Penning Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric

My husband and I first used Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling about eight years ago to put in a new bathroom for us. They did a good job with it, and were good about listening to our needs, so now we call them whenever we have plumbing trouble. Recently, they addressed an issue with a toilet. The problem was that the toilet would rock back and forth, and wasn't secured to the floor like it should have been. We called Penning, and after taking a look they determined that the sealer underneath the fixture was stripped, and the whole thing had to be replaced. Since we had to get a new unit anyway, I had them install one that was higher up, and didn't require as much bending to use. The job took a little longer than we expected, but to accommodate us, we were not charged for any overtime. The young man that did the work was extremely helpful throughout the process. He was polite, attentive to his work, and explained everything that he was doing. The next day, everything was installed and ready to go, and we were satisfied with the end result. Penning are reasonable to deal with, and they guarantee their work. You can count on them to get the job done. more

Travis was prompt, knowledgeable, helpful and courteous. I would definitely recommend Penning Plumbing. more

Well done service. On time. Thank you. more

Over the years I've turned to Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling and they have always been dependable. They have always provided excellent service and are so good at what they do. They really do a super job! they find out why you're calling, and figure out a way they can attend to the problem. They give advice and suggestions. The crew is really good, they all are very knowledgeable and friendly. I've been getting great service for a number of years, I always tell people to give them a chance to prove just how good they are! more

While my recent experience with Penning was 0-3 in the good, fast, or cheap areas, I will only caution anyone wanting to do business to understand what you are being charged. Penning does not use a time and materials basis, instead using a 'flat fee' from a super secret pricing book. I personally found the 'flat fee' to be very, very, very expensive after my wife's recent encounter. (The good failed when the garbage disposal literally fell off after the first use and the fast took a major hit when their weekend 'emergency' guy's phone was not charged and could not respond over the weekend). This company has a long history, but UNDERSTAND THE FLAT FEE. THEY ARE EXPENSIVE when compared to other time and material plumbing contractors. RESPONSE FROM Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling: We sincerely regret our failure to meet your expectations. We always offer options where available along with their costs for customer approval before performing any work. I am sorry that next-day service in the time frame you requested was not fast enough, but we always try to get it done within the time frame agreed to at the time of your call. In terms of the price, there are often cheaper options that anyone could offer that may or may not be in your best interest. That is why we do all business up front and in the open. Our guarantee of price match to competitors' quotes for the same work always is your ultimate protection. more

Penning Plumbing is always professional. I've used them many times over the years and had really good luck with them. I'm the type of person that wouldn't keep using them if I wasn't happy or they weren't doing a good job. My only suggestion is for potential customers to be aware that they are expensive, but I don't know of a plumber who isn't. Just be prepared to have a lot of credit on your cards or available cash, you'll need it to pay them. more

Penning Plumbing is a very professional company. They are knowledgeable and very helpful. I present the problem and they list the solutions. I've had nothing but good results from them. I highly recommend their services. Matthew Jones more

We had our last experience w/ Penning as we would never call them again. They removed a rodent from our hot water heater vent on a very expensive Sunday but it was the "after the fact" that really ticked us off. After removing the charred squirrel, the tech just tossed it in the street where the snow plow pushed it back into our front yard where our dog then dug it out...not good. After talking to the tech, he saw no issue. He also tossed the removed vent in our back yard rather than disposing of it properly where it then got buried in the snowstorm that night. Replacing the vent took them another service call the next day (because the original tech didn't have the right vent) and 45 minutes of service and $391 later, we were back in business. Not sure how the parts and labor were calculated (and neither did the tech) but he was sure that $391 was fair. We logged our complaint w/ the Penning office and haven't heard a word from them since so they obviously couldn't give a rip so we thought we should post Penning's customer service commitment for all to see......$670 worth of reasons not to work w/ Penning! RESPONSE FROM Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling: We truely regret your experience. Our technician made some choices related to lack of the support he usually has that is not available on Sunday emergency call. Response to your calls the next day and your conversation with both the CSR and technician led us to believe the situation was settled. Calls to you from our service manager went unanswered for several days. My offer to "do whatever it takes to satisfy" still stands. I hope you will take advantage of it and allow us to rectify your unhappiness. R. Penning more

I think Penning Plumbing is very expensive and the bathroom faucets that they came to fix still don't work right. The guys that came over were trying to sell me a whole new bathroom and pointed out everything that they could fix in my house. I paid them to clean my shower drain. "To the street" they told me. The shower drain does not even go to the street! more

We had a heating problem several years ago and contacted Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling. We have continued to use them because I like the service technician that comes out each time and they always work me in and do a good job. They have done AC work as well as a complete heating system install about 2 or 3 years ago. The owner came in and did a survey because we had flow problems, which they corrected. They did an excellent job. Joy is excellent, very cheerful on the phone. We always request the same technician because we know each other by first name now, so it is more personalized. He recommends what work we should do and we do it. Penning always does good work. more

My wife called Penning on Saturday to remove a clogged drain that had some potato peels in it. I was late for a meeting and needed to leave so she was alone. Penning took advantage of her by charging her $338.00 for about a 30 minute job. They set up a drain snake and within a couple of minutes they had found the potato peels. However, $338.00 for a 30 minute job. That's about $670 per hour. Thanks guys for taking advantage of an unknowning house wife. It makes me sad to realize that things like this go on in our church going community of Grand Rapids. Dan RESPONSE FROM Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling: Dan, I am truly sorry you were disappointed in the work we performed for you. Just to remind you, this was a Saturday emergency call. Your actual charges consisted of a $95 emergency service call fee and then $243 to solve your drain issue. The $95 was quoted and approved over the phone before your technician came out and the $243 (overtime costs) was quoted on site before any work was performed. We are proud members of our community and take advantage of no one, nothing is done without customer approval. Please call me if you have any other questions or concerns about this. Richard Penning more

