Imperial Tankless

This company is out of business but their owner Rory James is now part of WSG Tankless in Bensenville. I saw him at a Home Expo event in Libertyville in March 2012. Most likely starting another business that again runs for a few years before people realize how bad they are and they are just interested in making money. A 10 or 20 year warranty means nothing if the company is only around for a few years.

I am pretty certain that this company is out of business. Between Christmas and New Years, we encountered issues with our tankless hot water heater. We attempted to reach Imperial and received no callbacks over approximately 6 weeks. At the point just as I obtained other plumber's phone numbers, my wife reached Imperial. They apologized for the delay saying that they had been super busy and scheduled an appointment with my wife. That is the last we ever heard from them. Since mid-Feb, the phones no longer work and the web-site is no longer active. Honesty would have been appreciated. I have no idea why they even scheduled an appointment.

Imperial Tankless installed a water pump under our kitchen sink as part of an overall Tankless system. Generally this went well. Imperial Tankless provided us with a 10-year parts and labor warrantee. Unfortunately, last night, we noticed that the water pump they installed is leaking badly. This has resulted in a badly damaged cabinet. We have been calling, e-mailing and texting as this is AN EMERGENCY, though we can not get a hold of them. No one is answering phones or the phone numbers are disconnected. No e-mail has been responded to and all text messages have bounced back. We are concerned that Imperial Tankless has gone out of business?

The service technician and office staff stood me up twice within one day on a routine yearly maintenance call. Last year they were not on time for the service call, but at least they showed up. This year when they were over 2 hours late, I called the office, was told that they would find out what was going on. They called back and said the technician had an emergency, but that he had called the office just before I called. I asked if this meant that he had not been able to use a phone for the past 3 hours and was asked if I wouldn't want the service technician to stay if I had water on my floor. They offered to reschedule for later that day which I accepted. By 10:00 that evening (original appointment was for noon) I was fairly sure they were not going to show up. That was 3 days ago and no one has contacted me since the appointment was rescheduled for later the same day and then missed. The original installation was fine, but maintenance is terrible. I would give them an F- if I could.

Overall - great experience with some mild confusion about install dates. I called them as they were listed at the Rinnai website as the closest dealer/installer. I turned to Angie's List and read the reviews and decided to schedule an appointment. I had found most local plumbers were reluctant to install tankless systems, which I found interesting. On my first call I spoke with April who did a great job qualifying and educating. She mentioned the new tax incentives (which is why I was considering tankless) and a Rinnai special promotion. Hate to admit the promotion price of $2800 was more than it would have cost if I had purchase from and had installed by Abt. Thatt explains the B for Price. Bill, the sales guy, came to my home, reviewed the space and our needs and recommended the Rinnai even through they carry several brands. We set a tentative install date that he was going to confirm the same day. When I hadn t heard back, I called him and he explained that April was out of the office for a bit and he would conform first thing the next morning. Again, I had to call him rather than the other way around. Apparently someone who signed a contract after I did got my original date. We schedule for a week later. On the day of the install, I appreciated that the installer called to say he would be a little late. He showed up when he said he would and did a terrific job. It s hard to imagine how one person can get so much work done in 5-6 hours. He was respectful of our home, taking pains to put down a drop cloth. He kept me informed every step of the way and walked me through the manual, operation and support services. The install looks very professional. This morning we took our first showers using the new system and all worked flawlessly. We re very happy with the overall experience with the caveats noted above.

We hired Imperial Tankless to install a tankless boiler and tankless water system. The price was higher than other estimates, but we had checked their references and we wanted a low-energy system installed before the cold winter months of high gas bills were upon us. They installed the systems over a period of several weeks, rather than the four-six days they had originally told us. It was difficult to have such a piecemeal process going on for so long. Eventually, they finished. Thank goodness because it was getting cold outside. That's when the trouble began. On a very cold day the house would not heat. In fact, the third floor of our home, where we had a bathroom, felt like ice. We called Tankless' "Emergency Hotline" after the heat wouldn't turn on on the third floor & radiators were very cold. No one called us back. We were very worried a pipe would freeze & burst & so turned off the water to the 3rd floor bathroom. Sure enough, the next day, when we turned the water back on, a pipe from the third floor bathroom leaked into the second floor bathroom below it and the kitchen, causing damage to all floors. This was due to Tankless' negligence. When we called to tell them, we could not get anyone to call us back. Several days later when the temperatures were negative, I arrived home from work to a freezing house. The thermostat registered in the 40s, indoors. I turned the heat up higher and waited an hour or so for the heat to kick in. Nothing happened. Meanhwile, I wore my winter coat indoors; the temp inside the fridge was warmer than the kitchen temp. Since it was after hours, I called Imperial Tankless' "Emergency Hotline" and left a desparate message about how I feared a pipe would freeze and burst [again] and that I could see my own breath inside my home. I waited. No one called me back. As the temperatures slowly dropped in the house, I stayed up all night in my winter coat waiting for Tankless to call me or for a pipe to burst again. The water was so cold INDOORS that the toilet water in the bowls froze. To reiterate, this is AFTER we had paid $12,000 for the system and after the first incident where no one caled us back. the next morning, after a sleepless night, and NO PHONE CALLS from Tankless despite my call to their "emeregncy hotline," I called their office right at 9am and was extremely upset. While the women who answered the phone was very nice, NO ONE came over to fix it that day. An employee came over eventually and recalibrated it but it is still not totally fixed. We have left countless messages for Rory. ONLY ONE TIME did Rory call us back, leave a quick apology message, and thats it. He even told my husband that he would be coming over to see the system on a specific day and he never showed up, didnt even call to tell us he wasnt coming. Needless to say, we are very very upset with Tankless and their defective product, complete lack of customer service, their gimmick of an emergency hotline, etc.

