Martel Plumbing & Heating Inc

Martel replaced our hot water heater four years ago (in less than 24 hours on Fourth of July weekend, no less) and I noticed today that it had started to leak. I called in to their office at 11:15 am spoke with a very kind and friendly woman who transferred me to Jeff. I left a message and had a call back in less than an hour. The heater was still under warranty, they had one in stock and the technician, Mike, was at the house in less than an hour and by 2pm the job was done! I have always had more than amazing experiences with Martel, but this one takes the cake. Jeff was very informative and helpful in diagnosing the issue and Mike was an absolute pleasure to have working in my basement. If you are looking for a stand-up company for any of your plumbing and heating needs, do not hesitate to call the friendly folks at Martel!

They deserve an A+. They were on time, responsive, did a great job, followed up, and communicated well. Price was fair, reasonable, and easy to understand. It's a relief to find a contractor that we can trust - one less thing to worry about the next time. Fully recommended!

Martel workers were very professional and courteous. After the work was finished I could not tell if they were there, the clean up was great. They went up and beyond with the install. I would hire them to do all my plumbing needs.

Very pleased with service that was done. Arrived on time and was professional. Would definitely hire again.

They are pretty good. They provide us with an annual service. I’d rather pay $150 for a service rather than rebuild a whole system. I called, they put us on the schedule, they showed up as promised. We use them every year.

Troy was great. Pleasant and professional.

Fast & efficient

I am writing regarding the charges for the work performed at my residence by Martel Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning and invoiced on the attached invoice. (NOTE: I was unable to attach the invoice.) I feel strongly that this invoice is unfairly priced and that it represents a very significant change from the way in which we have done business with Martel in the past. In the fall of last year I contacted Martel and asked for an estimate for replacing our heating and air conditioning equipment, and our water heater. A representative came out and examined our equipment and emailed us an estimate. Although the form was labeled as a “Proposal”, I took it to be Martel’s standard form that they use for estimates, and I thought that the total amount quoted represented an amount that the work would not exceed. It was never explained to me that this was a “fixed price” job, as Martel had always done work for us on a time-and-material basis. When I contacted Martel to make arrangements for the work to be done, the thermostats were still a question. So I went online and called Honeywell to obtain information about the wireless WiFi thermostats that Martel had suggested as being suitable. Both the Honeywell website and the Martel estimator told me that my existing thermostats would not work with a two stage furnace. The estimate included thermostats but it did not list the manufacturer and model number. Also, since the two stage furnace would be replacing our one stage furnace, it was understood that we would need a new control panel, and that this was a part of the estimate – just like all the other parts and materials needed for the installation. When the installers arrived, the question of the thermostats was still unanswered. But it so happened that during the previous year, Martel had already replaced the furnace control panel, and had installed one that could operate with either a one stage or a two stage furnace and would work with my existing thermostats, so neither the furnace control panel nor the two thermostats needed replacing. This represented a significant savings in hardware costs ($570-$786 at sale and list prices) as well as labor ($???), since the wiring for the existing thermostats was insufficient for two stage wired thermostats and would have necessitated either rewiring for suitable thermostats or using wireless WiFi thermostats. As the installation was beginning, I received an invoice from Martel. It did not account for the actual labor expended, nor did it make any allowance for the unneeded parts that were included in the estimate. This upset me, and I contacted them and asked for an itemized invoice, expecting to get a time-and-materials invoice that reflected the reality of the actual work involved and the parts that were actually installed. I did not receive the revised invoice until after the work was completed. It was for the same amount as the first invoice, with a small credit for the thermostats and the furnace control panel ($300, not the $570-$786, plus labor). This caused me to question all the charges on the invoice. Using the internet and looking up retail prices for the major components actually installed, I discovered that the prices for which Martel had invoiced me was more than $900 over the retail prices I found, and that Martel’s charge of $1955.02 for miscellaneous materials (which conveniently brought the invoice total to an even number of hundreds of dollars) was even more inflated than their other prices. Actual consumer prices for the copper and pvc tubing, elbows, 3 shut off valves, a condensate pump, wires, hangers, blocks, gravel, etc. is $1500-$1600 less than the invoiced charges. I have documented the consumer pricing for the components used and I am willing to share this data. Overall, I was charged more than $2500 above RETAIL prices just for parts and materials – even though I am confident that Martel purchases these at WHOLESALE prices – making their gross profit $5000 to $6000 over their actual total costs for parts, labor, and materials. The “senior discount” advertised on their website turns out to be a mark-up to inflate all their costs. This incident leaves me believing that I have been duped and unfairly invoiced. Further, I didn’t initially receive any information or help getting my new equipment registered so that the warranties would be in effect. And no information regarding rebate programs from which I might expect to benefit. When I inquired about this, I was given websites to go to so I could learn about this and deal with it on my own. Finally, when I contacted Martel with my complaints about their invoice, I was told that when I signed the “Proposal” it became a “Contract”, and I was obligated to pay the amount on the revised invoice regardless of the actual costs of parts, labor, and materials. Even though I shared my documentation regarding consumer pricing, Martel refused to share their wholesale pricing information. No one from Martel ever pointed out in advance the change in our business relationship - that unlike other work Martel has done for us, the work listed on the estimate would be done for a fixed price, not on a time-and-material basis. While it may or may not be true that I am legally obligated to pay the greed-inflated amount, it is nevertheless a fact that I was grossly overcharged, and that I was tricked into thinking that we would be doing business as we had always previously done. Paul Cully 5 Ezras Way Dover, NH 03820 978-692-2498 [email protected]

