Best Home Services

BHS installed a water heater at my grandmother's house when hers broke. The salesman came out on Wednesday, and pressured my cousin to sign up for a membership with passive threats of higher costs and gaslighting using phrases like "it's a no-brainer". He ill-explained the contract, which she signed on a tablet, and did not mention the Buyer’s Right to Cancel clause, which was never signed. The membership charge is $200/year, with a “special member pricing” discount of $100 and an enrollment fee of $50. She was told she needed to sign up for the membership or she would have to pay a lot more. The technicians came on Friday and installed a Rheem MHD75245, which was discontinued in January. The two men carried the heater up a ladder that we already had in place to put it in a closet on the first floor roof over a patio. They took the closet door off, cut about ½ inch off the jamb, and glued together PVC pipes for the install. They did not used any special equipment or do any special work (i.e. using threaded barbs with soldered connections, copper piping, etc). They did not repair the jamb and did not even reinstall the door on its hinges properly. A few hours after they left, the water was still not hot so my cousin called them back and they said they would come next week to fix it. I learned about this on the following Monday (after business hours) and when my cousin told me the cost I was shocked. My cousin did not have an invoice, contract, or any other paperwork to explain the charges so I got in contact with BHS on Tuesday and requested it. Among the paperwork they sent was the purchase invoice from the supplier that showed BHS paid $1692 for the heater. They had attempted to redact it, but did a poor job. BHS charged my cousin $8450 for the heater, $2000 for the labor, and $150 for the membership. I spoke to their plumbing manager about the 400% markup and she told me it was a fair price and without the membership, she would have been charged over $9000. She also told me the $2000 charge was because they had to rent special equipment and reframe the door. The technicians did not bring any special equipment; they showed up in a regular work van and used our ladder. They mad a sloppy cut in the door jamb and did nothing to repair or “reframe” it. I accused BHS of grossly over-charging and asked for a refund of $6000 from the $10,450 they charged. The remaining amount would still be a high price for installing a residential water heater. I was told they would not return any money and did not care about the financial hardship they created for my cousin; they always charge these prices and I should be grateful they came out so quickly.