ComplaintsforAlbert Nahman Plumbing Heating and Cooling

• Initial Complaint

  12/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired Albert Nahman Plumbing to install a heat pump water heater in July of this year, due to their good reviews, and they are a ****** authorized installer. To qualify for the $1000 rebate for replacing my old gas water heater, the installer has to be authorized by *************The install was completed and paid for on July 25th; On July 20th I submitted the paperwork to Albert Nahmans then-rebate coordinator ***********Life happened and it wasnt until early October that I realized I had heard nothing about the rebate status, so I called on 10/4 and was told ***** had left the company and I should talk to the new coordinator, *****. I did so, and she assured me that shed take care of it and should just forward her all the paperwork I 'd originally sent to *****. Which I did. I heard nothing and contacted ***** again on Oct 10th and then again on Oct 23rd. On 10/30, I called in and asked to speak to a supervisor. ************************* (General Manager) contacted me and after listening to my complaint asked me to sum everything up and follow up with an email to him, which I sent the same day. ****** responded that hed spoken to his coordinator, who would push the rebate further and they just needed to find a picture of the old water heater. Give me until tomorrow he said.Tomorrow came and went, and I called and left messages for ****** several times. None got a response. I emailed him on Nov 9th, which he responded to by saying hed been busy and would get an update from *********Once again I heard nothing and tried calling multiple times to no avail, and sent another email on Nov 16th demanding a response and progress on my $1000 rebate. I also say if I dont hear back in a week Im going to look into other options, such as bad reviews, state board complaints, and legal action (which would need to be small claims)And here I am. Stonewalled and ignored. And to add insult to injury, I just found out that ****** lowered the rebate to $250 in August.

  

  Business response

  12/07/2023

  Hi ****- I'm very sorry to hear about your experience and it's definitely not the standard we expect or set for ourselves. I've asked ******, our GM to reach back out to you to make things right and apologize for your experience. Please feel free to email me ****************************** if you don't hear from him by end of day tomorrow (Friday 12/8) or if you're unsatisfied by the resolution.

  ***

• Initial Complaint

  08/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I am still waiting for this company to finish an HVAC installation that was meant to be completed 3 weeks ago; the office demanded full payment up front ($17982.71, including a $1000 initial deposit). I have experienced weeks of delays, poor communication, missing parts, and incorrect parts. The install team was scheduled to start on Tuesday 8/1 for a 2-3 day job that would be completed by the end of the week. The start date was pushed back repeatedly. Work was done on 8/3, 8/4, and 8/8. On 8/8 it was discovered that parts were missing (thermostats and remotes). It took repeated calls to the office over more than a week to confirm the parts had arrived and to get a new install date to finish the job. I was scheduled for 8/18 - the technician arrived over three hours late, saying he was just there to install the thermostats, but there was still a significant amount of work remaining that he doesnt have equipment for, so nothing can be done that day. I was then scheduled for 8/21 and no one showed up, ever. I was then scheduled for 8/22, when it was discovered that the previously-missing remotes were incorrect and will not pair with the system they installed. I was told the install team cannot come back to finish the job until end of day Thursday 8/24, or maybe Friday 8/25. This is now three full weeks of delays after paying the entire project cost up front. It is currently Tuesday evening 8/22 and I have texted the install coordinator, the project estimator, and left a message with company management requesting that they complete the work ASAP and issue a significant refund. I have not heard back from anyone.

  

  Business response

  08/29/2023

  Hi ******- I'm very sorry to hear about your experience. It doesn't meet the standard we set for ourselves. My understanding from talking with our GM, *************************** is that we've issued you a full refund. We hope you'll give us another chance to prove that this was a one-off experience and not our standard. 

  Best,
  ***

  Customer response

  08/29/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  06/21/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My wife is *********************** but I handled wverything.I contacted them for furnace filter replacement pursuant to their discount coupon. Their technicians are always late and we had to reschedule several times. When the technician finally came he was late but nice. However, we have a common furnace and they did not have the necessary filter on the truck on Thursday or at their office which they could not reach (before 4PM) the technician told me he would return the next day first thing at 9:00 AM. However, I had to pay for the whole job. The next day I was informed they had to order the filters and would not be available to complete the job until the next Wednesday! I asked for a refund and the manager agreed to a partial rebate and the technician would be at my home at 9:00 on Wednesday. On Wednesday June 21, 2023 I called and was informed I am not on the schedule. I asked for a refund again and they said a manager would call me. I still have not received my refund or call from a manager. At this point I just want my money back. I was not given any paperwork until I demanded it during a call with the manager. Now I have discovered this company has new owners. I have used them for years and was unaware the ownership changed.

  

  Business response

  06/21/2023

  Hi *******- We were hoping to serve your home today and unfortunately the technician assigned to it called out with a family emergency. We apologize for the inconvenience to you and we'll work harder to improve our communication in the future. We've already processed a refund for you today, which you'll see posted in 3-5 days (which is a function of credit card processing and nothing we can do to expedite).

  All the best,
  ***

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  05/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I called Albert Nahman to fix my bath faucets. A plumber, *****, came next day, gave me a $400 bid, and then spent hours trying to find the right stem in his truck, even suggesting at one point he might try to use a used part! This went on for several hours until he suddenly showed up with the right faucet stems. He installed them and then told me the new cost was $700. I had no choice but to pay. That night I tried to use the tub and the faucets were too hard to turn with one hand. After a struggle to open the faucet I saw it was now leaking into the basement. Supervisor ******** came the next day to see the leak and got a new tech over two days later. Turns out the first guy didn't put gaskets on the stems and didn't grease them, new guy spent 3 hours fixing the mess. ******** kept promising to get back to me about adjusting the bill and kept stalling me. He took 5 days to get back to me, and offered to discount it $150 because the problem was "fixed." I explained to him that I didnt feel it was fair for me to pay for the waste of time and incompetence of the first plumber and that the original $400 bill was fair considering the bad first job and the two days without a working shower. He refused to consider it and Im now disputing the charge with my credit card.