For the last year, I have been replacing the washers in my shower faucets, Purchasing them from a local plumbing store. After having my fill of doing this I called Penning to have them replace the entire bridge with a washerless design. Lloyd showed up and gave me an alternative to the full replacement. He told me that the manufacturer, after receiving numerous complaints, redesigned the stems for my model with a washerless version. The cost of full replacement, $750, the cost of stem replacement, $250. The local plumbing store never told me of the new replacement stems so that my problem would go away. They just kept selling me new parts to keep repairing the same old stems which over time kept having the same problem. Thanks to Penning Plumbing and Lloyd, my problem is gone and will never come back and was done at a fraction of the cost of what I thought had to be done (full replacement). Excellent service guys. You did not take advantage of a homeowner who thought there was only one way out of the problem. You gave an alternative. If any other issues arise, I will be sure to give Penning a call to have them check it out an fix it. One more thing, Lloyd also checked my water heater and furnace. He recommended replacement of the water heater within the next year as it is showing signs of aging and weakness in areas. He said that they don't build them like they used to and 10-12 years is about normal life span. Mine is almost 13 years old. I would never have known, or atleast not until the thing sprung a leak and flooded the basement. Thanks again Lloyd and Penning Plumbing. more

For over a week, I spent dollar after dollar trying to fix the drain in our basement. Anytime water went through a drain in the house, a toilet got flushed, etc., it would back up and pool near the bottom of the stairs. Ahh, the joys of home ownership, in a house that's 112 years old. I had tried snaking it all the way to the street, tried chemical additives, and even called the city who came and flushed the whole street line. in the end, it was still on my side, so I was stuck with it. I finally had enough, and asked a few friends and family -- everyone said try Penning. So I got out the yellow pages, found them, and called. Spoke to a lady named Joy, and she was fantastic. Very helpful, she seemed genuinely concerned with our problem. Less than 2 hours later, Jason rolled up in his truck. He explained t he process of what he wanted to do, made sure I understood the billing, and got to work. I expected it to take half the night, given all the time and energy I had already put into it. Nope. Hour later, he was rolling his gear back out of the house. Clear drain, all tubs and faucets and toilets flushing out the line, and we're finally able to wash clothes, shower, etc., again in our own house. Now normally, I'm a pretty handy guy. I can fix just about anything. Just about doesn't mean everything though. next time, I'm calling Penning FIRST. Reasonably priced, excellent service, got here fast, and fixed it fast. I couldn't have asked for a better experience after the crazy headache I'd put myself through over all of this. Even if I had managed to get to t he roots that were in our sewer line, there's no way I could have gotten through or cleaned them out. What a waste of time, energy, and money, trying to do it alone. Yep, next time it's Penning Plumbing before I spend a nickle trying to do it myself. more

Warm, friendly and courteous service: from the office woman to Travis, the tech. Travis showed up at the appointed time and completed the furnace checkup efficiently. He explained to me what he had done and the results. I'm a repeat customer. more

Quick service and very friendly. I would recommend Penning to anyone! They did a great job - very thorough. more

We have had Penning Plumbing do a lot of work for us over the years. We keep calling them back because they are professional, explain everything thoroughly, and do a wonderful job. You know it's done right. more

We had penning put in a new furnace for us this week,& couln't be happier with the service we had. Jim & the rest of the staff we dealt with were very helpful.They all took the time to answer any question we had. It was a pleasure to deal with, such honest & helpful people. A big thankyou to you all. Char & don more

Travis explained everything that he did, and the operation of the unit. He also stated the aspects of what we might expect from the unit. He finished in a timely manner, cleaned the area in that vicinity of the furnace. He is very friendly and knowledgeable, an excellent employee of your company. more

I had a new furnace installed today and the air conditioning inspected and cleaning. The Penning crew arrived on time, were very friendly and completed their work efficiently. They gave me a full briefing on the operation of the new system and the new thermostat that drives the whole deal! Furthermore, they left the house and basement area clean and without any clutter whatsoever. I have recommended Penning many times over the years, and certainly will continue to do so given my experience today! more

I had a new furnace and air conditioner installed by Penning Plumbing Heating & Cooling last week. Everything went fine. I made sure to be there when they were working, but they told me that it was not necessary. They came first thing Wednesday morning, like they said, and worked all day. The air conditioner was working by that evening so that we could have air for the night. Thursday they came to finish the heating portion of the job. The technicians, Steve and Jake, worked in the basement the whole time and were so quiet. They were measuring and cutting to make sure everything fit. They made noise when they had to, but they were very respectful of our house. They did a great job with the installation. It is very clean, and it fits in nicely. They also did excellent clean up. Penning Plumbing talked me through everything. They explained and showed me the entire system and asked if I wanted to see the ways it worked. They explained the automatic thermostat to me, and ran through how to work everything. They went far above and beyond what I was expecting. One of the extra things that Penning Plumbing does is tag all my shut off valves. Steve and Jake went through my water shut off and gas shut off valves and put tags describing how to turn them off. Even though I already know how to do all of it, it is a great precaution to have if someone other than me has to turn them off quickly. It was something they do that is pretty cool. I got several quotes, but was recommended to Penning by my father-in-law. They were not the cheapest quote, but they were also not the most expensive. I have no regrets about using Penning Plumbing for this work. more