Help Plumbing Heating Cooling and Electric

Very satisfied and very happy the unit is now working and cooling our home completely

After returning from vacation, we discovered that our AC had stopped working. Early Monday, we called Help and they had an HVAC technician on site by 11:00. I had already noticed that the outside unit was not kicking on, and so I told the technician (we will call him Tom) that I suspected that the run capacitor was bad. He immediately pointed out to me that the AC was 17 years old, and said that I should probably just replace it. I indicated that I would rather find out what was wrong with the old one, and how much it would be to repair it, before I made that decision. Within about 15 minutes, Tom had confirmed that this was the case, and found a replacement capacitor in the truck. He then quoted me a price of $479 to replace it. This was in addition to the $69 diagnostic fee. What you should know is that you can find these capacitors on line for less than $25, and replacing them is as easy as unscrewing some bolts and connecting some wires. To make a long story short, I declined, went to the store and bought a capacitor, and within about 15 minutes replaced it myself. I don't mind a business making a profit, but if you purchased a headlight from an auto store for $25 and they tried to charge you $450 to install it, you would be appalled. Since these run capacitors seem more exotic, people pay without knowing. Maybe you would do the same, which is fine, but you should at least know. Tom was prompt, polite and professional, but paying $550 for about 30 minutes of his time (not including travel) seems more than a little excessive. If you "send them to your grandmother's house" as the commercial says, you can count on your grandmother paying a whole lot more than she has to. It appears to me that Help has low diagnostic fees/ trip charges on the front end, but they more than make it up by charging dearly for repairs.

They got here on time and were very professional. They finished the job in a timely manor. They explain and showed us everything in detail.

It went very well. It was fixed and explained what was done.

I have got a brand new system and so I don't have to call them often. But, the one I would call if I had issues would be Help Plumbing. They used to have a different name, but they have been Help Plumbing Heating Cooling and Electric for a couple of years. The cost was $15000. The price was pretty high. I didn't have anything to base it on. I should have probably shopped around but I didn't. I graded them a B for price because I think the price was probably high although, he claims it wasn't. He justified everything and gave me all the proper discounts. It just sounds like a lot of money, that's all. I would rate them a B or quality because I honestly don't know whether it is good quality or not. I would probably use them again to get a quote. If I needed service, I would call them because they installed it.

Everything went well. Ricky D. receives an A+++. His value is unquestioned. Only reason I didn't give straight A's is due to ouch price....(I'm a cheapskate) and I'm waiting to make sure the repair holds up well. Even if it doesn't I know Ricky gave all. He even talked about the company and all the vet contributions it makes which really choked me up being from a vet family. So far so good.

Troy was very thorough, and gave a detail list and explanation of what needed to be fixed. He explained it very well, and was very helpful!

The technician arrived on time. Made an in house check of the furnace and a/c before going to check the outside part of the unit. The technician did a complete cleaning of the unit an then proceeded to check all functions and gas levels. All the electrical functions were checked and I was advised that all functions were operating as normal. Technician did advise me to use bleach in a/c drain pipe twice a season.

Great. Landon was a wealth of information.

Mike was very professional. He let me know what needed to be done so that I could use my kitchen sink and gave me pricing before doing any of the work. He explained what he was doing as worked, keeping me informed the whole time. I like that he put down red carpets in his work area so my floors didnt get dirty and wore the red booties in my house. I was so happy to be able to do the dishes!

They were prompt and seem to have done a fine job fixing our 5 leaky faucets. My problem is with the amount of money they charged. I supplied 6 of 7 cartridges, and the plumber worked for less than 2 hours. They charged $964, which is over $450/hour for labor! After the plumber left, I kept thinking how crazy their charge was and did some research online. I learned most plumbers charge about $125/hour. I called 4 local plumbers and they verified that rate. When I called HELP to protest my bill, I was told that my plumber was an expert and that the charge would stand. After a few more phone calls, they refunded me $239--the cost of the "club membership" I purchased--which I only purchased to save myself 20% on my total bill. This place way over charges and justifies it because, as their rep said, they are "in line with places like Apollo and Ben Franklin." Save your money and hire a plumber who will quote you a rate over the phone and charge the going rate of $125/hour.

Then he installed a new hot water heater and fixed the gas leak! We can not say thank you enough!!!!!! He was polite informative and provided excellent service.

