Penning Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric

When we purchased our home in Grand Rapids we knew, because of their age, that we would eventually need to replace the heating and air-conditioning units, as well as the hot water tank. We assumed, however, that it would not need to be done until we had moved from our other home 650 miles away. When we received a call from our painter telling us that there was a problem, we had no idea where to find a reputable heating and air-conditioning business. Since our painter recommended Penning Plumbing and Heating we gave them a call (while vacationing in Myrtle Beach, SC). All of the options had to be considered and discussed by telephone and we could only hope that we would be satisfied in the end, since we were not going to be in Grand Rapids for another month. Jim Penning arranged to come to our Grand Rapids home (in our absence) to determine our needs, then gave us (by telephone) several options with estimates for the replacement of our entire heating/air-conditioning system. The work was done promptly and we have been extremely satisfied with the installation. He arranged for us to find financing, which was necessary because we had not anticipated this expenditure before selling our other home. Leslie Werkmeister communicated with us by email on several occasions and took care of filing all the forms for our energy rebates. We later replaced the hot water tank and were again impressed with the employees who did the installation. It has been a tremendous help to us to have this association with the people at Penning Plumbing and Heating who have been most gracious in meeting our needs under somewhat difficult circumstances. From the beginning we have felt that we were dealing with friends rather than just a business! We would certainly rank them as "5" on a Scale of 1 to 5 and recommend them to anyone in need of their services. Pros: null Cons: null more

Call came in From Pam Stone house Pros: null Cons: null more

Mamie G. emailed to notify that Cris was superb in servicing her plumbing and heating systems. She gave him and us 5 stars. Pros: null Cons: null more

I took a call from Stuart M regarding the furnace tune-up that Steve did for him. He said our service was excellent in every way! He said that Steve found the problem after cleaning his furnace & answered all his questions - he went over the top! Stuart was a first time customer & gave us a 5-star rating!! Pros: null Cons: null more

One man's experience with Penning Plumbing: Pros: null Cons: null more

Would not call again. The only thing I will give them credit for is they can come out same day in an emergency. Could be because they are way to expensive and that's why. I called them out to fix my gas line to my stove. i was told my water pipes in the basement could burst at any time and i should get them repaired asap. Also my line to my dryer was not the correct line and i should also get that replaced. For the hour it took them to replace my gas line to my stove it was way over priced. The fact that they give you an estimate up front you know what it's going to cost, but they make it sound like it's at least a half a day job when it actually takes them an hour. I've learned from my mistake. Pros: null Cons: null more

We needed to have a new garbage disposal installed, so I called around to a few companies to get quotes. I had the bottom line cost and the Cadillac version cost. When I called Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling, the girls wouldn't tell me how much a new disposal would cost. I told them that I wasn't interested in getting the most expensive one, I wanted on that was more of middle of the road. So I wasn't after the Cadillac version, rather I wanted something that would be good and work. We're not planning on living here for another 20 years, we'll be moving soon to a condo. However, they still wouldn't give me a price over the phone. Instead, they told me that the tech would have several types on his truck and he would go over those with me when he got here. Mainly I decided to go with them because they are a reputable company, family-owned and I'd always heard good things about them. When the technician came out, he was a really wonderful person. He was very knowledgeable and his expertise was great. The installation and customer service was nice, and he was a fine gentleman. He removed the old disposal and it was all corroded and couldn't be saved. I knew there were disposals out there for less than $120, however he didn't have these choices on his truck, or anything besides the most expensive one. I ended up paying more than double what I'd wanted to pay. I felt like I had no choice in the matter, my old one had been removed, and wasn't in any condition to be re-installed, and he was recommending the pricier disposal. Of course the unit is truly wonderful and all he promised it would be, however hindsight tells me a lot. It became a real expense for us. Later, we needed 3 big units installed, a hot water heater, furnace and AC unit. I called Penning to get a quote. Mr. Penning himself came out. We just felt like he wasn't forthcoming with the pricing available to us. And he didn't tell us about any rebates. Also, we felt they were priced very highly. We ended up going with another company, that was maybe half the price of them. They also helped us with the rebates, even filling them out and sending them in for us, it was great. Because of our experience with them, we would not use them again and wouldn't be comfortable recommending them either. more

I went from an out of code 25+ year old furnace to an efficient and safe unit with up to date chimney,electric and ductwork in 1 day. They removed all the old stuff and even swept up the basement when they were done. Thanks Chris and Mike for making me feel much safer at a price I thought would be much higher than quoted! more

