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Review 12/6/2007
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I don't think this company can be trusted. See if any of this has happened to you.
Four years ago we bought a home, and the appliances were covered by homeowners insurance. When the water heater broke we called up the insurers, who had Affordable Water Heaters come out to check on it.
Affordable Water Heaters can't/won't make any repairs until everything is up to "code", which means the technician will call in to his supervisor who'll then break the news to you that your system isn't up to code and it will cost you such and such above the covered amount. I felt I was being gouged a bit, but since I like hot showers I did what most people would do - paid and forgot about it.
It's four years later, and the water heater pilot starts to turn itself off every day, and it's becoming harder to relight the pilot. All the contact info is on the tank for repairs, and I call Affordable Water Heaters. A technician comes out, on time, and looks at the problem - it's an easy fix, the parts are covered by warranty. Less than an hour's work.
What's not covered by warranty is getting the rest of the system up to "code". He calls his supervisor, and gets me on the phone with him. This is sounding vaguely familiar, and the supervisor, Dan, tells me the parts are covered and will be installed free, but before he can authorize the repair the rest of my system will have to be brought up to "code" - to the tune of $369!!
After reluctantly authorizing the charges I looked up the company on the Better Business Bureau site for Los Angeles. I saw that "F" rating for Affordable Water Heaters and had the technician stop right there, before he did any work.
Dan got back on the phone with me, and when I told him why I was stopping the work he was pretty defensive. I read out to him about the company's price gouging and other complaints, and he became a bit upset. He gave me some pretty lame reasons for why they had such a horrible rating with the BBB, but I wasn't buying it.
He wound up offering $100 off, which I took because I felt it was more reasonable, and I wanted to have hot water when I woke up in the morning.
The technician did a nice job, no complaints there, but I will never use this company again. Even though I got a $100 discount, I still feel like I was shafted, and would like to warn others to be cautious - unless you enjoy the feeling that you've just been taken.
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