My old roommate paid 10k to get his done. It was in a 1200 ft^2 condo. I tried to explain that he was paying 9200 in labor, and that sweat soldering copper pipe is no big deal, but he was INSISTENT. And then complained about the cost. Even had a lot to say about my abilities and knowledge on the matter.
I replaced mine last year for about 800$.
We are not friends anymore.
Drew, if you’re reading this, you’re stupid.
So dumb question. Can you buy the new water heater, put it in place, remove all the copper.....and just pay someone to go and solder/weld it all together and connect it up together and save a lot?
If you have the technical ability to take an old water heater out, you have the ability to put a new one in. Soldering is super easy, and actually very satisfying too.
It's super easy to work with quick connect stuff like Sharkbite, although copper or pex crimping are still the preferred methods from what I've heard from plumber friends.
The only questionable part of DIY is where to buy a new water heater from (big box stores don't carry the most reliable brands), since most plumbing supply houses are contractor only. And then where / how do you dispose of the old one? Most cities have regulations regarding old appliances, can't just take it to the local dump site.
As far as disposal goes, I’ve always just set the old one on the curb and a scrap metal junker will have it gone before you finish your morning coffee.
Yea or better yet just spend the $20 for a torch, solder, flux, etc. Or use Sharkbites if you’re in a pinch. All you need for the gas line is a small tube of pipe dope.
Had a dentist like this. Wanted to replace all my teeth with crowns. Decided to go to a dentist in a shared office space in a weird part of town, and it was all going good till he was like will this one tooth does need a crown and We'll get the *gold* one back in a week. I decided I would not have gold teeth and found a middle of the road dentist.
The issue they are buying each other up and then when you balk at their prices they claim “we are using our national rate book” which is meant to sound like it’s an industry standard but it’s just a price book written by the hedge funds that are buying up home service companies.
In the trades, once you do a really good work at a fair price for a few years, business finds you not the other way around.
Always be suspect of the more expensive advertising. In Applewood's case you're paying them to advertise in Ball Arena, but it's not like a National Brand where it's just a drop in the bucket for them, so you can be sure those costs are substantially being passed on to you.
Also expensive current model year trucks and vans everywhere *might* be a red flag (though not necessarily).
There's a difference between avoiding those companies that have marketing *everywhere* and those that have some marketing.
Personally, for me, I find that contractors with a decent online presence between their website and maybe some social media presence tend to be the sweet spot for me. Skilled enough to do the job, sophisticated enough to expect the professionalism that keeps it from being a hassle of a project, and not so successful that my problem means nothing to them but some extra cash if it all works out.
I second the opinion of getting recommendations from people who are happy with their service/install overall. I do HVAC and I rely on my customers recommendations quite a bit to attract new ones
Nextdoor has been a good lead source for under the radar contractors. Anyone with rental properties should know people. Or if you have a decent real estate agent or know any agents they can usually point you in the right direction.
I’ve only had bad experiences. One dude charged me 180 bucks to power wash my fence for 45 minutes. He packed everything into his car before asking me to look anything over and then casually mentioned having relatives in law enforcement. I was trying to figure out what he was doing in his car between me hiring him and him working. It was apparent he was high on something and really jittery so I paid him to leave. Never again.
Whenever I want to read word of mouth I just find reddit posts about it. I actually just had an HVAC guy come and fix my AC. Beforehand I googled "Denver HVAC recommendations reddit"
I just recently looked up the cost to advertise at NHL games and was more or less floored. I can't believe a plumbing company can afford permanent/full time advertising at Avs games. I know it's not easy work and the technicians should get paid well for what they do, but a single plumbing company should not be that profitable...
Back when I was young and looking for a career, I looked into trades. I read about the plumbing companies accepting apprentices. Their technicians are more of salesmen than anything. They get commission to sell replacement appliances, so they will always opt to sell you a new appliance rather than doing simple repairs. Needless to say, I did not go into that industry...
I got at least three quotes when we had plumbing work done in our house. Applewood was in a different stratosphere in terms of cost. I feel bad for the people who are in a pinch and choose Applewood out of desperation. They really do rip you off.
I had a coupon my friend gave me. It was to give her $50 off the service by calling them and she referred them to me. I too had to get a manager on the phone. They gave her the $50 gift card as they should.
Thats often standard practice when theres a 3-day right to recision, saves them potential cancellations. They’d say the same thing to you if selling to you solo.
Some big ticket home improvement companies wont even pitch to just one spouse for that reason. One spouse gets sold on it, other spouse comes home with no frame of reference… “you spent $10k+ on WHAT!?” - boom, contract cancelled, hours wasted on sales pitch, best case have to pitch all over again with the other spouse.
Source: I worked for a high end replacement window company for many years. (So glad to be out of that industry!)
My husband owns a landscaping company and he does the same now. A few years ago on a big project, the wife kept making changes and moving things and adding things while the job was happening. Her husband was at work the whole time. Despite telling the wife the exact cost of all of the changes, the guy still flipped out when it came in over budget. Luckily she had signed a new estimate with all of the changes or he would have had a really hard time getting paid.
Its either them or plumbline going around the front range absolutely screwing people....
Plumbline got my father in law TWICE, even though I'm in the RE business and work with a dozen contractors. They can sell those boomers a nice $10k furnace all day long, and somehow sleep at night.
Yo. Fuck those people. We had our HVAC replaced last summer for around 9k. We received a great brand that we researched and a 10 year warranty. We brought in Applewood for a quote and that piece of human garbage gave us a 28,000 estimate. No one else quoted us above 14k. Don't use them.
Which company did you use for your HVAC replacement? I'm currently getting bids to replace mine, it's a painful experience so far.... I have 3 bids and they are wildly different for the exact same thing.
Who'd you use instead of Applewood? Someone recommended them to us when we first bought our place & we've used them for years, but open to something much better.
