FREINER COMPANY, INC

Took longer than expected -- spread over 4 days -- but the crew arrived timely each day and worked steadily through each day. Coordinated effectively with electrician at the start and end of the job. Provided a temporary electric hot water heater while we awaited installation of gas-fired boiler. Very professional and cleaned up the work area completely.

I inquired about a piece for my disposal. I expected them to get back to me with a price, but they went ahead and ordered it.

He was prompt, professional and neat. Overall, Freiner provided better service than we've had with any other plumber/heating contractor in the 25 years we've lived in the area!

Called for service on a Monday morning at 8:30 and Ken arrived the same afternoon. Knew right away what had to be replaced, had the necessary parts, and had it repaired in less than an hour. Also advised on some trouble-shooting tips, and recommended annual maintenance on the 8-year old unit.

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Went well. I had to wait until they had time to do the job and thus scheduled in advance. They were professional, neat and courteous.

They have extremely good service, are reliable and trustworthy. They are totally competent.

Very responsive to urgent service calls and emergencies - always has a crew on the spot quickly and does what's necessary to address the crisis. The overall fix took much longer than we thought it should, the holes made in the ceiling were excessive, and a big, big mess was left behind. At the high price point, it should not have been such a "quick and dirty" approach to the fix. The problem was fixed but we had to hire another plumber to repipe more broadly for a related overall project - while we asked them first, Freiner forgot to submit a quote to us several weeks after an hourlong visiit to assess the scope of the work required. After we called several times to check on the quote status, they hastily made up a ridiculously high number (3x other estimates) which we immediately dismissed. Freiner has lost credibility with us, and now we have a new plumber who's responsive and whom we trust to do things right the first time.

I called Freiner to fix my dishwasher, which wasn't draining, and my toilet, which seemed to have a slow leak into the first floor. They took my call and scheduled me promptly and courteously. The plumber who came to my home was professional and wanted to walk me through every step he was taking; I appreciated this, as I also am a believer in the "teach a man to fish" approach toward home service. (1) Dishwasher. It is the nature of dishwasher repair to become black holes of time. However, it seemed to me that the plumber, after checking a couple of basic and quick areas, should have admitted that he wasn't the most qualified technician to diagnose and fix the problem, and left it at that. However, he proceeded to dismantle the chopping/draining mechanism at the base of the dishwasher tub. This took a very long time. He was unable to determine why the dishwasher wasn't draining and suggested I call a qualified Jenn-Air repair company. So, my question is, why didn't Freiner tell me that when I called them in the first place? Follow-up question: Why didn't the plumber suggest this after determining in 10 minutes that the problem wasn't with the plumbing (i.e., hose, connection to disposal, etc.)? I think Freiner failed me here. [EPILOGUE: I did call a Jenn-Air service provider, and they were able to diagnose and fix the problem--a faulty drain pump--swiftly and effectively.] (2) Toilet. The plumber did a fine job removing the old wax seal, installing a new one, and (at my suggestion) caulking the toilet-to-floor connection so that water spilled from the tub wouldn't seep under the toilet and leak onto the 1st floor ceiling. I was mostly satisfied with his work. However, since he left, the toilet sometimes keep running after a flush due to a plunger that is sticking a bit in the tank. I'll probably just replace it myself. (3) Garbage disposal. In the process of not fixing the dishwasher, the plumber turned on the garbage disposal and did not like the sound of it. Upon inspection, he saw a flat, metal piece of a measuring spoon pinned between the chopper mechanism and the metal plate at the base of the disposal. He spent approximately 30 minutes trying to extract it--aggressively. I was a bit concerned that he was doing more harm than good. He extracted the metal and the disposal was running smoothly again, but within a day, something else got stuck under there. Was there an even bigger gap there after all the pulling and heaving he had done the day before? [EPILOGUE: The disposal would work on and off for another few weeks. Finally, I just bought and installed a new one myself.] So overall, I liked the responsiveness, punctuality, and professionalism of Freiner's service, but ultimately, the proof is in the plumber's putty--he fixed just 1 out of 3 problems, and even that one is not at 100%. Is it his fault that he couldn't fix the dishwasher? No, but I feel like he should have known his own limitations and admitted them. I might use Freiner again, but only for services that are clearly "plumber-only".

EPIC FAIL. My roommate called Freiner when our heater wasnt working. We went to work and left the back door open. When we got back, it was working, so initially we were happy with the promptness. We received an UNITEMIZED bill for over 100.00. When I called to ask what was done and if they could send an itemized bill they said " we dont do that". Turns out that all that needed to be done was to twist a little handle to fill water into the tube on the heater.

