BE VERY CAREFUL.
Let me first say this company does seem very professional. The plumber, Justin, who came out seemed very kind and capable.
Here's my story: Our water heater needs replaced. I was calling around and getting quotes in the $850-$950 range from competitors. All competitors were quoting me for the 40g gas unit we needed. Then I called Henry Smith. The woman on the phone asked what kind of unit we needed (both the size and gas over electric). She also asked if we had ever been a customer before. After that, she told me, "It will be $900-$1200 based on how accessible it is and what pipes need reworked. We can only give estimates over the phone without seeing what is there." Hearing this, I (like anyone who uses logic) was expecting the unit was $900 and it could cost more if they needed to add stuff to it to make things work, or if our original unit was extra difficult to extract. That seemed fine and in the range of the others, and they were able to come out today, so we setup the appointment.
When the plumber arrived, he looked at the unit and said the base quote in his book for a gas 40g water heater would be $1150 ($200-$300 more than competitors). This price had nothing to do with our accessibility or piping, which were both very basic, and was the lowest price he could have quoted.
I called the shop and asked where the $900 option came in. The phone worker and then office manager proceeded to tell me that there were $925 electric units and discounts for special repeat customers that could lower the price to $900, but there were NO GAS HEATERS that could possibly be in that range. She had previously said that $900 was the base for me, and it would go up based on what they saw in the house, but the reality is that $900 was never even an option, and they would have known that based on the information they took over the phone! In fact, if $1150 was the starting point for a gas unit, my price would have likely been $1400 or more if there were any accessibility issues or pipe changes needed!
After all this, they were still going to charge me the $85 visit fee, and possibly another fee for rejecting their services. I think they ended up capitulating on this one, but the office manager said their billing people "may still be in contact, if they need to".
Altogether, they seem like a potentially great company that severely needs to change how they give people estimates. If you go with them, they can probably get there sooner than others and probably do a great job, but unless they change their policies, don't trust the estimate. It could be 20-30% more than competitors and you'd never know it.
My hope is that this situation encourages them to split estimate ranges for gas and electric units so they can serve other customers well in the future.
All USA
BE VERY CAREFUL. Let me first say this company does seem very professional. The plumber, Justin, who came out seemed very kind and capable. Here's my story: Our water heater needs replaced. I was calling around and getting quotes in the $850-$950 range from competitors. All competitors were quoting me for the 40g gas unit we needed. Then I called Henry Smith. The woman on the phone asked what kind of unit we needed (both the size and gas over electric). She also asked if we had ever been a customer before. After that, she told me, "It will be $900-$1200 based on how accessible it is and what pipes need reworked. We can only give estimates over the phone without seeing what is there." Hearing this, I (like anyone who uses logic) was expecting the unit was $900 and it could cost more if they needed to add stuff to it to make things work, or if our original unit was extra difficult to extract. That seemed fine and in the range of the others, and they were able to come out today, so we setup the appointment. When the plumber arrived, he looked at the unit and said the base quote in his book for a gas 40g water heater would be $1150 ($200-$300 more than competitors). This price had nothing to do with our accessibility or piping, which were both very basic, and was the lowest price he could have quoted. I called the shop and asked where the $900 option came in. The phone worker and then office manager proceeded to tell me that there were $925 electric units and discounts for special repeat customers that could lower the price to $900, but there were NO GAS HEATERS that could possibly be in that range. She had previously said that $900 was the base for me, and it would go up based on what they saw in the house, but the reality is that $900 was never even an option, and they would have known that based on the information they took over the phone! In fact, if $1150 was the starting point for a gas unit, my price would have likely been $1400 or more if there were any accessibility issues or pipe changes needed! After all this, they were still going to charge me the $85 visit fee, and possibly another fee for rejecting their services. I think they ended up capitulating on this one, but the office manager said their billing people "may still be in contact, if they need to". Altogether, they seem like a potentially great company that severely needs to change how they give people estimates. If you go with them, they can probably get there sooner than others and probably do a great job, but unless they change their policies, don't trust the estimate. It could be 20-30% more than competitors and you'd never know it. My hope is that this situation encourages them to split estimate ranges for gas and electric units so they can serve other customers well in the future.