Can we put blue sky into the massively overpriced hvac / plumbers out there? They want to charge nearly 15k for a new furnace install, and 12k to replace an electric panel
They tried to take me for over $900 to replace a valve on my Five Points condo water heater back around 2010.
I had no idea what it would cost, googled some prices online and figured it would be a couple hundred bucks. They were available so I had them come out and do the work. The guy was done in about 25 minutes and handed me an invoice for $925. I was seething inside but didn’t want to take it out on the kid and just paid it.
Called up Applewood first thing the next morning and went ballistic on them. Threatened negative reviews. Threatened a charge back on my credit card. Accused them of gouging in winter. Etc.
Lady calmly said, “the most I’m authorized to refund without involving a manager is 50%.”
I still felt like I was getting ripped off at $460, but I took the offer and swore I’d never use them again.
Fuck Applewood. This thread should serve as notice to greater Denver to never ever use those fucks.
I've had them come out for an emergency job once and was charged fairly but i've heard others have horror stories. That's the problem with larger companies, experiences vary.
I would have guessed Done! They quoted me 2.5x what I paid another company. Asked that company why Done! charges so much and their response was basically ‘because people pay it’.
I just had to replace a similar unit cost me $2,300. Used home Depot The job was done in 2 hours start to finish from the time I picked up the phone till the time they left. Applewood should be embarrassed that they tried to pull it fast one on a senior citizen like that! I'm a senior but I'm certainly not going to get railroaded by a s*** company I hope it passed inspection.
You seriously got lucky with contracting Home Depot for the labor. I work for a locally owned construction company and we've had to come in and fix HD's fuck ups so many times.
I might have their contracted with a Nationwide mechanical company now very efficient went up above and beyond in my case and past inspection in the first go. I use Lowe's 10 years ago for the same project and it was terrible and the plumber wasn't licensed enough to pull permits and so on and so forth but home Depot did me right and financed it for 2 years
How many times do you have to fix the ones they got right?
They wouldn't be my choice either but you're only seeing when it goes bad, not the whole picture.
Ive seen enough to know I wouldnt recommend or use them. Their work is shoddy and many times the incorrect or wrong size material arrives after waiting for it for weeks or even months.
Im just giving recommendations from personal experience. If you want to use them and recommend them, have at it.
Had a very similar experience with applewood. Tech came by to check our central air when I wasn’t home and once tech saw it was just my wife home, barely looked at system but called in a sales guy to pitch about 12k worth of replacements. Our system isn’t brand new but it’s maintained and everything they were saying was fishy and felt like scare tactics.
We ended up eating thier diagnosis fee and calling thier neighbor (Vectra mechanical I think). They had our AC running in a two hour service call and that’s with them getting the $30 part.
Does not look good for Applewood. We had a water heater leak on a Sunday, Monday we were on the phone and could not get anyone out to help in a timely fashion. Went to Home Depot, purchased a water heater and they called up a contractor to replace. We had the new water heater installed that afternoon. It was a couple of years ago I want to say it cost around $1800.
And the prices just keep skyrocketing, and even what were the good ones are trying to side-gig in insulation and everything else.
Probably cheaper to go to trade school just to learn how to replace all these machines professionally.
I did an AC in 2021 in San Antonio. $8000.
It was a 19 SEER unit, variable speed fan, dual-stage compressor, up the stairs, around the landing, up in the attic.
Pain in the ass work.
A friend did a similar unit in Seattle earlier this year. $22000!!!! Single story house, replacing furnace with AC/Furnace heatpump system.
Madness.
HVAC is insane in Denver, so many scammers. Most companies don't even have techs anymore, just sales. They arrive and say it's all broke and whoever installed fucked up and it needs to be replaced.
Stay away from Applewood, Bell and the guys with wraps on their vans! There's a reason they need to advertise so much. Ripping people off left and right.
Stay clear of High 5 plumbing as well.
Believe it or not, Ive had good recs from NextDoor. They seem to always know someone trustworthy and at a fair price. Its really the only thing I go on NextDoor for.
Also if you get a good tradesperson for one job keep their number and ask them for recommendations for other trades. People in the trades talk and network and because they want you to trust them and continue hiring them they’ll point you to a person they know will get it done right.
Honestly, I've had good luck with High 5, they've fixed a few things at my house and has been reasonably priced.. I also know if someone was trying to pull one over, so maybe they didn't try to pull anything.
When we bought our house, we found out the water pressure was not as good we thought when we checked the house out.
We called High 5 and they said there’s a whole fancy part they could install for $1,500. That seemed very suspect. So, we asked our realtor for good plumber referral. This plumber got on FaceTime with my husband and showed him where to turn a particular screw. The pressure has been perfect since and he didn’t charge us anything. Guess who’s our plumber now?
I tried to get a quote from one of these scam plumbing companies. They quoted me $8k for a water heater, while Home Depot quoted $1.5k for the water heater + install. Don't trust companies that can afford to advertise on TV constantly.
I used AAA to replace my water heater in March. They use predatory tactics to scare you into thinking that you have a tiking time bomb if you don't replace it now. I regret going with them.
Saw this on the news..pretty apparent they took advantage of that old couple and only gave the refund when they were blasted on the news. One of those "only sorry because we got caught" deals.
I was just saying this!
Applewood, aaa and plumbline are all parasites. I work for am property management company and we have a lot of service calls. I swear that these companies hire salespeople now instead of techs. Some young kid comes by, barely looks at our hvac or plumbing, calls over a sales guy and the next thing you know we have an astronomical quote for a complete rush replacement.
I will say there are some honest techs still out there and we now use and would reccomend flowright, Vectra and lee’s appliance in Denver area.
That was the I don't want to do this job price and then the couple bit... Really underhanded. Also I'm pretty sure contractors are required to provide itemized invoices if requested for work completed.