Penning came out (50.00 to take a look) and wanted to charge me 190.00 for a water heater thermo-coupler. When I found the part, it cost 12.00. I think that is a profit of 178.00 on the part alone....plus the service call would have made 240.00 for a 12.00 part. I had it installed for 40.00...total cost 52.00.... I think you can do better. RESPONSE FROM Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling: We regret your unhappiness but don't understand why you waited 5 months to post a review with no contact directly to us. We have a 100 satisfaction guarantee that you could have used. I understand your price concern but you leave some facts from the comparison such as warranty and use of a licensed contractor which insures the safety of your gas burning appliance. more

Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling is very good and we have always been pleased with their work! We had to have our furnace re-piped. Jeff from Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling came in with all the straight pipes, wound them and turned them. It works great and we've been very happy! They do very good work and stand behind their work. Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling is very clean and the workers pick up after themselves. They have helped us out in the past when we had boiler issues. They weren't able to get to the house right away so they brought space heaters so we wouldn't freeze. We've used them for years. Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling has always given us good service and that's why we continue to use them! more

I always recommend Penning for their excellent service. They always come, they always get things done on time, and when there is a mistake, they fix it right away. You can't get any better than that. C. Shapin more

I would recommend Penning, 100 percent. They were very good. My furnace went out, and they fixed it. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would rate them a 10! more

I would like to say that the service I received from Travis is excellent. I called last year and this year and I found Travis to be such a nice person, and knows his stuff. Penning is lucky to have him. Also, Joy who works in the office was so nice to me and so helpful, she is an asset to your company. Sincerely, Margaret more

I've had Penning over numerous times and they have given me nothing but excellent quality work. I'm very, very satisfied with them. more

I definitely would recommend Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling. Most recently they put in a new air conditioner for me. I called them, and they actually came to check on my old one to see if it was doing well, and it was not, so they recommended a new one. I said I would go with their recommendation because I'm a faithful customer of theirs, and they have always come through. Lois Mulder more

We have been using Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling for the last five or six years. They're really good, we really like them. When they are working, they're here to do the job and get it done. But they are also courteous and pleasant to deal with. The people we've dealt with from Penning are just nice people. There is nobody snotty with them--not that we've ever dealt with--and you don't find that too much. We use them couple of times a year for general plumbing matters. They have fixed the furnace before, and told us it could go out at any time. Though it's not something you want to hear, at least we know so we can prepare for it. We can rely on them to be honest. more

A young man from Penning Plumbing came out to the house to look at our water heater. He was very friendly, and a big help. It turned out that the heater, which was 14 years old, had a malfunctioning part. He explained that the he could fix the unit, but that it would continue to give us trouble. He also explained the advantages of a new unit. We ended up buying the new unit, and though we spent more money than we would have hoped, were are very happy with how it performs. The young man showed us that a larger unit would only be a small amount more, but would cater to our style of hosting guests, so we upgraded. You never want to run out of hot water when you have guests. When the young man left, he first made sure that we didn't require any further assistance. We appreciated his thoroughness and dedication. more

My experience with Penning Plumbing was horrible. We had a toilet upstairs that was overflowing, so we called Penning and they came out. They thought they stopped it, I guess, but two days later the same thing happened. Then they came out again, and when they did come out they went to all the toilets and snaked them out. They charged almost $400, but the problem continued, so they came back out again. The guy discovered a tampon in one of the toilets, but I didn't believe that. It was a brand new, fresh tampon in one of the boys' bathrooms, and they're just kids, so I don't know where the tampon came from. Penning took half off the cost, but it was still close to $200, and my toilet is still broken, so it was money that was just given to them. RESPONSE FROM Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling: We have attempted to contact you as this post was the first we knew that you still had a problem. We stand fully behind our work and will do whatever is necessary to insure your problem is corrected. Please contact us so we can schedule you. more

The reason I gave them a 4 overall I think had more to do with how they do their pricing. I'm in a condo, and they're set up for house projects. They have price charts with the cost of each item on it, which is convenient for some, but it can be hard to see all the pricing. So far everything I've had done works fine, so I would use them again. more

Working with Penning has been an overall great experience, and I've used them twice now. Most recently, my air conditioner broke down on a very hot Friday. Despite it being practically the weekend, they came out right away, without any setbacks. Penning's ability to address my needs without wasting any time was an asset. Additionally, the technician was very knowledgeable about the issue, and knew exactly what to do to get the unit going again. Their rates are good, as well. You can rely on Penning to take good care of you. more