| Business Categories | Heating, HVAC, Plumbing in Albany, NY |
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STAY AWAY FROM BILLY DECKER AND DECKERS PLUMBING. I have used Billy Decker for the past 13 years since buying my home. He was always reliable and no issues. I only asked him to do a straight forward cleaning of my boiler. A winter to two ago when it was very cold my furnace stopped working and he came right over and replaced a part and it was all fixed. This last winter he started acting flaky and not responsive when I texted him about the need for flushing my radiators and installing a water filtration system. He just kept putting me off saying he would respond but never did. I was cautious about using him moving forward. I did recently have an issue where a circulator was leaking and I reached out to him and others as well seeing who would call back first. Billy called and came right over. $700 later he leaves. I realize that the pipes he fixed were still leaking and my radiators weren't heating up properly which we had talked about and he said it would be a simple pressurizing of a valve to get it to work if the issue persisted. I immediately notify him of these issues and he says he will come but then never shows up and gives excuses and won't agree to a day/time when he will arrive. 8 days later he still won't agree to come back. I will now have to pay someone else to fix his shotty work. I sent him a text saying how disappointing it is that he is treating a good customer of 13 years like this. I always gave him at $20 tip so he and his worker could have lunch on me. If he treats me this way then he will you too. Plus he is unprofessional by telling me how irritated he is with all his customers and telling me details of customer issues.
Some companies may require a 10% deposit, some may not require any. For larger projects, you'll almost always need to give a deposit, and it's good to ask how much the deposit will be before going forward with a project. The Albany contractor will know how much they need for a deposit when they've given you the estimate, so ask early.
This is important mostly for larger jobs. Clearly a two man operation is going to build a home much slower than a 15 man crew. This is also a good indication of the overall size of the Heating company, if that's an area of concern for you. The reason you may want to ask about the fleet is that fleet size is a good indicator of the mobility of the company. Mobility may not sound important, but it's hard for the Albany contractors to get to job sites if they lack appropriate vehicles.
These first two questions should only relate to services or good purchased directly from the service provider. Many products carry their own warranties, like roofing shingles or siding. It's useful to know what these warranties cover as well as how long they last. The "warranty agent" question is important, because often warranty agents work with the manufacturer to get you repairs under warranty at a much lower price.
Many jobs in New York will require municipal permits in order to be approved by the town's inspector. It's always good to ask who will be responsible for pulling those permits, and if you'll be expected to do it. You'll almost never be told to pull your own, but knowing that Albany Heating permits are required makes you appear to be a well informed customer.
You'll certainly want to ask them this. Steer clear of any company that is not insured in New York, because that means that any incidental damage they may do on your property will be a real hassle to recover compensation for. It is never wise to work with uninsured tradesmen of any kind. Most states also require that someone have insurance in order to be issued a trade license. If they say they're licensed but not insured, they're being less than truthful.
