Fast Water Heater Company

My eMail of 5/2/2014 to Steve B (Regional Field Supervisor for Western Washington) provides the details. The content of the eMail is shown below (Steve responded by eMail on 5/13 and 5/14/2014). Hi Steve: I wish to comment on the installation of a water heater model XE40M06ST45U0 on Tuesday, April 29 at the home of my daughter (xxxxxxxxxx, Mukilteo, WA 98275). Workmanship quality The installation was done professionally by Brandon Cxxxxx. My daughter has hot water again and is grateful for that. Billing issue I did pay for the delivery and installation by Credit Card for a total amount of $1,074.74 and was confused about the amount I was charged. I purchased the water heater through the Puyallup Home Depot. They put me in contact with your office through one of their business phones and I placed the order with Marcus. The estimate Marcus gave me was for approximately $700.00 all included. The higher amount I was actually charged caught me by surprise as I did not expect it. If you remove $218.00 from $1,074.74 for the cost of the water heater itself, this leaves a labor and installation charge of $856.74, which I find excessive. Assuming an installation cost of $100.00/hour, I would have expected to be charged $150.00 for labor, maybe $200.00, maybe $300.00, but not $856.74. RESOLUTION I was contacted by Steve B as well as "Mike", one of the owners with an offer to refund $160.00 which I accepted. Both gentlemen agreed that the installation costs quoted to me could have been more explicit. BOTTOM LINE Would I use this provider in the future? I will answer with a qualified "Yes" based on the fact that the job was done correctly. However, the next time I will make sure to ask for a more detailed estimate before authorizing the work, recognizing that some costs are hard to determine until the repairman arrives on site. I appreciate the fact that the company did adjust the final cost by authorizing a $160.00 refund.

We have three complaints about this company. (# 1.) the cost of the water heater was $328.00, the installation cost, including $60.00 for the permit, $196.00 for parts and $85.78 in taxes leaving $402.00 in labor costs for less than two hours of work. A bit high in our opinion! (# 2.) We are also concerned that we were refused the 5% senior discount rate (no reason was given) and (# 3.) that the Angie's List "Fast Water Heater Company" $75.00 discount coupon was refused because the Technician informed us that he wasn't hired by Angie's List but was being sub-contracted through Home Depot. We were not aware that Angie's List sold water heaters nor contracted for the installation of water heaters, what good are the coupons if they can't be used? Overall we feel that the cost for this service was too high, we will not use this company again.

Everything went well--- but just to remind service people to remember to shut the doors when you go outside and come by in for safety sake. That is the only negative thing that happened otherwise it was great. So thanks.

I was disappointed in the overall cost of the replacement. I had replaced one in a previous house, and that cost 1500. So, I was shocked when the overall price of this replacement after negotiations was about $2300 including the $800 Angie List deal. I did elect for $300 to upgrade the heater itself. They explained all the individual line items for pipes and a new exhaust vent and so on. It added up on the sheet, but given this wasn't a difficult location, and basically a swap, it seemed high. that said, the company did listen to my concerns, and we did come to an agreement, which was slightly more than another bid I had gotten. Then, the work performed was of high quality, they were in and out in a day, and the water heater is working fine ever since. I would recommend the quality of the service.

They did our first water heater probably in April of last year and the second one maybe a couple of months after. They were price competitive because we shopped around a little bit. They were prompt and professional. We were really generally very happy with them.

They were responsive and very helpful. I don't know why we were charged what we were charged for the actual unit, but I think that was the experience. After talking to most of the providers at the time we determined they weren't really transparent about the cost of the actual unit. But I think at the end of the day, it seemed like they were average and on par with what we were hearing.

The experience with Fast Water Heater Company was okay. The quality was good, the price was kind of higher, we could have done it better and cheaper with a different contractor.

Scheduling was easy and service person arrived on time. Once in the house, he immediately wanted to talk about how we might replace the water heater, which wasn't the job. It took me 10 minutes of talking to convince him to do the job he was hired to do. In the end he did a basic job and left.

We arrived home to discover warm water around the old water heater. After using Angie's List, by early evening, we had a price and a scheduled replacement for between 12 and 2 the next day. David called around 12:00 to indicate that he would be arriving in less than 30 minutes. By 12:30, he had his truck backed and parked in our dead-end alley. By a little after 3, he had the old water heater in his truck, the new one installed and tested, and he had gone through the use and maintenance of the new water heater with me. The work place was clean and the water heater has preformed much better than its replacement. It is really nice to find a competitive price, an energy efficient water heater and to be able to wash dishes or take a shower in less than 24 hours after the original problem (failure) was discovered.

Very professional, courteous and prompt service. Competively priced

I called Fast after checking reviews here on Angie's List and seeing their Angie's List special. Our water heater was working fine, but our HOA requires that we install a new water heater every 10 years. Fast did the job that they said they would and at the cost that we agreed upon. So far everything seems to be going well with the water heater.

