Clear View Plumbing And Heating

Thanks Lisa - Matt is an excellent member of our staff, we're very lucky to have him. He has a ton of knowledge about furnace installations and has one of the best attitudes of anyone we've ever worked with. I cannot say enough good things about Matt, we're happy you were able to have him in your home - he's neat, tidy, polite and efficient. What more could you hope for in a furnace installer!

What the reviewer doesn't mention is that this happened on one of the coldest days this year. How does that impact the situation? Well, when the customer couldn't get any of the six other companies he had called to either show up the same day or return his call, we were able to be there within the hour! Is that level of service not worth paying for? Unfortunately the internet deals you find on the parts themselves don't come installed, also likely without warranty, not to mention the wait time (days? weeks?). We have showed up to install MANY "cheap" internet parts, only to find that the owner purchased the wrong model or rating, or to find that there is a manufacturer defect and that the part needs to be shipped back to New Jersey to have a replacement sent back (10 days there, 10 days back. A long time to go without heat to save "a few bucks"). The fact of the matter is that there are a number of "cheap" options, both online and in Calgary, and we've been called out to fix them properly time and time again! You get what you pay for - in this case, the price was reflective of the quality of work!

Steve, let me start by saying that I'm sorry about the service you feel you've received Steve, feel free to give us a call in the office with your invoice number - It's rather unfortunate that you opted to go online instead of attempting to have the situation resolved, which I have no doubt we could have. As far as your disappointment in the "response time", that the phonecall was allegedly 9:00 instead of 8:00 (our call log says it was closer to the 8:30 mark, we're all human, in a light-speed paced office mistakes can be made and I apologize for that; but I digress.) with the extreme volume of emergency calls we've gotten our technicians have been spread more than thin, nevertheless looking into the situation we kept the promise that was made - that you would have the next available technician, which you did. I do apologize if there was any misunderstanding in the explaination of our scheduling, but I'm sure you can understand that it is difficult to estimate or guess the amount of time a tech will take on his job - we stay there until the job is done (I'm sure you wouldn't want us to leave your job part way through because the next customer was impatient, right?) - which is exactly what happened. On to the topics of basic maintenance, duct cleaning, and phone repairs. No, we are not in the business of teaching customers how to repair, test and diagnose furnaces no matter how small the issue may seem, this is our technician's livelyhood! When is the last time you had a licensed mechanic teach you how to change your oil, as easy as it may be? If Free Advice is what you were looking for, the internet is a great resource for that - full service plumbing companies are not, although we do like to keep our customers as informed about their appliances as possible.

Part of the reason is that this is our technician's livelyhood we're talking about, the other reason being not everyone's furnace or hot water tank is the same. We need to be on site to SEE what the situation is. Not only do we not reccomend any business that wants to keep its doors open having their would-be customers doing the work they're called out for, we do not condone advising non-licensed on how to alter, diagnose or repair gas appliances. This is a liability as much as it's an ethics issue. Our technicians go to school to become professionals in what they do - they do it so that they can become TRAINED in their field, something that a five minute phone call cannot accomplish, regardless of the technician's ability.

The topic of duct cleaning and sanitizing is debatable at best, but I certainly don't want our readers to thing that it's an open and shut case. There are as many professional opinions as there are professionals, but the fact of the matter is that if the ducts aren't cleaned, it's circulating through your home. Any idea how many POUNDS of skin a person loses every year? 40. As in Forty Pounds of skin (per human, not just per household) EVERY year. While some people may choose to believe that they do not need to have it done to save a few dollars, make no mistake that having your ducts cleaned and sanitized yearly is critical. Not only that, but make sure that the company that does it is going to do a good job - I agree with you, in that, the $120 special and $42 per vent deal is probably not going to do much other than shuffle the dust around, but the procedures we use are the most thorough and advanced technicques and technology that are on the market today. Not only that, but we guarantee our duct cleaning and sanitizing for MULTIPLE years, not just per annum.

Not every situation is as black and white as one would think, and it is truly situational. When a furnace filter is changed regularly and hasn't had a chance to build up all that dust and grime in your ducts, sure, perhaps not everyone requires it every year. In this case, where the furnace had been so covered in dust and soot that it triggered the furnace's safety features because of a clogged filter, do you think that filter is still doing it's job and removing the dust as opposed to being circulated through your furnace, ducts and lungs? Even with a new filter, the dust that is built up has the potential to clog that filter at an increased rate, not to mention making the furnace work harder than it has to, going into the coldest season of the year.

I want to be clear, I apologize for any inconvenience that you've received due to our high amount of emergency calls. Had you brought this up to our office, we certainly would have been able to resolve this and may be able to yet.

It is worth noting, finally, that not every recommendation is a life or death fix that MUST be done - they are simply reccomendations, for present or future consideration - this is not an uncommon practice, but I apologize if you perceived it to be pressure sales - not our intent in the least.