  

  Business response

  05/18/2023

  Hi **********************-

  Thank you for your outreach. Customer satisfaction is our highest priority. 

  To recap the events: on 5/8/2023 we sent one of our technicians, *****, to provide you a quote. When the quote was authorized, **********;left the property to find parts at several local supply houses for the 40-year-old shower valve. Upon *****'s return, he presented you with a change order, which was authorized prior to the work being performed. ***** installed the parts, flushed, purged, and charged the line, but admittedly did not check for proper operation before leaving. On 5/10 we sent another technician, ******, to diagnose the proper operation. ****** remedied the issues and you were not charged for the second visit since this was under warranty.

  We apologize for any inconvenience this issue caused. And as such will reduce the amount of the invoice to the original estimated amount of $400 and credit the balance back to you.

  Please let me know if there's anything else we can do to assist and we hope you'll give ** another chance in the future. 

  Best,

  ***

  Customer response

  05/18/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. I want to add that ***'s chronology was inaccurate in some important details: ***** did not leave the property when the quote was authorized, he spent several hours until his lunch break dithering and wasting my time, including trying to convince me to use some used parts to fix the job and constantly running back and forth to his truck - it was clear he had no idea what inventory was on the truck. Had he left immediately to find the right parts at a hardware store or part depot a lot of time and effort would have been saved. Instead, from my perspective he wasted a tremendous amount of time. He also knew that the valves were 40 years old when he gave me the first bid, that detail is immaterial to the fact that ***** was completely incompetent. He also didn't present me with a formal quote in the beginning, in violation of AN's own procedures, nor was there any "change order" of any kind presented to me, just a somewhat rambling discussion of what he had to do followed by telling me the price was now $700. Of course I authorized the verbal quote- we were four hours into this ordeal and had I said no I would have been left without a functional shower or bath in my house -- ***** clearly would not have been able to put it back together to restore it to its previous functional state. He also omitted to put gaskets on two of the valves, which meant the valves leaked into the basement every time there were turned on, and failed to lubricate them properly. The result was that i didn't have a working shower for two days until ****** could come back and spend three hours fixing the mess. 

  I appreciate the gesture to return to the original quote, which, had someone like ****** been on the job, would have been the right quote for both me and AN. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

• Initial Complaint

  10/26/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I asked for an estimate from Nahman and they came out and gave me one. Unfortunately I wrote a check for $1000. to begin the job but within a few hours I had more questions. They did not tell me they would automatically deposit my check so I could not get my money back. I tried to put a stop payment on check because I didn't realize it had been immediately deposited. The rest is a nightmare- they wouldn't let me talk to a manager and they wouldn't tell me how much of my deposit would be returned. I received $500. & change in return. They claimed they had to pull permits and get equipment but it was a Friday and I couldn't believe they acted this fast. The accounting/bookkeeper couldn't talk to me on Friday because she was "leaving early!" I have never experienced this kind of disrespectful behavior in all my 20+ years of being a homeowner. I had asked for a mini-split estimate and was not aware that wasn't the best system for what I needed. Subsequent estimates from other companies educated me. No one required $1000 up front!!! I contracted with another company and they don't accept payment until the job is done. I lost $500 for having questions within 24 hours and then changing my mind because I was treated so rudely and didn't get answers. $500 was returned with no written explanation and no opportunity to talk with a manager. Buyer Beware!!!

  

  Business response

  12/01/2022

  Hi *******,
  
  I'm sorry to hear about your confusing experience. We're constantly training our team on the communication process and we're taking your feedback seriously.
  
  With that in mind, I want to take a moment to provide some clarity and context to your job request. 
  
  Once a customer accepts a proposal/estimate, as you did, it's a standard business practice for any home services businesses to take a 10% deposit, up to $1,000. 
  
  There are two reasons for this: 1) We need to submit a permit with the city, which costs $500; and 2) it secures your spot to have your project completed by our team (since other customers are also vying for that project spot). 
  
  Through discussion with our team, we understand you were made aware of this procedure, which is why we proceeded with collecting payment and securing the permit.
  
  In this case, you canceled your project request after we had secured a permit with the city. In turn, we explained to you that we would return the portion of the deposit not related to the permit (which we did) and provide you with a credit for the permit portion once a refund was granted by the city.
  
  If you're open to it, our General Manager, *************************, would welcome the opportunity to speak with you to answer any questions you have about this process. His number is **************.
  
  Thank you,
  
  *******************
  
  
  On Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 1:34 PM Albert Nahman Services <*********************************************************************> wrote:
  
  
  ALBERT NAHMAN SERVICES
  3333 ********************************************************** *********** 94703
  Phone/Text: ************
  Email: *********************************************************************
  

  
  

  Customer response

  12/02/2022

   
  Complaint: 18313673
  
  I am rejecting this response. Please see attached letter.
  
  
  
  

  

  Business response

  12/06/2022

  Hi *******,
  
  
  It's our standard procedure to communicate these details to customers up front in a clear and concise manner. We provide extensive communication training to all staff members, but if you feel you were not communicated to effectively we will investigate and provide additional training to everyone you interacted with.
  
  
  Albert Nahman has been in business since **** and serves 10s of thousands of customers each year. I can assure you this same procedure is followed for every single customer because doing so is **************** Law. I can't speak to the other business's procedures, but I would encourage you to follow up with them on whether or not they filed a permit for your project this is important for you to know as a consumer.
  
  Our General Manager, ******, will give you a call to see if you have additional questions.
  
  
  Best Regards,
  ***

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