It went very well. Imperial came out on very short notice for the initial consultation and were able to schedule the installation for 3 days later. I talked with April on the phone and Rory in person. Rory installed the water heater and did most of the work. April and Rory were very knowledgeable about their product and patiently answered all the questions we had about the process and their product. This was important because going tankless would be increasing my initial costs by about $2000 with the promise of cost recovery by reducing natural gas usage significantly. Interestingly, I only investigated this option because I was very unhappy with another company, who I had initially expected to use to install a new standard water heater. Except for the installation taking a few hours longer than expected, we couldn't be happier. We have an older house, so projects taking longer than expected seems to be the norm. We were having this work done on my wife's birthday, so in addition to being very professional, they had the kind thought to bring her flowers.

It was the time to replace my current water heater and I was determined to have a tankless unit installed. Prior to the unit that was being replaced, I had a water heater that dropped all its water and since the furnace and water heater was on the 2nd floor it was a horrible mess. I really did not research different models, rather I was more interested in the company. I had a good experience with this company, Bill answered all my questions and detailed everything that would be done. An appointment was made for him to come out and review the area where it was to be installed and give me a price. Since I live in a townhouse, there were limitations to what and where it could be placed, if the Association Board approved the install, which they did. I was a bit put off when I read a report on the company here in Angie's List, which I discussed with them. They explained the situation with the writer of the earlier report and I went forward with the project. The installer was "Junior", a very pleasant, knowledgeable young man, who took the time to explain the entire installation. It was not the easiest removal since there were gas lines running in front of it and furnace flu pipes. The install took most of the day, and Junior demonstrated the controls, what I should expect, etc. About 1-1/2 months have now gone by and I am completely happy with it. I will say the cost is high, and I cannot give it a "good" rating, just "fair"; however, I knew going into the project a general idea of what to expect.

We had a horrendous experience with this company. I shudder to think what would have happened if they'd actually done work for us! They missed the initial appointment to come and give us an estimate. The next morning, April called to explain that there had been an emergency when a customer's tank burst (so how reliable are their products?!) and we were forgotten in the crisis. A second appointment was made for a few mornings later--they missed that one as well, and I had to call THEM to find out what happened. I agreed to a third try later that same afternoon, and someone did show up then. They did a thorough job checking out my basement to determine the feasibility of a tankless system. Then I got a slick sales pitch about how wonderful the company was, and how they sell the best in the business. They couldn't give me an exact estimate then and there, but said they'd e-mail it to me ASAP, especially if I wanted to take advantage of their "Cinco de Mayo" sale that was ending within a couple of days. I got an e-mail the next morning--merely to let me know that the estimate had been mailed to me, not actually giving me an amount--and received the estimate in the mail the day AFTER their sale ended. The estimate did not specify exactly which brand and model would be installed and, when pressed for more information, they said they install top quality brands, and we'd find out exactly which one would be installed on the day of the installation. What?! That's like going to a car lot and not finding out if you're buying a BMW, Ford or Yugo until you sign the paperwork! Further research on our part revealed that features they claimed were unavailable (like remote controls placed elsewhere in the house or installation on an internal wall) WERE available on newer models. We suspect they were trying to clear their inventory of older models about to be discontinued, which is why they were so reluctant to tell us which specific system they were planning to install. Fortunately, they irritated us enough that we decided to look elsewhere, and were delighted with the company we ultimately chose to perform the work.

My first contact was impressive to April Rose at the office. I just love when a woman can talk so professionally and is knowledgeable about a technical subject. She knew the info inside out and explained it in layman's terms. Rory the owner came and was within $400.(over) the phone est. He is awesome. I have only one critique. The day after we had a coincidental unrelated water leak with a humidifier. We thought it was the new system so when I called to talk to the owner or installer, not one person would call me back in a timely manner. Finally the installer came by & really stepped up to the plate. He actually helped me find the problem. I wish I could thank him by name but I had a hard time finding some info on their website. For example I know they moved onto Rte 60 in Vernon Hills but no address is listed nor is Rory's name as owner. I haven't had another problem but it did concern me that no one seemed interested in quickly calling once I paid. We love the tankless and recommend

Rory came and looked to see if the heater would work for me. He described what would be done and recommended a unit. I signed the contract, and picked an installation date (which I had to reschedule b/c when I called to confirm & they were booked). Rory told me it would take from about 8:30 to 3:30/4:30 and that I did not have to be home b/c they were licensed & bonded. Well, a guy came out at 9:45 (not 8:30 making me VERY late for work). I came home at 3:30, and he wasn't near done-I bet he went to another job. At 10PM, I got promises that it would only be 20 more minutes. He left at 1AM! I asked if it was okay that the line was feeding into the HVAC line, which Rory said was not good, and was told it was fine. My patio was left a mess--my belongings strewn everywhere, the tank lying there. Didn't clean all aerators as promised. After complaint, they came back and did it as per the contract and properly vented--but it took another 4 hours, and they forgot the keypad.

My clothes are clean and my whites white. I love the system and am so glad we took a leap of faith and tried this technology. I'm surprised Tide or some large company isn't trying to buy Ecoquest to stop consumers from buying such a permanent replacement to their products.

They were a very professional company, very informative.