Michael & Son Services Richmond

Victoria C.

Rob Dickerson was our serviceman and he was wonderful. we needed my mom's handicap shower fixtures installed and couldn't have asked for better service. we had a leak-he fixed it and than we decided to have him install the other handicap fixtures and couldn't have been more pleased; his professional services were outstanding and his compassion in understanding a senior citizen (95 years young) sensitivity was out of this world. So glad the Michael & Sons serves Fredericksburg, we used them all the time in Vienna and were always happy with them. Rob Dickerson is a real stand out.

David H.

There was an issue with some work that was done. Michael and Son worked with me to reach a satisfactory conclusion. Michael and Son says they want their customers to be satisfied and I can say that I am completely satisfied with the outcome.

Scott B.

I'd put a -1 star if it were available given they never even made it to the house. When I scheduled an appointment I was told they would have the plumber call me back to prep for the work I was requesting. He didn't. The morning he was supposed to show, he didn't. I called and was told he'd be there an hour and a half later. He wasn't. He finally called about 2 hours after I expected him and said he'd be another 45 minutes. Then, after asking what work I wanted done, he explained he wouldn't be able to do it that day. It was simply adding 3 shut off valves to new construction where the pipes were already run and the walls were only framed and not sheetrocked.

Not the way I expected to spend my morning off from work. In the end I was offered a 10% discount if I'd use them. Given that there was so much confusion in just trying to get them to the house, how much faith could I have that they'd actually do the job correctly? Very disappointed with Michael & Sons. Wish I wasn't.

Joey T.

Very Expensive. We had a problem with a/c and the person from Michael and Son put about 4 pounds of Freon in the system. The total charge was over $500, most of that was for the Freon. They normally charge something like $150 per pound. I later found out it only costs them $15 a pound for the Freon. So, it is a 1,000% mark-up.

Even worse, the hole in the air conditioner's coil was a big hole. The Freon was gone within two days and the a/c stopped working again. The next person that came out from Michael and Son found the hole and said he would not have put the Freon in, and agreed that it was a waste.

Michael and Son claims they have 24hr service but many uncomfortable days were spent waiting for them. They came out a few times and it would take them several days between the appointments. Luckily, the weather moderated some during this process but they definitely did not fix the problem quickly. It was two weeks of dealing with the problem before it was fixed.

You have to stay on top of them, watch out for charges and unfortunately you can't just trust them to do right by the customer.

Heather A.

When we called to have them come to our home, we had a difficult time getting the custom service representative to understand the services that we were looking for. We were later told that they did not provide the services that were mentioned on their website. Their phone system was also very hard to hear and not very clear.

We had them come out for one particular service, which ended up being something very minor. We found out that we needed to replace of a part that cost $12 and the labor would cost over $200. We called them because we are busy people but we're handy and the labor charge was unacceptable.

Chelsea F.

Great customer service! They answer the phones quickly, are extremely nice and personable too! They came right on time, called before hand and taught my husband exactly what was wrong with our +20 year old HVAC system. They worked with us to make the best decision for our house and our budget (even though it was the least expensive option). They worked with us on financing with no interest for our entire unit! And we already have an appointment for the NEXT DAY installation before the temperature really heats up and we have no AC. Quinton really was a great help and we recommend him to anyone! We will use this company again for services we need on our older home!

Jared M.

I have paid the home warranty membership with Michael and Son Services for nearly two years now. I first called them back in December 2010 when I purchased my first home in order to get my plumbing inspected, which included a septic tank. The plumber was extremely courteous and did a great job. He didn't even charge me. So I thought, ""Why not? They'd be a great option."" The membership is $29 a month and waives certain fees when they're called to the home. They are also supposed to inspect the AC/heating systems twice a year. The best thing is that all the work is warrantied. That was the best part of it, because little did I know, I'd have to call them afterward to double-check their own work.

When inspecting the AC system, I was told the ducting needed to be replaced, due to holes and worn insulating material. I crawled under the house myself and saw exactly what the tech was talking about. He was right. It did need replaced. The estimate to do just the duct work was $3,500. This is when I opted for the warranty plan, because he stated that it provided a 10% discount on supplies and knocked off service fees. He then stated if I opted to sign up, he'd be able to knock it down to $3,100. With the shape the ducting was in, I agreed. It didn't look good at all and I'm the type of person who keeps my things in order and maintains my personal property to the utmost ability. Therefore, I said yes.

After they ""completed"" the work, I went under the house to inspect it myself. I was under the impression they were installing metal ducting, as opposed to the flexible ducting that previously existed. That was not the case. Instead, was another flex hose gymnasium under the house. Some of the old ducting was just thrown up in the corner of the crawl space like it was a disposal facility. In addition, one of the vents to the house wasn't even hooked up! Yes. That is right. One vent was left wide open!

