Mendel Plumbing and Heating

My a/c was not blowing out cold air during one of our hot spells. I tried to convince myself it was just a "brown-out" from so many people using their a/c's. No such luck. I knew it was time to call someone. Mendel was the first to respond. I have had work done with Mendel prior to this and knew their reputation. Their technician (sorry, I forgot his name) came out and presented all my options--pros & cons of repairing vs. replacing. He was extremely polite and thorough. He, however, could not give me an estimate. His boss, the owner, would come that night & give me prices, which he did. He explained all my options, altho I felt a little pressured to make an immediate decision and to go for the "higher priced" & better system. I felt the prices were high for what I wanted but if I wanted it installed the next day (Friday) I would have to decide then. My other choice was to call someone else for another quote, but anticipate about a week's worth of waiting in 100 degree heat. My discomfort got the best of me & I signed to have it installed the next day. It was that or go to a hotel for a week. The same guy came back the next day (with an assistant) and installed the new a/c & furnace in about 8 hrs. They worked straight through, no breaks that I saw. As far as I could tell, everything was done very well. They had rerouted some ductwork, "included" a new digtal thermostat, and a 1 yr service contract. They also gave me a $400 rebate from the iron workers union that they filled out and filed for me. The original tech also instructed me in the care of the equipment, and how to use the thermostat. They had cleaned up afterwards & you could hardly tell they had been there, except for the fact that the house cooled down immediately. After spending 2 days in a 95 degree house, the price didn't matter as much! The only other comment I'd like to make is about their receipt system, which I think someone else had commented on. The quote and contract were handwritten and I couldn't really read it. It wasn't very complete-didn't give me details that I would like to know. I know they are somewhat tech-savvy--they had credit card access with their smartphones--so I think they should expand that to include printed quotes and receipts! It would also have given me names, which I could have mentioned here! Update 10/11/2013 I wanted to wait until I used the furnace to update this. Works great. No problems at all. Both the a/c & furnace have given my house better heat & cooling control. I used to have problems in 2 rooms upstairs with temperatures not being what they should be. It seems to be more controlled and even temp'd now.

Mendel were very professional. They arrived on short notice to address our low water pressure issue. They investigated what the problem was and what we should do to resolve the issue. They told me how I could do it ourselves to save on cost and answered all of my questions very professionally and thoroughly. I would use them again for any needs in the future and would recommend them to anyone.

Fantastic! Very polite, quick worker. Clean.

I called them to complain and they gave me the cold shoulder. I will never use them again.

The technician came in and told me that some rings had popped off on one part of the furnace which meant that carbon monoxide was leaking out. He told me that he was going to have to turn off the gas and that I needed a whole new furnace. He quoted me furnaces ranging from approximately $4,000 - $6,000 dollars. I contacted another company that came in and told me that the part was under warranty and could be replaced for only the cost of labor. I was also told that I could turn the heat on during the day when I was out and keep it off at night while I was sleeping. This technician did check to "confirm" that there was a leak. It ended up costing me about $300.00 and has not been a problem since that part was replaced. I now use this new company to do my annual checkups. Several days after the original check up by Mendel, someone did contact me to say they found out that the part was on warranty. By then I had already gotten a second opinion from another company and hired them to handle the work.

We have used Mendel for years. All work has been completed more than satisfactorily. I would grade them an A. We have an ongoing professional relationship with Mendel so yes, we would hire them again. They are very professional, courteous and neat.

They’re very competent and we had no problems with them. They’re very professional and prompt. Their prices are a little on the high end but they did a good job very efficiently.

They have a high level of expertise. They are very accommodating and came out the same day to look at the tankless water heater. They are highly capable and we will continue to use them for our plumbing, heating and electrical needs. Their prices are a bit on the high end but worth it.

They were nice to deal with and I would recommend them to others. Their prices might be a little higher than others but they’re well worth it. The people who cam out really seemed like they knew what they were doing. They were punctual, worked all day and did a great.

Everything went well. They’re very efficient and clean and the installers are easy to talk with. They’re very patient and explain things very well. They have done a lot of work for us and the quality of their work is high and we find their prices are reasonable.

What I like about them is they do what needs to be done and are punctual. The plumbers are knowledgeable and they have a good sense of professionalism. Their prices are a little on the higher end but I would recommend their services to others.

We asked Mendel for a competitive bid to replace both AC and furnace. Our AC had failed and our furnace was >20 years old. The bid Mendel provided was very expensive when compared to the two others we had received. They also recommended higher efficiency units than we had initially requested. We gave Mendel a chance to bid lower-spec equipment and bring the price down to be competitive, but ultimately we decided on another contractor in order to get better quality equipment for hundreds less. Mendel was professional and responsive, but we could not justify the significant difference in price.

We always call Mendel first for any heating, air conditioning and plumbing needs. They are a large company in the area. We have always been happy with their work and they are reliable.

They are the company that we call for plumbing. The work is on the high end of cost but the do good work. They are easy to schedule with.

