Banks Quarles Plumbing Heating Cooling & Electrical

W P.

BanksQuarles...Plumber Jim G....nice work Jim. Explained the services required and was very indepth.

Helen R.

If I could give less than one star, I would. I called them Saturday Morning at 10 am to get a plumber dispatched. I was told I was next in line, and it should be about 2 hours. 2 1/2 hours later, no call, no show. I called back and I was again told I was next in line and the plumber had been held over but should be able to finish and be with me in about 2 hours. 3 1/2 hours later I actually received the ONLY call from them. They were sorry but the plumber was still at the previous call. Hopefully, he would soon finish and be on his way to me. 3 hours later I called, the dispatcher said she had not heard from the Plumber, but would check and call me right back. THEY NEVER CALLED BACK. Needless to say, I will not be recommending Banks Quarles or AUX to anyone. I understand busy, but as I am in the service business also, the inability to communicate to your customer who is waiting, and waiting and waiting, is unacceptable. I called a different company the next morning (because Banks Quarles wouldn't answer the phone) The other company was at my home in less than 2 hours and resolved my issue!

Kelly C.

With a forecast high of 97 degrees and an air conditioner that was running, but not blowing cold air, I gave Banks Quarles a call this morning on the basis of their billboards and the fact that I had seen their truck in our neighborhood (new in town, so little else to go on). Someone picked up right away, took my information, said it would be $49.95 for the service call, and told me that dispatch would be in touch about scheduling. Dispatch called about 2 hours later to confirm sometime in the afternoon, and mid-afternoon to tell me that the technician was on the way. Though the original person took my email address and told me that they would email me the name and bio of the technician, I don't seem to have received that...and I'm still in the dark as to why I would need or want it anyway. I was not at home, but the husband reported that Greg diagnosed a bad capacitor and quoted $368.10 (plus service call) to replace it. When the husband objected to such a high price, he quoted $312.83 for the """"value"""" part, but told him that they do not break out parts and labor in the quote. Which...what?! Even car mechanics tell you how much is parts and how much is labor! When the husband then told him to leave, as he would fix it himself, and tried to pay cash for the service call fee -- since he had Googled the part and seen it listed for approximately $20 -- Greg did not have change, so he had to write a check instead. Here's the best part: The husband purchased the necessary capacitor at a local supply store for $17.94 and it took him five minutes to swap it out. So, why it was going to cost over $400 (including service call fee) to put in that part, I do not know, but it seems like someone was intending to make a killing on this job. And the husband is *livid*. In short, if you want to be robbed blind, please, call Banks Quarles. Otherwise, stay far away!

Jonathan N.

I should've written a review about a year ago when I first entrusted Jim Goree at Banks Quarles for my home plumbing needs, but I needed his services again today and better late than never, right? Jim does a great job and tells you truth with best and worst case scenarios which is appreciated. I told him today that the people that answer the calls are very friendly as well, which is rare this day and age. Wow, you'd think I work for them or something, but I don't, they just so a good job.

Jeff A.

Brent R. completed our regular service check and as always Banks Quarles was quick, informed and efficient.

Chris B.

Called Banks Quarles Wednesday morning as I had a slab leak with water coming up in the kitchen floor. Was promised they would be there Friday. About noon on Friday they had not come and I started to worry. I called and was told all """"Techs"""" were busy. Long story short, no one showed, nor did they bother to give me a call. I had to wait till Monday morning to get another plumber who showed up on time and is in the process of making repairs. Do not let the fancy advertisement on TV and the internet fool you. Don't use this company. If there lips are moving they are lying. H.R. Sw

Margaret W.

