ComplaintsforThornton & Grooms Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing

• Initial Complaint

  09/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a service plan with ******* and Grooms. They came out and told me that I needed a new hot water heater. I knew my hot water heater was not that old. I had a second company come out and tell me that I did not need a water heater. I then contacted ******* and Grooms and they had a manager come out and say no we did not need a new water heater that the employee who examined the water heater initially was not correct. I attempted to get a refund on the money I paid for the service plan and I was told that I could not get this by a manager named ***** who hung up the phone on me when I try to resolve this.

  

  Business response

  09/29/2023

  To whom it may concern-

      We appreciate and value the feedback that has been provided. Our manager did apologize and email the customer back after she had to disconnect the call. The email she sent to the customer is attached below. As a **********************, we recognize that misdiagnoses are serious and as a company we did admit fault, were apologetic, and came to an agreement that worked for both parties at time of service. The agreement that was made in February of 2023 was no longer satisfactory for the client. Due to the amount of time that had lapsed and the savings the client received; we are not able to meet her request of a full refund but partial to the amount left on her maintenance membership plan with us. This refund is already being processed and as notated below will be placed in the mail by end of day Monday, October 2, 2023.

  Email sent on 9/25/23 

  ******,
  
  My apologies on disconnecting the call. I understand that there was a misdiagnosis, but at the same time we recognized it, admitted fault, and came to an agreement which you no longer wanted to proceed forward with and cancelled back in June. There is no mention of any other offer than the one notated as follows: Notes from job dated 2/9/23 Tech installed customer supplied insta hot faucet. Tested. The faucet is working correct with the existing insta hot with no leaks at this time. Pre-paid job. ****** showed up on site at the same time to investigate the water heater **** said was leaking and needed to be replaced. The heater is still functioning and in decent condition. Most likely confused the condensation for A leak. The customer had to pay A different ********************** to investigate the water heater after ****. To make up for this ****** has approved 2 customer supplied toilet rebuilds at no cost to the customer. When the customer has the parts, and we return to install them we are also flushing the water heater. Tech is setting the return trip up as customer calls into the office when parts arrive for scheduling.
  
  Over the course of the year, you have saved a total amount of $824.35, which is outlined below and does not include the $89 service call fees waived by being a plan member nor does it cover the fee for prepaid maintenance either. Due to the savings received, normally there would be no reimbursement on the plan. With calling and confirming you would like to cancel during the month of September 2023, 2 months before you are set to expire, the most we are able to refund back, and a true fair resolution would be 2 months worth of the plan cost of $248.00 which in turn is $41.34. This refund has submitted to our accounting department and will be processed and sent out in check form a week from today.
  
  Membership Savings
  # ************* Price Price Paid Savings
  953089 1/12/2023 $1,246.00 $1,019.30 $226.70
  960114 1/11/2023 $958.00 $719.75 $238.25
  960113 1/9/2023 $1,320.00 $1,107.90 $212.10
  951246 11/28/2022 $920.00 $772.70 $147.30
  Year **************** $677.05
  Total Savings: $824.35

  Customer response

  10/10/2023

  I purchased a home care club membership from Thornton and grooms.  They came out and said I needed a new water heater.  I had A second company come out and tell me I didnt need one.  Then a manager from thrornton came out and confirmed we did not need a new water heater.  At that time the manager was apologetic and said I could be reimbursed.  I brought up my toilet had an issue and they were going to give me a deal on that.  In the meantime our toilets started working fine.  I called and spoke w someone at Thornton and they were apologetic and wanted to keep my business and said they would refund me.  After that I got passed on to different people, one was no longer with the company.  Other people I spoke with said I would get a call back and I didnt.
  

  after being passed on to different people I finally spoke with ***********************.  Unlike the other people that Ive spoken with she was extremely rude and unprofessional. She did not care that I was going to spend $5000 that I didnt need to spend due to their employees lack of knowledge.   She became argumentative, and I asked to speak with someone else, and she said that I could not. She then hung up on me.  
  

  She offered me $41.  I never got use of the plan, I am out the money for getting a second opinion,  I dont even know if the other work they did in my house was necessary.  I am extremely disappointed how Thornton has handled this situation.