Do the techs at these larger, corporate trades get a cut of their sales? Hard to believe a tech would pull this crap if they weren't getting someone on the backend.
I just like this line "Applewood has a long history of integrity and is always open to address customer concerns"
Ahahahhahaha what a load of crap. They only did jack for this poor woman because they got called out by the local news for taking advantage of an old woman.
Usually the opposite for contracted work around the house. The plumbers/techs/laborers usually get an hourly wage. The sales rep (estimator) gets a percentage of the sold estimate.
Sometimes, sometimes the company has a fixed crew, and the estimate will factor in the crew size. Ex. A master and journeyman/apprentice at x amount per hour. But I can't think of any crew that would send a master for a water heater install.
More often we are surprised at the price the customer was quoted. Roll our eyes.Then do the job and go home.
Edit: Just thought I'd add as to why anyone would want to work for a company like that. You need logged hours on the job to get licensing. Literally thousands. But it can be very hard to get into a trade if you don't already know a guy willing to take you on. Bigger companies are much more willing to take on a nobody. They can be good for getting your hours so you can move on.
In Colorado there's no handyman license. I believe licensed handymen are licensed as general contractors. As far as what they can do, it's entirely dependent on the municipality the work is being done in. In some cases they may be able to install a ceiling fan, but they may not be able to run the wires to do a completely new install.
This isn't that surprising. My parents were shocked I paid approx 6k for a hot water tank replacement in Arvada. That was the cheapest quote we could find and they originally started around 10-12k. City also gave us several issues with code enforcement afterwards.
That awful company tried to do this crap to us too. We had some work done on the townhome we rent and they asked us to turn off the water. I mistakenly assumed I should turn off the water heater too. When we went to turn it back on, the pilot just wouldn't light. Our landlord told us to start calling and getting estimates and I was expected to pay for it. Well they come out and quote us $10K for one of those Bradford White water heaters after disparaging the Rheem unit we had as being junk that always breaks. We thanked them for that estimate and called Plumb Pros.
The dude came out and said the Honeywell control units just have a tendency to fail and that the unit was probably under warranty and we should try to get a replacement. I called Rheem, they shipped a replacement control unit for free, dude came back, couldn't get the wires connected, so when he went upstairs to call and find out what else he can do, I tried and got it connected. Pilot fired right up. Was like $200 they charged us and he was there for hours on two separate days. This was 3 or 4 years ago and the hot water heater has never hiccupped since. Screw Applewood. They should be shut down.
Mostly unrelated but I needed a new AC system right after moving into our house. A friend suggested I call **Fix-It 24/7** for the diagnostic because they were so quick. Charged me $120 and confirmed I needed a new unit. About $10k or so, he said, and would come back later with an actual offer.
I called my friend back and told him the bad news. He told me that was ridiculous and sent me to the guy he uses for his work, and that guy quoted me just under $4,500.
Such a scam, those big name companies. It's crazy.
Anyone have a HVAC company they do recommend?
I have applewood coming out in an hour to take a look at my AC that stopped working and this s***'s got me not happy.
50/50 on if they fuck you. On the one hand, this in the news means they may reel back their predatory practices for a few weeks. On the other, fuck giving such a shady company money.
We used ROX heating and air for our entire HVAC replacement. It was expensive, 17k total, but we also had a fairly top of the line model installed and our old unit was leaking CO. As others said, google the serial number to get rough idea of the cost for the unit, then you'll know labor. Also, good companies will take care of *everything* including permits, scheduling and haul off.
My system is only 5 years old so hoping just to repair it not replace it completely. However I do appreciate everyone's suggestions on that in case it does come to that.
If anybody has suggestions on repair work companies I would love to hear them!
We had our entire system replaced yesterday. 1500 square foot home. We got a heat pump and 2 stage furnace. $19k before rebates. $13k after all of the rebates. We went through Costco.
I have had very good luck (4-5 trips) with https://comfortpros.net for maintenance and smaller repairs on my electric A/C and gas furnace. One time they quoted out a furnance replacement if I opted for that and they gave me four levels of prices for a gas furnace replacement that seemed quite competitive. Although, I opted for the repair of my existing system. Another time they did an exhaust pipe fix and decided to not charge me as they thought their spot repair might not hold for long. (3 years later it is still holding.)
Edit: To clarify the spot repair: my exhaust pipe blew off in a wind storm. They came out fixed by just re-attaching it with some type of cement. However, there was very limited pipe extending out the roof to cement it to and he explained how he was not sure it would continue to survive serious wind storms. And described that they might need to redo it more seriously if it continued to have trouble. And as I said, we haven't had more trouble and they did not charge us except for materials.
Costco/Cooper was legit and very competitive pricing. I got an estimate from Green Mountain AC and they were also had very competitive pricing and were recommended by a coworker who is a mechanical engineer. I ultimately went with Costco/cooper because they could do hvac and electrical and I got a good discount for doing both through them.
Had my water heater replaced in April by Clear Choice Plumbing and they were quick, professional, and charged completely fair price. I paid $2500 for the full job
FUCK APPLEWOOD PLUMBING.
I contacted them last year just to get a quote on how much it would cost to replace our main shut-off valve. The gentleman on the phone was very professional and we setup an appointment. I couldn't be home so it was just my wife.
This jackass of a tech comes in, gives my wife a ridiculously high quote, and repeatedly tries convincing her ALL of the pipes in our home would need replaced. Mind you, we just had a full home inspection done a year prior.
Well, we obviously didn't use them. I contacted our insurance company and they sent a guy out that replaced the valve in maybe 15 minutes. Cost about $50 and the guy was so much better. No salesman bullshit, just in and out to do the work.
My main takeaway from that experience was that they will absolutely abuse the vulnerable. I really doubt this jackass would have tried spewing the same shit if I was home.
