Applewood Plumbing Heating & Electric

Positives: They answer the phone when you call, always have someone available when you want an appointment, and are are punctual for the appointment. Negatives: However, the work was marginal. They did the checkup, I guess, no problems so far (but the system is new...). However -- The workman did not know anything about heat pumps even though I told them when I made appointment that I had one. Also he did not kow how to work my thermostat so I had to do some of the work. Thank god he did not have to do any repairs. I mentioned a couple of other concerns, and they did not do any work but tried to up sell me on lots of other services. Conned me into buying the annual insurance thing. Turned out all these other services were unnecessary,

A Tale of Attempted Gouging Trauma! I received a $40 coupon in the mail from Applewood Plumbing Heating & Electric the same day that I noticed that one valve on my hot-water heating system had frozen - i.e., the "main floor" valve. As background, we built our home 26 years ago with an 8-zone system. We live at an elevation of 7,600 in the foothills west of Denver. At the boiler in the basement, each "zone" has a VALVE which controls the flow of water (or glycol in our system to prevent freezing) to a particular zone, and a HEAD which is the electrical connection and control which communicates with the thermostat in each zone. In the last 26 years, I have had two other companies replace BOTH the valve AND the HEAD on two other zones for the house. Thank goodness I had that knowledge when the Applewood technician arrived yesterday about 1:30 in the afternoon. That earlier work by other companies had involved (1) cutting and replacing copper tubing which removed the VALVE and HEAD assembly; (2) draining and replacing GLYCOL which is the liquid in the system (we do not use water as it freezes too easily); and then (3) replacing both the VALVE and the HEAD. Thus, I knew both the costs of the VALVE, the HEAD, and the entire assembly. And I also knew what another company had charged about a year ago for that work. I confirmed that the entire valve assembly (valve AND head) can be purchased online for less than $60 (sixty dollars). Charges about a year ago from another company (parts, travel and labor) totalled $323. After I told the Applewood technician what the problem was, because we had experienced it before, the Applewood technician confirmed that I was correct - but he told me that ALL THAT WAS NEEDED was to repllace ONLY the HEAD, not the entire VALVE and HEAD asembly. The earlier companies had replaced BOTH the valve and head assembly - work which was AT LEAST ten (10) times more time-consuming than what the Applewood technician was recommending. The last company that worked on my system about a year ago charged me $323 (THREE HUNDRED TWENTY THREE DOLLARS) for all of their much more comprehensive work - i.e., cutting and replacing copper tubing, draining and replacing all the glycol in the entire system, replacing BOTH the valve as well as the head. The Applewood technician estimated the costs for replacing JUST the HEAD - which is all he recommended being replaced - and labor and a travel charge of $29.00 would total just short of $800 - EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS - $798 to be exact. And all he was going to do was replace JUST THE HEAD. That would have involved less than fifteen (15) minutes to complete - removing two (2) screws, disconnecting and reconnecting a couple of electrical wires on the HEAD assembly, and placing the two (2) screws back in place to attach the HEAD to the VALVE. He was NOT going to cut copper, drain and replace glycol, NOR was he going to replace the VALVE - as the other companies had done. I know how long it would have taken because the Applewood technician walked me to the basement, removed the two (2) screws I have been referencing, and showed me that he would be removing that specific head from the electrical connection, re-attaching the electrical wires, and then screwing the two (2) screws back into place. He also physically "turned" the ball valve which was to remain in place to demonstrate that the ball valve was, indeed, functioning properly and did NOT need to be replaced. All he needed to do was replace the HEAD. That comprehensive demonstration by the Applewood technician himself took less than 5 minutes -- without the electrical re-attachment. EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS !?!?!?!?! Again, to be exact - the Applewood technician showed me, and asked me to sign a written estimate and authorization to do the work, for $798 (SEVEN HUNDRED NINETY-EIGHT DOLARS)! The Applewood technician was very professional and pleasant. Although he also tried to sell me a $198 "club program," I have no complaints about him. He was simply doing what the company management had trained him to do. When I refused to authorize the work, he politely showed me an invoice for the $29 trip charge. Of course, I showed him, and he politely accepted, the company's $40 coupon in exchange for the trip charge of $29 and left. Thus, I paid nothing. As an added irritant, and unfortunately, the Appelwood technician made a mistake. He left the house after I refused to authorize the work, but he had forgotten to turn the electrical system for the boiler back on. In other words, my wife and I awoke at 6 am the next morning to a freezing house. NO ZONES had worked since he had (properly) turned off the electrical connections at 1:30 p.m. when he arrived. It reached about 26 degrees outside during the night and leaving a hot-water boiler dormant for over 18 hours results in quite a problem. Gas, forced air systems can heat a home quickly. Not so with hot-water heating systems. Once the walls of the home have been cooled by the ouside air - 26 degree air last night - it takes HOURS to reheat the house. It is now noon the next day (about 18 hours from when he turned off the electical switch for the boiler) and the house is just now warming up. Again, I am not upset with the Appelwood technician. He made a mistake by not turning the system back on. People make mistakes, and I take that in stride. It is the company's policies that cause a techician to be trained to GOUGE customers which upset me, and those same policies, which undoubtedly permeate and define every person at this company, should cause anyone else to avoid this company. I have sent both an email and a letter to the President of Applewood Heating Plumbing & Electric in Denver explaining how frustrating it has been to be on the receiving end of "customer GOUGING." No service was performed. Post-ScrIpt: I am not exactly sure what I would have done if I had been in an EMERGENCY situation - for example, an emergency call on a weekend with minus 20 degrees outside, and a "main floor" valve which had frozen. In that situation, I MIGHT have actually fallen for this GOUGING. And, guess what, it is the likes of Applewood Heating Plumbing and Electrict who depend on consumer stupidity to fall for that game. "Catch them when they're cold - they'll pay anything to get warm!" The "don't fall for gouging" gods were looking over my shoulder -- this time.

