Paul Bunyan Plumbing & Drains

We recently experienced a minor issue with our 2.5-year-old water heater while I was out of town. A small puddle had formed below the unit, and it was clearly due to a faulty blow-off valve, which is approximately a $30 retail part.

My wife contacted Paul Bunyan for service. Instead of focusing on the obvious problem, the technician repeatedly recommended a full water heater replacement, even though the unit is relatively new. During a FaceTime call, my wife showed me the situation, and I specifically requested that they replace only the valve.

Unfortunately, I did not ask for an estimate beforehand, assuming the repair would be around $120. After the work was done and paid for, I learned that we were charged $500 plus tax for a part that costs about $30 and takes roughly a minute to replace with a wrench. While the repair did resolve the issue, the pricing felt excessive.

What concerns me even more than the cost is the high-pressure tactic used on my wife. The technician attempted to persuade her that the unit might “explode and rocket” through our daughter’s room and continued to insist that the entire water heater needed to be replaced, which would have been around $5,000 and, in my opinion, completely unnecessary given the age and condition of the unit

Because of these alarming statements, my wife was extremely worried by the time I returned home. We subsequently hired a different company to perform a full inspection. They drained the water heater, inspected the runoff (which contained almost no contaminants), and checked the anode rod, which appeared nearly new. Their conclusion was that the water heater is functioning properly and there is absolutely no reason to replace the unit at this time.

Pronto Heating & Air Conditioning is a five star company. Matt White, service technician is a five star employee. Matt fixed the gas leak and also provided advice on a gas water heater not working. We ordered the part Matt identified as the issues. Matt returned and replaced the part. Again Matt went above and beyond the normal expectations. We will request his services if required in the future.

Dalton just got done with some work and he was incredible! He really put in work to make sure our drain was completely clean all the way to the main line while also being quite gentle since there were concerns about pipe integrity. I already do turn to them first, but this kind of work just keeps reinforcing why.