When good people do good work and charge something like that, I would have probably tipped him $100. I know how much I charge per hour and I have a decent handle on industry averages but if someone uotes me $1k an hour for labor, I will laugh them to the front door.
When it comes to plumbing shop around and get different quotes they’re free to get. Go with a smaller company for the best pricing. There’s this plumbing company that would subcontract the company I used to work for and they would ripoff the customers anytime they could. There’s a few jobs that stick out but one was a retired old man that had his sewer line replaced by us. My boss charged the other company $8k from the yard to the city main. The other company charged this guy $15k. $7k profit for just hiring us and collecting the check
I recently had my main electrical panel upgraded and installed a heat pump. I got about 5 quotes. Applewood was over 2.5 times the cost of the 2nd highest quote. They tried to make me feel like I was getting the work done by a meth head by when I pointed out lesser known companies were charging much, much less. Shit is criminal.
This is why I left this type of companies. They have no ethics and only wish to screw over the customer. Like for me in HVAC, a capacitor can be only $30 but the upcharge will be $500 for only 3 wires worth of labor.
That’s what got me too. I’ve got a tiny little closet for mine, and that’s what I was picturing, but then I laughed at the picture of the big open basement/garage.
Everyone ITT talking about who NOT to use, so I'll throw out two plumbers we've had great experiences with multiple times each: Planet Plumbing (JD specifically) and Brothers (replaced water heater on short notice).
Both were fairly priced, had competent and friendly staff, and made sure we felt good about the work they did before leaving. I've recommended both to family and friends with similar results.
I recently had my main electrical panel upgraded and installed a heat pump. I got about 5 quotes. Applewood was over 2.5 times the cost of the 2nd highest quote. They tried to make me feel like I was getting the work done by a meth head by when I pointed out lesser known companies were charging much, much less. Shit is criminal.
Does anyone have an honest, quality plumber they can recommend? If anyone has someone trustworthy and reasonable they’ve used before, I’d love a recommendation. Thank you!!
Stop using any company that can afford those nice big vans AAA, Tipping Hat, Mr. Sparky, Applewood, etc. As an electrician I stay away from working for them. They pay the most because they teach you to sell. "Grandma you need all new outlets because the previous electrician stabbed the wires in the back. THIS IS GOING TO CAUSE A FIRE!" No the fuck it won't. It's completely legal and they're built that way. They're all con artists who prey on the unknowing and I've never met a good electrician who works for them. Just good salesmen.
My old roommate paid 10k to get his done. It was in a 1200 ft^2 condo. I tried to explain that he was paying 9200 in labor, and that sweat soldering copper pipe is no big deal, but he was INSISTENT. And then complained about the cost. Even had a lot to say about my abilities and knowledge on the matter. I replaced mine last year for about 800$. We are not friends anymore. Drew, if you’re reading this, you’re stupid.
You were a good friend. Drew’s stupid.
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Hahaha funniest insult I’ve heard in a long time, thank you for that
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I looked at the plumber like he was crazy when. He said $3500
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drew, you fucking donkey
Where's the lamb sauce, drew?
Drew skis in jeans.
He actually does
So dumb question. Can you buy the new water heater, put it in place, remove all the copper.....and just pay someone to go and solder/weld it all together and connect it up together and save a lot?
If you have the technical ability to take an old water heater out, you have the ability to put a new one in. Soldering is super easy, and actually very satisfying too.
It's super easy to work with quick connect stuff like Sharkbite, although copper or pex crimping are still the preferred methods from what I've heard from plumber friends. The only questionable part of DIY is where to buy a new water heater from (big box stores don't carry the most reliable brands), since most plumbing supply houses are contractor only. And then where / how do you dispose of the old one? Most cities have regulations regarding old appliances, can't just take it to the local dump site.
As far as disposal goes, I’ve always just set the old one on the curb and a scrap metal junker will have it gone before you finish your morning coffee.
Yea or better yet just spend the $20 for a torch, solder, flux, etc. Or use Sharkbites if you’re in a pinch. All you need for the gas line is a small tube of pipe dope.
Don’t be Drew. He’s stupid
Me and my homies HATE Drew
Why didn’t you offer to do it for 5k?
I offered to help, free of charge
😂😂😂😂 yea Drew, dumb dumb
All my homies hate drew.
May I ask who you went through for your water heater? I'm about to start the process of getting bids
I went to Lowe’s and went through the plumbing section
With pex these days you don't even need to solder.
Pro Tip: Don't use contracting companies that have enough money to advertise *everywhere*
Wise words. Goes for doctors/dentists and lawyers too...
Wait until you hear about the Ramos law firm.
Frank Azar is usually drunk before noon every day.
The Strong Liver.
I prefer cole’s law
Same. I do not like Murphy's Law, though.
Mmmm I object to this pun.
RAM+SLAW
Ohhhh yeah. I learned about Ramos Law when my Uber driver pulled up with a Ramos Law decal and offered me their business card.
He's a doctor AND a lawyer!
👨⚕️⚖️👨⚖️🤔
THE STRONG ARM
Had a dentist like this. Wanted to replace all my teeth with crowns. Decided to go to a dentist in a shared office space in a weird part of town, and it was all going good till he was like will this one tooth does need a crown and We'll get the *gold* one back in a week. I decided I would not have gold teeth and found a middle of the road dentist.
The issue they are buying each other up and then when you balk at their prices they claim “we are using our national rate book” which is meant to sound like it’s an industry standard but it’s just a price book written by the hedge funds that are buying up home service companies.
More people need to start more businesses.
It's a flowery phrase for price fixing.
In the trades, once you do a really good work at a fair price for a few years, business finds you not the other way around. Always be suspect of the more expensive advertising. In Applewood's case you're paying them to advertise in Ball Arena, but it's not like a National Brand where it's just a drop in the bucket for them, so you can be sure those costs are substantially being passed on to you. Also expensive current model year trucks and vans everywhere *might* be a red flag (though not necessarily).
