Comments
Aggravating_Foot_528 t1_jcg9q7f wrote
may be worth finding a reputable company to proactively replace it anyway. You probably will recoup the replacement cost given the much better efficiency and not have to worry about it crapping out again in the winter.
[deleted] OP t1_jcgbbyt wrote
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enemy_of_your_enema t1_jcgchev wrote
Not throwing out a boiler that still works is a good move, but when you are ready to upgrade, there are a lot of incentives now for replacing gas appliances with electric ones. Rewiring America has a good calculator to see what you're eligible for.
Aggravating_Foot_528 t1_jcgbpcw wrote
yeah, gotta balance everything else that needs to be done.
I do love our new system. So much more efficient, very quiet. no muss, no fuss, but if there are other things more pressing, gotta do those.
I do bet you could get a few more years out of the current setup though.
If you do keep it for a few more years may be worth having a HVAC company come out to clean it out/check it every fall. That service isn't too much $.
[deleted] OP t1_jcgl5xh wrote
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Flaky-Roll-4900 t1_jcgwtv3 wrote
If my furnace turns on right around when I'm hopping in bed, I never make it through the cycle of it running. Lights out baby, every time.
chucklez24 t1_jch419p wrote
That’s jus the carbon monoxide doing it’s thing. /s
Flaky-Roll-4900 t1_jch8pt5 wrote
If that's what it takes, I'm on board.
terwoo t1_jch4f2r wrote
if you just moved in you might have a home warranty, we had ours when we bought our house and saved a bunch of money from it. I pay for it now because it's nice knowing we won't get a multiple thousand dollar bill for something like the AC or furnace (last summer the AC went out and was replaced under warranty).
AnewENTity t1_jcgdiop wrote
This might not be the whole story.
Modern “high efficiency” boilers are only 10% or so more efficient and they have much higher failure rates. I actually researched it and I’ve talked to some clients of mine who run HVAC companies and they are not super thrilled with most of the units either.
Depending on how good the insulation is in Op’s house that might actually be a better use for that money. Op was able to get the unit PM’d by an expert so I don’t think they need to run and replace it
For reference I have a late 70’s or early 80’s Dunkirk that runs like a top and I was told to hold on to it as long as I can.
Aggravating_Foot_528 t1_jcgf1xw wrote
Agreed Insulation is probably the single best investment you can make in a house. Will certainly extend the life of your HVAC and make it much more efficient compared to pre insulation.
Wondering if the fault point for the newer equipment are the electronics?
AnewENTity t1_jcgj5uj wrote
Maybe, but those can often be replaced. I think the metal and the unit overall design is just much cheaper now a days. The whole they don’t build them like they used to thing.
My own aqua stat box (water thermostat) died but I was able to have it replaced for about $350 all together. That was actually when I had the long convo with the HVAC tech (who was my client for other work) and he told me to keep this as long as I can cause they see a lot of issues with the newer ones and the life span is around 10-15 years only depending on the model.
[deleted] OP t1_jcgz6lx wrote
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machinegunke11y t1_jch78l3 wrote
This. I was scrolling to see if anyone else brought this up. High efficiency is a catchy name, and they are highly efficient but doesn't educate on where you are to begin with. Heating water and pumping it around a house is tried and true.
AnewENTity t1_jchge51 wrote
Yep and it’s already leagues above a forced air system. Radiators stay hot for hours
beans5189 t1_jcgtrxa wrote
On the contrary all my buddies in the industry express how fortunate it is to have an older furnace. A lot less moving parts and harder to breakdown. The newer ones have a lot of extras that fail often
thunderGunXprezz t1_jch3qm3 wrote
I would also make it a point to contact those who run their ads. If any of them start dropping them maybe that will influence some change, or at the very least save others from getting screwed by them.
James19991 t1_jcggh6l wrote
Yep. I have relatives who are in plumbing, and they've been saying for 15 years to me what they are.
Joeboku t1_jcgk94u wrote
Would be nice if we had a sticky of reputable and fair companies broken down by specialty/industry (roofing, plumbing, electrical, mechanics, car sales, etc).
