Master Plumbers Heating & Cooling

Beware these scam artists!

What offends us the most is that we paid Masters $90 to come out an hour late, mess with our units, and have them fail almost immediately after while warning us of a problem their technician exacerbated himself. We know that because he told us not to do it.

Read on to find out how.

We had an HVAC technician, Tim, come out to inspect our heating unit. We were given a window of 3-6 pm so we left work early to be here. At 3 pm he notified us he was 25 minutes away.

By 4pm, because he had not arrived, we called to make sure he was still coming. The customer service rep just told us he was “on the way”. He showed up around 4:15, almost a full hour from when he said he’d be there.

When he arrived it was pretty usual. We had inspections on our unit every six months so we knew to show him how to access the furnace and hvac unit itself, as well as the thermostat.

He checked out the unit and then presented us with our options. We could have a him inspect our lines to locate the source of a leak he found (both inside and outside) for “a couple thousand dollars”, or he could replace the entire unit which is what he strongly suggested.

The high end to replace our system came out to $26,148. The middle end $24,803. The low end was $18,287 but had to be paid off within 18 months without incurring interest on the financing. He assured us he did not receive commission as we scraped our jaws off the floor.

He went on to explain that our contact switch was starting to wear from the constant cycling. (This part is important). Then he waited for our response.

We told him that the problem he detected had been diagnosed already by a family member who had 40+ years in HVAC and was out of town at the moment. This relative had already informed us a few days prior to keep our unit on Emergency Heat to stop the cycling. This was the same cycling that Tim had warned us was causing the contacts to wear.

So we told Tim we’d get further opinions.

As he left, he told us he’d appreciate a five star review to get the managers “off his back”. Then, he mentioned to place our unit on Emergency Heat. He had the unit placed at 73 degrees on regular cycle, where it was cycling ever five seconds or so.

About two hours later, the unit completely failed, leaving us without heat.

It turns out, while Tim made his inspection and gave us a 25 minute spiel to sell us a full replacement, he had left our unit on a constant cycle at a temperature far higher than what we run it. He had packed his tools up and everything.

While he was telling us that constant cycling was causing excessive wear on the system, for no conceivably honest reason, he left our system constantly cycling.

We had been informed by our family member that keeping the unit on auxiliary should buy us at least two weeks time since the issue started Friday. Tim messed with our system on Monday.

The units that Masters tried to sell us cost about $8000 without install, meaning they make A LOT of money off of desperate people.

When we told our family member the quote he laughed. He immediately stated that despite supply issues, that cost was entirely too high and is the result of greed and taking advantage over ignorant, desperate people.

Don’t fall for this scam.

Brandon L and Zack were the service guys. The installed new toilets. They did an EXCELLENT job. Explained everything to me. Cleaned up behind themselves and removed old toilets. The were very friendly. Would definitely use this company again and recommend it to others.

Branden L and Zach did the work and were very knowledgeable, careful and respectful of our home. It was a pleasure having them as workers here. We have hot water again! That makes us happy. Thanks again!

Joel was very professional, gave me the unwelcome news that because my unit is over 10 years old they always give a quote on replacement. He did give me other options as this was a maintenance call. Not ready to replace a system that is currently working. Joel did not pressure me to do anything more. He simply gave options and let me choose. I liked that. He was friendly and polite. I was satisfied with his service.

I found Brandon to be an outstanding technician. Following his initial inspection and assessment of my plumbing system he appraised me of his evaluation and clearly explained what needed to be done to make the necessary repairs. I found him to be courteous, professional, and very knowledgeable. After completing the job he reviewed all the work with me and I am extremely pleased with the work he did! He was very meticulous, and pleasant to work with. It's very reassuring to have a specialist that takes such obvious pride in their work. The quality of Brandon's work was excellent and the overall experience of working with Master Plumbers Heating & Cooling was exceptionally good.

Extremely overpriced, took advantage of me. Even when I asked nobody explained to me how payment works, now I’m getting letters in the mail from some random bank with extra fees. I tried to talk to the manager and he told me that they couldn’t get me the prices of what they paid on parts. I left an email asking him to explain how to make my payments and no response after a week. Finally get around to calling and he’s not in the office. Techs were so nice, buttered me up and slapped a giant price tag on it. I’m a young girl who was home alone and I didn’t know any better. Lesson learned, do your research and don’t trust a word they say. Don’t get scammed like I did.

This company came out to check an outdoor grill for a leak we smelled, as well as an outdoor water pump for a leak under the ground. They said the gas required a complete (expensive!) rebuild, new grill, and new piping underground. We had a follow up from the actual gas company (Piedmont) and they completely disagreed with Masters, checked it thoroughly and it was not in need of anything more than a minor repair. Thank goodness we got a second opinion.
The water pump they said “wasn’t leaking” even though there was as standing water regularly (after no rain). We got a second opinion, had the pipe dug up and replaced and, of course, there had been a pipe leaking. It no longer has standing water with the second repair person actually fixing the problem.
Then! The “Master Plumbers” tried to do a full house check (every faucet/toilet/everything—no wonder they are so expensive. Not to mention creepy). And told us how many things they “needed” to repair.
$435 later and they fixed NOTHING. I called to complain and the manager called back and left a message trying to go through each of the fake repairs that were “needed” explaining them. Not the point!!! You found problems that were not there and didn’t find the problems we actually called you to fix!!! I will NEVER use them again. Awful.

They always get someone out quickly! They are very thorough and do great work! Thank you Ray!!

I have used this service a few times including replacing toilets and to fix a leaking toilet. The technicians Brandon L. And Zach were on time, professional, took great care of our space, and they diagnosed and completed the repair within a few hours of arriving. We have very light cream carpet in the bedroom and I was concerned about the carpet getting damaged or dirty, but they took care not to have water waste on the carpet and they vacuumed the area. As they do not replace the sheet rock, they recommended someone to us who responded immediately to our request for repair. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is that I feel the cost for repairs are on the higher side. Although there is a monthly membership fee that reduces the cost of the visit. You pay a monthly fee, a fee for someone to come out, a separate fee for diagnosis of the problem and then the cost for the actual repair. As far as the actual work being performed - 5 Stars. The technicians are great. One could say you get what you pay for.

Brandon L and Zach were amazing ! Knowledgeable, professional, personabland respectful ! This is our first experience with Master Plumbing Heating Cooling and we are very happy we chose you to take care of our issues … we will continue to use you for all our plumbing heating and cooling needs ! It’s reassuring to have that security for any future issues ! Thank you very much !