   

• Initial Complaint

  05/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Thornton and Grooms contacted me to offer a membership with them that would cover 3 slow drains in my house. I scheduled an appointment to have the drains snaked on May 4th. The plumber came in and stated that he was going to snake the main drain. in order to do it, he needs to pull a toilet. When he attempted to pull the toilet he said he couldn't turn off the water because the valve was old so I would need to schedule with a different plumber to unscrew the old valve. Thornton and Grooms does not allow the plumbers to do more than one thing. For example, someone who snakes drains isn't allowed to work with faucets. So although very inconvenient, I scheduled an appointment for a "*********** to come turn off the water so a "snake" guy could pull the toilet and snake the drain. So after the "snake" guy came in he was in my house for hours snaking the main drain. He stated that the job was complete and left. After he left, I turned on my sink and nothing was changed. The sink and shower was just as slow as before. I called and spoke with customer service because at this point, there were 3 different appointments spanning from May 4th-May 11th. the very simple job of snaking 3 drains was not done. I was extremely angry and frustrated, but *** from customer service promised and assured me that she would send out a "drain expert" and he would not leave until the job was done. I explained to her that I have already made arrangements 3 times to be home and I could not be home. My daughter who is 18 would be there and she stated that that is fine, and assured me the job would be done. Today, the 4th plumber showed up to snake my drains. When I called my daughter to check on the work, she said the plumber was already gone. I came home and turned on my shower. The shower drain is moving so slow that a 5 minute shower would flood my bathroom. Once again, after the 4th appointment the problem is not solved. If the plumber was not clear about which drains, he could have called me, I am accessable on my cell phone. He didn't even bother to check if the job was correct. At this point, I want ALL of my money back. I asked for a refund. ***'s supervisor/manager called me and was extremely rude and nasty. She was talking very loud and disrespectful on the phone and refused to acknowledge their mistake. She played the blame game and told me that I should have been home. She made everything out to be my fault. I will never recommend Thornton and Grooms to anyone looking for a plumber. Like I explained to the very rude supervisor that called me, At this point I wish I had paid a crackhead to snake my drains. I have a better chance of the work being done. Totally unacceptable.

  

  Business response

  05/19/2023

  To whom it may concern:
  
      On April 27th, ***************************************************************************** response to an online request for a backed up drain. Upon speaking with the customer, a renewal of the membership was offered as her current membership had just recently expired. Customer had agreed to sign up as she would be able to utilize the 1 complimentary drain unclog under the plan as well as a home plumbing inspection as well. While speaking with the customer she had mentioned that her bathroom sink had a hair clog that was previously snaked by another plumber and that her shower was leaking. The customer agreed at the time to schedule an appointment for a drain technician on May 2nd and a separate appointment with a plumber on May 9th. This separate appointment scheduled for the 9th was for a home plumbing inspection, with more specific in checking out all of her plumbing within her home due to the customer stating that she had a leak in her shower but knew it would be a bigger job due to older pipes under the tub that were rotting out.The purpose of this visit was to receive quotes for future work. Customer was well aware that we have professionals that are specific to their trade and there would be multiple visits involved up front. Here at Thornton and Grooms,we do not have time frames and ask that our customers go about their days and that we will update them on the timing of their appointment as the day goes on.Our customer service representative did schedule both of these appointments for the morning as well to accommodate the customers schedule and the fact that she starts work at 3pm every day.
  
   On the afternoon of May 2nd, we did have to reschedule the drain appointment as we were not able to meet the customers request to be there before she had to leave for work. Customer did decide to reschedule to May 4th due to this inconvenience. On the morning of May 4th, our drain technician arrived at the home just after 9am.Upon arrival, he was not able to perform the unclog as one of the two toilets would need to be pulled for access but both valves were frozen in place. Due to the risk of the valves being old and having a potential to leak, a service plumber would need to come out to the home to offer options for replacement.Our professionals notes are as follows Our member has a backed up main. I was going to pull a toilet but both toilets are not able to be turned off because the water shut off valves are frozen in place. I advised our Member they would need to have a service plumber replace the valves. She is still in her planning stages of getting this new found work done. She said she might explore going with another company that can do all the work at the same time. Thank you for choosing Thornton and Grooms! Customer had already scheduled our service plumber to come out and perform a home plumbing inspection on the 9th of May, in which we added the note about the toilet shut off valves. Customer did not opt to schedule a separate appointment at that time decided to wait until the already scheduled appointment.
  
   At 8:55am on May 9th, our service plumber arrived at the home. Upon arrival, per the service plumbers notes the customer wanted me to only look at her toilet and shower in her hallway bathroom. Also she stated she wanted me to cut the water off to her toilet so that a drain technician can return to pull the toilet and snake the main line.The customer service valve on her toilet is broken but I was able to turn the water off. Also the customer needs a complete rebuild on her shower 3pc shower handle. Options were provided, but once again there were no charges for this visit.
  
