Mainstream

Frank S.

We had a backup in our main sewer line. They offered what sounded like a good price to come out and fix it. The technician brought an almost toy auger to try to clean it out with nothing more than a chain on the end, nothing to cut out anything. Almost instantly he decided he couldn't fix it and called out another guy with a video. He didn't even run the video into the pipe before they gave me some ""options"" to fix it, starting about about $2500. I went to Lowes and got some drain cleaner and dumped it down the main access. Then I needed to wait overnight. By morning the clog wasn't cleared, so I called Bulldog rooter. Just before he got here, the clog cleared itself due to the drain cleaner. This tech had a camera and professional grade auger with him. He ran the camera all through our line, and all was clear. When I started to describe to him what had happened the day before with Mainstream, he interrupted me in mid sentence and said ""It was Mainstream wasn't it""? I should have looked at the Yelp reviews before calling them. Be careful. Look at all the one star reviews, and call someone reliable, such as Bulldog rooter.

Kristy W.

We were having water pressure issues and Mainstream Electric came out and diagnosed the problem for $99. They were very responsive and accurate in their diagnosis of the problem. The plumber was also friendly. My negative review is the result of the multiple bids they wrote up that ranged in price, giving us ""options"". They recommended that we replumb our entire home which is 23 years old ($22k). Their lowest bid ($8,500) included replacing nearly every valve in the house because they said the fixture valves may all fail under the pressure of flushing the lines.
As the issue was not an emergency, we said we would like to get a second opinion prior to getting the work done. At that point they offered to lower the price of the ""lowest"" bid by over 20%. That was still very expensive and we wanted another opinion.
The only work needing to be done was to replace the water softener and flush out only those fixtures impacted by low water pressure. We paid another plumbing company to replace the water softener. My husband did the fixture flushing himself in about 4 hours (no valves leaked - and why would they?). Total cost was under $2,200.
I know someone else who had a better experience with this company, but we were extremely disappointed with our experience and feel the bids and suggestions presented were honestly shocking.

Tony P.

Scene 1
Cold, furnace out. Hopeful customers call Mainstream Electric, they show up!
Scene 2
Mainstream Electric ""technician"" finds the problem! It's some impossible to find small part. Solution? New furnace!
Scene 3
Closer comes out from Mainstream Electric-- appears, confirms earlier diagnosis and then pulls out a contract for $8000 ($17,000 if we want AC)......
Scene 4
Cold Thanksgiving
Scene 5
Called Banner Fuel. They showed up and said the furnace was fine, the thermostat needed replacement. $328.

So, yeah, you could go with Mainstream Electric.

Or you could call Banner and save yourself thousands of dollars.

Think about this--. They were willing to steal $8000 from a family before Christmas.

Never do business with Mainstream.

Kam Q.

If you need an emergency repair service, DON'T call them! They really know how to take advantage of people who is in desperate need!

About 3 months ago, one of the outlets in my rental property had short circuit and burned the outlet. My renter called me that they needed an emergency repair due to a potential fire hazard situation. I called the Mainstream Electric because I heard them from their commercial ad on TV. The technician, Jeremy, came and inspected the situation. He described to me the wiring of the house was incorrectly installed and needed to tear down 3 walls to correctly rewire the electric circuit and replace the wires in order to fix the problem. His upfront quote was would take almost a whole day of work with a cost almost $5000 with tax. The repair cost seemed reasonable for the material and labor of the emergency work, right? So I agreed to let them do the job. The lady in the office told me the charge amount will be put to my credit card after the work was completed and with my authorization.

The next morning the technician came and completed in 2 hours, not as what they had described the work being done originally . They fixed by replacing a section of the burned wires and a new outlet. No rewiring and walls were torn. The technician even didn't do the job right the first time by leaving an half inch big gap by the outlet cover and needing to came back to correct their work. Immediately, I saw the amount being charged to my credit card as supposedly asking my authorization about the charge. I called the office and asked for an invoice of the items they had fixed that would cost almost $5000 for 2 hours. I have never got the answer and still no invoice being sent to me to itemize their work being done. I called their manager, David Lachapelle couple of times and even had left him messages; but I never got his response. Therefore, I disputed their charge from my credit card company. They had negotiated with me to reduced $1000 to the amount they originally charged. What type of work that would cost about $4000 (after the deduction) for replacing an electrical outlet? I insisted them to provide me an invoice with the amount of work they actually put on. But again, no invoice was produced and sent to me. And kept promising will get back with me.  I have no problem to pay for the amount of work they actually had put on, but not based on their incorrect quote.

As the time I wrote this, I still haven't gotten their invoice yet. And yet, they forwarded this dispute to a finance/ collection company to go after the amount they want to. This is the experience I had with this outfit in Spokane, WA. You should think TWICE before calling this company.  They only go after your money but not the work they delivered.

Christopher J K.

