Benla Service Company

Very kind customer service, timely scheduling. The probably ultimately ended up not being a water heater issue but they did everything that they could on the water heater end to solve the problem and they actually made a suggestion which allowed my husband to locate the cause of our issues (a faulty mixing valve in one of our showers).

Geez they are grumpy and rude. I’m all about customer service and do not use this company unless you mind dealing with some seriously unhappy and abrupt service folks. I’ve now had a few experiences on the phone and in person and it was really unpleasant. They will install a water heater though.

So Benla installed a replacement warranty hot water heater for us in 2011. Today it went out again… Called the manufacturer and they gave us an authorization code to have it replaced. My husband first called Benla because their sticker was on the tank from the previous install. The manufacturer gave us some names of other companies but it was a Friday and they would not pick up the phones. The service tech who answered was nice until I questioned him on the $ 425 install charge on a warranty repair. He then proceeded to say that it would cost $ 1275 plus tax if we had to pay for everything. I told him I would call him back and called the manufacturer back. They said the water heater’s MSRP was $ 445 RETAIL and that BENLA was no longer on contract thru them (wonder why?). That means that there is a $ 400 deficit. Like the previous reviewer said — MARK UP ON PARTS — plus he started arguing with me stating that my house was the problem when had never even stepped foot in the place!
BOTTOM LINE: I can add — and apparently the person on the phone didn’t think I could. He refused to tell me the MSRP on the water tank without labor (445.00) and wanted to charge another $ 425 for labor and that is not even close to the $ 1275 I was quoted if I had to pay for everything myself. SMH!

Our water heater thermostat conked out one night, as they tend to do sometimes. It wasn’t an emergency, so I called Benla at 8:30 the next morning and they had someone to the house by 9:45. We were back in hot water by 10:45. A textbook water heater service call.
The job was done quickly, and the service guy had to work in a pretty tight space while some contractors were jackhammering concrete in the same room on an unrelated project. The only reason I can’t bring myself to give more than three stars is the final bill: The base rate for the non-​emergency service call was a little steep at $ 150, and the replacement parts were quite a bit higher than the retail prices I found elsewhere. The dispatcher informed me of the service call rate, so that wasn’t a surprise, but parts prices must be marked up to include some kind of labor rate. Either that or they’re buying their stock at top retail and adding a markup from there.
It was good, prompt service and all they do is water heaters, which is a plus, and the overall of experience working with them was satisfactory. I would have no qualms recommending them for the response time and work. However, I definitely suggest pricing a few places first. I certainly would have if I wasn’t in the middle of another project and couldn’t be bothered.