Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Watkins Heating & Cooling's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Watkins Heating & Cooling

  10 Parker Dr. Springboro, OH 45066

  
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  Watkins Heating & Cooling

  480 Congress Park Dr Centerville, OH 45459-4144

  

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/13/2025

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Had a tech out for diagnostic the evening of 1/3 the tech stated they needed to order a part and it would be in 1/9-1/10 and would schedule a time to replace circuit board. Paid 100 diagnostic fee. Called and left a message 1/9 and 1/10 to check status of part and was told they would have the tech call me back both times but never received a call back. Called again 1/13 and was transferred to a condescending manager that said they were refusing to do the work because of a legal dispute that doesn't exist. So thanks for the week and a half without heat Watkins!

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/24/2025

  On January 3rd, 2025, a Watkins service tech called Mr. ***** who was the landlord of a property in need of HVAC service.  Mr. ***** told the tech that he needed him to go to the property and turn on the gas to the furnace as it had been turned off a few months prior.  The tech asked whether another company had been out and if the conditions were safe.  Mr. ***** said that another company had not been out and the conditions were safe.  

  
  When the tech arrived, the tenant promptly informed him that the furnace had not worked for about 3 years and they were unaware that the gas had been turned off. They added that another company was in fact out recently, and the tech for that company left without performing any work due to “unsafe working conditions.” 

  
  Our Watkins tech proceeded to inspect the furnace and found an electrical problem.  He also found water damage all over the unit.  He swapped out a fuse and diagnosed a bad control board. The tech called Mr. ***** to share his diagnosis and to inquire about the water damage.  Mr. ***** then confirmed that the basement had indeed flooded and another company had been out. Our technician felt unsafe working on the furnace and so Watkins did not order repair parts or schedule a follow-up visit.  

  
  Watkins has since issued a $99 refund check to the customer for the cost of his service visit.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/11/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My husband's called Watkins to have a technician to come out to see why out boiler would not ignite. The technician came out on 9/27/2024. My husband accompanied the technician to the basement. The technician unplugged the boiler and blew out the plug and plugged it back in. The technician turned on the gas and electric, (my husband turned both off until a technician could take a look at the boiler), and our boiler came on! The technician then decided to start inspecting other parts to our boiler. He was attempting to get another pipe "unclogged" and attempted to take the pipe off with a wrench and when he torqued the wrench, he broke the site glass. He then attempted to act like he didn't know what happened and didn't know why water was pouring out of the boiler. My husband was watching him the whole time and told him what he did wrong. The technician called his boss, and his boss stated they would order the part free of charge and not charge us for the service call today. We waited 6 weeks today. Watkins never called to keep us informed. My husband called at the beginning of this week, and the parts department stated that the part had come in at some point but it was damaged, so they had to send the damaged part back and reordered another part. Watkins called back this week to inform us that the part came in, and they could come out Friday morning. Watkins technician came out to put the new part on. The technician showed up late, and started to take everything apart, and then he broke the galvanized pipe that is attached to the old site glass. The technician brought the wrong part, the site glass was too big for our boiler. My husband asked if he had something to cut the site glass with and the technician laughed and said no. The technician stated that the company usually sends a glass cutter with the site glass but one was not present. Watkins said nothing else could be done and we needed a new boiler. They had someone come out and give us a quote for $13,800.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/10/2024

  On 10/18/24, we ran a diagnostic call at 2517 Westfield Ave. due to a steam boiler not firing.  The technician, Dustin, went to the home, opened the equipment, and reseated the wiring.  The boiler then turned on.  The technician inspected the boiler and found that the low water cut off was stuck and full of sediment.  While opening the low water cut off, the boiler’s site glass broke.  The technician offered to replace the site glass at no charge. We also recommended the boiler be replaced due to the age and poor condition of the system. $0 collected.

