Whipple Service Champions

Whipple Service Champions - Beware of this scam! I need to have the roots cleaned out of my sewer line every few years. I couldn't remember the name of the previous rooter service that I used, so I called Whipple to try their $66 advertised special. In the past I've typically paid about $150 for this service. Since it was a Saturday morning, the woman in office said that there would be an additional $69.50 diagnostic fee of top of the the fee to root out the line. The repairman finally showed up about 6:30 PM and told me it the fee would be over $1,000 because they needed to jet and camera scope the line. He also kept pushing me to join their "club" at an additional fee of $19.50 a month (minimum six month commitment). I tried to explain that all I wanted was to have the roots cut out of the line, but he continued to try to sell me on the club and a bunch of other services I did not want. I finally told him that I wasn't going to do any of the expensive services he wanted to sell me and that I'd just pay the $69.50 fee and be done with him. I want to alert you to this tactic. I'll find another company to clean the roots our of my line. UPDATE 11-2-16: I just had different plumbing service come and clean out the main sewer line with an electric root-cutter. The fee was $80 and this resolved the blockage. Quite a difference from the over $1,000 fee I was quoted by Whipple, not including the $117 for the "club" membership they were pushing. How can rip-off companies like Whipple stay in business? Beware of dealing with them.

They were on time, competitively priced, and took my suggestions and desires into account. I have only had it for about a month, but so far, so good. The installation did not go as planned. We ran into several issues that would have been hard to predict, but each time they consulted with several people, including me, and came up with a plan of action that I found acceptable. As part of the installation they had to cut part of my ceiling out; their construction team did an excellent job of repairing it; it looks better than new. Only time will truly tell how good of a job they did. But so far, I am very pleased. The system is working very well.

For 4 hours Whipple charged $2,214. Or $500 per hour. I made the mistake of not asking for a upfront cost before I scheduled Whipple.It was Friday afternoon and I was pretty certain I would never get another plumber at that late date and time. I talked to 2 quality plumbers on Monday and both said the cost would be $100 per hour and it would take about 4 hours and $100 in parts at a maximum. Therefore Whipple charged me 4 times the amount another quality plumbing contractor would. I should have paid $500 plus taxes at most. I don't know how a company that treats customers like this sleeps at night.

Work was done professionally and completed on time. Suggestions were given on the equipment on how to control it and take care of it.

So a little background: I'm in the service industry. Automotive specifically and years ago I've done HVAC work too. Maybe I'm out of touch with todays labor rates in other areas, but it was very expensive for 1.5 hrs worth of labor (if even that). Water heater in the rental is still under warranty, so the part was covered (main gas valve), but the labor to replace it was $423 including the $79 service call/diagnostic. I had already done most of the diag on it based on the service manual and relayed this information to the tech. Pretty much the only thing it could be was the valve. Tenant needed hot water, so I stupidly paid because I don't have enough time to get it done in a timely manner or during sane hours myself. So about me being out of touch, I felt that was a LOT of money for that job. I'm totally good with paying $200 or so for it, but even when I called the manufacture of the water heater they thought $423 was very high. At my job we bill on flat rate. Some times you beat it, some times you don't. But I do have the power in my position to tell the service writer "There is no way this should bill X amount of hours." There are also some jobs where I recommend to bill more for the job because labor guides aren't perfect. This tech had that power too and I feel he abused it. So it comes down to this guy choosing what to bill me. Apparently he gave me the "Diamond Club" deal too. But when I know half the time you spent "working" on the water heater was going to pick up the part, I'm going to complain. And I know businesses have to make money too, that's why we are in business. But being in the service industry myself, I know when I'm being ripped off. A good tech should be able to diagnose something very quickly, I'm thinking 15 minutes or so. That means that the $79 service call fee pays them almost $360 per hour, and then they charged almost $344 per hour flat rate after that. And that, is ripping people off. I doubt my complaining will do anything, but if it even loses them one service call, I'll feel better.

