Schneller Knochelmann Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning

Kevin W.

I never take the time to write negative posts, although in my experience, that'd be over half the reviews I would give.
We bid out our new HVAC job to 4 companies and chose Schneller Knochelmann (SK) because of their tremendous testimonials and some family history with using the brand.
Boy was that a mistake.

April 2018, we purchased a home and had SK come out to estimate the project which included measuring and sizing the systems.

May 2018, two systems installed (attic and crawl space), but weren't currently being used as the house was being completely renovated.

June 2018, we turn the systems on and they won't hold a cool temp or expel the humidity.
SK came out and found they had jammed an extra filter in the crawl space furnace even though the return filter was now in the house.
They let the units outside which froze up dethaw and got them back running... Good enough.

August 2018 Installed Solid Hardwood floors in the house. Huge investment. Excess humidity in the house, condensation on the windows, averaged 70-80% humidity throughout the home. Our new flooring cupped, then buckled blowing off baseboards and pushing through drywall while ruining the floors. Systems adjusted by SK 2x over the course of a week after being notified about this.

September 2018 SK comes back and remeasures and admits to oversizing BOTH systems in the house, so they were cooling the house, but not removing humidity. Systems replaced and adjusted several times.
Systems STILL won't reduce the humidity to a healthy level (TWO SYSTEMS) so a crawl space dehumidifier is recommended. For 3k. But not in April - August, just now in September. Crawl space is encapsulated and dehumidifier is added.
SK's insurance cuts check to replace flooring (we are now displaced an additional 6 weeks from moving in).

October 2018 Downstairs is close to holding humidity, upstairs is not. SK recommends a dehumidifier for UPSTAIRS now in addition to the one in the crawl space. For 3k.
House finally holding proper humidity level.
Nest thermostats installed by SK keep adjusting on their own, without any schedules, calendar or learning on. They were alerted, never followed up. I spent 2 hours on the phone with Nest and had to reset both units including checking the wires behind them for shorts (because yeah, that should be something the homeowner should have to do). The App still doesn't properly work with the units. I'll be asking for new ones next.

November 2018 Our contractor notices a HUGE puddle of water in the crawl space (now encapsulated) under the furnace. SK comes out and says ""they forgot to hook up a coupling to the drain line"". They fix it, then leave. And leave the mess of all the water that leaked out (8 beach towels worth of sopping up). And although this last part isn't the biggest deal, its certainly the last straw.

Hope you have a 4.8 star experience if you choose to go with SK, sadly our experience was anything but...

Greg P.

My issue with this company goes back a few months when my wife and I decided to get new countertops for our kitchen and add a new drop-in sink and garbage disposal. She called Schneller to hook up the new sink, garbage disposal and the existing dishwasher. She was told over the phone, the service call would be cost about $80 or so (she can't remember the exact amount but it was under $90). She understood this wasn't going to be the final bill and sort of had another price range in mind for the work that needed to be done. The plumber comes out and gives my wife a quote of $520 for doing this work. My wife is very sweet and ignorant when it comes to hiring contractors and labor, but understandingly she's not wiling to wait another 3 to 4 days without being able to use her kitchen, so she nervously said yes. The dude spent less than an hour hooking up the sink, disposal and dishwasher.

I'm in a line of work where we hire contractors all day long and know the cost of doing this work. I also hire attorneys out of New York City who charge me cheaper rates than $520/hour. My wife called me at work, and I about lost my mind over this cost. I called Schneller and left a message on Facebook. While the woman taking my call and responding to my FB messages (and probably will to this message) was very nice and professional, she had no authority to reduce the bill. The plumber's manager got involved and wouldn't budge at reducing their cost less than $425 - even though he confirmed via GPS tracking that the plumber was at my residence for under an hour. What do you do? I paid them just to end the saga and not have a lien placed on my house.

But months later, I'm still stewing over this matter, and I tell most people I know never to use them unless you want to be charged $520/hr and later have them back off $100 because they felt bad about such a BS rate. To me, it's not about the money, it's about integrity, honesty and what you stand for. They weren't there to serve my needs for a fair price, but to take advantage. I don't want Schnellers to contact me and try to make it right. It doesn't matter anymore. If I have to call and remind you that you took $520 of our money to work less than one hour, and you're willing to take off $100, that shows me you have no integrity, and you're willing to take advantage of people, especially sweet, ignorant people. See...months later I'm still mad about the situation and have to calm down now. Peace!

Dana H.

UPDATE: Jeremy from Schneller spoke with me today on the phone the issue. After such a bad experience, not only did Jeremy make it right, but he honored my request to meet with my father on the issue on site! He spoke personally with my father at length, and was very accommodating and apologetic with my father. He refunded the over charge of a service fee erroneously charged.
The restoration in the integrity of this company has been refreshing as well as a relief in calming a situation that would have been a bad memory to us.
Now I can say that Schneller holds weight in the integrity a good company should have.
Thank you again Jeremy, my father is an important part of our lives.

Sincerely,
D.Haan

Nicole H.

My furnace went out today. The tech was so nice and professional. He explained the problem to me so that I was able to understand. He offered me the maintenance service and explained the benefits but was in no way pushy or trying to make a sale. I inquired about having a check done to the furnace and air before spring as I am putting my house up for sale and he explained that process as well. I would highly recommend this company to anyone.

Linda M.

Thank you for sending Tony Owen out. He was courteous, professional, and knowledgeable about plumbing. He fixed my toilet and so far it isn't leaking anymore. I look forward to having him come out and fix all my plumbing from now on.

Andy K.

Just a few minutes after posting about a negative experience their team at the office reviewed photos of our situation and put together another estimate referring to the other option we had discussed. Very appreciative of their quick response. I always think if a company cares enough to fix an issue promptly, one which may not be the collective company's fault but may be the result of an individual, they don't deserve to have to deal with a ton of negative crap on social media. So I'm amending this review to 3 stars. Even though this particular situation was a pain in the butt, we have been satisfied with work they've done at our house before. I think probably if you do have a real issue and get in touch with their office directly they'll work to fix it.

Janelle W.

Editing my previous review to reflect that they did end up keeping my service call and sending someone out. He did good work and I appreciate their responsiveness to my complaint.

Vicky K.

Did a great job installing a new toilet for us. Timely, professional, and courteous. I highly recommend.

Heather A.

I could not be more disappointed in what I thought was a 'family' company. A plumber 'fixed' my basement drain by shoving 6 towels down it before adding a cap to help with a foul odor. This action has flooded my basement 3 times since. My basement never flooded prior to the 'fix'. After asking the company to resolve the new problem cause by their plumber, they told me no one would come out to fix the problem Schneller created because they can't find record of someone at their company doing this specific task.

I know for a fact two men from Schneller were at my house and 'fixed' my drain, one left to get a part to fix the drain and returned. However, the company doesn't care enough to ask those two men about the drain fix.

To Lisa K's response:
Your response is disconcerting. Please check with Gene Anderson & Nick who were the 2 technicians that were at my home. One of them asked us to look down the drain to show us how dry it was. There were no towels down the drain. After the second flood, my dad took the cap off and there were 6 towels in the drain. Myself nor my 4 or 6 year old took the cap off to shove the towels down the drain.
Because of Schnellers actions and response, I have lost all trust in the service industry. Extremely disappointing.

Karen G.

We recently asked Schneller to service our furnace with their $69. special. Corbin and Jeff arrived on Time, cleaned the furnace, made some adjustments, and did a fantastic job of turning out the lights and locking all of the doors. Service Technicians who you can Trust with Your Keys!! Great Job Schneller!!