Empire Plumbing & Air Conditioning

Mitchell F.

We were convinced to become preferred customers at a monthly rate. They would check our a/c and water heaters and we would receive a preferred service rate with no night or weekend extra charges. We needed a new pressure relief valve on a water heater and called them the morning of 12/23 for an afternoon appointment. Not after hours. They would not quote a price on the phone. The job took about 20 minutes and the part was supposedly covered by the water heater warranty. Charged- $235+ which before tax is about $666/hour. The work was acceptable.
I would call around before paying over $600 an hour for plumbing labor and strongly advise anyone else not to start with this company. Especially if you are to become one of their ""preferred"" customers. Other companies typically charge $110-150 for the same work I was sad to find out afterwards.

Eric S.

I found a leak from the bottom of my 10 year old water heater yesterday. I knew enough that at that age, the tank liner was likely leaking and a new unit was needed. My google search turned up Empire. I called and the service tech got out promptly to inspect the unit. He confirmed that it needed replacement. However, his quote for everything was over $2,000 plus tax. A 15% discount on that if I signed up for a service plan. I paid him $31.14 for the service call and sent him on his way. I got ahold of someone today that wil provide the same for less than 700 all in.

To be clear, I have no issues with the guy who came out personally. It's the margin they wanted for the work.

Dann S.

Empire taught me that I'm the biggest sucker in the world...and it's a costly lesson.

We originally called them because our septic backed up and it was 11pm on a Sunday night. I thought I did my due diligence researching and finding a company that handles emergency repairs in the middle of the night.

The guy came out and fixed the problem and quoted me one price that was like without the service agreement and another price about $200 lower with a $16.50 service agreement for one year. I opted for the service agreement and paid about $375 for the plumbing (they snaked the line to unplug it). They also came out and checked my AC later in the week and said it was fine.

The next time they came out to check the AC they replaced the outside blower and added a kickstarter to the unit and charged me about $700. I just found out from my new AC guy that the blower would have been under warranty so they really took me on that job.

Next my plumbing backed up again but this time snaking it didn't work. They had to open up my back patio to replace a pipe and also had to have the septic pumped. Two guys did the job in about 6 hours, a subcontractor pumped the septic and the only part was a wide PVC like pipe. The final bill was just under $4000 and this didn't include patching the patio cement so now there's a giant 3'x1' hole with an exposed pipe in my patio. $1100 of this amount was for the septic to get pumped, about triple what I would have paid had I picked up the phone and called someone myself.

My advice to you, don't buy the service agreement and avoid Empire. And anyone that is saying that they saved a ton with all this preventative maintenance is just a big sucker like me. They come out twice a year to figure out what they need to sell you and replace things even if they're under warranty.

Allison B.

Don't recommend calling after regular hours because you will get a lower level of service according to the supervisor rep that came out the following day. We had someone come at 9:30 PM and ""fixed"" the issue and charging an arm and a leg only to realize that he just charged us money and didn't fix anything. Someone came out the next day and fixed the issue and gave us a discount (although I still think we got ripped off). Would not recommend after hours but were ok during normal business hours during the week.

Danny B.

During the recent unusually cold spell, I had an exterior water line freeze and burst on a Saturday morning. I called Empire, spoke to a pleasant male, and was given a 4-hour window for the after-hours service call. The technician missed his window, but I understood they were busy.

Upon arrival, the technician correctly diagnosed the problem, cut out two sections of copper pipe and installed replacements. Knowing we were due for another cold night, he advised we cover as much exposed pipe as possible, which we did. He also gave advice on leaving water dripping overnight, which I did.

I was charged $480 for the repair. A little high, but emergency service so I had no issue paying it.

The next day ... you guessed it ... pipes froze again and burst in a different spot despite following the given instructions. I called Empire back and as it happened the same technician was on another job right around the corner. He arrived in about 90 minutes, again diagnosed the problem correctly and told me he would fix it for ... another $380.

I balked. Now, I expected to pay for the service, but based on the totality of the above, had hoped to have it repaired for, say, the cost of parts plus the emergency service visit. I think that would have been fair for all. The company refused to reduce the price, so I declined the repair.

Fortunately, a friend was available to help. $18 worth of parts from Home Depot and about 40 minutes time, the issue was fixed.

Empire had the opportunity to make a lifelong customer by being fair. They chose to attempt to gouge me and take advantage of my problem. I will never again use any of their services.

A H.

