Zenner & Ritter

Marieke J.

No insurance?

Mistakes happen, what determines if you are a reliable company is how you deal with rectifying those mistakes! And Zenner & Ritter is a nightmare, and we are likely heading to court. I'll try to keep it short, but succinct!

Z&R serviced my faithful generator in August of 2018. In late February 2019, we had that awful windstorm in the Buffalo area. We lost power at night, and the generator started as it always has. I woke up in the morning, and the generator was no longer running while the power was still out. I went to the basement to check up on the sump pump, which was not running, but the water had not gone out of the sump pit (yet). I immediately called the 24-hour service line of Z&R, which is a complete joke with no prompt return call. By the time the service technician arrived, there was 1+ foot of water in the basement.

The reason the generator stopped working? The service tech in August forgot to put the cap back on the oil reservoir after servicing the generator!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The result was my recently finished basement flooded with $15,000 in damages. That's a problem!

Generac (manufacturer of the generator) confirmed it was a technician error. As soon as Brian Ritter realized the extent of the damage and the cause of the loss, he ghosted me. I had to hire a lawyer to get any response from Z&R, and their lawyer is making me jump through all sorts of ridiculous hoops. Presumably, in the hopes that I will drop this and they don't have to payout.

This situation could have been quickly resolved if they had just filed a claim with their insurance company. Still, they seem to be unwilling to share who is their insurance company or policy. It makes me doubt whether they are insured.

Next step? I'm preparing to file in court in January. Pictures of the generator available to anyone who would like to see them.

Update: My lawyer informed me that there will be no offer as long as this post remains and if this proceeds to litigation, they intend to file a countersuit for defamation. (I'm not worried about that, as for defamation to hold ground my review would need to be false and I'm sticking to the facts)

Steve N.

Had a meeting scheduled with a ""comfort care specialist"" he called before the meeting and didn't know why we were meeting. After I explained he still didn't want to meet. He finally tendered a verbal quote (crazy high) and when I asked if he could break down the price between labor /parts / equipment he said "" we don't do that"", clearly code for we don't want your business and don't want you to know how much we mark stuff up. Kind of a weird business model to have comfort care specialists on commission. Long story- shop around I bought direct and paid an electrician and saved $2000. I hope they are ""comfortable"" with my decision.

J V.

I had a new boiler replaced. Although the work looked great, I had numerous problems. The very first winter my home would not come up to the temperature that I set my thermostat at. The boiler turned on and off very frequently (like every five minutes!) when the company sent someone out, I was told I needed additional baseboard units installed. This was not discussed during the estimate time, and I did not opt to do so and used additional portable heaters. The following year, the unit made a horrific noise, so I called a different company and they replaced a part to the tune of $350.00, but I still lacked enough heat. (yes my radiators had been bled). Later, I had someone come out and they adjusted the unit's setting and it seemed to be working much better, until this summer of 2019. Although I had the temp. all the way to 50 on my thermostat, the heat kept kicking on. So, again someone came out (not from Z&R) and knew exactly what the issue was, it was a simple adjustment. I forgot to mention that the other folks that came out disagreed with the need for more baseboard heat. So, we will see what winter brings. I do not recommend this company.

Sarah C.

My grandmother had her Air Conditioning unit put it in by zenner and Ritter in 2013. It stopped working the same year. She called this company to come out to check it and they gave her the run around stating it wasn't their problem. She had to have her freyon filled twice for two consecutive years. Long story short she has called this company every year to figure out what was wrong with it they always stated it wasn't their problem and she hasn't had a working air conditioner for longer than a month at a time. She was told the issue was related to her furnace. She called the furnace company and they discovered an issue with a pipe leak in her AC unit. Zenner and Ritter stayed that her warranty was voided because she called the furnace company and they had checked her AC. They other company told her it was also her condenser. They waited till her warranty expired after 5 years and now they tell her she needs a $600 test and a $1600 test done.

Do take advantage of every elderly person? How pathetic!

Raj M.

They have to be the most mis-managed service company in the WNY area. This year alone I called them twice to give estimates and even though both times I accepted their estimate and called them several times to schedule, they never called back and I ended up finding someone else to do the job. First was a water heater replacement and last time was my standby generator. The young man they sent to give the estimate did not know what was wrong and called his supervisor and spent three hours and came up with a laundry list of things that were wrong with the generator. After waiting 2 months for the repairs I called someone else and found out the there is nothing wrong with the generator and that is why it took Z&R service tech 3 hours to make the list of part he should replace. He left the generator in off position so it does not kick in if there was a power failure. So not only they are mis-managed they are incompetent. I would advice people out there to avoid dealing with them.
Raj Mehta.

Colleen S.

We have had a terrible experience with this contractor . They sold us an expensive , supposedly premier air conditioner for our house. We have had it for 8 years and it has stopped working twice, costing hundreds of dollars to repair. After the last repair we were told it may not last another two years. These people did NOTHING for us. They took no responsibility for selling us this defective product. Charged us full price for all work done . Do not work with them .

LuJean J.

Horrible customer service. When you call them with problem, they repeatedly state responsible person will give you call-back, but they never call back. Work unsatisfactory. Push unnecessary services. Beware.

richard S.

We had used Zenner and Ritter for over 30 years. Their staff had done tune-ups and replaced a furnace for us.
During Easter our furnace stopped working. Zenner sent out a worker (let's call him Jim) and went through the heating system to try and get it running. A fuse was replaced and then we were told it could be the computer module ($500) or the entire furnace ($3,100) and I needed to decide fast. If the computer module didn't fix the system then I would pay for the module and the new system. The charge was $383.00
Since the parts place was closed I told the worker I didn't need to decide so fast. On Monday I asked another furnace company to look at my system. The worker replaced the fuse that Zenner put in and the system went on. No other problems. The furnace is running since Easter without issues. The charge $90.

Joseph B.

The service person, Dan M was super. He was very professional and courteous in every way . He answered all my questions to advise me if my air conditioning system was adequate for my home and why. He was honest to advise that I did not need a new furnace my home thermostat in the summer.

Linda G.

Never again! I needed insulation and because of my income they would do a energy audit to see if I qualify for assistance. In March Earl called and told my I was full covered at no cost to me. I asked twice to be sure and he stated I would not need to pay. The job was done in April of 2018, a few months after I receive a bill for almost $2000.00 so I called right a way and they said I only qualify for half assistance, I have been going back and forth I told them I would have never had this done if I had to pay. I have learned to get this stuff in writing from now on. Thanks Zinner and Ritter for nothing! Because of them I am now in debt.