   On May 10th between 10 and 11 am,our drain technician arrived at the home to perform the toilet pull. His notes are as follows ****************** Member had a clogged main on a slab. I pulled the toilet and cabled 75 feet with the Spartan 300. Then I ran a five minute water test and flow has been restored. They wanted use of their only toilet, so I did not schedule a drain Specialist. Thank you for choosing Thornton and Grooms! The customer did leave prior to the completion of the work but the toilet was draining prior to leaving. The camera follow up appointment was not scheduled as customer did decline as they specifically stated that they just wanted use of their toilet. He did not, once again test the shower or the sink and the customer was charged the discounted price of $269 for the toilet pull, which was approved and signed off on by the client prior to the work being done.
  
   After customer called and expressed her dissatisfaction, we sent out another drain technician. We did waive the charge for an additional toilet pull. Prior to arrival when we were on our way, our drain technician did try to reach out to the customer but the homeowner did not answer. Per his notes, Arrived to customers home, home owner not home. Went to bathroom, performed multiple water test with toilet, flushing toilet paper as well as just regular flushes while running shower and sink drain. Toilet flushing fine. Sink was completely clogged. Pulled hair and soap scum out of drain. Performed multiple water tests on sink. Sink is temporarily flowing at this time. Shower is draining. Toilet is flushing. Went to the outside to look  at main cleanout in front yard.  could visually see flushes and water ******* through. Tested water for approx. 15 minutes. Water is temporarily flowing at this time. Home owner not home to show results to,homeowner also not answering the phone. Drain specialist to speak with customer of date and time when home owner is home to have appointment to camera main sewer. This was a courtesy unclog. No charge. Thank you for choosing Thornton and grooms! Once again we did not charge for any drain unclogs, nor was there an extra charge for the toilet pull.
  
   Customer did call in later that day to express her concerns and ask that the drain technician come back right away.Our ************* Manager did call the customer back, denied her request of a return, but did attempt to listen to the overall concerns. She does admit that the conversation did not go well and could have been handled much differently on her end. A call was made back to the client after the hang up,  but the call was refused immediately and customer asked to not be communicated with further. Due to the fact that client has had an unsatisfactory experience, Thornton and Grooms will be refunding the $149 ************** fee back to the customers credit card and cancelling the membership off of the clients account. A receipt will be emailed to the client as soon as this has been processed.
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Good Evening,My Name Is ****** . and I have a service agreement with ******************************** where they come out yearly and check my A/C unit and hot water heater, well long story shorter on 8/1/2022 one of their techs came out supposedly inspected my unit which was working perfectly fine, no issues at all, the feedback I received that my unit was in fact old nearly 30 years; However is still working fine, a little humming in the motor but to be expected for the age. 2 days later my unit wouldn't turn on and it was 83 degrees in my home, so on the morning of 8/5/22 I called and explained my issued, they sent out some Supervisor which was protecting the company but said that my fan cut the wires and that the wiring harness fell down causing this, these thing happen with age, I explained to him Ive been in Management for over 30 years and you are protecting the company, but I see fresh wires cut and your guy was out here just 2 days ago, then I explained I want to speak to the ** , his tech knocked the harness down, this issue needs to be corrected on there end because they broke my unit. I explained that it's the principle and I will seek legal action in small claims if the BBB can't resolve it fairly, if I don't get my unit fixed or replaced. I'm willing to compromise a little , but again my unit was working fine and I have a fresh cut wire to prove my claim that you can plainly see, They also took pictures, and the ** has yet to call me to attempt to resolve the mess they caused me.

  

  Business response

  08/08/2022

  ****************-

   

      Since the submission of this formal complaint to the Better Business Bureau, we have formally spoken over the phone. Our conversation was had after I spoke with the Heating and Cooling Manager in great lengths on your experience. It was decided that we will be returning to replace your condenser fan motor free of charge in hopes this will resolve your concerns and get your unit back up and running for the remainder of the cooling season. Our dispatch department will be calling you to get this scheduled, as the motor is readily available. We feel as though this is a fair resolution in the matter, as long as the unit continues to work. If the unit does not work after installing the new motor, we will speak on next steps and a fair resolution in the matter. We appreciate the time you took in voicing your concerns and allowing Thornton and Grooms a chance to make this right.

   

  Sincerely,

  Thornton and Grooms
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  06/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I made two different appts. with them to have some plumbing fixed. They never showed up or called about a delay. I called after the first missed appt. and they said it was the next day, which it wasn't. The second appt. was for Wed, ****. I was to have an air conditioner serviced, which did happen and I was supposed to have a plumber also to fix my plumbing, I never heard from nor saw a plumber. As a member of their service plans I think I need better service from them than this. I sit at home and wait for someone to show up at their convenience and don't even have the courtesy to call and cancel. I am very disappointed with their service since I have had a new furnace, new air conditioner and new hot water heater installed by them in the past.