Hi there Brad, thanks for commenting although I'm sorry to hear you didn't feel you had better service. Or, rather, since you state that the service was great, the technician was pleasant, the problem is fixed, and the price was quoted up front, it's the price you take concern with as opposed to the technicians or service. I do wish these concerns had been brought up before the work was approved as I have NO doubt we would have been able to come to an agreement that would have satisfied both of us - in fact, I'm having a hard time finding this service call at all so if you could call us in the office with your invoice number, perhaps there is still a chance to get a resolution out of this. Feel free to speak to Jesse, the customer service manager - he'll be able to get you taken care of and make sure you're a happy customer again! Now, the question I would pose to you is that exactly what are you comparing the "RIDICULOUS" price to? I mean, if it was your first time calling a plumber for something you have attempted to do in the past, are you really comparing apples to apples? Catching your own lobster is cheap, having someone catch, provide, prep and cook the lobster FOR you is significantly more. The same goes for having a fully certified Journeyman (that comes in a state of the art and fully stocked truck with top of the line tools, a nice clean uniform and ID badge, drug tested and background checked, with the capacity for 24/7 emergency service - I could go on and on) come out to do the work that you've done in the past, but in this situation were not able to. We are not the cheapest company in Calgary, Brad, but the difference is we don't aspire to be - in fact, we're within 10%-20% of who we deem our competitors and we ALWAYS quote up front - if a customer chooses to approve the work to be done, we do it. No hand is ever forced. I appreciate your comments Brad, as I said, feel free to give Jesse a call and get things straightened out.

Thanks Susan!

We only hire personable staff, people that WE would be happy to invite into OUR homes. What many companies fail to see is that there is a large portion of the public who has had pure nightmares when it comes to contractors and might have preconceived notions about them and the way they do business. We don't blame them! Did you know that many companies don't bother with criminal or background checks? Or require proof of their certification? Uncle Frank may KNOW how to fix a furnace, but it doesn't necessarily mean he should be going to customers homes and trying to fix theirs as well - a furnace can be a potentially hazardous appliance if misused, or mistreated. It is important to know exactly WHO you're inviting to your home!

Thanks Susan, we look forward to serving you again!

Thanks so much Jordan, I appreciate your kind words, I'm also thrilled to hear that although it was a pretty tricky situation, the price we quoted remained the same! Thanks for giving us a shot, I'm happy we were able to impress you and fix your problem!

Cheers!

Thank you very much Vivian! It's hard to believe how far technology has come even in the last 20 or 30 years in regards to household appliances. Many people don't realize the money (and energy) they're throwing away by using dated, inefficient equipment. Our main goal is to save our customers money and hassel - whether it's saving 75% of their electrical, or saving hundreds of dollars a year in gas by replacing hot water tanks and furnaces! You're right - we are not the cheapest in town - at face value - but the difference with us is that we don't aspire to be! Many companies (although not the ones we consider to be our competitors) often do price limbos - seeing just how low they can go, usually cutting corners to achieve those low prices.

For some consumers, that is enough, but many homeowners (the ones that have helped us thrive over 14 years) such as yourself, quality is what matters. We do keep our prices competitive (within 10%-15%) to those that we consider to be our competitors but we simply refuse to compromise in quality and integrity just to compete with bargain basement prices! You often get what you pay for!

Thanks very much for kind words Steven - we really appreciate it! I'll do some investigation of my own with the technician that helped you and see if there are any other options we can draw out - we really hate leaving a problem unresolved! I'm glad you were happy with the value though - we like to make sure we offer extra services (1st year of annual maintenance free on hot water tanks and furnaces - things like that)and complimentary inspections to catch things before they become costly emergencies for our customers! We want the customer to feel they've gotten the most out of their experience and we're happy to help in any way we can!

Thanks Steve! Casey is most certainly a credit to our company and the plumbing industry in general! Most contractors could stand to learn a ton from his ethics! We try to get only the best of the best for our company - we only get people that we would be happy to have in our OWN homes!

Hi Sarah, I'm sorry we weren't able to come to a resolution. Feel free to call us in the office if you’d like to resume discussion – we haven’t heard from you since before you filed the BBB complaint! Even though (as you can see on our A+ rated BBB profile) the BBB felt we made a good faith effort to resolve your problem and has subsequently closed the file, we do not like leaving unhappy customers. What you, again, neglect to mention was the fact that we had not been allowed back to the job site, after the job had begun. Your initial complaint was of the jobsite seeming to be left unfinished – the part that is left unmentioned is that it was, because you had cancelled partway through, it WAS an unfinished job site! Of course, we had an appointment the very next day already made so that we could finish the job (our technician stayed two hours past our business hours just to get as much as he could finished for you) and were cancelled before we could send our tech out, seemingly due to a case of buyer’s remorse guised as a workmanship complaint. We did, in fact, offer a courtesy refund of $200 (in addition to the $275 for the task that was cancelled and not started – that amount has already been refunded) due to your displeasure, since you declined to have us finish the work that was started. You immediately demanded that we double that sum of money and before we could even get you an answer, you lodged a Better Business Bureau complaint and ceased communication with us. We were more than happy to respond through whichever method you chose. The governing party (the BBB) that you chose to utilize has deemed that, although you did not agree to the resolution, we did make a good faith effort to come to a resolution. This was, of course, a compromise that you did not feel was suitable, because it did not meet the sum of money you chose to demand. This sum, of course, was simply doubled from the generous offer that we had proposed (again, simply a courtesy, since it wasn’t actually a workmanship complaint, due to the fact that to complain about the workmanship of a job, one typically allows the contractor to finish first.) You mention "poor communication", and yet, we had kept those lines of communication open, even when you refused to return our call, in fact here we are, responding to your review, on the same day as it was placed. We do wish we were given the chance to finish the tasks that were billed and started (and completed, save for some aesthetic final touches ), but we are always happy to comply with our customer’s wishes – even when they wish to cancel. Feel free to call into the office if you wish to discuss this further, we would be more than happy to field any other concerns, although we do consider this matter closed.