd try to get the technician back out during my lunch hour. I was impressed that they were able to pull this off on such short notice though there was a little confusion. I had discussed an 11:30 am to 12:30 pm window and was told I'd receive a call 30 minutes in advance. I didn't get this call however because the technician arrived at my house shortly before the office told him I had requested 30 minutes advance notice. Fortunately my wife was home for lunch before me and was able to let the technician in. The technician said he did not observe the slow leak . But he seemed convinced by the photos I'd taken of the leaking with my cell phone and agreed to tighten the connection again and then watch for a leak. It hasn't leaked since!
In summary, there were a few glitches along the way but in the end the job was done and I'm happy with the result.

With the heat out in the house, I consulted a few on-line heating specialists in Bozeman and discovered Ranger Heating and Plumbing. They answered my call, and arranged to have a technician at the house that afternoon. He arrived on time and fixed the problem profesionally. I would use them again and refer them to friends.