  

  Business response

  06/27/2022

  Our apologies in regards to the missed appointment and lack of communication. Per our records, we did try to reach out on several occasions but were unable to reach you due to the number on file being disconnected. Please give our office a call, as we would be happy to see what we could do to make this right and try to find an appointment day and time that does not interfere with or take up an entire day of waiting.

  Customer response

  06/28/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your rejection of the business's response. 
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of why I am rejecting this response appear below:
  
  [You must provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution. Please type details here:]I have had the same phone number for 20 years and it has never been disconnected. Even if it had...they have my email and they could have emailed me with information and I could have called them back. I paid them for a service plan and I think they should live up to the contract. And, they did miss 2 appointments. If the rep ******** when I talked to her she should have told them she was wrong, not I. And the second appt. was on Wed, ****, for an a/c check and to install a new kitchen faucet and fix a dripping shower. I don't know if I want to give them my business or not. At the least they could apologize and do the job or refund my contract for their services.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************

  

  Business response

  07/05/2022

  ****-

      We would be happy to resolve your complaint but unfortunately the number we have on file for you has been disconnected, as I did attempt to reach out to you today. I have also verified that the two attempts we made on the 15th and the one attempt on the 21st, also received the same disconnected number error message. Please give our office a call at your earliest convenience, so a manager can speak with you and attempt to resolve the concerns you had mentioned in your complaint to us.

• Initial Complaint

  04/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We paid for an air conditioner and received a totally different model. We spoke with a manager and he stated the one we paid was no longer available. They never called or advised us before installing. Then we saw an ad stating buy air conditioner and receive furnace free. However the manager advised that we would still come out of $4-$5K and when we told him thats not free. Then he gave some bogus explanation. This is deceptive marketing. He stated he would call us back to get the issues resolved. We still have not heard from him, its been over 30 days. If this does not get resolved then we will be going to the *************************

  

  Business response

  04/14/2022

  To whom it may concern-

      Our sales manager has had previous conversations with the customer to confirm that they did receive the correct air conditioning unit that they had purchased and had settled their concerns. It was confirmed that there was a slight difference in the model that was installed vs. the model that was pictured. The stock photo that was presented to the customer at time of purchase shows an AC with a plastic cover, of which the models now have a metallic cover.

      When it comes to the free furnace offer, our marketing states that the offer starts on 3/1/22 and is available to the first ******************************************************************************************************************** on previous work. All of this information is included on all marketing platforms and is still live to date.

      An email communication was sent on March 22, 2022 by our sales manager, as the replacement specialist whom was out at the residence and had sold the air conditioner had been attempting to contact the consumer. He was attempting to contact to review all of the questions and options available for the free furnace offer including any and all issues and concerns. We will resend the email communication again today, 4/14/22, in an attempt to try and resolve the consumers concerns and hopefully come to a fair resolution in the matter.

  Customer response

  04/14/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your rejection of the business's response. 
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of why I am rejecting this response appear below:
  
  [You must provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution. Please type details here:]
  
  The air conditioner installed is not a slight difference it was a different air conditioner all around. And in regards to the buy one get one offer it was not presented to us by our sale rep ****** when we asked about a furnace he told us we needed a warranty. But never offered us the buy one get one free.  
  
  *********************************

  

  Business response

  04/25/2022

  On Thursday, 4/21/22 Mr. and *********************** and I spoke and have come to a mutual agreement in regards to the complaint above. Mr. and *********************** were given two options, with one being that we send out our replacement specialist to review the unit that was installed in reference to what was discussed and agreed upon, as both parties were not in agreeance that the wrong unit was installed. The second option was for Thornton and Grooms to uninstall the unit that was sold, refund them in full, and ask that they find another company to install a new unit in its place that satisfies their current needs. The *********** decided that the second option was best and will be calling us to schedule the un installment. Once the unit has been removed, a full refund will be processed back to the clients credit card and a receipt will be sent. An email confirmation was also sent on this matter.

• Initial Complaint

  10/06/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We hired ******************************** to replace a hot water heater and they sold us on a platinum plumbing annual maintenance plan for $179. We told them we really did not want it but they said it would prolong the life of the water heater so we went along with it. They never called us to set up this service so when I called the said they would not honor it. This is a total scam!! Thank you, *******************

  

  Business response

  10/07/2021

  ****************-

   

     We thank you for reaching out to us in regards to your annual membership. Our Customer Experience Specialist has reached out to you, spoken to you in regards to your concerns, and per our records a mutual agreement was decided upon. Due to the fact that we failed in some way to reach out and schedule this service as well as let you know that your contract was expiring, we have issued you an extension of our ************** for an additional year from the date of expiration of the Platinum Plumbing membership. If there is anything else we can do for you, please do not hestitate to reach out as we look forward to servicing your home in the future.

   

  Kind regards,

  Thornton and Grooms

*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. ↩