The tech was very nice, on time and appeared to know what he was doing. The diagnosis was a failed tank due to a failed expansion tank and leak that was tripping the GFCI. The company quoted a new tank, new expansion tank, permit and required work to bring up to current codes as well as correct an damaged vent pipe. Their quote is actually very competitive for the work proposed and I believe they would have done good work. Ultimately, I had another firm out for a second opinion. Fortunately it was simply a failed blower motor as determined with assistance from the tank manufacturer by phone. With 2 day shipping a new blower was installed for a $75 service call. Home warranty covered cost of blower replacement that I believe alone was $473 installed. Warranty would not have covered the work as proposed by FAST. I'll just chock this one up to a mis-diagnosis and call it a day.

I got one bid, but then when they came here I had other things that had to be done so it ended up costing much more than we expected.

Fast had to come more than once because the water heater would not fit in the small space allotted in the condo. I had to call a carpenter to open up the space to make room for the heater. It was not the fault of the water heater company and they were extremely accommodating with regard to several other issues that arose regarding the installation of the heater. All of the problems had nothing to do with Fast Water Heaters and they performed professionally and helpfully. I recommend this company to anyone needing a hot water heater.

My experience with Fast Water Heater Company was great. I called at 7:00 am when they opened, and the man on the phone asked me a lot of questions, which helped them decide what to bring to replace our water heater. I was told the technician would be at my home between 1:30 and 3:30, and that he would call first. At 2:00 Chris called and said he was on his way. Chris arrived and did a great job replacing my worn-out water heater. Because the codes had changed since my old one was installed, he made all the necessary changes. The new installation looks great, very professionally done. And it?s awesome to have hot water again.

It went fine. They installed it on-time and we had no problems.

It was fine. They got the job done in a couple of hours. I expected a little more for the amount of money that I paid. The installers were good. They also hauled away the old water heater. The cleanup was good.

They arrived within an hour from my call, and repaired everything quickly and efficiently.

Fast Water Heater's installer Brandon was courteous, and customer sensitive. He walked me through the Building Code issues, the process he would go through to replace unit, costs, and alternatives. When he did his work he was careful not to cause any damage to my new wood floors. As he proceeded through the removal and installation, he communicated what he was doing and why. Brandon's installation was timely and demonstrated technical competence. Before the tank and hoses looked as if they forced into place. The new installation affords ready access to all components and looks professional. As a retired Engineer, I was impressed. After the unit was operational, he took the time to point out the operation of the new Water Heater controls and went through some safety instructions, including basic emergency shut down and start up procedures. He also ensure I had a working Carbon Monoxide Alarm. Although the installation was a bit pricey, the value of the quality installation was worth the cost.

My over-25-year-old water heater had been leaking and it was time to replace it. The technician (Gordon by name) from Fast Water Heater Co came out with the water heater that I picked out, on time, with a warning call to let me know he was on his way. Once he got there he informed me that my ancient house wiring wasn't compatible with the new heater and that the old heater was otherwise not up to modern building codes. He explained the options (came down to using a different model or getting an electrician to change the house wiring first) and what the pluses and minuses of those were. He explained all the permit processes, showed me the line-by-line breakdown of prices, what the building code requirements were, told me what was legally required vs. what was optional, and was generally friendly, polite and totally not hard-sell. He left me with a firm quote to let me weigh my options. I thought it over for a bit and decided to go with a different model of heater, and called to reschedule. The operator for the company was very obliging to my schedule-- they work weekends, and I don't, so that was ideal-- and said they could send someone out the next Saturday, or could send Gordon back when he was available the following Sunday. I was so impressed with him that I decided to wait. Once again, Gordon called me as he was en route and arrived promptly. Once there he said I was welcome to watch or not as I chose and that he'd explain anything I wanted him to. He got the new heater hooked up and took the old one away, cleaned up after himself, made sure I had all the paperwork and understood the permit process, showed me the work he had done, where the controls were and told me the settings, and was all around personable and professional. The new heater is working perfectly and the whole process was about as low-stress and pleasant as I could have hoped for.

They were very punctual and easy to contact. Very fast and professional getting the job done too.

I saw a coupon for $100 toward $200 off installation however, that doesn?t tell me if it's a good deal or not until i know how much it'll cost to install. So I called them and they're prices start at $329 + a permit + any city requirements to bring it to code. So if you're replacing an old hot water heater in an older home I can only assume you're going to spend WAY more on installation that the hot water heater itself. That said, we'll have to find a neighborhood handyman to install :)

While they didn't arrive as scheduled, company was very timely in notifying me when they couldn't make the original time. Mitch was very knowledgable as well as very personable and efficient. Additional charges over and above the "Big Deal" were required because of the need to replace the existing expansion tank, and pressure regulating valve. Everything was completed in a timely manner. Mitch is a great representative for this company!

The company was prompt considering my heater went out the day before the Superbowl. They arrived at the appointed time and had the old heater replaced in about an hour and a half. Chris was very friendly and professional. I would recommend them and call on them again if necessary.

I have to buy siding for my house almost $18,000 and new leaf free gutters at $7,000 and possible roof replacement...so any extras that are not like these needs are wants. My water heater is fine right now. So I will wait until it no longer works Thanks Fast Water Heater people are great. I did not do such a good job of getting back to them