AP Plumbing of Syracuse

On December 20, 2019, I received a bill from Town Mechanical Plumbing and Heating for the amount of $441.72. My natural gas fired forced hot air heating system had malfunctioned. Having respect for an appliance with natural gas and not knowing why the heater clicked on then clicked off, I decided to call a gas heating specialist such as Town Mechanical in Baldwinsville, NY.
The heating technician determined that the batteries in the thermostat were low causing the system to turn on then shutdown without firing. I was told that there would be a service charge for the technician to come out on a Sunday night. Today I received my bill for $441.72 for simply being safe than sorry when dealing with a natural gas heating system. I believe I am being overcharged.
I realize that a business must charge for service fees, but that company doesn’t have to make a sole yearly income on one customer.

Please SHARE DO NOT EVER use Town Mechanical Around town plumbing they installed the wrong part to my boiler April 30th when I told them I smelled something burning and as of Nov 30th I had no heat they told me they guaranteed the part the labor was guaranteed fir 30 days not sure how many people run their heat in June which I told them they wanted to charge me a weekend charge even though they admitted it was their fault not inly could my house have caught fire flooded or both total BS to make matters worse I had to pick up a part which was used and they would not refund the entire original service call fee which I paid the new service guy out of my pocket Tony K owner told me he thought less than half back was fair Please DO NOT EVER use this company they installed the wrong part to my boiler April 30th when I told them I smelled something burning and as of Nov 30th I had no heat they told me they guaranteed the part the labor was guaranteed fir 30 days not sure how many people run their heat in June which I told them they wanted to charge me a weekend charge even though they admitted it was their fault not inly could my house have caught fire flooded or both total BS to make matters worse I had to pick up a part which was used and they would not refund the entire original service call fee which I paid the new service guy out of my pocket Tony K owner told me he thought less than half back was fair

We called the company regarding a clogged kitchen sink, then canceled the service almost immediately thereafter. No service was actually delivered, yet we described a bill that very specifically described unclogging a toilet, even though our problem was a kitchen sink. We contacted the company and they said it was a mistake and they would take care of it. Today we received another bill with a very specific description for a service that was never provided (they have never been to our house). I called the company during stated business hours (4:15 on a 2/27/19) and got a man who said he was the answering service. He refused to connect me to the company and when I insisted he hung up on me. I called back and got a woman who again hung up on me when I insisted that they connect me to the company to discuss this FRAUDULENT bill, saying she could only connect me in an emergency. I now believe this is a deliberate attempt to defraud me and not a mistake, given that the company details very specific services that never were provided and given that they refuse to fix the problem or even discuss it with me.

Once our old hot water heater started to leak, we decided it was time to start looking for something new. When looking at new models at ***, we discovered that *** allows its customers to purchase a new unit and have it delivered and installed by a local plumbing company. *** contracted this job to 'Around Town Plumbing.' Around Town Plumbing quickly scheduled the installation, coming to our home to remove our existing hot water heater and installing a new hot water heater for roughly $800, which we thought was a fair price.

However, the following morning after the installation, a manager began calling us and threatening to report us to the *** Code Enforcement Office unless we allowed his company to perform a $1,800 modification to the unit's (existing) ventilation system "to bring it up to Code." The manager claimed that the installation -- performed by his own licensed plumbers -- violated the codes of ***. When we informed the manager that our home is not located in ***, he boldly disagreed.

Once he realized his error, he began to issue new and different threats.

He next threatened that any work performed by his licensed crew would void the manufacturers warranty, presumably because the work did not conform to the codes of ***, ***. The final threat was that we'd have trouble selling our home in the future, presumably because we would have to disclose that the house comes equipped with a water heater that may violate an adjacent county's plumbing codes.

At any rate, when it became clear that we were not going to pay his company for the modification, he asked that we sign a waiver, which we declined. He finished our conversation by essentially stating that if I want "to kill my family for 1,800 dollars," then "that was my business."

Fall 2017 I called for service on Tankless water heater pressure relief valve pipe leaking water. Service tech recommended flushing the system to see if that would correct problem which it seemed to fix temporarily for approx 6 months & was told by the tech at that time that the pressure relief valve was not broken and didn’t need replacing which was incorrect after reviewing the manufacturer recommendations to always replace the valve if it is dripping. Called again for water leaking from pressure relief valve pipe and service call scheduled on 6/14/18, service tech came out and for 10 minutes banged on the valve with a metal wrench and said it should be all set, my wife questioned if the valve needed replacing and the tech said yes it probably should be but he didn’t have those parts on his truck, asked if we needed anything else since he was only there for 20 minutes and the hourly fee total would be $145.80, my wife stated no but immediately called the service dept and asked about replacing the valve and was told we would be responsible for paying another service call at a discounted rate of $90/hr plus the parts to come back. She questioned why we would be charged another service call when the parts were not brought to the job when they were well aware of what the likely problem could be when we made the appointment, we were told we cannot expect all parts to be on their truck and to come back out to fix it we would be charged as a second service call, he tried to offer to flush the tank again but we declined since that wasn’t the problem and then he admitted the valve probably did need replacing because the age of the unit was 8 years old and they tend to go bad. Now the pressure relief valve is still leaking and I have paid $145.80 for a problem they never fixed correctly for the second time and they were deliberately negligent in correcting the problem and in not bringing proper parts to the job site in order to overcharge their clients for multiple service calls. Leaving this problem unresolved could result in my tankless water heater failing all together and needing to replace the whole unit which could cost thousands of dollars.

I had purchased a water heater from *** with installation. *** had used this company for the installation. When the water heater was installed there was an access valve that came off the water heater that went through dry wall in the next room. I have made numerous attempts to contact the company to come back to fix the issues with no success. This a fire hazard and needs to be fixed.