This was a big deal purchase. It was the first time they came out and then I bought a maintenance plan from them. So far, so good. I have not had to call them back to find out what is involved with the maintenance plan. They did more work because they said other things had to be done. They had to clean it and come back because there was a noise. They explained to me where the noise was coming from. There was no charge for the second visit, but the first visit... I don't like to have a maintenance package pushed on me but in this case I went ahead and took it because it said it involved plumbing, electric and the furnace. I have a condo so I went ahead and took that. The first young man who came was obviously new and did not know a lot. He had to keep calling to ask about things, but he was very nice and did the job.

Awful. What has happened to this company? Five years ago when they installed our new furnace they were fabulous, responsive, responsible and reasonably priced. No longer. I called a few days ago because our thermostat kept resetting itself to 62 or sometimes 65 degrees and we would wake up very chilly in the morning. I asked the gal who said "how can we make you smile" if there was a manual I could consult online to see if I could trouble shoot the thermostat problems. (We had not been given one with the thermostat -hmm - part of the plan?) She said that she could tell by my description that it needed new batteries. We looked and there were no batteries in it. I told her I could not find batteries to replace. I could not answer all her questions about make and model so told her I would send her a picture. When I sent the picture I called her back and she said yes, see up at the top there is a place for batteries? I said yes, but there are no actual contacts there - because it is hard wired to the house - and it would essentially just be battery storage. Oh, she said, well, we'll have to send someone out. Again I asked about a manual for troubleshooting myself and she said no. So then we are told that there will be a $69.00 fee for an "expert" to come out and "diagnose" the problem. The "expert" gets there and tells us all it needs is to be reprogrammed (which is why I wanted to be able to see the manual) and so he runs through all the programming (which I had already figured out for myself) and that was the $69.00 "diagnosis". The next morning we woke up to 62 degrees again. I called back and was told that someone would come out yesterday, but due to a family emergency I had to reschedule (which I was courteous enough to give several hours notice for) My new appointment was today between 10 and 12 and I was told someone would call me about 30 minutes ahead to let me know what time they would arrive. (I have a 2pm doctor's appointment). Sooo, 11:45 and no phone call later, I call 333 HELP (yeah, right) and ask how far ahead someone is supposed to call, and Ginger tells me 30 to 45 minutes. I told her that it was now 15 minutes before the end of my window and no one has called. She put me on hold and came back to say that the person who was supposed to come got delayed and someone would call me within 30 - 45 minutes of when they would be there (so now 12:30 at the EARLIEST and maybe longer). I asked for a supervisor and Rachael explained to me that dispatch has a routine for calling the customers but somehow they must have overlooked me and she will see what she can do. Well, when she came back to the phone she revealed that she had found an "experienced" electrician who was in the area and could probably be there within 45 minutes. Hmmm, how is that any different than what I was told by Ginger? I do not consider this excellent or even acceptable customer service. I will say that all the ladies who work on the phones are very polite and nice (although not necessarily knowledgeable). I am one frustrated and unhappy customer. I might also add that when my 90 year old dad needed a new water heater about 4 years ago I called Thompson to have them do the work. They were a bit pricier than a couple others who gave an estimate but I had been so pleased with the work they did on my furnace I had them do that work for him, and was once again pleased with their work, as was my dad. What a difference 4 years makes. So, while I sit and wait and wait when I have a million things to do out in the real world I decided to write this to express my cautionary tale to those "would be" 333 HELP customers - save yourselves the frustration and expense! They need to improve administrative practices and hire people who actually are skilled enough to truly diagnose and fix problems, especially if they are going to charge you $69.00 so that you can have the privilege of having them come to your home so you can pay them more money for whatever they do. I will give a follow up after the "experienced" person gets here assuming I have not already had to leave for my doctor's appointment before he can get here.

I called HELP on a Saturday afternoon and Justin came out the same day to replace our water heater. Justin was very professional and knowledgeable - loved him! We will be using HELP for all of our future plumbing needs!

The technicians have always been great and professional. However the heat pump is terrible. Right before the end of the warranty, the coils needed to be replaced for what was referred to as a "known issue" with that system. Every since, the system need maintenance at least twice a year to just remain in basic working order. Overall, great knowledgable employees, I really wish I didn't need to see them multiple times a year for a new system. I would never buy another piece of equipment from them.

After most of the day and $600+ the new faucets and stems ($50 worth of parts) were put in. I was so ready for this job to be over!! When I found out this company used to be Thompson's I was furious because I had issues with them in the past. But since the guy had already started, and I figured it was an easy job, I let him continue. Within a week the knob to turn on the shower was slipping. I didn't want to call them back because I didn't have another entire day to deal with it. After one year it finally failed completely. Another plumber came out and, surprise, HELP had put in a wrong part. The coupling should have been threaded at both ends but the one he put in was only threaded on one end. To make it fit he just pounded it in. This was what caused the slipping and eventual failure. It's my fault for using this company when I have had bad past experiences, and my fault for not letting them come back and spend another 6 hours to fix it right. However, this is the kind of service you get from HELP/Thompson. NEVER AGAIN!

