BORNSTEIN SONS INC

Had a leak coming from boiler. Bornstein came out said a new Aquastat relay was needed. $1,400 later, I still had a leak. The came out again and said something else needed to be replaced for $750. When I complained about spending $1,400 already on parts that did not fix the problem they refused to return any of my calls.

They're a bit expensive, but they know their way around radiant heating systems!

Received an estimate of $2200 some of which was for work deemed not required by my former retired plumber. He walked me through the procedure to correct the surging. It involved a drain down and installation of a chemical boiler treatment. Total cost $16 and 2 hours of my unskilled labor.

They did a good job. They are pricey, but you want to have a job done only once and have it done right. They have excellent customer service. You can get them anytime, if you have an emergency they come right away.

Their price is high, but they have very good customer service.

Very poorly.They installed a 3 ton Trane system in our 1100 sg ft home on June 13.it immediately began short cycling every 1to,2 minutes. Try first adjusted refrigeration fluid,didnt help.then replaced the coil,didnt help,then cut a hole in main duct to increase air flow and left the hole without even a grill plate on it and it did not help.We called Trane rep and he came and measured the house and the next day the system was changed to a 2.5 ton.The system never reaches the temp we set thermostat to.if set at 70,it does not go below 73.they replaced thermostat and it has same problem recurring from June ,until today! We wrote to BBB and Trane and also stopped payment on Visa but nothing has been done or tried since the end of July. Now Trane claims the problem is the ductwork in our house which has never been even mentioned as a possibility and worked perfectly with our previous Carrier and even now is not noisy or anything.C conveniently ductwork us not covered by Trane or Bornstein!!

unknown

Bornstein and Sons was one of many estimates we received for ductless AC installation. Richard came for the estimate and really took his time explaining the product and installation process. He was easily accessible after our meeting to answer questions, and he also provided me with an updated estimate within 30 minutes of a phone conversation when I asked about additional work, noting that he liked to make sure that the "ball was in our court" and that we had all the information we needed to make a decision. This level of punctuality and responsiveness is not often seen and was much appreciated.
Bornstein was not the least expensive estimate we received, but the expertise that was exhibited as well as the emphasis on keeping a neat, clean work environment solidified our decision to book. The work began within less than a week of signing the contract, maintaining the punctuality that we had experienced since our first encounter. The only downside was that the start date for the work was contingent upon receiving permits from the town, and I did not receive a return call confirming the work date, despite my calling the day prior. I ended up calling again that evening, and Richard then called me back to confirm. The technicians who came to install the units (over 2 days) were professional and polite and completed the work in a timely fashion.

unknown

Mike was extremely thorough and informative. He is clearly very knowledgeable about steam boiler systems, which parts can be finicky, things to look out for in the regular operation of the system, etc. This is the first house we've owned prior homes we've rented did not have steam radiators, so I had a lot of questions. Mike was awesome, never just gave a simple answer or any indication he was bothered by the Q&A! Always clear and thorough answers, and asked numerous times at the end if I had any more questions or wanted him to look at anything else. And throughout the job, he was attentive to not making a mess or cleaning up any mess that was created. We opted to pay a bit more than other firms were asking for similar plans since Bornstein Sons appears to have a great reputation and Richard and Bonnie were very reassuring of their service commitment when I spoke to them. So far, having met Mike for this boiler service and Richard for a generator quote, I believe they are dedicated experts and would recommend.

Great.

unknown

I called the company to service my furnace. My in-laws were arriving from Florida and there was no heat in the first floor of my split level home. They arrived promptly when they said they would and we're attentive and courteous. I explained that I had heat on the main level but not the lower level of my home. The thermostat worked and the zone valve was functional, however nothing happened when I raised the thermostat. The repairman visualy inspected the unit said I needed a new circulator and that price would be $1,000.00 which he conveniently had listed on his binder. I told him I was not prepared to pay so much at this time and was charged $140 for the 10 minutes he spent at my home. I had no problem paying but I did feel like there were no real diagnostics done on my furnace or maintenance or anything that would warrant the price. He did tell me that if I converted from oil to gas heat with them that he would deduct the service call. But if they charge$140 for a 10 minute service call I could imagine what a conversion would cost. Ultimately, I gained nothing from contacting this company except the financial loss. The irony is that after they left the heat came back on and worked all weekend before shutting down again.

