UPDATE: After seeing this review, Landon (Minyard's service manager) requested that I contact him. I did just that. He informed me that the plumber who came to our home was no longer with the company. He apologized profusely and worked to make it right. Although I admit that our experience was really bad, I believe that was truly the fault of the plumber. I admire Minyard for contacting me to find out more about what happened and having the integrity to make it right. Which they absolutely did make it right. I will call them next time I need any plumbing or AC work done, as I know that they care about their reputation and the work that they do.
After reading many good reviews (with a few negative), I decided to give Minyard a call to fix our broken water heater. We called in the morning and hoped to have a fix the same day, as my family had already gone one morning with no hot water. They said that someone would come within a few hours and they would call to let us know they were on the way. So far so good. The problem came when the technician showed up. My husband spoke with him and they both agreed it was probably one of two parts, as there are only a limited number of things it could be. So the least expensive part would likely be the best place to start and fix the problem. The technician said our water heater was still under warranty, so we just expected to pay for the labor. He left to get the part. Not long after he left, he called and said maybe we should just replace the whole thing. It's only 4 years old, so we were not interested in this option. He claimed they don't last that long. (it's still under warranty!!) We said, no fix it please. We waited... and waited... and waited. HOURS we waited (all on the clock by the way). Finally I called to check and he said he was near our house. Still another 30 minutes went by and no sign of him. At this point it's dark and well past the work day hours. We were upset as the labor charge was going to be very expensive and he had yet to do ANYTHING! He finally showed up and said it was traffic, he had to go across town to get the part and the part place was busy. Okay, NO WAY! So he finally starts working on the water heater. Come to find out, for reasons not explained, he choose to get the more expensive part to replace, even after my husband had spoken with him about replacing the other part first. The fix didn't work. No choice at this point but to come back tomorrow as everything is closed. My husband and I, our toddler and baby were without hot water for another day. The discussion about buying a new one comes up yet again. The next morning, my husband, (very upset at this point) calls the plumbing supply place in Round Rock (we are in Cedar Park), which is about 15 minutes from our house and they have the part that we need. The part that we thought was going to be replaced first. The part that had the technician did what he said he was going to, would have been back well within an hour, fixed the problem and left us with hot water that day. Not to mention the money we would have saved on labor! My husband goes down to the supply place, purchases the part, comes home and replaces the part himself. All within an hour! On top of ALL this, the technician didn't take the part he was going to replace with him to the supply store across town, so he said that we would need to pay them for the part, then take the part ACROSS TOWN and have them reimburse us for the warranty coverage. All in all, we had a bill over $400 that didn't fix anything, and had to take the part across town to get our money back for a part that didn't need to be replaced anyways. We were left angry, without hot water for 2 days and ended up having to fix it ourselves. Trust, honesty and doing what you say you are going to is paramount when hiring a plumber. If these things are important to you, as they are to us, don't hire Minyard!
more