If I could have assigned zero stars and still left a review, I would have. I would like others to know about this company's pricing structure. I believe it results in grossly overcharging customers for the work performed. The company works off of a fixed price structure where each particular type of repair is associated with a total cost charged to the customer. They refuse to provide a breakdown between parts and labor. They offer a discount on parts (""""preferred pricing"""") if a customer pays extra to enter into a maintenance agreement. The least expensive maintenance agreement is currently $169/year for two HVAC checkups per year. In spite of calling this a discount on parts, the company still won't tell you what they're actually charging for the part. In order to provide a point of reference with amounts, I paid the company $484.62 to replace the contactor in my HVAC unit. That price included a $49.95 service call fee (this amount was provided by the telephone operator who initially set up the service call with me). Taking out the service fee, the remainder is $434.67. I have since learned that the RETAIL cost of a contactor is somewhere between $8-15. I can only assume the rest of their price is meant to cover labor. The job at my house took the repair technician no more than an hour to complete (and that is being very generous) so that is quite a steep hourly rate. I'm pretty sure I could hire a top notch attorney to be on speed dial for $435/hour. I asked a different HVAC professional in town for an estimate of what they would charge to do this same repair job and was told around $100, possibly a little more since the work was completed after normal business hours on a Saturday afternoon (no more than $150). The service technician for Banks Quarles stressed the urgency of making the repair right away in order to get the unit working properly again. Considering the near 100-degree heat we're currently experiencing in Alabama, and the fact that it was the weekend, I felt I had no choice but to make the repair as recommended by this company. I believe the price charged for my repair job was extravagant and I will never use this company again. Furthermore, I will warn anyone else who asks for an HVAC recommendation to avoid Banks Quarles at all costs.

Charles C.

Twice cancelled a scheduled appointment because other people needed service. I was a first time customer and will never use them

Vernell S.

Let me start by saying that I know this is a long post but I wanted to share the full story. This was my experience with Banks and Quarles from a few years ago. I have friends who have dealt with them recently and had the exact same experience--they haven't changed. Trash like BQ give honest, hard-working contractors a bad name! Long story short, the drain on our patio was clogged and it was causing water to back up and flood into the back door. We called Banks Quarles out to try and unclog it with their fancy plumber tools. The plumber, Matthew Howton, arrived and took a cursory look at the drain before announcing, """"I can't use our machine on that drain because it's corrugated pipe and the machine will destroy the pipe and cause the problem to become worse. You're going to need an entirely new drain. We will use PVC pipe and it will cost you $2,500.00."""" Well, obviously, I didn't have $2,500.00 laying around the house. So, I told him I would have to talk to my husband and call them back. Oh, and keep in mind, I had to pay them $50.00 for them to come out to the house. So, I asked him to see if he could figure out where the drain actually ended. He wandered around the yard for a bit and told me he didn't know. Then, as he was charging me $50.00 for his useless service, he tried to hard sell me a $250.00 yearly """"preventative maintenance"""" contract to check my plumbing and electrical systems. I said no. So! I call Chris (my husband), and he calls Roto Rooter. They come out and look at the pipe and say, """"No, that's not corrugated. Yes, we're 100% sure it's not corrugated. You can use a drain unclogging machine on it, we'll charge you $300.00 for the service."""" So now, we have two entirely different opinions. Just to make sure that I'm not an idiot, I spend time looking up """"corrugated pipe"""" and then go outside to confirm for myself that the pipe is NOT corrugated. So, Chris goes and rents this pipe cleaner thing. It was a heavy, metal, coiled wire with a spinning thing on it. It wasn't unclogging the drain, though. Well, I noticed that I could feel the ground vibrating when he moved the wire back and forth, so I followed the vibrations to the drain's exit--which was on the other side of our fence and it just clogged with leaves. A rake and a hoe fixed the problem. So, yeah. Banks Quarles is a horribly dishonest company. That guy straight up LIED to my face in order to try and get me to agree to a $2,500.00 contract for service, and then tried to get me to agree to a yearly maintenance contract.

William M.

Had an appointment due to a serious water leak. Had no water coming in to our home. Appointment was for Monday around lunch. At 4pm I called and the office manager said she would call me right back. Of course she did not. Called at 5pm and there are closed. Great. Called the next morning and the """"forgot"""" to put us on the schedule. Worst customer service I have ever seen. I would fix myself before I would call these people.