  
  

  On 11/8/24, the technician returned with a site glass to repair the damaged component.  While disassembling the boiler for repair he found that the heat exchanger was leaking water between the cells on the backside.  When attempting to replace the site glass, the connections between the site glass and heat exchanger broke off due to rusted piping.  He then made a second attempt to unthread the pipe and complete the repair, but it snapped off in the threads of the heat exchanger, again, due to the poor condition of the pipe.  Given the additional issues discovered with the heat exchanger, as well as the issues of the site glass, we recommended replacing the boiler.

  
  

  We sent a Comfort Advisor out that day to quote a replacement.  He gave a proposal for $14,800 to replace the boiler and then offered an additional $1,000 discount for the inconvenience the customer had experienced. $0 collected.

  
  

  On 11/9/24, the service supervisor, Andy, contacted the customer to discuss a remedy to the issues experienced.  Based on the poor condition of the boiler–needing a new heat exchanger, low water cut off, and site glass–it was his recommendation that the boiler be replaced.  When the customer stated they were wanting a repair to be made, the service supervisor offered the customer $500 to have another company make the repairs, as he did not trust the integrity of the current system and foresaw encountering more problems. The customer accepted this offer.

  
  

  On 11/21/24, the customer filed a complaint with the BBB.  The customer had not made any contact with our company since 11/9/24.

  
  

  In conclusion, the poor condition of the home’s boiler made it so that the unit was unserviceable.  We regret not being able to meet the customer’s needs. We collected no money from the customer and offered them money to get repairs done by another company.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/15/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Refund of charges.On 1/9/23 Watkins diagnosed my furnace as having a cracked heat exchanger. That was the only thing they said was wrong. The charge was $99.00 for the service call. The labor to replace the heat exchanger would be $967.00. The part was still under warranty. The tech noted the water heater may have to be removed and reinstalled to do the job.
  
  Later an appointment was set for 2/6/23 for the installation. The tech called on his way here. He said Watkins would not be responsible for the water heater if it needed removed and reinstalled. This was the first and only time that no responsibility by Watkins was mentioned. It is mentioned to show the tech's lack of attention to detail.
  
  Not until after I paid the tech $967.00, did he state the evaporator coil was dirty and it would cost $800.00 to clean. Another lack of detail. He said I may want to buy cheap air filters and to leave all the doors and vents open to increase air flow.
  
  The furnace was STILL blowing cold air after he left. I called Watkins and told them that it was not fixed, and he needed to bring the heat exchanger back. They checked what the tech wrote about the dirty evaporator coil and said they could put me on the schedule, to clean the coil. The tech did not show me the crack and it was never brought back.
  
  On 2/9/23, Stanley Heating and Cooling did a diagnosis. The Watkins tech DID NOT turn on the gas valve inside the furnace. Therefore, he did not complete the job. See Stanley technical notes.
  
  Even if the Watkins tech had turned on the gas valve and started the furnace, it would have shut down again because of the dirty evaporator coil.
  
  The Stanley tech cleaned the coil and finished what the Watkins tech neglected to do. The furnace then and only then operated properly. The charge was $196.00.
  
  How does a heating tech with any reasonable ability forget to turn the gas back on, do proper checks and see if the furnace is running properly? What else did he do wrong that has not yet shown up?
  
  Watkins should refund the entire amount including the service call for these failures.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/27/2023

  We completed a diagnosis of a failed heat exchanger on 1-9-23.  Customer scheduled to have the repair completed on 2-6-23.  Both during the original diagnosis and the return trip, it was stated to the customer that the cost of repair did not include removal of the water heater obstructing the repair.  After completing the repair the technician check the furnace for function and found it to be overheating due to a dirty filter and evaporator coil.  The tech quoted additional repairs to the customer as stated in the complaint after testing the furnace, demonstrating that the gas valve had been turned on and the furnace had run in heating long enough to trip the high limit.  The initial issue of flame roll out caused by heat exchanger failure had been resolved by this point.  When the unit stopped heating again due to the overheating, the customer called in and our dispatch team offered to schedule a return visit to further evaluate the issue and check our workmanship.  The customer hung up on our representative and made no further attempts to contact us.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/27/2023

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 90% of what they say is a lie. They will just respond with more lies if I give a detailed response.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ****** ****