DANGEROUS AND UNSAFE!!!!!!
DANGEROUS AND UNSAFE!!!!!!! Had a very unfortunate experience with Lee's Prestige. We had a last-minute water heater emergency at our rental property after hours and many other companies couldn't come out. We were happy at first to find Lee's who said he could take care of the problem that night. His website claims licensed, certified technicians so we hired him even though I found his manner over the phone somewhat unprofessional for a business owner. Hours after the technician was supposed to be there (and multiple phone calls with the owner during which he talked down to me and asked to speak to my husband which is annoying but besides the point), the person who showed up was NOT licensed, certified, nor professional. He brought along his girlfriend and didn't have the proper tools or equipment. He did a half-ass job of installing a new water heater (which we had sent photos of the old one and were told he was going to get the same one and he did not), obviously didn't know what he was doing, and even broke a part trying to force it to fit. Over four hours later he somehow managed to get it working but I had a bad feeling about it. As soon as they left I received a very rude text message from the owner saying that he sent an invoice and it hadn't been paid yet. I informed him that his guy had just left, that I was still at my tenant's house trying to clean up the mess, and that as soon as I was home I would take care of it. It was well after midnight by this point! A few weeks later my tenants told me the new water heater was leaking profusely. Because we weren't happy with the overall experience with Lee's, we decided to call another company even though Lee's work was under warranty. I told my husband I'd rather pay for someone professional I could trust rather than deal with Lee's again. I contacted another company and sent them the video of the leak and they immediately told me that there were multiple issues and code violations. The new company showed up with a company van, in a company uniform, and within two minutes I could tell they knew exactly what they were doing. They told us whoever installed the water heater was clearly not certified. For starters, he replaced the original professional grade water heater with a performance level water heater which is much cheaper and not as efficient. He used incorrect hoses for the gas lines which is a major code violation and huge safety issue. He also set the water heater on a wooden platform because the new unit didn't fit on the current stand, which is a fire hazard because the heating element is at the bottom of the unit. He did not use copper plumbing which is also a code violation, and did not plumb the T&P line or replace the thermal expansion tank. He had the old tank pressing against PVC pipe and tried to secure it by tying wire around it. He also set the temperature way higher than what is legally allowed by a technician. So many of these issues could have caused major damage to the property, not to mention personal injury (or worse) to our tenants. Needless to say I was furious. We paid the new company $2500 to completely replace the water heater (this time with a professional grade unit and all parts up to code) and start over fresh. I would have paid them five times that for peace of mind that it was done right! When I called Lee's to tell him about all the issues we had, he kept asking me why I didn't have him come back to fix it because it was under warranty. I told him that he had lost our trust because of what happened. He tried to blame the technician, saying it was a third-party hire. And while I appreciate him trying to help us after hours, he (as a business owner) is responsible who he hires and sends to the job - and if your website claims a licensed, certified technician, that's who I expect to show up. I told him that we wanted a partial refund (I asked for $1200 back of the original $2100) and told him he could come pick up the water heater his guy installed so he could warranty it out. He avoided me for a long time but finally apologized, agreed to refund me $600 and said I could return the water heater to Home Depot and I'd get $800 back for it. Of course when I returned it to Home Depot it was only $460, not $800, but I still agreed to his offer of a $600 refund. After MONTHS of asking for the refund, I still have not gotten it and am now taking legal action. I gave him ample time to refund me and told him my intent of hiring a lawyer and he still ignores me. Do yourself a favor and stay FAR away from Lee's Prestige. It was disappointing how horribly he handled this situation from start to finish - it's one thing to be unprofessional, but it's completely unacceptable to put people and property in harm's way just to make a quick buck. I hope he never puts anyone else in this kind of a danger ever again.
By Jessi F.