I called them once to have a tech look at it and correct the problem. After the visit, they never returned. When time came for them to inspect the AC system, they came out and I brought it up again. The story didn't change. They looked at it and never returned. For months it sat there wide open. I was probably losing as much heat through the wide open hole, as I was losing with the old ducting installed.

Several months later the AC system required a repair. It happened to be a circuit board that went out, which was replace free of charge through the warranty program. That was bright spot in the whole. The circuit board would have ranged between $600-$800. The tech who arrived the first time to ""troubleshoot"" the item, though, was a fluke. He had replace two different pieces of equipment before I requested a different technician. The second technician was a prayer answered. This guy not only fixed the correct part in one try, but also corrected the vacant duct issue! Why can't they all be like this? If you think it stops here, though, you'd be mistaking.

A few more months pass and I have a circuit breaker that is needing replaced. Let me disclose that I was an Electrical and Environmental Systems Journeyman in the Air Force, who tested for Craftsman before separating. I know what I'm talking about. One day the circuit breaker popped, leaving the stove, fridge and a few other items turned off. I called out an electrician from the power company, knowing that in order to replace equipment in a circuit box, you must notify the power company to turn off the power. The man who came over said, ""It's just a bad breaker and you may even have two bad breaker being the way another one is acting."" He gave me all the information I needed to know. The Michael and Son tech, however, came over a day later, took 2 minutes to stare at the circuit box to only conclude, ""It's your main breaker."" Little did he know that I have a background as an electrician. A main breaker would cause the entire house to go out. That's not what happened. I asked him what I should do (playing stupid). He replied saying I needed to replace the circuit box. He also did know I had one of the electrician quote me a price to replace the box, whose quote was $2,100 for some ""top notch"" that would last a long time. My research concluded that was the truth. This guy, however, said, ""That will be $2,857 with tax.""

After asking him how the price could change so drastically from last year's quote, he said, ""The prices of items have changed."" That's when I got unsettled enough to say, ""Sir, I'd been an electrician in the Air Force and those items aren't even quoted to the government for a price like that and those prices don't fluctuate that much withing 6 months."" He told me that if I had the previous quote, he could honor it, otherwise he wouldn't. I told him I'd have to think about it and get back with him, knowing that I could have the electricity shut off and replace the breakers myself.

This is where it ends. I'm canceling the service.

Brian C.

They quoted us $865.00 to change a foyer light and install a ceiling fan. Feeling this was a little high I got three other quotes from local electricians. All three quotes came in around $300.00 for the same job. Not quite sure how they came in $565.00 more expensive. I will never call them again

Parismina L.

Their outrageous misrepresentation of services is unforgivable. I called and clearly scheduled a repair for a leaky kitchen faucet for a rental property. When the serviceman met me at the property, he told me that they don't do repairs, they only do replacements. At this point, I had dis-assembled the faucet and determined that it only needed to have 2 broken O-rings replaced. I pointed out that the faucet was less than a year old and only needed two small O-rings replaced.

I thought surely he could dig some O-rings out of his truck and charge me an over-inflated service fee. But no! He went out to his truck for a few minutes, and came back saying he didn't have the right 'kit'. Again, I showed him the broken O-rings and said that as a plumber he must surely have several in his truck. [Note - I am a not a plumber or particularly handy person, but I have a jar with miscellaneous O-rings in my shed. If did more plumbing, I imagine I would have lot's of O-rings; or at least 2 of a very common size]

I would have probably paid the guy $50 or whatever if he could have got the O-rings and fixed my sink. But he couldn't. So due to the guys incompetence or company's policies (or maybe both) I had to go to Lowes, spend $2.36 on a pack of O-rings, return to the property and fix the sink myself. It works like brand new now!

Another disrespectful issue is it took me about an hour of time - I was willing to spend the money so I didn't have to waste my time. I can't imagine them being good value for the money, but I can't weigh in on the topic because they were too incompetent to execute the very simple task they were called for (fixing a leaky kitchen faucet).

K G.

They are great at coming out quickly as I called them in the morning and they were out that afternoon. However, they are way overpriced and I'm kicking myself for letting them do the work. We had a toilet leak and the repairman started with telling use it's a cheap builder grade toilet and we should probably replace it for $600. He did go on the say he would reset the toilet and that would cost use $300. I just wanted it fixed as we had already noticed the water stain on the ceiling down stairs. We went ahead with resetting the toilet which only took the gentlemen a few minutes to do. In hindsight, I wish I had just paid the $29 for him to come out and gotten someone else to do it. I will not be calling them for service in the future as their prices are just ridiculous.