Having just moved to the area a year ago it's tough finding people running reputable and fair businesses. When I do find them they earn my repeat business and I am always sending friends their way.
Aggravating_Foot_528 t1_jcgl0in wrote
Look at Angie or whatever they call Angie's list now. When I moved here I used that and found it helpful.
Confident_End_3848 t1_jcga9o4 wrote
I have never heard or read one single positive review of Gillece.
[deleted] OP t1_jcglcze wrote
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StarWars_and_SNL t1_jcg9uwj wrote
I swear I heard years back that these guys went out of business because of how shitty they were.
Why are they still around? It’s ridiculous.
Someone needs to catch them by using hidden cameras or something.
Showerbeerz413 t1_jcgciqe wrote
literally advertising. they get business cause the name gillece is plastered all over the city and people who aren't informed just call them, cause why would a shit business be so well advertised.
FeoWalcot t1_jcgjdum wrote
Gillece isn’t a plumbing company. They’re a sales company whose product is plumbing services.
tunabomber t1_jcgv5g0 wrote
And gives plumbers like me a bad name.
CARLEtheCamry t1_jcghyg8 wrote
It's like the predatory scam calls. They're not getting people that are reasonably knowledgeable about anything HVAC or local business reputations.
On of my wife's clients is a retired widow. There was a Gillece truck in front of her house one day when she let the dog out which she mentioned, I had her call immediately and tell her to get a 2nd estimate, but it was too late. Fortunately it was just a hot water tank, but she could have gotten it done for half the price by anyone else. Her mentality was just "hot water is not hot", call whoever.
notfromsoftemployee t1_jcgp39y wrote
I pretty much hire contractors for a living. The real people to blame are the contractor houses/journals/whatever bs they're calling themselves now. When the average person googles for a contractor, the first 5-10 links are all going to be "top ten (plumbers, whatever) in your area." People assume that these are the 10 best reviewed or reputable ones around them, when in reality they're the ten companies that journal has a backend deal with. They don't guarantee work or signify quality contractors. They literally mass aggregate and bid jobs and they're the reason local contractors sometimes struggle to compete. They're the wal-mart of home repair.
This is why I have a very select list of contractors I've built over the years of working in facility maintenance. I am a huge believer in small businesses. My contractors are almost entirely small business owners, unless it's entirely unavoidable. They get their shit done on schedule, I don't have to chase them around, and I don't have to supervise their work. They answer when I call and sometimes even proactively take care of problems for me that are out of the scope of the call if they notice them on site. I understand how people can unknowingly get duped into calling one of the big crooks, but we really do need to continue to spread awareness.
ddesigns t1_jcgc50s wrote
They will also try to sue you if they see this post!
thereandfatagain t1_jcgaqsu wrote
Don’t call Gillece!
bdw2829 t1_jcgbfr7 wrote
Avoid them and Sullivan Super Service
NSlocal t1_jcggg46 wrote
Sullivan. I called them to service my furnace because they were running a special. My MIL was at home with my daughter who was two at the time. It was winter and very cold the day the tech arrived. My MIL called after he had been in the house to say the tech had shut off the gas (was a word for it I forget, something like red taggged the gas line) and told her to leave with my daughter because I had a cracked heat exchanger. I get him on the phone, he tells me the furnace is fucked and he was having the office work up an estimate.
Luckily my MIL suggested calling a person who she had service her HVAC for years and he was available to come out that afternoon. He used one of those cameras on a rod to determine there was no fucking crack in my heat exchanger. He also informed me the furnace was still under the original warranty! He green lighted the turning back on of the gas, my MIL and daughter returned to the house.
I was so damn mad I called the office and spoke to whomever who told me the tech may have made a mistake and would I let another Sullivan tech come out to take another look. I told him I'd never use Sullivn nor recommend them to anybody. At that point he offered to PAY me to have a tech come out. I refused. Fuck Sullivan.