*I CALLED STURM AND SAVED $29,833.33USD*

I called Sturm out to my home to look at the unit the Mainstream person said it wasn't worth scrap. The tech (from his words) used to work for Mainstream and knew of their tactics. He fixed the issue within an hour for $171.67 USD.
Please tell everyone possible do not use MAINSTREAM unless you own the company. I so want to call them back out here so that they can fire the rude tech that refused to do the recommended repairs. I had the fire dept, Avista, and Sturm come here and they all saw the situation as a easy fix OBTW: did I say Mainstream did an inspection of the same unit two months prior and found no issue? This company is the WORST! Fake good reviews submitted by friends in my opinion. A company this bad doesn't care about their community they are here to make money at any cost. Not one call from management to discuss my problem, no second tech to verify what the other guy said, and this is the kicker now that I have it fixed without buying a new AC unit or furnace. Sending a manager to my home to looking at the solution would provide an opportunity to train the employee or move him to something non customer facing. This company will do nothing with this review. I hope a consumer will read this and find a company that is a part of our community.

Brian H S.

We turned on our heat for the first time just over a week ago, and the furnace failed to switch on. So we called Mainstream, from which we had been receiving (many) solicitations for servicing heating and cooling systems. Their person came by one morning, looked at the furnace, and said that two relays had failed. He wasn't sure if after-market parts would be available for a furnace as old as ours. But his 'supervisor' would have to come by to check his work and give more specifics about the needed repairs and possible replacement furnaces. (The story should now start to be suspiciously familiar from other YELP reviews). The supervisor comes by some hours later and announces that there is also a cracked motor, and that the motor unit and relays would be about $1,500 for parts. That's what it would take to get the furnace working. But he had options for replacement that ranged from a low-end of just over $12,000 to a high of over $20,000. And the good news was he could have a crew come in in a few days because of a cancellation, that is, if I could commit right away. I decided to wait to get another opinion from a different company we've worked with in the past. That person came a day and a half later, replaced one small part - not the relays or motor - and had the unit up and running in 10 mins. I also ordered a new furnace from that company, which was roughly equivalent to the $12,000 system from Mainstream, for less than half the price. I assume their fictitious needed repairs, which supposedly might not be easily done, was just a way of putting me under pressure, leaving me to sit in a very cold house, to pay over twice the needed amount for a new furnace. And by the way, the A/C unit, which Mainstream said was on its last legs, was fine according to the other company. I don't know where Mainstream gets its business, but my recommendation is STAY AWAY!

Carl H.

I'm an average 38yr middle class male and Spokane native.. long story short - even if they seem nice, DONT TRUST MAINSTREAM. My 6yr old furnace stopped working, Kenny from Mainstream came out and told me it would be $3K to fix and parts were backordered for months, and I should replace the furnace. Same day Alex came out quoted me $8K+ for the lowest option furnace. Luckily had Banner Fuel come out for a second opinion, he blew out one hose and had it running within 5min. Will NEVER use Mainstream again for anything. Not sure if it's a quota they have to meet or a commission structure, but they are shady and I wouldn't trust a word they say. Sad. Wish I could trust people - they honestly seemed so nice and friendly, guess they just wanted my money.

John B.

Called Mainstream once before a few years ago about an electrical problem. Changed my schedule around to accommodate them to get a person out on a day they scheduled. Waited all day for someone to show up and the only thing I got was a call from them saying they couldn't make it. Ended up having to get someone else for the repair
Last year my water heater went out while I was out of town and my wife called Mainstream to see about getting it replaced. Without my knowledge she scheduled them to come out to give a bid. When I found out it was them I figured why not give them another chance. The technician showed and gave us a price on a tankless water heater and a direct replacement of what we had. We went with a tankless system. They responded with the installation in a very timely manner and completed the job. With the installation came a free tank flushing after one year. I called and scheduled the service a week ago for today October 4th for the a.m. At 11:00 am I get a call saying because of some emergency calls that came in over the weekend they couldn't make my appointment. They didn't know this at 8:00 this morning?
So beware, the have no problem taking your money but are terrible when it comes to follow thru and customer service. I will never recommend or use them again.

A A.

Had an emergency situation. Had to go with what they offered because they pushed me off two days and my bathroom was flooding. Come to find out, they charged us $11.5K for a $2500 job that wasn't even approved by the city inspector. After waiting two days for a call back, they finally returned the called and said that we had signed something so they weren't willing to help in anyway. Cody Bradly was the snake who set the price and Theresa (customer service) was very hostile and combative when trying to find a resolution. Never use this company! They price gouge! On call with the state to go after their license as we speak.

Steve J.

Do not work with this company, I did and have now found out I was price gouged by double and they are known around town for doing this. I will now be taking them to court to get this corrected. They are dishonest and take advantage of those who do not know any better. Stay Away from them!!