Excellent response with unexpected replacement within hours at a great price. The installers did excellent work. The price was half of the quote of another company & 20% below the estimate.

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Absolutely fantastic. When I originally called, I was told that they wouldn't be able to come out for a few weeks due to their heavy workload. I described the job and asked that they call me if anything became available sooner as I had someone coming to install the heating stove in a week. Soon after, I received a call that they would be able to help and could come out the next day. I wasn't able to be there for the work, so I left the key and a note with instructions. They completed the job perfectly and I would never have known that they were there except for the new gas connection exactly where I had asked them to place it. Several days later someone from Martel came by in person to be sure that I was happy with the work and to answer any questions that may have come up. Based on this experience, they are now my go-to for all of my plumbing needs.

Tony arrived on time and ready to work.  He was very friendly and polite, and took the time to explain what he was doing and why.  I pointed out two leaky valves and he fixed both right away.  The first was a shut-off for an outside faucet that requires a quarter-turn tightening whenever it leaks; the second was a mixer valve for the washing machine, which he replaced.  I also had questions about other parts of the plumbing and Tony took the time to explain which were not a problem and which might require work in the future.  I will use Martel Plumbing for any future plumbing needs.

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Their technician came out and spent ten minutes "temporarily" patching up the pipe with a little clamp (it still leaks and we have to go to the basement and turn the hot water on or off every single time we want to use it) and then proceeded to spend the next half an hour chatting with my husband about other things and going outside our house saying he was calling another guy to see if they could come out this AM (11/14/14) to provide a full quote. He claimed that rather than being able to repair the leak, we would have to re-do the entire bathroom plumbing; he initially told my husband that this would take a full day with two men working at their hourly rate of about $85- so this would be close to between $1500 and $2000 dollars. After stating that and going out to call his other guy, he came back into our house and told my husband that it might actually only take half a day, and that they would come out today, 11/15, to gather an official quote. 
They then charged us for a FULL hour of OVERTIME billing ($127.50) even though they actually came at 1 PM in the afternoon (which is not during their overtime hours) and the technician spent nowhere near an hour actually doing work- most of that time he was outside, supposedly setting up this quote, and chatting with my husband about his other jobs. Aside from that, the temporary fix is not sufficient and is still dripping. 
12:30 today rolled around and nobody had showed up at our house yet; I called Martel to check if and when they were planning on coming out. The man I spoke with sounded confused about us expecting them out there (even though their technician spent about 20 minutes the day before supposedly calling them and setting this quote up) and then proceeded to tell me "Well it will probably be a couple of weeks before we can do the work". I stated that I knew that, the technician had told us that yesterday, but he also told us someone would come out to officially quote us today and that my husband was at home waiting for them. He agreed to come out within a half an hour.
Frankly, at this point, we feel like the technician was trying to pull the wool over our eyes and that this company seems to just be money hungry and dishonest. I'm shocked as we did look at local reviews before calling them and they seem to have an overall good reputation; perhaps our experience was not the norm. I am now questioning them saying that we need to re-do all of our bathroom plumbing instead of fixing what we have since it seems obvious based on our experience yesterday that they over bill for what they actually do and are not looking out for their clients' best interests.
UPDATE: We fixed the plumbing ourselves and it cost a fraction of their quote (Around $300 total); has been working like a dream since November. Martel plumbing sent us numerous bills for the  full overtime amount even after we spoke with them and explained that the temporary patch he did was still leaking when he left. They agreed to charge us half price (frankly, still a rip off for a shoddy job that was not finished) and then sent us yet another bill for the full amount. When I was finally able to speak with the owner, she sorted the overbilling out and sent me a revised bill which I paid just to wash my hands of the situation... even though I feel as though we shouldn't have been charged after the quality of work and the amount of hassle they put us through. I will never hire this company again.

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