ComplaintsforJohn Henry's Plumbing, Heating and Air

• Initial Complaint

  05/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We called John Henry's on 4/26 because our sewer line had flooded the basement. They came and cabled the line, then the next day came out with their jetter and said the line was clear. We paid $1,673.33 between these 2 visits (2 PDF invoices attached). The next week it flooded again and they came back and looked at it again, and said we needed their sewer people to come and estimate the cost of a sewer line replacement. On May 10 they sent us an email estimate for $25,960 to replace the main sewer line to the sewer tap connection across the street. We called a different sewer company (******* ****** ***** *** *****) for a second opinion and they said the sewer didn't need to be replaced at all. I'll paste exactly what they said to me in an email afterwards: "We ran the camera in and found a bit that had been broken off and left in the line. No indication of any cabling past this point. We cabled the cast iron under the street that was noted as needing replacement and removed all scale. No further issues found with the line. They [John Henry's] did not cable past 50' in a sewer that is over 100'. And they made a grossly inaccurate assessment of the condition of the cast iron." -email from ******* ***, technician - phone: ***** ********  I'm also attaching the photo ******* took of the John Henry's equipment that broke off in the line, as well as the John Henry's PDF estimate for $25,960.

  

  Business response

  06/23/2023

  We were out to the customers' location on two occasions. The first appointment, after two hours of trying to open the sewer, the cable head came off the cable and was stuck in a bad spot of tree roots. At that point the technician talked to this customer and it was determined that we would send out the jetter the next day. After jetting was complete, approximately 110 feet recorded on our camera, all lines were clear and draining properly. Our Plumbing Sales Professional came out and gave an estimate for a new sewer line because the cast iron under the street is extremely rough and causing that area to clog, along with root intrusion causing clogging issues. After receiving this review we tried to reach out to the customer on multiple occasions and were unable to reach them. We were, however, able to reach the owner of the property and they stated 'they were not able to spend that kind of money on a rental. They will continue to use JH for drain line cleaning as needed.'

  Customer response

  06/23/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  

  I don't have technical expertise to respond to their reply - all I know is what I said in my initial report - the second sewer company that came out said our sewer did not need to be dug up and replaced, and John Henry's gave us an estimate for $26,000 that apparently wasn't necessary. ?? Not sure what else to say or do...

  ******

  

  Business response

  07/07/2023

  I am not able to upload the video from when we were out 4/27/23 but if there is a way for me to share it, in this video it shows we went out over 107 feet. A few notable things you will hear on this video are the line drops into the city main at about 108ft, shows tree roots at 102ft, then it bellies for about 20 foot, talk about the cast iron, another couple offsets before it hits 45ft. As stated previously we tried to reach out to the person filing this claim to discuss the situation and try to come to a amiable solutions for both of us and were unable to reach them. We were, however, able to reach the owner of the property and they stated 'they were not able to spend that kind of money on a rental. They will continue to use JH for drain line cleaning as needed.'

• Initial Complaint

  02/20/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  John Henry's charged me $****** to 'hydrojet and scrub' my clogged main sewer line on 1/27/2023. On 2/6/2023, I called back because my sewer line was again backing up via my basement toilet. When the crew arrived, I was advised that even after getting manager approval they would again have to charge me to clean out the main sewer line. I refused to be charged again for an issue they failed to fully resolve and sent John Henry's on their way. I had to incur an additional $****** fee to have another plumber come out and cable the main sewer line. Attached is a photo showing the tree roots the second plumber encountered when he cabled the line, after John Henry performed their service to the same line. John Henry's also tried to convince me that my entire sewer line needs to be replaced, at the cost of over $*****, which the other plumber advised was not necessary. I feel that I was taken advantage of by John Henry's ** * ******* ** **** *** *****.

  

  Business response

  03/03/2023

  Before we were invited to the customers’ home, another company was out and was not able to clean the line with a cable because there was build up at the tap. We were called out to use our hydro jetter to scrub the line clean and attempt to get rid of that build up. After the initial 2 hours of jetting we talked to the customer and let them know the tap was bad and we could send a Excavation Consultant out that same day to give them a bid to replace the line. That would be our recommendation as a permanent fix. The customer chose to go with this option and not have us continue to jet the line so we reset the toilet and dumped the washing machine to ensure there was no back at that time. When we left the line was draining properly but we did advise the homeowner that without a permanent fix they would continue to have issues because of the bad tap on their line. When our Excavation Consultant came out and gave a bid for the sewer line, not just the tap. There are a few reasons we are not able to warranty our drain services; we are not able to control what a customer may put into that line when we leave the home and when sewer lines are in the disrepair, as this line was, we know that they are going to continue to have issues unless the issue is fix, to keep cleaning the line will not fix the problem. We were disappointed to hear this customer went to another company. Through the investigation into this situation we realized although we did complete the job we were asked to perform and the invoice was signed and paid. Our goal is 5 star service and we did fall short on that. Our service professional had a verbal commitment before he began the initial jetting but the estimate the customer signed was for cabling for $******.  This was a lapse in our process so we decided in good faith to refunded the customer $******.