I am not impressed with the service by Bornstein Sons, because it was increasingly annoying to deal with them, especially the office staff. After an initial pleasant conversation with R. Fertel and a reasonable price (and assurance by Fertel that they would not disappoint me), the process was painful.
First to the work itself. The installation went well, but most recently when I turned on the heat, it did not work. Apparently air was in the heating pipes - not to be expected from a professional installation. Then one room was not heated and a part was missing. I was promised a call to schedule an appointment, but the return call never came until I inquired again. In addition, a definitive time a day, except first in the morning, was not possible to give at all.
After the initial installation I was told that a town inspector would be in the next day. I waited and nobody came.  Bornstein claimed they never scheduled it, although it was a Bornstein technician who came that morning and told me the inspector would be here by 10AM. Hence the gas company visit to open the gas line was delayed. Then, they pointed the finger at an office staff member who was in the previous day, and nobody in the office took responsibility for the misinformation. When I spoke to the town directly for scheduling the inspection, the Borstein office staff did not believe me when I tried to explain what the town's policy is for scheduling the inspection visit and the person became increasingly unfriendly and condescending. 
Lastly, every time I called I was interrupted when explaining my call and put on hold. Then, almost any time I was promised a return call, the call never came and I had to call back a couple days later.
All in all, I would not hire them again just because of all the aggravation it caused dealing with them I sure hope that at least the workmanship will hold up to Fertel's promise.

I was very impressed with their service. If I had to have gotten a new unit, I would have gone with them.

When I called they offered to come the next day but were happy to come the day after as it fit better into my schedule. They have done a lot of work for me including a new hvac system. Always nice people, professional, and tidy. I've never had any trouble with the finished product. Highly recommended.

They were very good. They were exceptionally clean.

SUPER HIGH UNFAIR PRICING
POOR WORK - MISSED LEAKING AFTER COMPLETION
POOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION BUSINESS PROCESS

This company lost me as a customer. I feel nauseous from the amount of money I paid them for the (little) work they did for me to get my $200 new laundry sink hooked up. The reason I chose them was because they seem to have a professional business operation, nicely presented and informative website, prompt follow up to calls/inquiries, after-hours answering service, quickly scheduled appointments etc. I was drawn to them for these reasons and perceived them to be a family owned business that grew into a large operation based on this type of business foundation. To engage them, I went to their website which I found through their listing here on AL and I completed their online estimate/appointment form (I have sometimes had issues with emailing businesses through Angies List due to limited job info you can submit). Within 30 minutes of my submission on their website, a call was returned and I set an appointment with Rich. He seems to be a job scheduler or manager but also acts like a telephone salesperson. Rich set an appointment the next day for me with who he specifically called and quot;his best plumberand quot; and stated that very fortunately for me this plumber also lived in the same town as me. So Jim the Plumber arrived the next day on schedule and gave me an estimate of $290 to extend the length of the small copper water supply pipes that will feed the laundry sink, we also discussed how to deal with the sink drain connection (via a new trap pipe) and for integrity of the existing plumbing we both felt it was best to cut/notch out my new sink cabinet (from Costco) so no movement or reset or modification to the existing drain pipe placement in the wall would be necessary. So I gave Jim the plumber from Bornstein the go ahead to do the copper piping extension and told him I would perform the cabinet notch out later, so he completed the copper extension job in less than an hour and my wife paid him and he went on his way. About two hours later I came from my business appointment and actually looked at the work Jim the plumber performed and immediately noticed large puddles of water coming from the same pipes. A 12 inch puddle of water had formed on the laundry room floor by now. So I immediately called back Bornstein's office line, left a message with their answering service (it was 6pm at night) and Rich called me back approximately 40 minutes later to ask what happened. I explained to him that his guy Jim the Plumber left my house with a water leak occurring that he obviously didn't check thoroughly. Important note - I was not a jerk about this, actually very pleasant and factual. I did not dismiss Jim or his work, just explained the issue to Rich and stated that it must be fixed. Thinking I would give Jim and Bornstein another chance, since it was my very first engagement with their business. Rich was not apologetic but he was corrective and asked if the leak was major and I confirmed it was not so he asked if Jim could come back early the following morning as his first stop of the day- so he could fix the leak. I agreed and placed a towel under the leak for the evening. Jim arrived the following morning at 7:15am (as agreed) and fixed the leak in 38 seconds by tightening a fitting related to the shut off value on the same pipe he worked on the day prior. There was no charge for this fix but I did get an excuse from Jim where he stated something about the 'best practice' of shutting off the supply valves every time one finishes using the sink (or in this case the water supply to the washing machine) and then he chuckled that it was an unrealistic practice to do so but he was just sayin because the leaks occur from lack of movement of these valves. So after this (a total of) 2 minute visit, Jim was pulling out of my driveway. The following day I proceed to notch out the cabinet as planned and I placed it back against the wall in the sitting place for it. After doing this, I could now see that the drain and existing piping for the trap connection was misaligned and needed to be modified. This could be speculated as a possibility at the onset when Jim and I discussed it on first job estimate, but now that the cabinet and sink unit can actually be placed in it's new/final resting location, it was now clear that the trap pipe would have to added/modified to connect to the placement of the drain on the new sink. So I called Bornstein's office on a Saturday and left details with their answering service. Then Rich called me back an hour or two later on Saturday to discuss what I needed. I explained that now, I need the plumber to do the trap pipe connection since the cabinet was now notched out and placed further back into it's final placement. He made some humor and wasn't very successful in his (phony) style of trying to be friendly and we settled on scheduling Jim the plumber to come back to my home on Monday morning at 7:30 am to do job #2 (modify trap to align and fit with sink drain). So Jim arrived on time and I showed him the job area and he gave me 2 estimates - one estimate to just modify the trap pipe and connect to sink drain - for a total of $291 or estimate two for $445 that included doing that trap pipe work plus connecting the sink faucet and hardware which was still new in the box because I hadn't set up yet. Since I didn't yet look at the faucet hardware or instructions, I expected that the $150 additional would be a worthwhile add-on since a professional plumber was already onsite to do the drain connection, I felt that a plumber performing that faucet set up work would be ideal to assure no leaking and proper installation. I am just a homeowner and not a professional installer of anything, so I figured it was best to pay the additional $150 for the total of $445 (plus tax) to get all the work completed by a professional and my laundry sink would be done!