The estimate came in at $4400. Once the workers got there and removed the old furnace, they installed a new furnace but told my mother that their electrician will be back later in the week to upgrade the electrical box. The electricians did show up later in the week and completely removed the old electrical box and completely re-wired and installed a new electric box. The final bill was $3000 more than the estimate and my mother paid them by check. I went to their offices to speak to the manager and requested an itemized statement for all work done. Angela Esposito finally emailed a list of materials used but no costs associated with materials. She refused to deal with me further when I reported the company to the Better Business Bureau. Because she would not respond to my complaint, even though I own the home, the Better Business Bureau let the complaint drop. I have the durable power of attorney over my mother's affairs but they did not want to deal with me. I know the work they did was not part of the original estimate and they clearly took advantage of a ninety year old lady. I would not recommend this company ever, to anybody. Their business practices are underhanded and untrustworthy. They should have given us a bid they were willing to live up to before starting the job.

I cancelled my service contract after several months. I called them and they said I had to email them the information. I did so but somehow they didn't get the info and continued to charge me even when I had told them I wanted the service contract cancelled. It took about three months before they finally cancelled. I also wish I had know they had changed their name because of so many bad reports. The last thing involved the vents. The technician did a sloppy job of putting them in. He cut one vent too large so it so not completed covered with the vent. It didn't seem to bother him. They also pasted about six Help stickers on the furnace that they installed. They even put a sticker over my plumber's sticker on the water heater. I have ripped them all off and replaced them with my new company that I use.

It took 3 hours for the serviceman to tell me they had previously installed the wrong thermostat. The thermostat did not have the ability to adjust the humidity for the humidifier. It was discovered the valve feeding water to the humidifier was also not functioning properly. He put on a unit to adjust the humidity. He also installed another valve to feed water to the humidifier. He stated he could not remove the other valve and a plumber would have to. So he "rigged" as he called a cap to keep it from leaking. I went down later in the evening and noticed that not only was the old valve leaking but he had caused the main pipe going to the water heater to leak as ell. It appears he applied to much pressure to the area braking the seal. Good thing my son in law is a plumber. He replaced the pipe and put the right valve on. This took 3 hours and was not right. The servicemen have been very professional over the past two years but they do not appear th be familiar with the systems they are working with and linger at the home too long

My A/C was cycling on-off repeatedly. I called H.E.L.P. following my (Google search) for seasonal A/C-Furnace tune-up and cleaning; The subsequent pre-appointment communications were professional and courteous. A very personable technician arrived promptly. About 20-minute into inspection & "cleaning," the service technician claimed I needed $2500 in repairs due to failing components. He also pitched am expensive "PLAN" purchase with offered discounts on future repairs and seasonal services. The technician "showed" (moisture, etc) and explained, with colorful per-printed illustrations, the "problem." However, the technician failed to change the filter (I provided) and didn't vacuum out dust, etc After technician left, I re-called and requested another technician to return to finish the job and to re-appraise the repairs needed. Another very polite H.E.L.P. technician arrived within the hour. His repair estimate was $1500 (eliminating the replacement of the "mother-board"). He "serviced" the system -- apparently testing electronic components, and replaced filter with one of mine. After he left I Google-searched a brand-specific furnace repair. There was a $75 "inspection and cleaning fee" that would be applied to any repair needed. The ONLY thing the brand-specific repair technician found was needed ( and subsequently did) was to un-clog the dehumidifier tank ( a small 1-pint container) to allow moister to drain as designed. My high-efficiency HVAC now works perfectly. H.E.L.P. is NOT recommended.