The guy from Whipple (I think his name was Terry) arrived at my house on time-even though I was late coming back from picking my kids up from school. He laid out the Whipple mat on my front porch and he put shoe covers on to protect my floors from anything he might track in. The whole time he was there(maybe an hour and half) he was letting me know things that were good, what he was doing and he suggested things that may help my air conditioner be more efficient. He also would let me know products that were available but not something I would right then but maybe in the future (he mentioned a pan cleaner? but my unit is fairly new so I didn't need it yet). He did find that my unit did need some calibration. He also did that part very efficiently. He was friendly and informative. He even was more than happy to oblige my three kids (ages 5, 7, and 9) who were full of questions and trying to "help" him at every turn. When finishing up to pay for services he even noticed a coupon I had so he saved me money that way too! I have always had a great experience with Whipple. This was the second service they have performed at my home and I am going to continue to use them for my heating, air conditioning, and whatever else they have to offer needs.

Went so smoothly, crew of 3-4 plus a follow up by the electrician. Initial contact was the repairman, then the service adviser. A crew of four showed up the next morning and began work. Great communication. Service adviser stopped by to see how things were going. Electrician showed up the next day to complete the job. Seven different people. All in professional uniforms, they wanted to put "booties" on their shoes before the entered the house. All knowledgeable. This work was done on our house in Park City Utah. My only regret is that they don't do work in Wisconsin or Michigan were we also have homes. I'd hire them in a second for any type of HVAC work!

Great. Service man was very kind. I would use them again.

Each time, they show up on time and keep me informed with what they are doing. I like that they give me prices before they do any work so I'm not surprised at the end. Everyone that I have dealt with there has been exceptionally pleasant to work with. I will continue using them and referring them to my family and friends.

He overcharged us for his service. Charged us for the repair and a dispatch fee. I feel as though we are being charged more than the average customer, due to how the technician perceived our economic status. My husband and I were really busy and I feel as though we were taken advantage of.

I would absolutely never recommend them for anything. They are all about upselling and marketing for everything. I gave them a one star review and Whipple called me, they are all about looking good. They did come back, but the paint didn't really match. They took out the wall and everything. When they upsold me they could have gotten someone who knew how to paint and to do dry wall. I spoke to another plumber who said he worked for Whipple for one week, and the only training he received was to upsell.

The plumber sent by Whipple was professional and completed the work. I paid for the work, but was flabbergasted by the price. The plumber assured me that paying by the job ($1,745) was cheaper than by the hour. After I paid and he left, I began calling other plumbers to ask what their charge would be for the same service. I did not reveal that I already had the service completed. I called three local plumbers and got quotes between $500 and $800. So, I contacted Whipple to ask them to justify their charges. The female customer service agents I spoke with over several weeks (four of them) could not help me and directed me to "Marcus" who I spoke with once. After tracking him down. The female customer service agents claimed he would call me back. But he never did. I had to be proactive. When I finally reached him, he promised he would send justification for the charges. He did not. The female customer service agents said that the owner of the company -- who is not Marcus -- was not available. They are a big marketing and sales operation who do fine work but charge DOUBLE and higher what a reputable licensed and bonded plumber charges for the same services. Buyer beware. I learned a hard lesson and will go on putting my two cents in where it involves Whipple.

Access was the issue and it was tight quarters and tough access. However, once the hole in the cabinet back was done, the rest was pretty straight forward. The camera time was about half an hour and the repair work was about 90 minutes. Close to 2 hours total plus a 45 minute trip to plumbing shop for a special pipe connector fitting. The work was well done, given the circumstances, but I was very upset to discover that he had charged me $78 for a new shutoff valve and its installation in addition to the other work done. This was totally unnecessary as the old shutoff valve was only a few years old and would have worked just fine and the new valve was mounted on the end of the new pipe while it was outside the cabinet (the whole apparatus had been cut out and lifted out easily as a unit). No tight quarters to install this $8 part! This was gouging. The expense total was about half again as much as expected, but when you have a leak, you need someone to help somewhat quickly. I would be more careful next time regarding price inquiry. Possibly worst of all, he pressured me for a review of his work on a Whipple comment form immediately after the job was done; no time to think about it. I wrote a decent review, but after thinking it over, the cost was simply way more than it should have been and the cost of simply putting a $8 part on the end of a piece of pipe while in a vise on his truck was ten times more than it should have been. It makes you wonder if the rest of the charges were just as inflated. Thank goodness for Angie's List.