After ok'ing the work, Jim completed all of it within 45 minutes. This was shocking to me. Because the perception of what I believed was a complex job - that warranted the $445 price tag - was actually in total materials supplied by Jim at Bornstein - a short piece of white pvc piping, and new plastic and quot;Jand quot; trap connector to complete the drain portion of the job and then a few minutes to install all the faucet hardware that came new in the box as included with my $250 laundry sink from Costco. So at the time of his completion I realized that I was paying him $445 for 45 minutes of work and $8 in their total material cost - just for this job while I had already paid Bornstein $290 just 4 days ago for the extension of the copper supply pipes.

In summary, Bornstein Sons Inc charged me $800 (in total) including sales tax for LESS THAN 2 HOURS OF TOTAL WORK for both jobs they performed for me. Again, the brand new laundry sink I bought from Costco was $230 - Bornstein's fees brought the total replacement cost of this sink to more than $1000. So before I wrote the check to Jim to dismiss him and Bornstein from my life forever, I questioned him about the $445 for 45 minute equation and he justified the fee as 'a flat rate' job and not an hourly job. He also told me earlier that he wasn't charging me another 'trip charge' for this second visit either, I guess I was supposed to feel that was a courtesy that I wasn't be charged another $95 trip charge for the second job I was paying Bornstein for in 4 days. After paying Jim and getting my receipt, I advised him to have his phone guy Rich call me, he agreed and left. 4 hours later I called Bornstein Sons Inc myself and asked to speak with Rich but had to leave a message with a gal Amanda who answered. I have not been contacted by Rich as I requested to discuss my displeasure with their obnoxious fees and notify him directly that the result of my $800 payments to them in the past 4 days will be the loss of a customer permanently. Rich knows of my situation and that I will not be a customer, because I also called him bac

unknown

THEY CLEANED UP AFTER THEMSELVES. THEY CAME ON TIME. THEY HELPED US FIX SOME THINGS JUST IN CASE WE EVER HAD FUTURE PROBLEMS. THEY WERE VERY PROFESSIONAL ABOUT WHAT THEY DID. THEY WEREN'T GREAT, BUT I WOULD PROBABLY USE THEM AGAIN.