James A Wheat & Sons

This review of James a. Wheat is PREEMPTIVE because they have not performed the service yet. So, I will be updating, accurately, after the service is performed.
We have been a customer of JAW for years. We have had several *expensive* pieces of work done, including the replacement of our hvac unit. Recently, our AC stopped working. I called before a holiday weekend and they suggested that we get the repair done on Tuesday, May 31, 2016 to avoid overtime charges on the weekend. Sounds great, I can live with some discomfort for a couple of days.
The scheduler said she would call Saturday to narrow the arrival time down because it was Friday and she didn’t have the calendar in front of her. No problem, I said, and made sure she had my cell phone and my wife’s cell because we no longer have a house phone (who does??) She asked which she should use and I said mine.
So far, no call on either. I suspect that we will ‘need to be rescheduled’ for some reason other than the scheduler just didn’t call. I’m hopeful that Michael Wheat will make sure were scheduled tomorrow.
In any case, I will Unilocal about what happens next. You can see from my reviews of restaurants and service that I’m honest and fair.
Tune in tomorrow Unilocal viewers…

UPDATE:
I am adding a star because they called after I posted my review to try to make things right. They said that the technician had used the wrong code and the price should have been $ 226. I had already submitted a complaint via AMEX since they have a dispute resolution process and I felt that Wheat & Sons and I had reached an impasse. The company offered to lower the price to $ 200 (my previous price ceiling) and eventually lowered it to $ 125 — the service call fee. I appreciate the effort, so I am updating to add a star, even though their explanation of why they called back and why the price was in error were inconsistent with previous discussions we had. In summary, I appreciate the callback and price adjustment. Do I think it would have happened without my Unilocal review? Absolutely not. Did this whole process feel like buying a used car. Absolutely so.

STEER CLEAR! I called this company to fix my furnace after finding them listed in the Montgomery County Best Pick Reports. I was able to get an appointment pretty easily and they arrived on time. The technician they sent was unbelievably rude — something about me needing to make myself useful and making dinner for my husband. He didn’t listen to a single word I said when I described the problem and seemed pretty clueless. Then he tried to tell me I needed to buy a new furnace because mine was built in 2003. He insisted this was the case even though a serial number search on the furnace showed that it was manufactured in 2010. He finally diagnosed the problem as a faulty circuit board and I asked him to order it. 5 days later, still no circuit board. When I called the office they told me it wasn’t in and it wasn’t possible to provide an ETA. Then, without calling me to tell me the part was in, without scheduling a time to come back, they just showed up at my house to do the repair when no one was home. And they had the nerve to be angry that no one was there to let them in. In the end I went with another company to do the work and threw away $ 125 and spent an entire week without heat thanks to this one.
Update based on Mr. Wheat’s response: I have no reason to fabricate the facts listed here and neither do the other customers whose negative reviews you’ve disputed. The events and details you’ve provided below are untrue. I can only imagine that your employees have given you incorrect information. At the end of the day, all I wanted was to pay your company to provide a service. Whatever reason could I have to wait a week and a half with no heat only to start over with another company? Frankly, if you were as quick to monitor your staff and their service levels as you are to dispute negative reviews, something tells me you’d have far fewer negative reviews.

Beware!!! These guys are extremely over priced and want to charge $ 450 for a $ 30 part and the. $ 800-​$ 1200 for a $ 70 dollar part. They sent 2 techs out and after 3 hours and calling other techs they said they were not sure what was wrong and would like to have a senior tech come and see what he can do. Stay away from these guys or be prepared to part with lots and lots of money. A check of a gas fireplace basically ended with a recommendation to replace the entire thing. Price gouging cheats