Aggravating_Foot_528 t1_jcghbhr wrote
Pay you because they'd crack the part and then add on what they paid you to fix it.
bdw2829 t1_jcgcewt wrote
Little Background on this. Didn’t have time to change out 2 gas shut off valves. Sullivan wanted to charge 500 to do so. Mind you the valves at the time were under 10 bucks each. Called local plumbing company and they changed them out for 35.
weavs13 t1_jcgdvyv wrote
Any chance you can DM me the name of the plumbing company? I have a valve that needs replaced.
pghgreatest t1_jcghcru wrote
Same can you send me info on this company please
tunabomber t1_jcgvdgv wrote
You can add Matt Mertz to that list. I have helped several people who got bogus quotes from them. Fixed something for 300 one time that Mertz quoted them 6000 on.
Minty_beard t1_jch0c86 wrote
My wife had Sullivan come to our house to clear the drain of our laundry tub while I was out of town. My wife called me saying the tech told her it would be a $5k fix as the elbow is "likely" corroded and crushed and they'd have to bust up the concrete to replace it. I didn't buy this at all because I know it had been draining slowly for a month and I was admittedly being lazy and didn't snake it myself before it got too bad. I told her to tell him "snake the drain or get the fuck out of my house". 10 minutes later the broken elbow magically fixed itself and the drain has been clear for the past 2 years. Never again.
Showerbeerz413 t1_jcgcv66 wrote
Yeaaaa my dad has always told me John gillece was a conman and a fraud. happy to never have to use them for anything
blue_no_red_ahhhhhhh t1_jcgezsd wrote
I have a similar story. Fourth of July, 90 some degrees and the air conditioning dies. Gillece will show up, so I schedule with them for an hour or so later. An hour later, he tells me that he’s charged the a/c back up, but that there’s a leak. And it’s lucky that he showed when he did. He said the entire a/c system needs replaced. Gonna be about fifteen grand. I led him on and thanked him, and the a/c lasted through that summer with the charge. I called someone else the next year to service it and all they did was charge it again with whatever chemical it needed and cleaned the coils. 7 years later, I got a new a/c unit installed for about $2800. Through Lowes. Anytime I can save someone from Gillece, I will. They charge out the ass for anything and take the public for suckers. Before replacing, PLEASE get a second opinion. It may just be something stupid. I saved what, over ten grand but getting a second opinion? Sorry for the rant, but Gillece is full of shit and takes advantage of unsuspecting homeowners.
rokitect t1_jcgkv0x wrote
I, too, can attest to a horrible Gillece experience.
Their truck has a picture the owner with a parrot on his shoulder for a serious reason: to forewarn people that he’s a pirate
JohnSpartans t1_jcggror wrote
Can we get your uncle's guys???
After having purchased a home in the last 5 years and getting mortgage companies to fight over my loan I realized if I can help it I will never use the first estimate. Have to get a second one, and sales people love fighting over a sale.
iamnotyrmotheriswear t1_jch2pb6 wrote
He got the friend discount so even if he were to go to your place not going to be that cheap
Username89054 t1_jcgd9yw wrote
Here's the reality: most large home service companies, ie electricians, plumbers, renovators, etc. are going to be significantly more expensive and lower quality work than your small business types. You're paying for convenience. If you're a homeowner, it's a really good idea to be proactive and find the good, local businesses for these things.
I needed an electrician recently and thankfully my neighbor just had some work done by a guy who lives down the street from us. If I didn't have him, I would've been stuck calling a big company and paying out the ass. Instead a local guy charged me $195 for an hour of work and some parts. Previously, I had to use a bigger company who charged me $400 for similar work in 2019.
Ask around for a local HVAC person to come give your systems a tune up. Find excuses to get a plumber or local electrician into your house. Then when something is wrong, you're a repeat customer for someone you found is trustworthy.
throwaway404672 t1_jcgik1j wrote
They are known dirt bags
queenofthenerds t1_jcgirxm wrote
Despite all the stories in this thread, their reviews on Google maps are currently still over four stars. So.... If anyone has a different experience, you may want to share it as a review there.