• Initial Complaint

  10/21/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Received my October 2022 water bill. the charge for water was way too high for me. Led me to believe I had a leak I was not aware of. I had heard the main toilet making noise for a while but didn't realize it was actually leaking water when it was doing that. went down into my crawl space and noticed water leaking and thought it was the main toilet. I called John Henry's and 2 plumbers came same day on Friday October 14th. They said there were cracks in the main line so they repaired those but they kept finding more cracks and the price of the repairs kept going up. also asked them to repair the toilet since that was the cause of the leak in the first place. I had them do the second toilet since they said they would only charge me $** for it and I knew years ago both of them had been done together. By the time this was done the cost of all the repairs was over $*****. I thought the issue was resolved but when I went down about 3:30 p.m. to check the repairs I heard the toilet come on again and heard water come down the drain. So the toilets were NOT fixed. I kept track of how many times the toilet came on over the weekend and it turned out to be more than 7 times per day all weekend. I called them back on Monday the 17th and told them the toilets were still making noise. One plumber came back around 5:00 p.m. on Monday the 17th. He looked at the toilet adjusted it a little bit and said well there's nothing we can do. He offered me a $*** discount on a new toilet which they tried to sell me in the first place which would still be about $***. I don't need new toilets I need the ones I have repaired. And now not only do I have my main toilet still making noise my second one also makes noise now when it didn't before. I try to conserve water and I can't stand wasting water. so to have these toilets still leaking after I paid almost $*** to have them fixed is unacceptable to me. I'll have to call another plumber to fix as I won't waste water.

  

  Business response

  12/26/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/31) */ When our professional was out on October 14th he performed a few services, replacing a copper stack that had a hole in it, replacing a copper 90 beneath the toilet, and part of cast iron stack. We told customer with the age of the toilets we recommend replacing them because we are limited to what we are able to do with them and would not be able to warranty work on them. However, customer did not choose to replace them and asked to have the flappers replaced instead. With the age of the toilets we had to order specific parts to do the repair. We were called back out on October 17th because one of the toilets was making noise. Upon inspection our service professional again clarified that the only way to take care of this issue was to install new toilets because these were so old. The customer declined to do this so our professional left without charging for his visit. Consumer Response /* (3000, 8, 2022/11/10) */ The common sense thing to do is to try the most inexpensive way to fix the toilet before you replace it.Especially since they quoted me over $*** to replace a toilet which is ridiculous. And I also know during my research I've done these toilets are made better than any new ones on the market today. I have replaced the flappers on these toilets several times and never had an issue before.It hasn't come up that maybe the new parts were defective. The only thing that a toilet does is sit there and be flushed during the day and have the flapper open and shut on it.I don't see how the drainage line on the toilet can become damaged. And as I've stated before I see no damage on mine.The bottom line is I paid over $*** to replace a $** part and the toilet still does not work. So now I have to replace it and spend more money. I am very disappointed that John Henry's does not stand behind their repair services. As far as I'm concerned this complaint will remain open until I receive a refund of the money I spent to have this toilet repaired from John Henry's. Business Response /* (***0, 18, 2022/12/14) */ After receiving the last response from the customer we have reached out multiple times to discuss an amicable resolution. We have been unsuccessful in these attempts and have decided to move forward with our proposal. We have processed a $*** refund today so the customer should see that within 5-7 business days. We hope this shows our commitment to customer satisfaction.

• Initial Complaint

  07/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  7/20-7/21. I hired John Henry's to replace the plumbing in my house. I was told this was a 3 day job. I was at work and unable to supervise the work being done on my house. When I checked in at my house at 2:30pm on 7/21, no one was at my home and everything was cleaned up. I called John Henry's to ask if the work had been completed or if the plumbers were going to return to finish things up. I was told the men were still clocked in at the job and that they were still there working and had about an hour of work left. Obviously since I was standing in my house, that was a blatant lie. I spoke with the project manager about his employees milking the clock. He asked what time I had gotten home (2:30pm) and he told me that he would make sure they were checked out of the job by 2pm and I wouldn't be charged for work after 2pm. There is no way of me knowing when the work was actually completed. I do know that they were being misleading about the amount of time required to complete the job and that they were caught in a lie. I would like to know exactly when they completed the work on my house and why I was lied to.

  

  Business response

  08/22/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/08/10) */ When our Project Manager talked with this customer, he apologized for the confusion and misinformation that was given when the office talked to the customer at 2:46 that day. He agreed to deduct time off the job to reflect them not being at the service location at that time and said he would reflect them leaving at 2pm. It seemed that the customer was happy with this at the time. We looked at our technicians GPS to inquire what time they left the customers home and it shows 2:26pm The original signed estimate was for $*****. Our service manager applied a $****** credit to the project which brought the final cost to $********. The credit accounted for more time than what the technicians had been off site, however, we did not worry about that because it is more important to us to make things right for our customer. Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/08/11) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) I arrived to my locked home at 2:30pm with no sign of trucks or employees. I called John Henry to inquire if the job was finished or if they were just done for the day so that I could move back into my home. I was told that the plumbers were still logged into the job and that she would call them to see where they were at with the job. Her response was that the employees were still there working and that they would be finished with the job and cleaned up in the next hour or so. They were very obviously not in my home and so I asked to clarify if they would be returning to finish up. She responded saying that they were talking like they were still actively working at my home. I was told the quote for $**** was for a 3 day job that ended up taking less than 2 days. I appreciate the $****** "discount" for their dishonest work tactics and have applied that savings to new security cameras on my home. When the project manager called to discuss, he did not offer up what time the GPS on the truck said they left. He asked what time I got home (2:30pm) and, without skipping a beat, told me he would have them clocked out at 2. Never once did he say that I actually JUST missed them by 4 minutes. As for being "happy" with his response, 2pm immediately sounded like a made-up time and I had no proof of when they actually finished the work so I accepted. I'm not one to fight or nitpick but afterwards I realized that I trusted these people in my home and they clearly should not have been trusted. While I am not satisfied with their response, I refuse to waste any more of my time with this ********* company. Did they complete the job? Yes. But I will never use John Henry's again and have told all of my contacts about their dishonesty. And I now have cameras both inside and outside my home.

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