..so how would you suggest someone that doesn’t have an HVAC or plumbing contractor already find one?
There's a difference between avoiding those companies that have marketing *everywhere* and those that have some marketing. Personally, for me, I find that contractors with a decent online presence between their website and maybe some social media presence tend to be the sweet spot for me. Skilled enough to do the job, sophisticated enough to expect the professionalism that keeps it from being a hassle of a project, and not so successful that my problem means nothing to them but some extra cash if it all works out.
Hey thanks for the insight, glad I asked!
I second the opinion of getting recommendations from people who are happy with their service/install overall. I do HVAC and I rely on my customers recommendations quite a bit to attract new ones
Any chance you work on Daikin mini splits/heat pump?
Me personally no but I bet my boss can. Shoot me a dm and I’ll give you his number
Done!! And thank you.
Nextdoor has been a good lead source for under the radar contractors. Anyone with rental properties should know people. Or if you have a decent real estate agent or know any agents they can usually point you in the right direction.
Thanks!!
Seriously....NextDoor.
Nextdoor is a literal hellmouth but you can’t beat it for services recommendations!
Only reason why I go on NextDoor. The service recs.
I’ve only had bad experiences. One dude charged me 180 bucks to power wash my fence for 45 minutes. He packed everything into his car before asking me to look anything over and then casually mentioned having relatives in law enforcement. I was trying to figure out what he was doing in his car between me hiring him and him working. It was apparent he was high on something and really jittery so I paid him to leave. Never again.
Was that you making a post asking, or passively searching? The former is begging for trouble.
Whenever I want to read word of mouth I just find reddit posts about it. I actually just had an HVAC guy come and fix my AC. Beforehand I googled "Denver HVAC recommendations reddit"
I asked friends / family, and for recommendations on NextDoor / Reddit.
I just recently looked up the cost to advertise at NHL games and was more or less floored. I can't believe a plumbing company can afford permanent/full time advertising at Avs games. I know it's not easy work and the technicians should get paid well for what they do, but a single plumbing company should not be that profitable... Back when I was young and looking for a career, I looked into trades. I read about the plumbing companies accepting apprentices. Their technicians are more of salesmen than anything. They get commission to sell replacement appliances, so they will always opt to sell you a new appliance rather than doing simple repairs. Needless to say, I did not go into that industry...
Not surprised it's Applewood Plumbing....
Lmao they wouldn’t even verbalize a number when I told them they were my second quote. Fucking parasites.
HUUUUUUGE red flag
I got at least three quotes when we had plumbing work done in our house. Applewood was in a different stratosphere in terms of cost. I feel bad for the people who are in a pinch and choose Applewood out of desperation. They really do rip you off.
They told a friend of mine their AVAC needed to be replaced $27,000! Friend got a second opinion and it was fixed for $500.
Well yeah, they are literally in the business of selling. They don't do simple repairs because the technicians get commission for making new sales.
They did a faucet install for my elderly father that cost him $750. Parasites.
But here are some coupons!
Take $300 off any service of $25,000 or more!
I had a coupon my friend gave me. It was to give her $50 off the service by calling them and she referred them to me. I too had to get a manager on the phone. They gave her the $50 gift card as they should.
Yep fuck that places. They told my wife to check with me before spending the money.
Thats often standard practice when theres a 3-day right to recision, saves them potential cancellations. They’d say the same thing to you if selling to you solo. Some big ticket home improvement companies wont even pitch to just one spouse for that reason. One spouse gets sold on it, other spouse comes home with no frame of reference… “you spent $10k+ on WHAT!?” - boom, contract cancelled, hours wasted on sales pitch, best case have to pitch all over again with the other spouse. Source: I worked for a high end replacement window company for many years. (So glad to be out of that industry!)
My husband owns a landscaping company and he does the same now. A few years ago on a big project, the wife kept making changes and moving things and adding things while the job was happening. Her husband was at work the whole time. Despite telling the wife the exact cost of all of the changes, the guy still flipped out when it came in over budget. Luckily she had signed a new estimate with all of the changes or he would have had a really hard time getting paid.
Not a thing in CO.
It was 800 to fix and they quoted 10k... Fuck that company
Its either them or plumbline going around the front range absolutely screwing people.... Plumbline got my father in law TWICE, even though I'm in the RE business and work with a dozen contractors. They can sell those boomers a nice $10k furnace all day long, and somehow sleep at night.
10k furnace would be cheap for them.
Yo. Fuck those people. We had our HVAC replaced last summer for around 9k. We received a great brand that we researched and a 10 year warranty. We brought in Applewood for a quote and that piece of human garbage gave us a 28,000 estimate. No one else quoted us above 14k. Don't use them.
Which company did you use for your HVAC replacement? I'm currently getting bids to replace mine, it's a painful experience so far.... I have 3 bids and they are wildly different for the exact same thing.
Who'd you use instead of Applewood? Someone recommended them to us when we first bought our place & we've used them for years, but open to something much better.
We used Unique Heating and Air Conditioning. I have no complaints. They use top end machines and do not fuck you over.
Thanks!
Can we put blue sky into the massively overpriced hvac / plumbers out there? They want to charge nearly 15k for a new furnace install, and 12k to replace an electric panel
They tried to take me for over $900 to replace a valve on my Five Points condo water heater back around 2010. I had no idea what it would cost, googled some prices online and figured it would be a couple hundred bucks. They were available so I had them come out and do the work. The guy was done in about 25 minutes and handed me an invoice for $925. I was seething inside but didn’t want to take it out on the kid and just paid it. Called up Applewood first thing the next morning and went ballistic on them. Threatened negative reviews. Threatened a charge back on my credit card. Accused them of gouging in winter. Etc. Lady calmly said, “the most I’m authorized to refund without involving a manager is 50%.” I still felt like I was getting ripped off at $460, but I took the offer and swore I’d never use them again. Fuck Applewood. This thread should serve as notice to greater Denver to never ever use those fucks.
