We hired them to install a gas fireplace insert, because they had a competitive price, they'd been in business 30 years and their sales and installation managers impressed us. But God were we disappointed! Installation was supposed to take a day, but it turned into a two-week ordeal.
The day of the install, I came home and found that a) there was no faceplate or doors on the gas insert, because they hadn't fit properly, and b) the basement was filled with gas. H&H had caused a gas leak and left without alerting us or fixing it. I called the store, and I was told they'd be out the NEXT MORNING! We had to break a window in the basement to get ventilation and called the gas company (PSE) in the meantime. When PSE arrived, we were told we were being "red-tagged" because we didn't have a city or county permit for the new gas piping. H&H had never even mentioned the need for a permit. PSE turned our gas off, locked the meter and left. We had no stove, dryer, hot water or heat that night.
H&H arrived the next morning - never apologized for endangering our lives or for the lack of permitting - and then had to uninstall the new (illegal) gas line in order for our gas to be turned back on. That was the second day that one of us had to take off work. While they were there H&H failed to properly re-light the pilot light (and then refused to wait and verify the furnace was working), so we went a second night without heat and had to get PSE out again the next day to light it properly.
That was the third day we had to take off - waiting for PSE to fix H&H's problem and also waiting for the modified faceplate to be installed. The faceplate still didn't fit quite right, so the rep said he'd make a new bottom plate and would call us to arrange yet another visit to install it. In the meantime, the permits took about ten days.
The installers finally came again on a Saturday morning to re-install the gas line and left in a hurry because they both said they each had to leave for personal road trips. The next Monday, I again took a day off work (day four) to meet up with the installer and wait for the city and county inspectors. That day, the H&H rep admitted to me that none of the employees of H&H had a license to install gas piping, and that they all just used the license # of a former employee! When he left for his long lunch (right before the county inspector arrived), he asked me to jump start the company truck, which sat dead in our driveway.
It's been three weeks now, and the faceplate still isn't fixed... but I don't plan to call them again. When I last spoke to the sales manager, he refused to refund any of my money for the troubles they'd put us through. Instead he told me I was lucky I wasn't being charged for the extra trips. I should have listened to everyone's advice and hired Sutter Home and Hearth instead - it would have definitely been worth the extra money!
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