Their service was top notch, but they are very expensive.

Most of the time I am pleased with their work. They are very courteous, prompt, and professional. However, they are a little pricy. I had one technician who didn't wire a blower for the firnace correctly. The next tech came out from them and he repaired.

We were happy with the work that they did. They might be a little more expensive that others in the area, but they get the job done right and they guarantee their work.

It turned out very well. They are prompt, on time, efficient, and professional.

We like them! They are always very prompt, polite, professional, and have great customer service.

They did a really good job. He offered suggestions that were helpful.

The tech was extremely courteous. He wore boot coverings in the house, was very professional and clearly knew how to do the work. He did the work promised (replaced toilet flappers) and identified further problems with my toilets. I would have used their service had the price been more affordable.

Don't call Applewood. Call their competitors, you'll get a better deal.

I paid to have a water heater inspection. This is a duplex property with hot water heaters on both sides. To my knowledge this service was never performed. The manager said she made attempts to contact and carry out the service to no avail. The tenants seemed to be aware that they needed to cooperate so the service could be performed. (They have cooperated for other repairs/service so I don't think this was a problem.) At one point Applewood agreed there was a problem and offered to do both water heaters but, again, I don't think this was done. For this reason I would not use Applewood Plumbing services again unless I were living at the property and had the time to call and call again until they got tired of being harassed and managed to get the job done.9

I paid $90 to tune-up three toilets: part of the tune-up included replacing the flapper in each toilet. He replaced one of the three flappers but not the other two. Since then, one of them started to leak. He also adjusted the water level in two toilets. He seemed to spend most of his time trying to sell me new toilets for $1,050 a piece, for each toilet! He also wanted to me to sign up for a discount program, but their prices were so high to begin with! I feel that their work that was not $90.

I have used them for quite some time but this big deal worked out well. They always offer suggestions to upgrade items in your home.

The experience went well. I've used the company before and always been satisfied with their performance. I bought a "deal" through Angie's List for the water heater fush ($49). Renewed an annual membership which covered the furnace check as well as giving a discount on future repair work.

I have previously hired them. The service was fine.

I called a different plumbing company out & was told that the problem was indeed minor & I did not need any of the items listed on the estimate from Applewood. He did the fix & I had no further problems.i've heard similar stories about Applewood. I will never trust them again.

We just moved to Denver and wnated to be certain the heater was in great shape before winter. Also wanted to understand the functioning of all the water related systems in the house. He was very informative and polite, taking the time to explain everything and answer all questions. We happened to order a whole house humidifier and had the box sitting at the door when the plumber arrived. He stated his company also installs this brand of humidifier and stated he would give us a quote. From the reviews on line, we expected to see a quote for installation between $300 and $500. The quote came back at $850. We have decided to do the installation ourselves.

The employee showed up on time. He didn’t spend but 10 minutes down in my crawl space. He came back up and told me the water heater was shot and there was nothing he could do. He recommended I install a new one as soon as possible. While telling me this he was writing up an estimate. I declined. I called in an acquaintance who flips houses. He looked at it and he told me that he didn’t see any footprints around the hot water heater. He confirmed it was old and said to call him when it stopped working. I ended up replacing it 3 months later. I didn’t feel like I got what I paid for with the Big Deal.

It went fine-----see above.

In addition, Gary explained what he was doing and let me watch. He put four notices on what to do if there was an emergency with my water system, I have a well. He also gave me an estimate on another job. Gary was very nice, and I was very satisfied.

Bought a Big Deal toilet tune-up for one toilet that would fluctuate from running off & on and then be hard to flush, but it turns out they would not work on our toilets - as they are Mansfield w/ a horn-tower flush valve (instead of a conventional flapper valve). However, no where on the Big Deal purchase page did it state that some toilets may not be covered. It wasn't until AFTER I bought the deal, that then on the receipt email (received later in the day) it stated that some toilets may not be covered (but it still did not mentione Mansfield as one). Nevertheless, the technician arrived on time and was very professional. But upon seeing the Mansfield flush valves, he stated he didn't have any parts for that toilet, nor did he really even want to work on this brand of toilets --- he proceeded to explain that (I'm paraphrasing here of course) he thought Mansfield are sub-par and there are lots of better brands out there (here comes the up-sell...). He stated that the only thing he could do would be to replace the entire flushing assembly (all the guts of the tank) which would cost upwards of $100 to $200. Needless to say, I turned down the full replacement offer. So I did some further investigation, and $5 later and an hour of my own time (tracking down the part and DIY install)... and now the toilet is running fine. I considered a C-rating, but they still were professional and on time, and the Big Deal was refunded with no problem. So I give them a B rating for a good try and good price, but I'm a bit irritated with the up-selling and the fact that I fixed it myself with no problems.

Plumber was good. Had to go by Applewood's prices I guess

The guy who came out was a nice guy, but he was trying to rip us off as he said that we needed a complete toilet rebuild for $400, when you can buy a brand new toilet for less than $200. I told him thanks but no thanks and he left.

The tech was perfectly on time, fixed the toilet, made a few suggestions and gave us some coupons for future work. Great, quick experience.

They came out for a toilet tuneup. The guy was great, knowledgeable, & explained what he did & why. All we needed was a new flapper, which he did for nothing. Also declined to "tune-up" our 7yo water heater, explaining it would likely do more harm than good. Could have tried to sell me a new one. Very impressive.