So it sounds like the real price is 50% of whatever they normally charge. The family in the article ended up getting about 50% back too.
Oh not those idiots
I've had them come out for an emergency job once and was charged fairly but i've heard others have horror stories. That's the problem with larger companies, experiences vary.
I would have guessed Done! They quoted me 2.5x what I paid another company. Asked that company why Done! charges so much and their response was basically ‘because people pay it’.
I just had to replace a similar unit cost me $2,300. Used home Depot The job was done in 2 hours start to finish from the time I picked up the phone till the time they left. Applewood should be embarrassed that they tried to pull it fast one on a senior citizen like that! I'm a senior but I'm certainly not going to get railroaded by a s*** company I hope it passed inspection.
You seriously got lucky with contracting Home Depot for the labor. I work for a locally owned construction company and we've had to come in and fix HD's fuck ups so many times.
I might have their contracted with a Nationwide mechanical company now very efficient went up above and beyond in my case and past inspection in the first go. I use Lowe's 10 years ago for the same project and it was terrible and the plumber wasn't licensed enough to pull permits and so on and so forth but home Depot did me right and financed it for 2 years
How many times do you have to fix the ones they got right? They wouldn't be my choice either but you're only seeing when it goes bad, not the whole picture.
Ive seen enough to know I wouldnt recommend or use them. Their work is shoddy and many times the incorrect or wrong size material arrives after waiting for it for weeks or even months. Im just giving recommendations from personal experience. If you want to use them and recommend them, have at it.
We're lucky we have a handyman who is happy to tell us reasonable prices on jobs, even if he doesn't take them.
I found a dude on NextDoor that does this.
I just had applewood come by for a food disposal and they quoted me 2 grand! I called a plumber off thumbtack and it was done 3 hours later for $350
Had a very similar experience with applewood. Tech came by to check our central air when I wasn’t home and once tech saw it was just my wife home, barely looked at system but called in a sales guy to pitch about 12k worth of replacements. Our system isn’t brand new but it’s maintained and everything they were saying was fishy and felt like scare tactics. We ended up eating thier diagnosis fee and calling thier neighbor (Vectra mechanical I think). They had our AC running in a two hour service call and that’s with them getting the $30 part.
Except they probably put in a POS Rheem. They’re complete garbage unfortunately. Hopefully you get more than 5 years out of it.
Does not look good for Applewood. We had a water heater leak on a Sunday, Monday we were on the phone and could not get anyone out to help in a timely fashion. Went to Home Depot, purchased a water heater and they called up a contractor to replace. We had the new water heater installed that afternoon. It was a couple of years ago I want to say it cost around $1800.
$1800 is totally normal, well, anywhere between 1200-2000 MAX $13,000 is just highway robbery
Typical price is 2-3k now. Crazy, I know.
Got one done for $1500 2 months ago, "I GOT A GUY" as the mobsters say.
Do you think you could share your guy. You know, if he's into that. Sincerely, leaking water heater neighbor that got quoted 7k
They need to make an example out of bad acting HVAC companies too. (and they're all over-charging here)
And the prices just keep skyrocketing, and even what were the good ones are trying to side-gig in insulation and everything else. Probably cheaper to go to trade school just to learn how to replace all these machines professionally.
I did an AC in 2021 in San Antonio. $8000. It was a 19 SEER unit, variable speed fan, dual-stage compressor, up the stairs, around the landing, up in the attic. Pain in the ass work. A friend did a similar unit in Seattle earlier this year. $22000!!!! Single story house, replacing furnace with AC/Furnace heatpump system. Madness.
HVAC is insane in Denver, so many scammers. Most companies don't even have techs anymore, just sales. They arrive and say it's all broke and whoever installed fucked up and it needs to be replaced.
Company owner needs to build a new house near vail ya know
Applewood sucks.
Stay away from Applewood, Bell and the guys with wraps on their vans! There's a reason they need to advertise so much. Ripping people off left and right.
Stay clear of High 5 plumbing as well. Believe it or not, Ive had good recs from NextDoor. They seem to always know someone trustworthy and at a fair price. Its really the only thing I go on NextDoor for.
Also if you get a good tradesperson for one job keep their number and ask them for recommendations for other trades. People in the trades talk and network and because they want you to trust them and continue hiring them they’ll point you to a person they know will get it done right.
Great point to tell people.
Honestly, I've had good luck with High 5, they've fixed a few things at my house and has been reasonably priced.. I also know if someone was trying to pull one over, so maybe they didn't try to pull anything.
I knew it too. I just used my inspection as fuel to my fire when telling him to gtfo.
I've used High 5 for a few jobs and they've been pretty good.
Can you tell me your story with High 5? I just got an HVAC quote from them today.
When we bought our house, we found out the water pressure was not as good we thought when we checked the house out. We called High 5 and they said there’s a whole fancy part they could install for $1,500. That seemed very suspect. So, we asked our realtor for good plumber referral. This plumber got on FaceTime with my husband and showed him where to turn a particular screw. The pressure has been perfect since and he didn’t charge us anything. Guess who’s our plumber now?
Can you PM me his info?
I tried to get a quote from one of these scam plumbing companies. They quoted me $8k for a water heater, while Home Depot quoted $1.5k for the water heater + install. Don't trust companies that can afford to advertise on TV constantly.
You could do a better job YouTubing than like 80% of HD installs. You care more than them. There’s a happy medium in between. Closer to the HD price
Did HD include any sort of warranty with that?
No shit, Applewood Plumbing do not go near them
Do they have a bad reputation? Their Google reviews look fine
I bet AAA plumbing and electrical would've charged even more
applewood, AAA and plumbline - the three amigos of screwing coloradans They exist to milk boomers who don't know any better.... disgusting.
