During my visit to Home Depot to price a water heater, I asked about installation services. I had a very busy day, and my existing heater had begun leaking badly overnight. I went into the garage that morning for find water everywhere! Since I didn't have time to wait, I decided to order installation. The helpful employee at HD called these folks, and I spoke with a woman that gave me a price of $1,199 over the phone. That was to include the heater and the labor, "but additional labor for "extras" was not included". That's where everything broke down.
When the installer arrived, he added around $400 to the bill citing that I must adhere to local building codes. My home is only seven years old, so I asked him when the codes changed since I had none of the "requirements" he says I needed. He actually told me that the codes pre-dated the construction of my house! So, I asked why it was that the builder got away with not doing any of these so-called mandatory items. Of course, he ran out of answers, but made me sign a waiver warning me that if I did not buy every item listed that I would be responsible when the city came out to inspect. I even had to pay $102.68 for a city permit on the spot.
Now, perhaps the permit is in line. I'm not sure. I did not have the time to fact check what was going on. I can certainly state it seemed to be a real hard sell.
The quality of the work was appropriate for the job at hand, and I ended up with no more than what I had 24 hours before: a 70 gallon heater with proper connections, strapping and diverted pressure relief. As for the extras he said I needed that I didn't have before, I guess I'll take my chances.
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