Braconier

Vivien M.

In August, my tenant reported that the HVAC was blowing air (fan was on) even when the thermostat was turned off. I booked Braconier for HVAC help on the recommendation of my building management, who said that Braconier had done a ton of work in our building and was familiar with our HVAC systems. I was asked if I wanted to authorize the technician to proceed with work carte blanche no matter the cost (without authorizing with me first) and I asked that the technician call me for anything over $300. I think this is a fair request so that I could get an understanding of what was necessary and approve the work before dropping so much money. When the tech arrived, he told me that he couldn't access the HVAC and would have to cut into the ceiling of my home to even diagnose it. At this point, he couldn't tell me what was wrong, and said he had to damage the physical structure just to tell me what was wrong. I was distraught and asked him to explain why it had to be done, what he was going to do (how big the hole would need to be??), and how much it would cost (I live out of state and wanted to understand the impact and cost as the rightful owner of the home). The tech became combative and demanded that I tell him what to do, even though I was merely asking to understand the scope of work and what it would cost me. He raised his voice at me and became impatient, and I asked him if it would be possible instead to just write what he planned to do and the cost in an email. He spent 30 minutes allegedly composing this email on his phone but ""couldn't get it to send because of bad signal."" When I finally got the email, it was four sentences stating exactly what he'd said on the phone but still no cost. He was just asking that I let him cut into my ceiling with no cost estimate whatsoever. At this point, I obliged because I felt completely helpless and I was led to believe I didn't have a choice. Five minutes later, he calls and tells me he got called to go to another job and had to leave (less than 1 hour into my appointment), so I would be charged ANOTHER minimum $200 for a second trip later on in the week. The first trip also cost me 2 hours of ""labor"" because Braconier charges you for commute time between jobs, even though he was only onsite for an hour and 30 minutes was spent trying to send me an email from his phone. So if the tech is coming from another job far away, they charge you for his commute time (but won't tell you ahead of time where he's coming from...you just have to pay for it regardless). The summary of the second visit ""fix"" was basically cleaning up the wiring and putting everything back (after cutting into the ceiling). The total bill was over $1000 and I was told this was the end of my headache. It was not. I sold the apartment to my tenant and he was still having issues with HVAC so he called Braconier again. I forwarded him my service summary/statement so that he could reference it for any issues experience once he took over ownership. I was told by the new owner that when he referenced me and the prior work I paid them for (over $1000!!), they called me CHEAP. What the fuck? 1.) I paid IMMEDIATELY for the invoice and never complained to Braconier about the poor service or multiple visits that cost me an extra $230. 2.) How is it cheap to pay over $1000 and simply ask for a price quote and explanation of planned work (especially if it entails cutting a hole in my ceiling?!) 3.) What kind of dirtbag business criticizes paying customers to OTHER paying customers?! That is beyond unprofessional and unforgivable. I am recommending to the HOA that Braconier not be used going forward.

Jesse L.

The maintenance guy Steve was a extremely nice too bad he works for a horrible company. His boss Art Wilson and their customer service rep Tasha lack good work etiquette. The previous owner paid over $1,000 to make repairs to the HVAC. Less than 43 days later the system did not and was charged $596 to have them come out and replace the thermostat. Being new to Denver I don't know any maintenance company and figured they would work with me given what the previous owner paid for the same issue. Horrible experience. Horrible customer service. The only thing good about them was the kindness of Steve. Too bad he works for such a horrible company. Never again. I will remove their business card from my building lobby and place a warning sign to not be used again.

Chelsea R.

These plumbers do not really know what they are doing. They are anxious to rip things apart without doing any sort of detective work to find the problem. I had to point out where I think the problem may be. Then, when they didn't even do a proper temporary fix, they didn't warranty their work and wanted to charge me time and a half for the weekend. I was very disappointed. They just don't know what they are doing!

Please steer clear.

Sarah I.

At the advice of my elderly neighbor I called to have this company look at my broken sprinkler valve. I was told that they charged at minimum of $120.00 to even come and look at my problem plus another $120.00 an hour to travel. When I inquired about what the average travel time for their technicians was they stated at least half an hour, for a charge of $60.00 or even as much as $120.00 if they were coming from someplace as far away as Evergreen, plus another hourly fee to obtain parts, extra equipment etc. When I balked at the minimum price of $300.00-$360.00 to even get started on my job I was told this was STANDARD. I think not. I will NEVER hire these people

Jack R.

We have had a new furnace and a tankless hot water heater put in by Braconier. They did a great job. They have great products, highly trained people, and great service at reasonable prices. We are very pleased with all our dealings with them. I highly recommend them!

Peter S.

If you would rather not be gouged shop around.

We have a 7 year old York furnace installed by Braconier for $3850.

