Service Specialties Inc.

Had an appointment scheduled for this morning to have my plumbing inspected by SSI. Received a voice message at 7:20 a.m. telling me to return their call within 10 minutes or they would cancel my appointment. I returned their call within the 10 minutes that I was given only to find that their phones were closed and my call went to voice mail. I left a message stating that I was available. When I telephoned SSI at 8:15 a.m. to verify that I was still on the schedule I was informed that my appointment had been canceled because I had not returned their call within the allotted 10 minute window.

The Angie's list pre-purchased coupon seemed to have no effect on the price of the job. Gave them our coupon for $50 of services and then had to pay $99 more to get a faucet connection changed. This seems like a high price, but the job was done fine.

I purchased an Angie's List Big Deal for this service and it was great. They called me immediately after I purchased it online; I was surprised at how quick it was. They had to order a part that had to be replaced so I paid a little more for that, I guess. They were very prompt and excellent. The quality was exceptional, outstanding.

They came out and did a great job. They found the problem and fixed it. There were no issues. I definitely liked it. There were additional charges beyond the big deal amount of $84.50. I ended up spending about $300.

They were okay. From a management standpoint, they handled it quite professionally. The guy they sent out was clearly just a kid that kinda knew what he was doing but he was not as professional. But he did get the job done. He looked at the things and he said he was not sure if he has the parts in his truck. I e-mailed them a picture. The work is fine and the repair is made and it’s working. I had already used them again.

The tech told us the time frame he would be at the house to do the plumbing inspection, but he was late 45-50. So, after waiting for him for 4 hrs, we cancelled and requested the refund.

It went fine. I misunderstood what I had actually purchased that it was just for a consultation. He did actually ask to pay for additional work to be done. It wasn't clear for what I was purchasing that I was just purchasing an initial consultation.

They were very prompt. They came in and did their work.....then they were gone. I was very satisfied. We had an issue in the house and we needed an inspection; they came and conducted that.

I called SSI for a second opinion after my regular HVAC company I used for 15 years told me there is a small crack in the heating unit and I have to buy a new one. Our old company also turned off the heat and left us all freezing in the coldest day of that winter. Before spending thousands of dollars on new units (there is a conflict of interests when the old company maintaining our HVAC was also making more money by selling us new ones), I called SSI and two other companies to inspect the heating units. Nobody found any cracks, and they turned back the heat on. As a precaution, we installed monoxide carbon detectors all over the house. At my request, SSI also gave us options and price quotes that were better than our old company's "forced" quotes. We never did have problems with our existing units, but we never had peace of mind either. Even though I strongly feel that our old company was just unscrupulously pushing for a sale, it made us very nervous. SSI gave us their best opinions and price options, but were never pushy, aggressive sales persons. We hired them to do the maintenance on our HVAC units, and when I am ready to buy new units, SSI will be the first I call.

Service was conducted as planned; no issues with the installation itself and there have been no issues with the installed systems to date.

Purchased the Big Deal of $39 for a service call. Needed to connect sink drain because new drain did not line up with old trap. Plumber installed a new PVC trap, PVC adapter and about 6 inches of 2 inch PVC pipe. In and out in 25 minutes. $137 for parts and labor! Guess you no longer get some labor included with your service call. They did the work I asked them to do but I could not afford to use them again. This Big Deal was not a big deal.

The technician was punctual and appears to have performed the services in a satisfactory manner. The cost was a little on the pricey side but for the quick turnaround to get our tenants up and going again, I shouldn't complain. Thanks!

It didn;t go well as far as customer service.

The technician arrived at the appointed time. He was able to diagnose the issue instantly and resolve the problem with the disposal without having to replace the existing disposal. He recommended to use the existing the disposal rather than use the Waste King disposal that I had purchased online. I would definitely use services from them again in future.

Appointment was for between 8-noon. Plumber arrived just after 8, immediately determined the problem, made the repairs, and was finished in 30 minutes. He cleaned up the mess and was very efficient.

My experience went very well. The repairman came very promptly and was efficient. He noticed the previous work had been done improperly. I was pleased with the outcome of the service. He had great recommendations on how to save some money with replacing 2 other faucets. I would recommend this company to others.

The problem was fixed in record time. It was all done through an Angie's List special. This was a great experience.

I’m not sure what my money bought, but the guy who came out was punctual and did what he was supposed to do. he was a nice fellow.

Everything went well. They were on time, did quality work, and were professional during the entire process.

