Had them do $60,000 worth of work when we bought this house, new furnace, new bathrooms, new kitchen, new laundry room. 5 years later air conditioner goes out, they tell me it will be $9000.00 for a new one because they can't get replacement parts. Call a local plumber for a second quote, he replaced the internal compressor for $900.00. When I called Ballard's back to tell them they told me to go find a new plumbing contractor. I guess the problem is that I have a brain and I'm a local. I wouldn't have them dig a hole for an outhouse! read more

We asked Ballard's to repair our furnace after a Boyne City company couldn't address it. Ballard's technician recognized the issue. He got the furnace going and determined what lead to the failure. There were two (2) other issues (gas line in and post-combustion water drain) which were related to the other company's past work. When these issues were found, there were no accusations, just a fulsome explanation of what was wrong and how that could impact the furnace. read more

2023 May 11: .. called to find out why Ballard person did not show the day of the appointment and did not message to say that he was not going to show or why he did not show. the scheduler seems to care and know what she is doing, she got the person who did not show to visit my home. it worked the second time. 2023 May 4: .. made an appointment, received a call the day before to confirm, but they did not show and did not message ahead of time to notify me. did not message afterwards to explain why they did not show. read more

Don't bother if you're not a current customer. Despite having used them in our family cottage in Horton Bay when the furnace went out in the Charlevoix home we just moved into they refused to come out. Temp below 10 degrees today and they pretty much told us that it was our tough luck. read more

They are very fair, knowledgeable, honest and very creative in solving problems. They have helped us out a lot w furnace, converting from propane to natural gas as well as our new hookup to WiFi in our area. I find they do really good work and guarantees. Only negative is they don't seem to follow up on work such as others but that is not as important as a job well done. read more

Worked on our water softener 3 times. Never fixed it and charged us all 3 times. Needless to say we won't be calling or recommending them again. read more

We hired this company to put a split Mitsubishi air conditioner in September . Firstly they installed the wrong Brand. They put a lower quality Fujitsu in and they offered to give us a 1500.00 credit. Then they installed the pump incorrectly and it would not work so they had to come out and repair it and the installer never went over how to operate the system correctly . This was put in a summer cottage. When we arrived in the spring 7 months after it was installed and after some construction over the winter. We could not get any heat to run and it was 30 degrees. We had to call them on a Saturday I told them we were still under warranty they came out. The service man opened the system which I did not know it opened up and slid out a filter and washed it off. He could clearly see we were not informed how to use the system and spent a great deal of time showing us how to operate it. We then got a bill for 300.00. So much for a warranty. I know Ballards have been bought out and it has new owners but if you use this company you have been warned. read more

Ballard's did several thousand dollars worth of work for me earlier in 2018 including running new wires from my furnace to my thermostat and program and install said thermostat. When I went to recently turn on the heat, it wouldn't start up. I called them figuring they did the work, so they would take care of the problem. The tech determined that the furnace was fine but the thermostat was problematic within 20 minutes. He proceeded to make a call that lasted around an hour to the thermostat manufacturer. The manufacturer agreed to send out a new thermostat. I thought it was a nice touch on Ballard's for following up on their previous work. They took care of it alright, at a tune of almost $200. The previous work I had done was done on a quote basis so I knew the cost. Thinking back, whenever I've done business with a company and they have had to follow up on something, they will tell you their policy on service cost or come out and do it as a follow-up service as a cost of the previous work that occasionally occurs. I don't think most businesses want to create a situation of misunderstanding and most know it is in their best interest to inform consumers of any costs BEFORE providing service (as they did prior). I feel cheated. Had I known they were bilking me for $83/hr + a $45 service call to follow up on prior work completed, I would not have used them. For those reading, that hourly rate jumps to $90/hr in November 2018. Perhaps this review will save you from unexpected expense as this company does not operate like others I've used in the past. By the way, you can research this, the average HVAC tech in the united states get's paid $32/hour. They did solve the problem, but I can't recommend a company that charges more than the industry average and feels that lying by omission and failing to disclose costs is appropriate. Would have rather paid the $90/hr to a psychic hotline.... I don't think even they charge that much. read more

Wish I had read the reviews first - (I would have chosen MacGregor). Beware, Ballard's will nickle and dime you and there is no guarantee they will fix the problem. After 3 rescheduled appointments because they were short staffed, the tech finally showed up. He was friendly and very informative however I saw on my invoice that I charged for the time he was "educating" me about Plumbing. He replaced 4 valves that were all 4 times the cost of what you can get them for online asserting that it is because their parts are under warranty. The parts are, but the time it takes to replace them will cost you - beware. One of the valves was faulty and when Roy showed up to fix it, he simply pushed a few buttons, turned the thermostat, and claimed it was the fault of the thermostat. And that was it! I was charged $90 for a 15 minute "consultation". Nothing was repaired. This company does not provide any transparency in their pricing at the time of the visit. Read the other reviews about them, I am not the only person that they took advantage of in this way. I tried to appeal to Ballard's about the invoice asking if they would consider waiving this invoice in light of the fact they did not fix anything to which they said, "No, it will stay on your account and you will be charged finance charges if it is not paid - upon receipt" Their billing department is unyielding unwilling for any reasonable compromise They care more about money than customer satisfaction. Avoid them at all costs. read more

Ballard's quoted approximately $220 to winterize my home, then bill arrived with approximately $100 in additional charges. I could have gotten the winterization done by another company for a grand total of $200. Billing clerk refused to adjust bill even after confirming the quote with the scheduler, then refused to run the situation by the owner, despite my repeated requests to do so. I will not use Ballard's again. read more

We've used Ballard for winterizing our cottage for 3 seasons and installment of a toilet, sink and laundry tub. In all, we experienced professional workers at a fair price and at this point would continue to use them. read more

Our AC is not getting enough to the second floor. We went and talked to Ballard's about a solution. They said they would call and stop by to give us an estimate. That was a month ago. Typical response from area contractors. Do they think we are not serious? read more

After using the services of various plumbers/heating specialists in Northern Michigan over the years, I've found Ballard's to be the absolute best in terms of expertise, quality workmanship, professionalism, customer service, and fair pricing. Not long ago I needed an outdoor faucet repaired. Not only did the tech repair the faucet, but when he discovered there was no handy shutoff valve in the bathroom wall adjacent to the faucet, he installed one. I've used their services several times over the past two years and have never been disappointed with their work or their pricing. Heartily recommend Ballard's. read more

Got ripped off so many times and my friends say this has happened to them too. When they joined with Great Lakes I got double billed for a furnace that only lasted 3 years...Friends say you have to watch how many hours they work as they double charge. If there was a -star thats what I would give them read more