One of our original radiators (circa 1920) sprung a leak in our living room on a Saturday afternoon. We contacted Freiner and they were there within an hour to assess the problem and turn off the water to that radiator. They did not have the part needed on hand so after the leak was stopped, they left to get the part. They returned with the correct part and made the repair. After the repair was complete, Dave (our new favorite radiator specialist) showed us how to shut the water off to individual radiators in the house as well as checked all the other for possible leaks. They were very courteous, knowledgeable and helpful. We will certainly use them again.

The sprayer on our kitchen faucet came off. The faucet is one of the all-in-one models with the sprayer hose that extends out of the faucet itself. This happened first thing in the morning, and I called a couple of plumbers and left messages, then called Freiner. He answered the phone and said he could be there in 10 minutes. Eight minutes later, he was at our front door. By lunchtime, we had a new faucet installed.

Everyone from Freiner has been willing to the extra mile (using our existing chimney to save money, coming out to fine-tune the system, moving our stuff to make the furnace room more safe). We got a great deal on the furnace, and they helped us get further rebates. The office is responsive, and the service folks are pleasant, competent and happy to answer questions.

The job was performed well, but not great (range was not leveled properly and not aligned with counter). Responsiveness is hit or miss. One request for a call back was never returned after 3 messages were left. When an emergency fix of the dishwasher drain tube was needed, the response was immediate.

We've used Freiner before for odd little plumbing things around our apartment (drain clogs, fixed kitchen sink and added spray nozzle), and the person who came out was knowledgeable, pleasant, and punctual. So, we were inclined to use them again when we purchased a home and wanted to get an estimate on replacing the 50-yr old oil furnace with another oil furnace, but also wanted to see what it would cost to convert to a gas furnace. Mr. Freiner himself came out to look at our place, but he was 45 mins late and offered a lot of hurried answers without a lot of convincing detail when he finally showed up. We called his office a week later to follow up on the estimate and his office manager said we would get it within a few days. We never heard back from them. Guess what? We're moving on. It is important to note that the person who had done previous work for us (smaller plumbing jobs mentioned above) is not the same person who came out for the estimate. I would give Freiner a solid F were it not for our previous experiences with other people that work there. Perhaps they are just better at smaller jobs than big ones.

After moving into our new (old) house in May of 2005, we had a bunch of work that needed to be done to bring the house up to date. Inevitably, we called a few plumbers to do a variety of jobs. Once it came to doing the heating system upgrade the house desperately needed, we settled on Ken Freiner because he provided the best solution, the conversion of the radiators from steam to forced hot water was not a job most plumbers were willing to take on, but Ken made it happen. The quality of the work Ken's team does has always been top notch and their business practices are fair. Ken does not over-charge time like a few plumbers I've had experience with in the past. My only complaint is that in Jan-Feb 2006 the company was not as responsive as I'd hoped and left some (non-critical) work left unfinished in the basement. I later learned that Ken had some personal matters he was attending to during that period of time and this distracted him from the management of his business.

This experience with Freiner was mediocre at best. Prior to this job, we had them do various other smaller jobs (hot water heater, gas hook-up, icemaker, etc.), which we were mostly satisfied with, but this job took far too long, and it was WAY to hard (maddeningly hard) to communicate with Ken or with the head office. We know many people who have had extensive work done by Freiner and who have been very happy with it. I believe the work we had done was decent, but it was done at a painfully slow pace. The communication with the office was very frustrating, the price was too high, and the plumber encountered one too many defective parts to be believable. I genuinely liked everyone I met from this company, but the company has a long way to go before it can be considered efficient and professional enough to justify its rates.

I called him and he came within an hour. Ken didn't charge me for fixing the problem which is outstanding. I just moved to the area and the first experience I had with a service provider was excellent.

Polite. Professional. Don't know about the price. But if you ACTUALLY WANT SOME WORK DONE, call someone else.

THIS WAS DURING A VERY RAINY PERIOD. HE HAD TO POSTPONE THE FIRST APPT. DUE TO SOME EMERGENCIES, BUT CALLED TWICE AND KEPT ME AWARE THAT HE WOULD BE LATE. PRICES SEEM WELL IN LINE WITH OTHER PLUMBERS. HAVE HIRED HIM BEFORE AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SATISFIED.

MIKE DID A GREAT JOB AND OBVIOUSLY KNOWS HIS STUFF. AVAILABLE ON SHORT NOTICE. VERY PROFESSIONAL AND NICE TO WORK WITH. PLUMBING WORK ALWAYS SEEMS RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE, BUT FREINER'S PRICES ARE A BIT LESS THAN SOME COMPANIES IN THE AREA.