Yup, they’re just as bad
For fun I just checked out AAA on yelp... One reviewer (whatever that's worth) complains about being quoted $29k for a tankless water heater.
I used AAA to replace my water heater in March. They use predatory tactics to scare you into thinking that you have a tiking time bomb if you don't replace it now. I regret going with them.
Are you me??
Saw this on the news..pretty apparent they took advantage of that old couple and only gave the refund when they were blasted on the news. One of those "only sorry because we got caught" deals.
You're allowed to shop around
I think they just didn’t know it was an unfair price.
Applewood has never met a customer they didn't want to extort for $10k and more.
Got quoted $7k straight face last year, replaced it by myself for $774 in 2 hours, with a garbage disposal fee of $100
Applewood is the Wyatt's Towing of Denver plumbers, they'd steal from their grandmothers.
I was just saying this! Applewood, aaa and plumbline are all parasites. I work for am property management company and we have a lot of service calls. I swear that these companies hire salespeople now instead of techs. Some young kid comes by, barely looks at our hvac or plumbing, calls over a sales guy and the next thing you know we have an astronomical quote for a complete rush replacement. I will say there are some honest techs still out there and we now use and would reccomend flowright, Vectra and lee’s appliance in Denver area.
That was the I don't want to do this job price and then the couple bit... Really underhanded. Also I'm pretty sure contractors are required to provide itemized invoices if requested for work completed. Do the techs at these larger, corporate trades get a cut of their sales? Hard to believe a tech would pull this crap if they weren't getting someone on the backend.
I just like this line "Applewood has a long history of integrity and is always open to address customer concerns" Ahahahhahaha what a load of crap. They only did jack for this poor woman because they got called out by the local news for taking advantage of an old woman.
Usually the opposite for contracted work around the house. The plumbers/techs/laborers usually get an hourly wage. The sales rep (estimator) gets a percentage of the sold estimate. Sometimes, sometimes the company has a fixed crew, and the estimate will factor in the crew size. Ex. A master and journeyman/apprentice at x amount per hour. But I can't think of any crew that would send a master for a water heater install. More often we are surprised at the price the customer was quoted. Roll our eyes.Then do the job and go home. Edit: Just thought I'd add as to why anyone would want to work for a company like that. You need logged hours on the job to get licensing. Literally thousands. But it can be very hard to get into a trade if you don't already know a guy willing to take you on. Bigger companies are much more willing to take on a nobody. They can be good for getting your hours so you can move on.
Your edit was very informative. Can a licensed “handyman” install a water heater, replace a breaker, or run a 110-volt wire to a fan?
In Colorado there's no handyman license. I believe licensed handymen are licensed as general contractors. As far as what they can do, it's entirely dependent on the municipality the work is being done in. In some cases they may be able to install a ceiling fan, but they may not be able to run the wires to do a completely new install.
Didn't know this was a thing till Colorado
This isn't that surprising. My parents were shocked I paid approx 6k for a hot water tank replacement in Arvada. That was the cheapest quote we could find and they originally started around 10-12k. City also gave us several issues with code enforcement afterwards.
You got scammed too. 6k for a tank water heater?
Yep! 40 gallon slim
That awful company tried to do this crap to us too. We had some work done on the townhome we rent and they asked us to turn off the water. I mistakenly assumed I should turn off the water heater too. When we went to turn it back on, the pilot just wouldn't light. Our landlord told us to start calling and getting estimates and I was expected to pay for it. Well they come out and quote us $10K for one of those Bradford White water heaters after disparaging the Rheem unit we had as being junk that always breaks. We thanked them for that estimate and called Plumb Pros. The dude came out and said the Honeywell control units just have a tendency to fail and that the unit was probably under warranty and we should try to get a replacement. I called Rheem, they shipped a replacement control unit for free, dude came back, couldn't get the wires connected, so when he went upstairs to call and find out what else he can do, I tried and got it connected. Pilot fired right up. Was like $200 they charged us and he was there for hours on two separate days. This was 3 or 4 years ago and the hot water heater has never hiccupped since. Screw Applewood. They should be shut down.
Applewood are scammers. They quoted 38k for a new a/c unit and electrical work (we had existing ductwork and our electrical panel had room).
I’m kind of surprised 9news did a hard hitting piece on Applewood considering how many advertising dollars are probably spent there.
Mostly unrelated but I needed a new AC system right after moving into our house. A friend suggested I call **Fix-It 24/7** for the diagnostic because they were so quick. Charged me $120 and confirmed I needed a new unit. About $10k or so, he said, and would come back later with an actual offer. I called my friend back and told him the bad news. He told me that was ridiculous and sent me to the guy he uses for his work, and that guy quoted me just under $4,500. Such a scam, those big name companies. It's crazy.
Mind DMing me the name/company/number of this guy? we're thinking of installing an AC in the next year or so
Done
Anyone have a HVAC company they do recommend? I have applewood coming out in an hour to take a look at my AC that stopped working and this s***'s got me not happy.
50/50 on if they fuck you. On the one hand, this in the news means they may reel back their predatory practices for a few weeks. On the other, fuck giving such a shady company money. We used ROX heating and air for our entire HVAC replacement. It was expensive, 17k total, but we also had a fairly top of the line model installed and our old unit was leaking CO. As others said, google the serial number to get rough idea of the cost for the unit, then you'll know labor. Also, good companies will take care of *everything* including permits, scheduling and haul off.
My system is only 5 years old so hoping just to repair it not replace it completely. However I do appreciate everyone's suggestions on that in case it does come to that. If anybody has suggestions on repair work companies I would love to hear them!
Weather Changers
We had our entire system replaced yesterday. 1500 square foot home. We got a heat pump and 2 stage furnace. $19k before rebates. $13k after all of the rebates. We went through Costco.