UNPROFESSIONAL to the point of downright dishonesty. Wildly overpriced for an very poor experience. This was my first and last time using them.
It started out fine – the guy who came to give me an estimate was on time, courteous and confidence-​inspiring. Then came the actual day of installation and the technician showed up almost an hour late past the outer limit of his estimated time frame. (He was supposed to arrive between 9 – 10, showed up closed to 11am.) With barely an apology for his lateness, he slowly began his work.
About two and a half hours later, I asked how much longer it would take. He told me he needed all day. I told him that I’d asked repeatedly how long it would take in advance of the job, and I was told by those on the phone (and the guy who’d given me the estimate) that it would only take about two hours. I was really distressed by this discrepancy because I had not planned to be available all day, but he’d pulled out my washing machine and dryer and the place was a mess; I needed to leave soon for work. He angrily said «i’m doing the best I can.» Please note there was no problem in my home he’d run into. He just seemed to be an incredibly slow worker, and/​or I’d been lied to about how long a standard installation takes. No apology on his part for this disconnect.
I had to reschedule another time for him to come out and my boyfriend was nice enough to wait this time around because I could not be available. The technician said he would be done by 12 but it took until after 1pm. I was there when he arrived and he was rude as ever. He didn’t move the washing machine and dryer back into a useable position once he finished the job; my boyfriend did that for me later because I’m not strong enough. He also left out a slew of items that had been alongside the washer like an ironing board, mop, etc. So no cleaning up after himself yet again.
The total for this work was over $ 2000 – not an insubstantial sum. The company already knew the technician was late and knew he had to make a second trip out after not finishing in the allotted time frame the first time around. They were apparently totally ok with this and never reached out to me with an apology or offer of a discount to reflect the inconvenience and stress.
I called to complain and was told the owner would be contacted about the possibility of a refund. When I called back two days later and talked to the same woman, she made me retail the entire story because she apparently had no recollection of our previous conversation which, again, had just happened about 48 hours ago, and clearly hadn’t talked to anyone about it or taken notes to keep with the account. Who’s running this joke of a company? This time around, probably sensing I would just keep calling until someone seemed ready to take some responsibility for their screw ups, she finally got another woman on the phone. This woman managed to at least be sympathetic to my experience, which no one else had done, but the best she would offer me was a free service agreement for a year. Do I want your late, surly servicemen showing up to check my fully functional units and potentially try to talk me into spending another 2k with you? Heck no!
They have a lot to learn about customer service and having experienced what is apparently the best of what they can offer, I can say they are outrageously overpriced. Look elsewhere and save yourself some money and frustration.

I have been on their HVAC Eagle Maintenance plan for several years and I have have a really good experience. Eugene, our regular technician is really nice and keeps our older system running well.

This is the second time that I have had Justin out for plumbing issues. He is knowledgable, courteous and inspires trust. I found Wheat through Angie’s List. I used an Angie’s List coupon last time and found a Unilocal coupon this time. He honored it as well. A little expensive, but no eye rolling or disrespect. I would recommend them to anyone who needs a plumber.

Do not use under any circumstances. This business is predatory.
They took advantage of my family, pressure selling my wife, who had just given birth a couple weeks ago and wasn’t mentally/​emotionally prepared for a business surprise, into signing a contract before she could call me or check prices. That resulted in overpaying by several hundred dollars for a mere sink installation.
I’d also like to point out that I’ve NEVER seen a business on Unilocal with such a high Filtered: Unfiltered review ratio. They probably know how bad they are and try to fabricate Unilocal reviews and make themselves look better.

I needed a shut off valve installed in back of my new refrigerator which home depot insisted I get done. I called up James A Wheat & Sons and scheduled an appointment with them. I was impressed 1^st off by they’re customer service. I was emailed a confirmation of the date and time of the appointment which was great because apparently other plumbing/​contractor company’s don’t (my experience).
Justin came over and immediately knew what had to be done. It took him 2hrs and some change to complete my request. He was very knowledgeable and the pricing was fair. I would most definitely call them again for assistance in the future.

This company is the biggest waste of time I have seen in a long time. Had a guy out this weekend — he was nice. I asked him to replace an elbow joint and two pieces of copper piping that were approximately 2−3″ long. Also wanted a toilet uninstalled and a new one (which we already had here ready to go). $ 861 with their «service contract.» without the service contract was «$ 6 less.»
Went to Home Depot, got all the supplies to do it ourselves for $ 112.00.
WASTE OF TIME. Do not call them. They will try to rip you off.

