Radiant Plumbing & Air Conditioning - Austin

Tracy F.

We called Radiant to come out and repair our water heater. The woman on the phone was very friendly and they sent someone out right away. After the plumber got to our house, he took one look at the water heater and loudly said "F--k! This is too old. It can't be fixed; you have to get a new one." My husband was speechless as the man then left our home without another word. I contacted the main office and told the person who answered the phone I needed to speak to a manager about a problem with a plumber. She took my information and said a manager would be calling me, but he never did. I then called back several more times that day and they didn't answer the phone. I have yet to speak to anyone. I am not one to give poor reviews, but I feel like since there was not even an attempt to resolve this, or to just apologize for the way the plumber acted, I want to let other potential customers know what they might be getting into. It's hard to find good service people.

Glenn R.

I called to make a plumbing appointment with Radiant a week in advance. Company told me they will come around 9am in the morning with a 30 minute phone call notice with the specific time.

I first called around 9am and left a message on the answering machine. I called again at 9:30am. Finally around 10am they called me back and said that they were sorry to have missed my calls and would get right back to me with an ETA. An hour later I had heard nothing and I called again and again left a message. Finally at noon I called yet again and finally got a person who told me that they hadn't had a chance to call me and that they had no idea when a service person would be available.

They have me the spiel about not promising specific times but that they do have first appointments. As I told them when I set the appointment, I specifically scheduled my appointment a week in advance so that I could get the morning appointment.

Setting incorrect expectations and failing to provide basic courtesy calls in a timely manner isn't a recipe for success.

I had specifically asked on the first call in the morning about combining this appointment or setting up a new one to bid for a couple new heat pumps for the house as well since I am taking estimates.

Not interested in these guys for plumbing or HVAC installation any longer.

David G.

Heard my AC buzzing early on a Saturday morning so called Radiant. Was told that because it was "off hours" that a $159 trip fee would be applied. Seemed excessive, but they said someone was in the area and could visit soon and I was working to clear a fallen tree from the storm, so I decided to accept it. The service technician shows up and within a few minutes said the problem is that ants had gotten into the contactor outside and that it would be $350 to replace it. Note at this point that the compressor & contactor is less than 6 months old--it was installed last summer. I didn't have time to deal with anything except the tree at that point, so said fine. After another few minutes, he said he was done and the AC seemed to be working normally. Surprisingly quick service call.

Later in the day after I'd finished clearing out the fallen tree, I did a bit of research on AC contactors & ants. I found that the part installed was only $9, so I called Radiant to ask if it is typical to mark up parts that much. I also found out that the problem of ants getting into contactors is a very common problem in the southwest, and that there are sealed contactors which prevent this from occurring. These sealed contactors cost $40-50, but it eliminates the problem permanently. A few days later, the service manager did call me back and credit back a good portion of the cost. Given the circumstances, I was okay paying a couple hundred dollars to get the issue fixed. I will still go and purchase a sealed contactor and install myself in the near future.

Brian F.

Although I cannot comment on the workmanship of the company what I can tell you is the price the gentleman quoted to replace a flange for the toilet was just about the same as remodeling the whole bathroom.

Tank N.

Way way over priced. $200 to unclog a drain, and it only took 15 minutes. Doing the math, that's $800 an hour!!! Charging ridiculously on a first-time visit for a small issue is NOT the best way to create a long working relationship with a price conscious consumer. Although friendly, I'm never using these guys again. Big big mistake.

2 stars, but only because they are easy to get a hold of when you're in a bind (but there's a reason for that, they're insanely expensive!!!) It better be an emergency!

Elliot L.

Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. I needed to have 2 water heaters shocked to get rid of built up sediment and eliminate to sulphur smell that was always present in the hot water.

I called Radiant and set up an appointment. They came out on time and began work. The water heaters were drained and the sediment came out. Then they used vinegar instead of chlorine to shock the water heaters for the sulphur. The charge was $350 and I paid the bill and thought we were good.

It lasted for about 5 days and then the rotten smell came back. I called them to have the work re-done. The morning of the second appointment they called to tell me that they don't use chlorox for heater shocking treatment.

The supervisor called a little while later and we talked. I said I would prefer to have both water heaters shocked properly to get rid of the smell, or if they can't, refund the money. He said the General Manager will call me later.

Well, it's been a week and nothing. I'm out $350 and I still have a sulphur smell from the hot water coming from the faucets. Now I need to have another plumber come in to do the job right.

This time I lost....and their follow through is non existent.

Lisa D.

We've used these guys in the past to fix a nasty problem that had to be addressed asap. They're competent and the guy who was dispatched was really friendly. Other reviewers are right, there isn't anything cheap about Radiant. However, we had the same problem rear its ugly head again and when I called at 2:30 on weekday afternoon, I was told they'd send someone out first thing the next morning. Fine, close up the office and wait 'til in the morning. Called the next morning to get an eta and was told over and over that they didn't have anyone available until the afternoon. Umm, but I was told yesterday that y'all would have someone out "first thing in the morning". I should already be on the schedule. After going round-and-round with the girl, she said the folks who answer the phone don't know anything about their technicians' schedules. Really? Seems like a pretty dumb business practice. No thanks. Wish I had known they wouldn't come through when I needed them. I could have had someone else fix the problem this morning.

Amber S.

So disappointed in Radiant. I called to have the faucet in my kitchen replaced. Scheduled the appointment four days out and as I was heading home from work for the appointment they called and said "we have to reschedule, we have bigger jobs to take care of". So if you're high $$ they care about you. This would have been my second dealings with Radiant, first time the sewer line was replaced so of course I mattered it was $$$ then.

Emily A.

Frustrating experience with customer service / scheduling.

I've had a decent experience with Radiant in the past and decided to try them out again. I called Wednesday evening to set up an appointment to have a faucet and garbage disposal installed and was told someone would be able to come between 11 and noon the following day. I hadn't gotten an update so I called the office around 11 on Thursday and was told a technician wouldn't be able to come out for a few weeks at the earliest. I explained that I had been told someone would be able to come out today but the customer service rep didn't seem interested in trying to accommodate at all.

Very frustrating. Found someone else (Roto-Rooter Plumbing) and won't be calling Radiant Plumbing again.

Chris W.

We had a small pin pick in a feeder line to a hot water heater. This caused some water damage. We called Radiant and the first tech came out and replaced the line, problem solved? No way, next day we had no hot water from a four year old water heater. They sent another tech twelve hours after we called and told us that we needed to replace a heater unit and gas line and on and on for a $4,000.00 estimate! We asked him to leave immediately. These guys are trained to screw you to the roof. I would suggest everyone avoid Radiant at all cost!