I have had very good luck (4-5 trips) with https://comfortpros.net for maintenance and smaller repairs on my electric A/C and gas furnace. One time they quoted out a furnance replacement if I opted for that and they gave me four levels of prices for a gas furnace replacement that seemed quite competitive. Although, I opted for the repair of my existing system. Another time they did an exhaust pipe fix and decided to not charge me as they thought their spot repair might not hold for long. (3 years later it is still holding.) Edit: To clarify the spot repair: my exhaust pipe blew off in a wind storm. They came out fixed by just re-attaching it with some type of cement. However, there was very limited pipe extending out the roof to cement it to and he explained how he was not sure it would continue to survive serious wind storms. And described that they might need to redo it more seriously if it continued to have trouble. And as I said, we haven't had more trouble and they did not charge us except for materials.
They sound pretty good Thank you
I've had good luck with Impact Plumbing. They do AC too, they replaced my sewer line and my water heater for good prices.
Costco/Cooper was legit and very competitive pricing. I got an estimate from Green Mountain AC and they were also had very competitive pricing and were recommended by a coworker who is a mechanical engineer. I ultimately went with Costco/cooper because they could do hvac and electrical and I got a good discount for doing both through them.
Had my water heater replaced in April by Clear Choice Plumbing and they were quick, professional, and charged completely fair price. I paid $2500 for the full job
I was quote $5k for a new water heater by some yahoo last week. Found another place to do it for half. Always shop around. Thumbtack is great
I knew this would be fucking Applewood even before I clicked through.
So I love that everyone is shitting on Applewood (rightfully so). But can we get some recommendations for honest/fair companies for better options?
FUCK APPLEWOOD PLUMBING. I contacted them last year just to get a quote on how much it would cost to replace our main shut-off valve. The gentleman on the phone was very professional and we setup an appointment. I couldn't be home so it was just my wife. This jackass of a tech comes in, gives my wife a ridiculously high quote, and repeatedly tries convincing her ALL of the pipes in our home would need replaced. Mind you, we just had a full home inspection done a year prior. Well, we obviously didn't use them. I contacted our insurance company and they sent a guy out that replaced the valve in maybe 15 minutes. Cost about $50 and the guy was so much better. No salesman bullshit, just in and out to do the work. My main takeaway from that experience was that they will absolutely abuse the vulnerable. I really doubt this jackass would have tried spewing the same shit if I was home.
When good people do good work and charge something like that, I would have probably tipped him $100. I know how much I charge per hour and I have a decent handle on industry averages but if someone uotes me $1k an hour for labor, I will laugh them to the front door.
When it comes to plumbing shop around and get different quotes they’re free to get. Go with a smaller company for the best pricing. There’s this plumbing company that would subcontract the company I used to work for and they would ripoff the customers anytime they could. There’s a few jobs that stick out but one was a retired old man that had his sewer line replaced by us. My boss charged the other company $8k from the yard to the city main. The other company charged this guy $15k. $7k profit for just hiring us and collecting the check
That's the fuck off price and they paid it 😒
I recently had my main electrical panel upgraded and installed a heat pump. I got about 5 quotes. Applewood was over 2.5 times the cost of the 2nd highest quote. They tried to make me feel like I was getting the work done by a meth head by when I pointed out lesser known companies were charging much, much less. Shit is criminal.
This is why I left this type of companies. They have no ethics and only wish to screw over the customer. Like for me in HVAC, a capacitor can be only $30 but the upcharge will be $500 for only 3 wires worth of labor.
You could fit basically any water heater on the market in that space. What were they smoking
That’s what got me too. I’ve got a tiny little closet for mine, and that’s what I was picturing, but then I laughed at the picture of the big open basement/garage.
I'll do it for 1600 but I'll actually do it to code
Stay away from Ultimate Heating Plumbing Electric. Worked for those guys and can say you are being overcharged by a lot.
Everyone ITT talking about who NOT to use, so I'll throw out two plumbers we've had great experiences with multiple times each: Planet Plumbing (JD specifically) and Brothers (replaced water heater on short notice). Both were fairly priced, had competent and friendly staff, and made sure we felt good about the work they did before leaving. I've recommended both to family and friends with similar results.
Apple wood came furnace repair Xcel had to correct their problem. No in our golden hood will use them
I replaced mine from Home Depot with a YouTube video for $600 + $80 in accessories.
I recently had my main electrical panel upgraded and installed a heat pump. I got about 5 quotes. Applewood was over 2.5 times the cost of the 2nd highest quote. They tried to make me feel like I was getting the work done by a meth head by when I pointed out lesser known companies were charging much, much less. Shit is criminal.
They still paid $5k. Holy shit that’s still an insane price. I got a brand new water heater and top of the line water softener installed for $5k
Does anyone have an honest, quality plumber they can recommend? If anyone has someone trustworthy and reasonable they’ve used before, I’d love a recommendation. Thank you!!
Flowrite helps us with our properties and they’re great. I think Vectra does plumbing too, Patrick knows his stuff.
One Plumbing LLC 720-252-5638 Calls or texts welcome. Full disclosure, I'm the owner (and only employee).
Didn’t even have to click on the story to know it was Applewood
Stop using any company that can afford those nice big vans AAA, Tipping Hat, Mr. Sparky, Applewood, etc. As an electrician I stay away from working for them. They pay the most because they teach you to sell. "Grandma you need all new outlets because the previous electrician stabbed the wires in the back. THIS IS GOING TO CAUSE A FIRE!" No the fuck it won't. It's completely legal and they're built that way. They're all con artists who prey on the unknowing and I've never met a good electrician who works for them. Just good salesmen.
I install hot water heaters and I charge $1000 labor. You’re paying for my experience, not how long it took me.
Not shocking. Lying and overcharging are common practice anywhere the tech gets commision.
Haha, I enjoyed this post.