Winters Home Services

Stephen Q.

Back during the summer of 2019, I was having an issue with my condo's central AC. Based on a review from a co-worker, I placed a call to Winters for them to come out and assess the situation. I was charged over $160 for a home visit. The technician, who was very young, didn't actually perform any analysis of the situation, other than to say that my rooftop air conditioner was obviously undersized for my unit. He promised that he would supply an estimate for replacement as soon as possible. A week went by and I never received anything from Winters so I gave them a call and left a message for the owner. Someone called back but didn't leave a message. I called again a week later but never received a call back from anyone at the company. I would not recommend Winters for any HVAC work and I will never use them again.

Steve K.

We had a leaking valve on a radiator and our normal go-to guys were on vacation this holiday weekend. Called Winter because they advertised ""emergency plumbing"". Had a young guy come to the house a few hours later, took a look at it, then kept going out to his truck to ""talk to his boss"". Did that 3 times, said we needed a new value for $1000 and they could install it tomorrow. Charged us $125 for the ""call"".

One of our local guys got free and came over this morning. Over the phone, based upon symptoms, he anticipated it being that the valve needed to be repacked. Came over, 30 minutes later and $120, problem solved. That's right, the actually repair cost less than the ""service call fee"" from Winters.

I don't know who the kid who came was, but this seemed like a Plumbing 101 problem that was over his head and coaching from someone to upsell. Nice looking van, though, with all sorts of fancy lettering ""Winters Plumbing"".
Lesson learned, stick with who you know and trust.

DO NOT USE THESE GUYS...

Brandon D.

I hired these guys to replace a long section of pipe which had blistered up. They didn't replace the full thing and left a 4ft. section of pipe ready to burst, despite charging me for replacing the full thing. It was a nightmare dealing with them to get the cost down, including being hung up on and threatened with a lawsuit. In the end they took off $2000 and I had someone else come in to finish the job and fix their shoddy work.

Rob J.

WHS sent over a very young technician to check out the pump for our kitchen sink. (Are unit is below ground.) Even though I had explained the situation over the phone, they sent over a tech who had no idea what he was doing, and kept walking outside every few minutes to call someone to ask them what to do. He couldn't even tell me for sure whether the pump was broken, just jammed, or if there was a problem further down the line. In the end they quoted me $1350 to replace the pump, when another plumber had quoted me $850 the year before. (At that time I chose a repair instead of replacement.) Kicked that dummy out and called another plumber who replaced it for $700.

It's a $400 part ($225 if I order it myself from Amazon, the second plumber told me for future reference), and maybe 90 minutes of labor for a plumber and assistant. I'll never call these guys again. From what I hear, they are known as being highly overpriced.

Michael M.

A shout-out to David Blakely for coming this evening and fixing the heating system. He performed a diagnosis and found two items that he worked on and as a result we now have heat. Thanks for getting the system back on line before it gets much colder tonight.

Mike M,

Brian G.

With my back against the wall, one bathroom condo and water leaking into the neighbors bathroom downstairs, they charged me $509.00 to change the wax seal on my toilet. A wax ring runs about $10.00 and the young man was there for 1 hour and 15 min. tops. How do these guys sleep at night? Instead of thank you they said ""Bend Over"".

Luis M.

They tried to charge me $1300 to replace three valves and found another leading to the main water line that was rickety look recommended that one too for $450. Since I don't want any main water line issues, I only replaced that one even thought I knew I was being ripped off by at least $200.

I'll save the other work for later. Ridiculous what they charge.

Anirban G.

They have a business model where they do not charge for diagnosing the issue. This might tempt you to pick them over other HVAC technicians. The caveat here is that they do not seriously try to diagnose or fix the issue. They typically suggest major replacements which would make a severe dent in your wallet. I suppose complete replacements are a way of fixing the issue. The choice is yours.

Derrick T.

This company did a good job on a first, somewhat complicated job (fixing the hot water supply). Later, however, there appeared to be a new problem with my thermostat. The technician (who does good work) quoted a price of $646 to install a new one (saying ""I don't set the prices"").

I bought a $38 Honeywell thermostat on line and installed it myself in about 20 minutes. It works just fine.

The company manager called me in response to my email, and tried to justify their estimate (""liability insurance,"" etc).

I suggested that ""I guess I just can't afford you""...and he agreed.

Jack M.

* I tried Winters Plumbing and Heating today for a kitchen faucet problem of pulsing hot water flow. The service tech for the job was Dave Blakely, a very good man.

* I like the Winters business model so different from every other plumbing company serving Cambridge MA. All of them charge a (high) visit fee followed by hourly charges for the work if it exceeds the first half hour or sometimes hour of the visit. Winters does not charge a visit fee; instead, the company comes to assess your problem for free then provides a range of options for repair, each for a flat fee. The fee is lower if you get the parts or fixture or higher if Winters goes and gets it for you. This way you know your cost upfront,

* And, it will never be higher than the flat fee. A superior business model. Dave Blakely who came on my repair call today was knowledgeable and courteous, He diagnosed the problem and fixed it in five minutes. It was an almost completely closed hot water valve left over from the fixture installation about 2 years ago. He opened that valve and, because the problem was so simple (for him, not me), he charged nothing. This will be my go-to plumber in the future.

Jack McMullen, Cambridge, MA