Overpriced and a lot of BS. Do yourself a favor and find a good contractor and go thru them for your plumbing needs. Will never call them for a bigger job again.

They gave an estimate which I accepted. The first to come was a truck of Spanish speaking workers who dug the hole to the sewer. I wondered if they were from a legitimate contractor that provided them with Workers Comp, etc. I had so many issues I never asked. They repaired the pipe which broke again a few months later. That was repaired and it broke again. Each time this happened, I had sewage in my basement. They did continue fixing the breakages without extra charge, however they ought to have done it correctly the first time. They did not have a camera to view the sewer and I got that from another company. I also called the city to see if they set this up with the proper permits. The person I spoke with told me they never got a permit and that since they were such a large company, they ought to have known better. I then made them get the permit to dig and repair. They also wanted to sell me a plumbing contract which i did not purchase as it was very expensive. They were unprofessional, did poor work which needed to be redone. They did return calls and come when they said they would, but I'd rather they be late and do it right. The fact that they did not get a permit is a big deal with sewer work and they ought to know that!

These guys are a bunch of amateurs. I'm not sure where to begin with how much they did wrong. let's start with the HVAC unit-- They installed a unit that was too small for the area; they used flexible metal ducts, which are easier for them to install, but DRASTICALLY reduces the efficiency of the unit, and they took forever to get it in. They also didn't balance the air flow so we had issues with that too. The original installers screwed it up so bad that two supervisors had to come out twice to fix up what they did. They kept promising to come back and balance the air but never did. In the end, I had to call another company to completely replace what they did. I would not recommend them for any plumbing work.

the tech had to turn off the furnace stating that it was leaking gas. So he called his supervisor to come verify it and the "supervisor" agreed and gave a a "deal" for a new furnace...."$7000.00 and that was the DEAL!!! It was April and cold so we did not really want to get another bid. We got whippleized! Found out later that we could have had the same furnace AND and air conditioner systerm for the same price. Then I don't knw why I used them again, but it was a FREE service where they came and looked at all our plumbing to tell us what we might need in the future and the tech bumped the gooseneck under the bathroom sink and of course it was spraying water everywhere. He did not have me turn off the water before he stared this. It took me a minute (long story) to get to our all house water shutoff, so now we have water running down the basement wall. He asked me if I wanted him to replace some part under the sink, never giving me a quote (I should have asked) and $400+ later he put in two parts (can't remember what they were called). When my son, who is an electrician found thisx out, he was enraged. He said IF he went to someones home and broke something and then charged then $400+, he would be fired. Whipple "should" have fixed it for free. So mu spm called the "customer service - that was a joke" telling them we wanted our money back (they have a money back guarantee) and they gave me half back. I would NEVER use them again. Very costly and unethical.

DO NOT USE WHIPPLE. If you like having to threaten a lawsuit to get a refund, these guys are for you. Whipple did the job wrong four times. I had to call repeatedly and threaten a lawsuit to get a refund. When I asked them back, they didn't come. They came when I didn't ask them to. They argued with me about color matching and quality of work. After four visits, the paint didn't match and the corners weren't smooth. They smelled like cigarette smoke. They didn't wear uniforms. They were dirty. They were unkempt.

We felt uneasy with the charges for this job, but were satisfied with the two toilets which seem to be working fine. The technician was very polite and had to spend a great deal of time dealing with a pipe that had required two wax seals because of the flagstone floor in that bathroom. He corrected the problem and the results are satisfactory. I had a coupon which I neglected to give the technician. As he was figuring the bill, the coupon was sitting next to both of us. Realizing this the miniute he left, I called Whipple, explained that I had the coupon for $100 off this job and they assured me they would send me a check for that amount. I had to make 5 phone calls and finally got the customer service manager who followed through. It took about tthree weeks, but they did it. I called Whipple again shortly after the first visit to check our water heater which had quite working. The same very nice technician came, looked at the problem and mentioned 3 things that needed to be done and gave me an estimate of over $1900. I was also told about some kind of service contract thing that would have been about $500 more. I decided to do some research first because that seemed too much for a water heater. Sure enough, that estimate was hway out of line with what I found with my research. . I then called a company we've used many times before and they did the job for half the amount. So, now I question whether we paid too much for the "toilet job". I would never use Whipple again.

