Just my luck on Friday 11/8/2019 I went to take a shower before going to bed only to discover that I had no hot water...yikes!!! Immediately I pulled out my big book of major appliance receipts/warranties and found out that my current hot water heater had been installed in September of 1996 - so my assumption was that those weird noises that woke me up in the middle of the night on Thursday were the death throes of my water heater.
Fast forward to Monday 11/11/19 when I was up bright and early to get some quotes for a new hot water heater. My first call was to B & W Plumbing who had installed the previous water heater when my parents owned the home. I explained the situation and asked for a phone quote which they were happy to provide. For a new hot water heater (the same Bradford/White 30 gallon lowboy electric water heater I currently had) the bill would be approximately $1,500+!!! Granted I know things have gone up in price but the total bill for the water heater, parts and labor in 1996 was $351.56. Thinking their quote was way too high I thanked them and decided to get a quote from a general contractor I had used previously for some carpentry work on my home.
My next call was to Paul Walker of Unlimited Solutions. Since he didn't pick up I assumed he was busy on a job so I left him a message explaining the situation and told him it was a bit time sensitive as one likes to be able to shower, etc. right? He called me back pretty quickly, explained he was indeed out on a job but he would be able to stop by late afternoon or early evening to look at the water heater, take some measurements and get an idea of what needed to be done so he could crunch some numbers and get me a quote ASAP. Due to the time of day and holiday hours for some folks he said he would probably be Tuesday morning before he could get a quote together.
Tuesday mid-morning Paul called with a quote for the water heater, parts and installation that was approximately half the price B & W quoted. In an effort to get me the best price possible he suggested we go with an A. O. Smith unit. So with my verbal agreement he went to pick up the water heater only to find out after measuring it in person that it was too tall to fit in my enclosure. Fortunately I had already found a local contractor supply house that carried the Bradford/White units (only available through authorized distributors) so when Paul called with the update about the other unit being too tall I was able to give him their contact information and my okay for a $100 price increase to his original quote. Paul called them immediately and was told that they had the correct unit. So he called me back with the good news that they had the unit and he was heading to the NW side of Indianapolis to pick it up and assured me that there was still have enough time to get the new water heater installed that day...yes!! Unfortunately, when he arrived at the supply house he was told that the unit he had come to pick up was actually located in Bloomington, Indiana and they couldn't get it to Indianapolis until Friday!!!!!
Needless to say I wasn't pleased with that news especially since the alternative unit ended up not working out increasing the job price. However, I did understand that he was trying to save me money by proposing an alternative unit. Now finding out that I was going to have to wait until Friday ---- a full week after I had the failed shower experience ---- made me a very unhappy camper. Being very customer-service focused Paul volunteered to drive to Bloomington this morning (11/13/19) to pick it up so he could get it installed only a day later than first promised --- that is going above and beyond in my opinion. And even with the slight price bump it was still a much more reasonably priced job estimate that B & W Plumbing's especially considering I have the same length warranty. Fingers crossed that this new Bradford/White hot water heater lasts as long as my last one did. read more