Late on a Friday afternoon, my furnace went out. It was freezing out, and I was about to leave on a business trip. I was worried about pipes freezing, so I knew it would cost me more than a normal service call. These guys were the only ones that could come out, so I was forced to use them. They came right out, evaluated the situation, told me what was wrong and gave me an estimate. $1,800 (approx), was super high, but I was in a bind so I agreed. They left to get the part, came back and fixed it. All within 2 hours. I looked up the price of the part online after I got home from my trip. It was $170, and from reading around (I'm pretty handy) it seems to be a pretty easy DIY repair. Now, I totally understand it costs money to have a professional provide services, and emergency repairs more-so, but a $170 part and 2 hours labor for $1,800? That's a labor cost of about $800/hr. Even for emergency services, that's a rip-off... unless its emergency surgery. Just to show how they overcharge, while they were there, they quoted me $2,500 to replace my water heater. I called around for quotes and the most expensive I got was for $1,600, and was able to get a reputable company and quality WH for $1,000 installed. I also had a BlueMax water supply line running from the meter to the house (200+ feet) that needed to be replaced. There aren't many companies that can handle that job, so I got an estimate from them. It was for over $15,000! The company I hired to do it, Henry Excavating, did it for $2,500 (approx), and did a fantastic job. That's a massive discrepancy in cost! Thompson does the job, but they seriously overcharge for the work being done. I will never use them again, and I strongly urge anyone thinking of using them to shop around for prices first. There are really great contractors out there that charge honest rates, Thompson is not one of them.

Ugh. I wish I knew then what I know now. We noticed a very wet spot in our yard and when it wouldn't dry up following rain like the rest of the yard, we knew there had to be a plumbing leak of some kind. So, we called out Help Plumbing. Rick showed up, immediately determined that we had a leak in water line (before the meter, but still on our property, and our responsibility). He gave us a quote to dig a hole, replace 10 feet of line and then fill the hole - $6500.00. The quote to replace the entire line was nearly $15k!!!! I'm not sure why I didn't get additional quotes - I think because I just wanted it to be fixed. So, we hired Rick and his team to replace the leaky part of the line. Work was supposed to be guaranteed for up to 3 years, I think. So, they came back out, dug the hole, replaced the line and filled it back in. They didn't tap down the soil - so now we have this huge mound of overgrown dirt and weeds that we're going to have to hire somebody else to level. And - just over a year later - the line is leaking in the exact same spot as before! We've called Help! four times now. The first time, they sent someone out to look at it, and he indicated it's still well within the warranty/guarantee window, but indicated Rick would need to take a look at it. So, we called again and requested Rick to come take a look at the situation. Rick showed up looked at it and said he would get back to us. After not hearing anything from Rick for a week, we called again, and again they indicated they would have Rick call us. Still no call. We have called a fourth time, and aren't holding our breath. So, to sum this up - VERY EXPENSIVE and they are now dodging our calls and apparently don't stand behind the quality of their work. If you are looking for plumbing help - I strongly encourage you to go with any - ANY - company except this one. And if Rick shows up at your door - don't let him fool you like he did us. Most expensive, poor customer service experience we've ever had. UPDATE: Rick finally called us back and told us that it would cost another $14000 to fix the problem. They are NOT going to honor their warranty. They ARE the MOST EXPENSIVE company in town. And the quality of their work is well below substandard. I will never do business with this company again. We are still trying to get them to honor their warranty. Please, please, please do not do business with this company. You can find better quality of work at a better price, and with a company who will honor their warranties and stand behind their workmanship.

I am a Journeyman Industrial Electrician so I am familiar with electrical components and costs. The tech told me that my furnace had a capacitor that was week and should be replaced. He showed me the capacitor and I knew they were under $20 so I asked him how much to replace. He said exactly this "Two Twenty One" I said hopefully you don't mean two hundred twenty one and he repeated "Two Twenty one" I thought that $2.21 is reasonable so yes, replace it. Then he was working on the AC unit and pointed out it too had a weak capacitor and it would cost "three forty six" I once again knew this size was also usually under $20 so I told him to change it. When done he asked what method do I want to pay the balance or "five sixty seven?". Since I assumed $5.67 I pulled out cash and laid it on the bill. He said if I take that to my boss he will fire me. Then I realized it was $567.00! I paid the bill and he left. I did an internet search and found both capacitors for a total of $20.74. I called HELP the next morning at 8AM and told them what happened and I wanted to cancel my Help club membership. Instead of showing compassion she said I would have to pay an extra $218 to cancel since this is the cost of the tune up. I told her she doesn't seem to understand. She asked me if I would like to have a supervisor call me about this and I said yes. I am writing this at 7pm that night and they never called. I checked online for an average that others were charging for these repairs and they averaged between $200 and $250. I understand making a profit but the ac and furnace were already apart for a tune up and they charged my $567.00 for parts that I could have obtained for $20.00. It makes me wonder is the tech is being taught NOT to say hundred when asked. If he would have said yes, two hundred twenty one when I asked I would have told him to put it back together with the old part which was working and then I would have done the work myself. AGGRAVATED!

Ordered a new part, for heat exchange, and replaced it. Very pleasant and professional.