I contacted Whipple on a saturday evening for an urgent plumbing need. I was told someone would call me back as soon as they were available. Their website advertises services available 24/7 365. I stated that I needed someone to come out ASAP to resolve my issue.It is now three days later and I still haven't gotten a call back . The woman I spoke to on the phone was rude and unprofessional. It is very frustrating just being ignored like this. Luckily I was able to get the issue resolved elsewhere otherwise my house would be underwater by now.

Whenever it's an emergency they are always on time. They send someone else right away.

Basically the service has always been good. So the price has been pretty fair for me, especially since I’m a member. The people that come out to do the work are friendly and on time. They always call ahead before they come. They are professional and I find them great to work with. They are a bit high priced.

Estimate was great. We chose a different company but wish we hadn't.

After 2 attempts at having the toilet drain cleaned by other places I opted to have the toilet replaced and heard an ad on the radio for a installed price of 199 more than 1/2 off other places. I called and made an appointment. On the day of the appointment they called and asked if it would be ok if the person came earlier which was fine. The Plummer David Bowles came to the door had his crime scene booties on and looked at the toilet. He flushed it and agreed it was stopped up. He removed the old toilet and discovered the problem. Toilet was ok just something was caught in it. I opted for the new toilet anyway as the other one was over 20 years old David installed the new toilet and calked the base. He then asked if he could sit at the kitchen table to do his paperwork. He was very courteous and did an excellent job. It seemed his main concern was that we were completely 100% satisfied. I was very impressed with his work and attitude. I would highly recommend him for anyone needing their toilet replaced. A few days after the installation I received a personalized thank you note from the installer.

Jeremy....or maybe Jason... (if I remember correctly) was pretty quiet and didn't explain a whole lot, but enough for me to understand what was going on most of the time. He was pretty professional overall with wearing shoe covers and what-not, but he showed up wearing the shoe covers, so doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose if you're already wearing them when you come to my door? Anyway, the line had a rather solid clog in it, which a plumber friend had tried to help with, but he didn't have a motorized drain snake to work on it with. Whipple's guy got it out - with a little trouble, but he got it cleared. For some reason I had thought the service was going to include an inspection of the drain with a camera, but that didn't happen. I had thought the p-trap may have to be replaced, and I had planned on doing so myself, but since the plumber was there, I asked him about having him replace it for me. He informed me that to do so would cost over $100. Fortunately, he was able to get it back into position so it didn't have to be replaced at all. The service tech got the job done, but had spilled some water on the floor. While this was expected, I also expected the water would have been cleaned up. It wasn't. Most of it was on the bathroom carpet which we don't care about (and which won't be going away soon enough), but the water wasn't soaked up or cleaned up with anything and stayed stagnant in that carpet for a week before it dried out. Our bathroom and surrounding area smelled like nasty old drain pipes becuase of that. A spot of gray water also got onto our brand new carpet, just outside the bathroom, and we had to clean that up ourselves. At the end of the service call, I was handed a survey to fill out - while the technician stood there looking on and waiting for me to finish filling it out. I did so, but I really think a company wanting my HONEST feedback should LEAVE me with a postage-paid form to fill out. I do, however, remember that Whipple had a much better response time than my first choice, Scott Hale. (choice simply made by cost of advertized drain-clearing special - $20 less than Whipple) Scott Hale had to reschedule with me once or twice because of an emergency they ran into at another location (major leak, I guess). Originally scheduled for Friday, they didn't show up after I had waited all day, then they rescheduled me for the following Tuesday. I called Whipple Monday morning (Presidents Day) and they came that same day. This allowed me to be at work the full day Tuesday, instead of waiting around for Scott Hale again. Bottom Line: Great response time, but if you're going to leave a mess for me to clean up, don't charge me for your time, because my time is valuable too.