FreeCashFlow t1_jcgjur4 wrote
Those reviews are astroturfed. And they scream and threaten to sue anyone who leaves a negative one. Not worth the trouble.
Looppowered t1_jcgt3no wrote
My boss had his A/C go out over a weekend and he called Gillece since they have the emergency 24/7 response.
They told him he needed to replace the whole system for about $12000. Turns out he just needed to replace the capacitor on his outdoor unit. It cost him like $30 for the part and he replaced it himself.
PennSaddle t1_jcgirba wrote
I was told I needed to completely replace my furnace. Got ahold of a buddy who works in commercial HVAC & he took a look. It was a single bad capacitor. Cost me $10 & a few beers to catch up with a friend.
capchaos t1_jcgxyox wrote
Don't call them for a backed up sewer line. They will come out and make you sign a contract saying if they have to make a follow-up visit they will have to tear up your basement floor and your yard to replace the whole sewer line. Then they run a 3/4" auger down the floor drain which cuts a hole in the blockage and all the water goes down the pipe. Then the first time something solid hits that 3/4" hole, water backs up again. They come back out and tell you the pipe replacement will cost $20,000+. If you try to refuse, they threaten to sue. Most of the time it's just tree roots growing into the pipe. If that's what it is, you can avoid service calls by using a root killer in periodic intervals as stated on the product. Try to find one that is environmentally safe and is the proper one for your type of pipe. Never EVER call Gillece.
cooldude_4000 t1_jcgmnst wrote
Our boiler went out the day before Christmas Eve and as desperate as we were to get it fixed, we called everyone BUT Gillece based on all the bad things we'd heard about them.
ExitMusic_ t1_jcgpipm wrote
Only time I ever actually used Gillece was after storm damage/falling tree took out a power line. I knew insurance was gonna cover it so I literally didn’t care what it would cost. They were the people who could get out and do it the fastest and I needed my damn power back I work from home.
To be fair they were there the next day and the third party inspection said everything looked great. So they did fine work.
But oh lord any other company could have done it for a third of the price.
enraged_hbo_max_user t1_jci0z01 wrote
Yeah but…didn’t your premium go up? If you had gone with someone cheaper it might not have gone up as much
ExitMusic_ t1_jci3721 wrote
My premium didn’t end up going up. I don’t know much about insurance it’s always been decently transparent to me. But it was the first claim on decade+ old policy and the only other tree remaining close to the power lines I had taken down when they came to clean up. Which I guess you could consider a reduction in future risk.
billfriedman9987 t1_jcgrlr3 wrote
100% criminals
AN3RD t1_jch5qyr wrote
My director always used to say “ call Gillece and then call the police”.
enraged_hbo_max_user t1_jchbk1x wrote
Why’d this thread get deleted?
TheRedScarey t1_jcgiqnq wrote
I’ve heard so many bad things about this company.
BorderlinePaisley t1_jcgv88a wrote
As a rule of thumb, if a contractor advertises on TV and radio, they’re a ripoff. Gillece, Wahl, ARS. I’ve gotten quotes from all of them at one time or another and they’re all crooks.
Never dealt with Matt Meartz or Ireland Contracting but I’d assume they’re no better.
goldengirlsmom t1_jch2ny3 wrote
"He was able to get it running again by spraying some WD40 down into the motor. Loosened it right up and started running. He cleaned out the inside, did a full service check, and told me that it was in beautiful shape for a 37 year old boiler and should be running for years to come. Cost me $120 and three cans of beer."
​
​
I've had dates like this TBH
ToonMaster21 t1_jcgbuwt wrote
Shaffer’s is very good. They did a massive project for me last year. They weren’t the most expensive and not the cheapest. Great work.