I purchased the deal hoping to secure the services of a plumber who would attempt to fix my running toilet. Instead, the plumber who arrived first told me I had a terrible toilet and I would need to replace it at a cost of several hundred dollars. Then when I balked at this, he sighed, looked around and indicated that he guessed he could maybe replace the flush valve but "that won't last and you'll need to keep doing it" and that it would be at least $140-$150 (I know this to be a $20 part), and then he could today if I wanted, though it wouldn't last, replace the fill valve for approximately $90 (I know this to be an $11 part). All of this on top of the $39 service call (which was discounted from $99). This was not repairing, this was not service, this was someone telling me what I already knew. So I said no thanks, and I went out and figured out the solution I needed which was to double up on a seal gasket to keep water from leaking into the bowl--this is called fixing something--and then replaced the fill valve myself. And everything works fine. Pretty disappointing for a company that had received all A's. I did not give them a F because they did come quickly, so one letter grade for promptness, but zeroes the rest of the way.

I was very happy with the service provided by SSI, specifically by Reid Maxwell. He came on time, finished within estimated time limit and did a nice job cleaning up after himself. Very professional and everything is working fine. I would use them again.

Initial Cost: The standard service fee is $69. This is what the charge would have been to just check the water pressure. I had a technician from Dr. Plumber in the area that morning who gave me an estimate that he would check it (and take an hour) for a charge of $168. I only mention this because he gave me a magnet that asked me to "Compare our prices". Which I did. The problem: The plumber came out verified water pressure at the ball valve, then realized something was wrong with the copper line headed to the fridge. He realized water was barely making it through the pipe despite no visible kinks. He made a cut in the pipe and saw that the filter from the new fridge had somehow backed up and clogged a good 8" of the pipe with filter charcoal. The solution: He was able to salvage the rest of the pipe, and installed it back on to the fridge, armed me with information to talk to the fridge company and resolved the issue in short time. I should note that the reason I had to have him come out is that the 5 authorized warranty service providers for the refrigerator manufacturer did not have the equipment to perform this test (or the knowledge on how to do it) despite it being recommended by the manufacturer that all providers do so. This meant that I had to secure a promise from the manufacturer that they would reimburse me the cost of the plumber since their own technicians were unable to perform the recommended work/checks. Recommendation: I would certainly recommend SSI and in particular Rick who spoke with me ahead of the time over the phone offering his advice. I arrived earlier than expected and spoke to me in terms that I could understand.

Cancelled the appointment twice. We were moving out of the house and the company pushed the Tune-up to the last minute. Then they never followed up with a written eval as promised.

This was a fairly big job and SSI performance was extremely impressive from the onset. The representative who showed up on time for the estimate and proposal was knowledgeable, neat and professional in all aspects. He surveyed the requirements, explained options and proceeded to provide a written proposal on the spot without a hard-sell. The costs/equipment were comparable to or beat other estimates. The thoroughness of the SSI package, however far exceeded others. It not only provided specifics of the equipment to be installed but described details of what would be done. The proposal also addressed info on permits, warranties, services agreements and even the fact that hardwoods and carpets would be protected by drop cloths, plastic film and installers would wear shoe coverings in the house. When asked if the entire job could be completed in one day, the rep did not hesitate, noting that two crews would be used. On install day, four very competent, polite and hard-working SSI employees showed up on time, delivered the correct equipment and immediately went to work. They appeared to each have individual specialties as they went about their business. They worked throughout a very hot/humid day and had all systems installed and running by mid afternoon . They explained the nuances of the newly installed equipment, operation of the new thermostats, filter changing requirements etc. They also did indeed do everything that was spelled out in the proposal with regards to clean-up and protections of the home. I will not hesitate to use SSI in the future. They did what they said they would do. They did it professionally and did it when they said they would. There were no surprises.

I purchased a $55 deal from Angie's List to have our furnace inspected before the winter. The tech arrived early for the appointment and was extremely friendly and professional. The tech found cracks in our heat exchange and a bad capacitor and discussed the options of replacing the parts vs. replacing the older system altogether. He also mentioned that our house was not as cool as it should have been after a 75 degree evening and explained that this indicated a leak in our A/C system. He also went through some of the options for addressing that issue, even though it was outside the scope of today's work. I would have gladly hired SSI to address these issues, but they do not work with home warranty companies. I'd like to say this is a disappointment, but I am coming to understand just how ridiculous it is to work with home warranty companies and I can't say that I blame them. The consensus from everyone I speak to is that the warranty company won't pay them a living wage for the work that they do. So, SSI did a great, thorough job and was very helpful in evaluating the situation. I would have preferred to work with them, but am restricted by my home warranty and the fact that I still want to use it.