They really brought us along to the whole system, they gave us a lot of choices, back up what their opinions were. The first thing we did was we got an emergency visit because our air conditioner wasn't working when it was really hot and they have a set price for that, I think it's $275 for a Sunday visit so we have to pay that but then when we did the air conditioner was beyond repair and we did get a new one, they took $100 off of that. We did spend money with them, it was a lot, it was like a couple of thousand dollars to get a new air conditioner. What I liked is when they sent their person over and he explained to us, he looked at all our systems and he explained to us what was wrong and what the different options were, he measured what kind of air conditioner we would need and we certainly knew we needed one because the one we had, we had known had been in the house before we even lived in it and we knew it was at least 35 years old and so we knew we needed one. The company we had trouble with was called Midwest Appliance and we had been dealing with them for like 5 years and they kept fixing things in the air conditioner but they could never find what was wrong with it so the problem just went on and on. Well, the guy from Mendel right away figured out what was wrong, he said "This is what's wrong, we could do this, you know Jerry Rigged, it may work, it may not but you know you're on borrowed time", and so we figured that after 35 years, we got plenty out of that air conditioner. We were in the market for another one but I felt that they really included us, they told us what was wrong, showed us what was wrong, explained all the options and the different price levels and the air conditioner we went on the 2 reports, the one that they recommended was a good one and everything just seemed to be up and up and they explained everything. Then the man came over and put it in for us, very nice workmen, worked hard all day, they're like neat, clean and cooperative, and tried to get it done because it was hot and really just very efficient, very above the board, he told us what was going on every minute, everything's in writing so I just felt that everything was very professional. The price that we paid truly was about the same like the other guy quoted so I guess it would be fair. I feel trustworthy with them.

Did not use them. Found someone else that installed the same 3 toilets for $300. Their hourly rate is way too high.

Plumber came into house, put shoe booties then made several trips to truck for materials with the booties on. kind of defeats the purpose of the booties. I checked the price(s) of flanges in the area, they are $35-45.00. The work took about 1.75 hours, the total cost was $600.00. Considering I had already removed the toilet the flange replacement was quite simple and straight forward, especially for $600.00. I had purchased a new toilet and inquired as to how much to instal it, they wanted $300.00. I installed it myself, it took about 20 minutes. All in all quality of work was just adequate, left something of a mess and the cost was outrageous. I WILL NOT use these people again.

What I like about them is the high quality they offer. They're there when you need them and they are very responsible. They're not the cheapest, but they do excellent work.

Mendel was timely and professional. He quickly inspected and cleaned the units and discussed his inspection upon completion. I enjoyed utilizing a local St Charles business and will use them again.

We have used Mendel several times. Though they always seemed over-priced, they got the job done, and I guess I didn't know who else to call (thank goodness I finally joined Angie's list). The last time we used Mendel, we had a small pipe leaking in our basement. Though the leak was minor, we discovered this at 6 pm, and my husband felt it was best to get it fixed that night - just in case the leak got worse. The repairman arrived soon thereafter. It was "after hours" rates, which we were aware of. The repairman said he would give us a quote for the job. He said that, regardless if it took him 10 minutes or 10 hours to fix, that would be the price. From the time he arrived to the time he left, it was less than 30 minutes. They charged us $600. I'm 100% sure the repairman knew full well it'd take him almost no time to fix it, but, given that we are not plumbing experts, quoted us ridiculously high as we had no idea how long it would take him to fix it. I politely voiced my displeasure with his tactic, and he flatly refused to do anything about it. I will never use Mendel again, and I tell all my friends who mention plumbing never to use them. ****UPDATE**** I spoke with Tom Mascari, General Manager of Mendel Plumbing. He was genuine in his concern over our negative experience with the call in 2011 and truly wanted to make things right. Tom had thoroughly reviewed all aspects of the call before phoning me. He listened to my concerns about the call. He calculated the cost of material and labor and then offered a refund of the money he felt was in excess of the amount calculated. I felt this new amount was fair, particularly given the call was after hours, and accepted his refund. At the original time of this service call, I was stressed about the situation and did not feel that contacting the management at Mendel would be helpful. This was a mistake as they sincerely want their customers to be happy. I am upgrading my ratings of Mendel in the Professionalism and Price categories (each was initially a D based on my first experience, a B based on my conversation with Tom, and now a C as an average of the two experiences).

I worked with Eric from Mendel. He was great! He was prompt, professional, efficient with his time and he did a good job explaining everything as it was going on. I would most certainly recommend him. He was even very kind to my 2 small children who were doing every thing they could to get in his way despite my attempts to keep them away..

We lost half of our electric power at 8 pm on the coldest day of winter. The power to the furnac went out. Lights were flickering. Very unusual and somewhat frightening . We checked the. Circuits and gfi s and couldn't find anything that would cause this. We called Mendel and they called us back right away to find out what our problem was. They had an electrician who was already out on an after hour call contact us. He assured us that he would come right over because of our lack of heat and then return to his non emergency call. Mike from Mendel was true to his word . He promptly came to our house and diagnosed the problem quickly and temporarily restored power to us.( it was temporary because a city cable was the culprit) The problem wasa city elecrtrical cable problem which he contacted the city about. This cut through a lot of red tape and made arrangements for the city to come out . The city electric crew did promptly come out and provide a temporary fix which they made permanent on the following Monday. Mendel's courteous and professional response was a real life saver. It was such a pleasant and reassuring experience having Mike and Mendel resolve this serious problem for us in such a prompt manner. They are the. Best. Bob and Mary Janes

Called in the morning for service, I was given a window of 10-2. At 2:20 no one had called or showed so I called. They apologized for the delay and had someone available could they come now? which they did. Ron arrived around 20 minutes later, asked questions about the problem and then got to work. He rodded the offending drain, and checked it and gave some tips and suggestions for things that we will be replacing. He cleaned up the small mess made while he worked. He did take care to wear booties and protect the flooring from his shoes and equipment. I felt the price was on par with what I had seen in other reviews and the work was done quickly and well. My only issue was how the final cost was arrived at. It seems that the per hour rate starts when they get dispatched, my bad for not asking precise enough questions I suppose, but if you were given a 4 hour window of time for arrival, how would you know their dispatch time? Seems like that could create some issues. Overall it was an okay experience and Ron was very nice and knowledgable.

Technicial was prompt and very professional. He replaced the humidifier pad at no charge.

The product they supplied and the services they provided were great. I was appreciative that they discussed the cost factor and gave us an option to put off the weekend service for normal weekday service.