DammitDad420 t1_jcgf9fh wrote
Gillece transmission did pretty much the same thing to us years ago also
pghgreatest t1_jcghi99 wrote
Who is this two man crew you called can you please dm me
Naptimeis4ever t1_jcgkn7a wrote
For a positive company (in my experience) I used Miller's Kalamazoo in Ford City. Their pricing is fair and their techs are polite and fast. I've called them 3 times and always had a tech in that same day.
Fleurz t1_jcgvd20 wrote
I had a really positive experience with ARS Pittsburgh when the 20 year old furnace in our new house finally gave out last winter. They were very professional and reasonable.
JAK3CAL t1_jcgvuza wrote
Always get three quotes. I had some trees logged. First guy offered me a few thousand, top of the market price he said but I had to sign right then bc the price was dropping by the minute!!!
So I didn’t sign and my second quote was more than 3X the price 😂
I_Drive_a_shitbox t1_jcgwvvl wrote
"Call Gillece" more like ""Call the Thief" the did an inspection of my brothers old drain in the basement of his house. Said they needed like 30k worth of work. Ripping up the concrete in the basement, new lines, etc etc. Turns out they were showing him a pre recorded video of another house that needed that work done. He had someone in for a second opinion and got it fixed for like $200.
Fuck Gillece.
[deleted] OP t1_jcgyqs0 wrote
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SteelPenguin8 t1_jcgyuas wrote
I’ve been skeptical of them since I first saw their vans and the decal choice of having that man wave at you
turp101 t1_jch0fi6 wrote
Wahl has gone that route too, just FYI.
5 years ago they weren't like that and I used them for a bunch of my properties; then after COVID it was like they became Gillece "lite" - I couldn't get a $90 seasonal tuneup without a quote for at least $3,000 in services that where needed. Even for 3 year old systems they had installed. Similar garbage with gas leaks too. Pipes that had plugs in for 10+ years that I had been around dozens of times were all of a sudden leaking.
Moral: Don't leave your tech alone while they are "doing work" - you may end up paying more for it than you expect.
chiphook57 t1_jch1egu wrote
They are criminals. I met a guy from Erie, PA. His friend had to change the name of his plumbing company from his family name to a fictitious name, in order to keep gillece corruption at arm's length.
whethersweater t1_jch38iu wrote
Upon buying my first home here last year, I have been warned SO MANY TIMES. It is the thing that unifies all small contractors here, regardless of their field. In fact, if it came up and the person I was talking to didn't immediately say "don't ever EVER so business with those scumbags" I would be suspicious.
Floopydoodler t1_jch4ijm wrote
When the time does come for your boiler replacement, Frew Plumbing did one for me with upgraded tech for about $8000. They had been nursing my old one along for several years and never pressured me to replace until it was actually time. Gillece - I could go on about my experience with them. Suffice to say their $99 drain clearing thing actually costs $600 with a whole lot of attitude thrown in.
[deleted] OP t1_jch63s2 wrote
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enraged_hbo_max_user t1_jch7jha wrote
My life motto: “Don’t Get Fleeced by Gillece!”
banjelina t1_jch8pz4 wrote
My former landlord first alerted me to Gillece 13 years ago. There was a large thread on Nextdoor with many people describing instances of trickery and shoddy workmanship.
Agile-Hopeful4707 t1_jch9qp0 wrote
There are Union plumbing/hvac shops in pittsburgh. Their techs aren't on commission like many of the large non-union places. The labor costs suprisingly are often less at union shops. Ask when you call.
jimthissguy t1_jcgi83w wrote
3 cans of beer is a fucking bargain. I would have have guessed dinner + six pack at least.
Cootie_Mac t1_jch02of wrote
Can you pm me that two man company? My boiler is over 30 years old and could use some servicing!
Aggravating_Foot_528 t1_jcg970q wrote
https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/fds54/everyone_in_pgh_knows_that_gillece_plumbing_is_a/
https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/3b2c02/gillece_at_it_again/
https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/il8ebq/pa_attorney_general_sues_gillece_services_wants/
https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/op0xl/its_that_time_of_year_again_who_do_you_go_to_for/
we really need to sticky one of these threads.
sorry you had to go through this.