The blower fan and circuit board went out this year. Diagnosis was either the installation should have been elevated, moisture due to. Coils freezing or motor wore out.

Total cost for parts and labor to repair $2500 . $3800 for the complete unit versus $2500 for a motor and circuit board?

Every part was marked up by 50% and every minut was charged for whether it was for travel, pick up of parts or talking on the phone for instructions. $105 per hour charge.

We will not use them again.

A R.

Furnace went out on Weds, technician arrives Thurs. Was informed the part was not available, but they would order it. Informed I would have to wait until following Monday for the part to arrive in a 10AM truck and that they would call and schedule an appointment for that day to install it in the morning. No call. I called them back ""oh, our system shows that you have an appointment now Tuesday from 10-12 to get the part installed"". ""What happened to Monday?"" ""Must have been missed communication?""

Tuesday 11:45, no call, no show yet. I call again to verify the 10-12 window that I'm sitting home waiting for ""oh, sorry, I was just about to call you, the part isn't in yet."" ""Ok, when will the install be?"" ""We'll call and give you an update when the part arrives"" ""Ok, would have been nice to know it wasn't being installed today"".

Called another company in town, they called a few different suppliers for me, got right back to me, and scheduled an 8:30 appointment for the next day. I called Braconier and told them to cancel any future appointment to have the parts installed. Save yourself the run around of poor customer service and being blown off and go with someone else who is willing to put in even the slightest effort to earn your business.

Jacob G.

Braconier are a bunch of Scumbag Theives!!! This company is a huge scam. They may do good work but their prices are WAY, WAY, WAY TOO HIGH!. If you get what you pay for then they must have installed all gold pipes and fixtures in my boiler.

I have a hydronic heating system and the boiler was making a funny noise. I diagnosed the problem as a bad TACO pump. After confirming my diagnosis the technician drained the system, went to get a new pump, replaced the pump and installed a valve to separate the pump from the rest of the system so it wouldn't have to be drained next time a pump goes out. After 4 hours - only 2 of those were actually spent working, the rest of the time he was talking on the phone while the system drained and driving to get the pump - I got a bill for almost $1100 dollars!!

$1100 dollars to replace a pump that retails at a store 15 min from my house for $150. After questioning the technician about this ridiculous bill, it turned out that they were charging me $500 for the pump that costs $150, $50 for the valve and $500 in labor ($100 for them to come out plus the 4 hours of ""work."" The technician said I should talk to his boss. So I did.

The manager at Braconier explained to me that they actually paid $300 for the pump and then charged me $500 and that he couldn't just change the bill for everyone who called to complain (clearly it happens alot). After arguing with him for 1/2 hour, he eventually took $50 off the bill, essentially just to get me off the phone.

I talked to another plumber about this and he said he wouldn't have charged more than $500 for the whole job and that they bring that they keep that same model of taco pump on their truck all winter because they are such a frequent problem. Every time I go into my laundry room and see the boiler I get fuming mad about this. I am glad to have heat as it is 2 degrees outside, but I would really like to have the $500 those scumbags took!

If you have a problem don't call Braconier, call anyone else!

Mortimer L.

THIEVES AND LIARS...
We called for maintenance on a water fountain pump that was making a lot of noise. After standing us up two days in a row, they finally sent out a technician who reached into the fountain and pulled out a dollar bill that had got sucked up against the intake valve. Then he gave us a bill for $200! When I called to ask why we were charged so much, they gave me the run around for two more days, promising to call me back and failing to do so. When I finally spoke with a manager and told him that I had been charged two hours labor for what took ten minutes, he told me that the technician had a GPS unit that showed he was at our store for two hours. When I told him that he wasn't even here for 20 mins the guy said, ""GPS doesn't lie,"" obviously suggesting that I do. When I told him that unless we were given a break on this bill, we would be using a different plumber in the future, he said, ""That's fine,"" and hung up. Braconier is run by rude, lying, unreliable thieves, if you ask me. Anyone else would likely be a better choice.

Tim C.

I called these guys to install a gas line shut off valve since my home from the 1890's did not have one. I told them on the phone exactly what the job was and that they would need to bring a pipe threader. Guy shows up without one and has to drive from NE Denver to SW Denver to his shop to get the equipment and stops to get parts on the way back. While he is doing this I am paying almost $80/hr in labor costs. I live less than 15 minutes from a home depot, if he had brought the necessary equipment this job would have been done in a lot less time, but why would they want to do that, right? I ended up paying a little over $400 for something where he was only actively working for an hour! Then retreated to his truck for 30 minutes to do paperwork. I was happy with the work that was done, but the business practices that this company employs should be a RED FLAG to all customers! I called their office and talked to a manager who felt that customer satisfaction was not all that important to them.