Accurate Baker Elman

Ellen S.

we were having a heating problem, and the plumber who came resolved it. He and his helper were polite and friendly. They thought there might be another problem also, but waited until it resolved itself. The charges for the work were reasonable, and we will certainly use them again if we have a plumbing issue.

Fred S.

Called them because my pipes started banging periodically around my furnace. They came out and placed foam rubber around where the pipes were banging. Cost $140 for the service and did nothing to find the source of the banging which continued (only quieter). I then called Devaney, who sent someone out who immediately diagnosed the issue which was a malfunctioning sensor, which he replaced as well as a leaking expansion tank and a new auto vent. It's working perfectly now. I've been a customer of Accurate Baker Elman for over 15 years. They refused to refund the $140. Offered a 10% discount on my next service call. There won't be one with them.

Andrew R.

The culture of this company has definitely changed. They used to be reasonably priced with good service. As far as I can tell, they still do good work but now it feels like they try to rip you for as much $$ as possible. I had them come out to fix two running toilets. He looked at them and quoted me $750. I was appalled. He said it was two fill valves, two flappers and the $165 inspection fee. They were going to charge an inspection fee on top of the work. I understand charging the fee if I decided not to do anything but to charge it on top of the work is nuts. I talked him down to $380 which is more reasonable but still seems a bit expensive for a job that took two guys less than an hour.

Time to find a new plumber.

L S.

I don't know how to score the stars because the work was fine, but the prices were crazy. Is this what things cost nowadays, or were we taken advantage of? We had three faucets to replace, and we already purchased the faucets. everything pretty straightforward. What would you expect it to cost, maybe $150-$200 per faucet? Try doubling or tripling that! The total price was $1300 which they discounted to $1151 by selling us a ""membership"". Two men were here for under two hours, and all materials were supplied by us. So more than $575/hr for the two of them. Our fault for not asking for a quote in advance? (But Patty K's review below indicates that wouldn't have helped,) We just expected a local company to be reasonable...

Sandra F.

My hot water tank went at 10 am this morning. I definitely didn't think I could get anybody to come out quickly as I imagined all the plumbers were busy with frozen pipes. Within 30 minutes a plumber arrived, gave me an estimate and by 4 pm they had replaced my heater and some of the pipes. I couldn't imagine getting better service- Baker Elman you are the BEST!!!

Patty K.

Ever since Baker-Elman Plumbing joined with Accurate Heating (they are now called Accurate Baker Elman) they have devolved enough to lose me as a customer. When my dishwasher started leaking I called them to find out how much it would cost to look at. I was quoted $175. The plumber came, looked under the dishwasher and also looked up at the pipes from the basement. Total time spend was about 15 minutes. He told me we needed to replace the dishwasher. Fair enough. Then he asked for payment of $275! I told him I was quoted $175. He said he couldn't leave without getting paid $275, and that the extra $100 was for driving to my house--which is in the middle of Newton! The very reason I originally got a quote in advance was to avoid hidden charges. He said he understood why I was unhappy, but that I should complain to the office -- his job was to collect that payment. I complained to the office, and they eventually agreed to reimburse the unexpected (and unwarranted) $100 charge after I told them that I would write a bad review about my experience if they didn't. I'm still waiting for that reimbursement several months later. Hence this review.

Wayne C.

I just had my faucet replaced. The technician was David. Very knowledgeable. The work was very quickly done. I would highly recommend them, especially David M.

Stephanie K.

They are overpriced. Most plumbing services charge $180 and hour. They charged $550 an hour to flush and clean our furnace but never fixed the problem of a delayed kicking on.I will never use them again.

Maria V.

Dishonest company that wanted to sell me a completely new heating system on the lie that my boiler was irreparably broken. Ion came out for an emergency visit over a weekend when we had no hot water and was able to tell me the system was in bad need of a cleaning as it was overrun with soot. I paid for the emergency visit, and was grateful to have the assurance we were not in danger, but no actual work was done. Ion then no showed on the scheduled appointment time the following Monday, and I had to call the office, where it was confirmed that my visit was never added to the calendar.. I am giving 2 stars because the ladies I spoke to in the office - Kathleen and Lisa - were courteous, patient and lovely to deal with. Ion finally came out Tuesday, with one other person. He started to vacuum the boiler and quickly brought me over to show me white specks in the soot, explaining that these were ""shards of metal from what has to be a broken heat exchanger"" and said he will see what they find when they complete the cleaning. I gave them space to work. In about 90 minutes, the techs tried to turn on the boiler and it released smoke again. At that point, they came upstairs and told me that there was nothing else that could be done for the boiler and a complete heating system replacement was my only option. I asked if Ion was 100% sure and clarified if this was due to a cracked heat exchanger, and Ion confirmed it. Within minutes, he was measuring spaces in the wall and telling me about forced air system options and the rebates and financing I could receive from MassSave. If Ion would have followed up with the estimate that night, like he said he would, it would have been likely that I would have hired Affiliate Baker Ellman to do the work right away - that is how desperate I was to get hot water back. I am a single mom, it is COVID times and one of my children is too young for the vaccine. Ion and I talked about these factors, and he seemed sympathetic, but also quick to take advantage. Fast forward 2 days, Ion still had failed to provide any written estimates, and I had done my own research and was ready to move forward with a propane install. I called a different HVAC co and instead of just proceeding with giving me an estimate for propane install, the technician got curious about the boiler and after looking at it, confirmed that the heat exchanger was indeed intact, and that the cleaning that was done by Affiliate Baker Ellman was only partially done. The system was still filthy (pics attached) and I had paid Baker Ellman a total of $600 to date. Worse, the heat exchanger info was blatantly incorrect, because it was explained to me by the other tech that in the case of this, water would be leaking from the boiler, and Ion never even turned the water off. I tried to speak to Affiliate Baker Ellman and request a refund of the non-emergency visit, but was ultimately mansplained and talked over by the supervisor there, who basically denied that the heat exchanger info was communicated as it was, as if he was here when it happened, or a homeowner like me with no knowledge around HVAC would be able to make up a story about a heat exchanger. I am disputing the charge with my bank and have a complaint on file with the Attorney General's office. Please be careful and check in on any older folks and single moms you know - companies are taking advantage!!!

Update: another HVAC company completed the cleaning and successfully fixed the issue!! I will be working with them exclusively going forward.

Robyn C.

Great experience. The person who answered the phone provided great customer service. She smartly had me take a photo of our toilet so the plumber would have the right parts for the service call. I was scheduled for a same-day visit, and they had an earlier time available so a plumber was here within 2 hours after my phone call. The plumber was professional. The price seemed totally reasonable. Thrilled with the entire experience.