We did a restoration on a 140-year-old church. It was determined that fire suppression should be installed. During the initial bid phase, Summit and 3 other companies were given documentation explaining the work needed to be done. In this were things explaining the goals of the project and what was expected. During the bid phase, every company had site reviews to determine exactly what was needed to be done. After getting bids, Summit came in about 10% lower than the others. With budgets in mind and figuring a company as large as Summit knows what they are doing, we selected them. In the summer of 2023, we had meetings to determine how the project was going to proceed, and Summit said that their work could and would be done before Christmas. As work started on the remodel, we started to see little cracks in their company. The first issue is that they pushed their start date just before the original one was supposed to occur. Secondly, the cleanliness of their installers and management of their part of the project was extremely lax. They left grease, components, and dings in walls of areas that were not supposed to be touched. Halfway through the project, a retired fire suppression installer with the parish asked where the galvanized pipe was for the attic. Summit informed us that code doesn't require this anymore and they just install black pipe unless someone specifically asks for it. We then asked how long their pipe was scheduled to last, their response was "5-10 years, maybe 15 if you are lucky". This was shocking since at no time did their representatives inform us of this during any part of the project. They said that "everyone usually just wants the cheapest pipe and this is normal". I asked if others knew that their systems would only last a decade and I was told "people usually don't care that much". They said if you go with galvanized, it typically lasts about 75-90 years...What really shocked us was that this company, which is a knowledgeable outfit, doesn't realize that a church might want to have pipes last more than a decade in a 140 year old church that is designed to last at least another 140 years. Their response was that they told us this from the beginning and that we had the option. Being the only one that was talking with them regarding the work, I knew that was incorrect and every single email, text, bid, and other document said nothing about this or any options for pipe to last longer. They actually had the balls to tell me I was lying about not being told and I asked them to supply me with anything they have on file or specific dates as to when this was brought up, after 2 weeks they had no answers. We immediately requested some answers and fixes for this as we did not want to deal with replacing the pipework in the attic in 10 years when it will potentially cost 2-3 times as much. The response they came back with was to install a nitrogen system that would need to be monitored and inspected regularly. This system would have about 18-20 thousand dollars of up-front cost. The nitrogen system can make the pipes last about the same time as galvanized. Two of the other companies, who specifically called out the term "galvanized pipe" in their bid, would have been cheaper when you figure in this nitrogen system. We were shocked, but the system was mostly installed with just some connections and monitoring systems to be installed, so we asked for some sort of compromise. Their compromise was to take off about 2000 dollars from the additional 20,000-dollar fee for the nitrogen system. We would not accept that, and I requested that their managers get involved. After 2 additional weeks, I finally heard back from this guy who asked me how I heard the pipe will only last about 10 years, he said his guys would not say that. I forwarded him the email that his company sent to me with the exact wording. After another week of waiting, he responded back that he was going to get documentation from the pipe company confirming that the pipe lasts much longer than what was originally said. During all this time, we were right on time with all our payments to Summit Fire Protection with the understanding that this issue would be resolved. Also, we were under a time crunch to complete the fire suppression system, which was now months behind schedule from the original completion dates they promised during the beginning of the process. After waiting a few weeks for a response from the pipe company, we had to contact them to find out what was happening, we were told that the pipe company would not guarantee any life of the pipe/system, big surprise. During the final inspection phase, they missed the first inspection, then "forgot to schedule" the second one on the date they told us. After "completion" they left tiles exposed, parts, and other things around. As someone that collaborates with many builders, I am going to tell everyone I know not to use this company. read more

I took my fire extinguisher to be refilled at this Waite Park, MN location. The secretary wasnt overtly friendly but nice enough. The gentleman who took my fire extinguisher didnt once smile the whole time, never said hi to me or ask how my day was going. Maybe I am expecting too much because I come from an industry heavily dependent on good customer service but anyways, I had to ask him when itd be finished, he rudely answered "this afternoon." Having given him my phone number, I expected a phone call that same afternoon, no call. 5 days later I call them and the woman says "oh yeah its done" i ask "when were you guys planning on calling me?" and she said "oh well im not really in charge of that" or something to that effect. its very frustrating for a service technician to not call the customer upon completion of the repair job, they cant expect us to call them every 5 minutes, asking if its done. Anyways, today I went to pick it up and the guy came out of his office, stared at me for about 3 seconds and said "yeah?" Told him I was picking up and he was giving ME crap about how it was done that same afternoon like I was supposed to automatically come in and wait from 12:01pm to 4:59pm (technically "afternoon"). I told him his service was about as bad as at the DMV and that I wouldnt be coming back. He couldnt seem to care less. Oh well at least my fire extinguisher seems to have been fixed, next time though I think Id rather let my house burn down or find a different company to do business with. read more