I had a toilet that kept running so I called Empire. The plumber looked at the toilet and gave me an estimate to fix the problem, When he showed the cost to me I almost passed out. His first price quote was $387.00 to repair the problem. I have replaced toilets in the past, but had no time to replace this one. I checked on the cost of the parts to completely replace the toilet parts plus a new suppy line and a shutoff valve. It came up to $35.78. It looks like the labor to do this half hour project was around $350.00, which is not only ridiculous but probably illegal and a complete ripoff. I had them do the repair since it had to be done then but it was at a lower price.

However, NEVER will I use Empire again and anyone thinking of using them should consider an alternative, unless you want to get held up.

Janet W.

lost house on market then called to tell them not to bill us any longer for the policy we had and yet they continued to bill us for the last year. called today and was informed that we lost a years worth of payments to them plus we had a very rude lady on the phone

Amanda S.

Our A/C went out last night at about 11:00 pm. We didn't know who to call because, unfortunately, there aren't that many Yelp reviews for A/C places. (Get on it, Yelpers!)

We called this place because they are 24-hours. They told us it would be 2-3 am before they could arrive. My gut said to ""run"" then, but it was hot so we scheduled an appointment.

His estimate ranged between $400 and $1500, plus tax and the visit fee of $69. We were told that $69 was the only ""extra"" charge, no premium hourly work rate or anything.

He finally decided it was a $400 ""part"" and that our total would be $500+ with tax and the visit fee.

He installed it, it didn't run. Told my husband that if it didn't kick on in a ""couple hours"" he would be back and take the part and be on his way. He also said, again, that there was no price difference between 2 am and 8 or 9 am, so we let him do it.

He installed a $40 part. 40 bucks. 40 smackers. I Googled to the end of the earth, with the exact part number, this morning. From NY to Chicago to Arizona quotes online were $200-$250 OUT THE DOOR, installation, tax, etc.

I called the business (very small!!!!) this morning to see what they would be willing to do. I started nice and escalated from there. He was 100%, flat-out unwilling to listen, to care, to help. He kept citing their RIDICULOUS 90-day warranty (WOW!!!!) on the part, and stating that he was a certified technician that came out.

The question I have is this:

Do I care who your employees are?

The answer is: NO. You hired them. I assume whomever you send can do the job, from a trained CHIMP to an HVAC tech. WHATEVER.

This place will rob you blind and take no ownership.

I wish I could upload my receipt.

$340 - part
$69 - visit
$whatever - tax

Lexi S.

As someone who manages a rental property, I get pretty comfy with service companies. I called Empire when for my own residence last year for air conditioning problems. Essentially, the breaker kept kicking for problems that I finally found out a year later were purely a result of the breaker installation (not relevant) but Empire basically took our service fee, reset the breakers, and said it was due to inconsistent output from the AC unit and put a thingiemagie on there. All I know is that it cost $250+. It managed to control the problem until the end of the year by coincidence because it was the end of AC season and the AC was running infrequently. A year later, I found out it's an electrical problem on the breaker and the fix they made was necessary and didn't solve the problem. This is where my amnesia kicks in. I completely forgot about all of this/my dissatisfaction when I called them again 16 months after that fiasco for my rental property. There was a hot water heater leak and I needed someone to check it out/diagnose. They said we needed a new water heater (which we do) and quoted us over $1100. I did all this via phone from work because it's not my house and I had to remedy something quickly (while at work). For the life of me, I could not get the technician to stop selling me the service package (Which is how I finally remembered it was them! The company from a year before! They won't stop talking about the service package before giving you a quote!) and just give me the #$*(@#$ quote so I could make a decision (at work, on the phone) about how to proceed with the pricey fix. After interrupting and even having to be a little firm and rude, I finally got the price quote and let him know that No, I was NOT interested in the service package or what the water heater would cost me with the service package. I want to know what it will cost me. Today. By itself. Whew. So, I finally got the quote. Way too high. When I stated I thought it was high, I was again sold on how they could ""do it today"" and ""the service package will save me $120 dollars!"" Good day sir. Here's your $29.99 service fee. I'll call you tomorrow. No, no, I won't. I got Home Depot to do the sale of the heater, the install, and the take away of the old unit for $800. It's my own fault, really... the amnesia. My advice? Write down every service company you shouldn't use again... somewhere.

Walt P.

My a/c went out on 6/22/11, so we made a service call for the next morning. The technician came while I was at work, spoke with my wife. Technician said that there was a leak and the unit needed replaced, but he could go ahead and fill it with 3lbs of freon. My wife told him to go ahead if it would get us through the summer, and we could start looking for someone to maybe replace the unit. So, $367 later, the technician leaves and 6 hours later the a/c unit completely dies. I called them back that evening when I got home from work and their response? ""What do you want us to do about it?"" Why would he fill the freon and charge us if he knew it would die? Screwed again by an a/c company in Phoenix.