Outrageously expensive. They quoted us at $ 600 for a job that another plumber charged only $ 300 for. Don’t waste your time.

My tenant texted me that upon their return from a few days away that the heat wasn’t coming on at all. Argh! Took a quick google search and saw that there was a Unilocal deal for $ 25 off for a «future service call/​work order».
It was Sat. morning and I was dreading the endless calls to answering serivces. Not AT ALL… Donna picked up the phone and was as pleasant as can be!
As you can imagine, it would be a little more and the time window would be a little longer. It’s the weekend… remember?
«Keith» called me a little later in the day to let me know that he was on route. Bottom line: Heat’s on and my tenant’s happy…
As a landlord, that’s all I need to say…

Jon came out to make our gas fireplace new again and he did exactly that. Thank you for showing up on time, not making a mess and making our fireplace work properly.

James A. Wheat isn’t the cheapest option but their service is excellent and responsive. We personally love their technician John who is able to do our gas fireplace inspection and rehab and meet our plumbing inspection and repair needs too. Try to get first appointment of the day so you can count on a reliable arrival time. Otherwise, they will call ahead as the tech is headed your way!

I started using James A Wheat & Sons after receiving a recommendation from a friend. This is my first home and it was sold «as-​is». The HVAC system was not functional and I contacted James A Wheat & Sons for an assessment. They conducted a full assessment, checking the existing system, lines, and compressor. They gave me advice on different units and options. I ended up having to purchase a new compressor which has been functioning great! I also signed up for the Eagle Service Agreement which includes 2 checkups each year, once for the AC and one for heat. It was really useful when the compressor stopped working on evening in the winter and they came out the next morning to troubleshoot what turned out to be a blown fuse. I like that they are always prompt, courteous, and professional. We don’t wear shoes in our house and the technicians always wear covers on their shoes, which keeps my house clean. Sometimes, it really is the little things.

To put it all in a nutshell. We bought a very expensive HVAC unit with this company and they did a full installation. It was supposed to be top of the line, hi-​tech, etc. Two months ago they had to come by for a repair because a hose broke and started flooding my basement with water. As of right now its 85 degrees in my house and my Air Con is blowing warm air instead of nice, cold, air conditioning air. This is a fairly new unit! And it will probably be a week or so more until I can get an appointment, like last time. Shop somewhere else while I wither away in misery.

The technician was nice, knowledgeable, and clean. While it was a bit more than I expected, it was worth the money. I would use them in the future.

I call Wheat & Sons today because I need to have a gas line run for my new stove. I also need a dishwasher hooked up and… my living room wall heater went out last week. ugh… I called Wheat & Sons, when the man answered I told him I needed an older model GE Wall Heat and Air unit repaired or replaced. He replied «Uh…» and then put me on hold… I waited 4… yes 4 minutes… no one ever picked up…
Does anyone have a good HVAC/​Plumber in this town???

I’ve used James A Wheat & Sons for years for my HVAC needs. Always friendly and professional.
Last year I had a plumbing leak. When I called the company that I had a plumbing contract with for 8 years, I got the run around that it was a weekend, etc — what’s the point!
In desperation and with water leaking, I called James A Wheat. They dispatched someone and took care of it — what a relief.
It might feel like a «racket» to get a plumbing contract, ie annual inspection, but given it bumps me to the front of the service line, provides a discount on services, AND with a 60+year old house, it’s peace of mind to have reliable service.

I have known Mike and his father for years. These guys are just the best. They go above and beyond for me every time. I needed a toilet replaced asap, they did it right and the cost was very reasonable. I had them install my air conditioning three years ago and I have had not one problem with it. I have a eagle maintenance contract with them that protects me from expensive repairs for HVAC and plumbing. I will continue to trust Mike and his crew with my HVAC and plumbing for as long as they are around. Thanks Mike!