SOHNS APPLIANCE CTR INC

Sohns installer came extremely close to blowing up our home with us in it, a number of months ago. We purchased a gas stovetop from Sohns and were informed their installer Keith could connect our gas line to the stovetop as part of the installation. He came and was unable to complete the installation due to missing a few parts with the gas top stove. He informed us he’d be back the next day to complete the installation. During that evening I noticed a slight smell of gas, which got stronger throughout the evening. This seemed unusual and I checked the area where the stove was installed (but not connected to the gas) and it was difficult to track the smell. Before bedtime I noticed the smell was quite strong and went outside around 1 am to inspect the outside gas lines. To my complete shock and horror it was obvious that propane gas was spewing into our basement with a very strong flow. Upon inspection within a minute I realized that the installer had connected an old gas line with two outflows. One of the outflows was releasing a significant amount of propane gas into our basement from our 500-gallon tank without any restriction. The basement was filling with propane and because propane gas is heavier than air was becoming a secondary tank which was totally unsafe and essentially a bomb. I immediately closed the value on the gas tank and attempted to vent the basement. When it as apparent that my efforts were not enough several hours late I contacted the gas company and the Gardiner Fire Dept. to assist me. When the gas company arrived in early morning they were shocked how incompetent the installer was in connecting the gas line and repaired the damage and we awaited the Fire /Dept. for assistance. When the Fire Company arrived they were extremely concerned with the situation and evacuated everyone from the house and vented the basement over three hours with several large exhaust fans. When we informed Sohns Appliance store of what happened they acknowledged that a mistake might have been made with no apology or corrective action. I was shocked that even a week or two later no one from their store had acknowledged the situation and when asked they indicated that their installer Keith was a independent contractor and that were not responsible for the problem. Essentially Sohn’s does not care about the safety of the appliances it installs. They do not accept responsibility for the grievous mistakes of their installers that they have contracted with. They did no seem to care about customer service and safety. We make these statements based on an experience with them that nearly resulted in the deaths of everyone living in the house. We could have died as a result of their negligence. Sohn’s made no attempt to reach out to us or to find out how we were doing. They did not offer an apology or make any attempts to rectify the situation. They do not accept responsibility for employing such a sloppy and unprofessional individual. They have not even been willing to reimburse us for the additional costs incurred from Heritage energy to fix the faulty work and replace the lost propane. I would recommend staying as far away from this company as you can.