Beware.....HOME DEPOT now sells RHEEM water heaters.....

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Master Plumber Mark

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Hoe depot has somehow talked RHEEM into putting their name
brand water heater into their stores....

The heater is not quite as nice as the unit we get from the suppliers.....
it has a honeywell thermostat on it with the thermopile coupling ...
and those have been fraught with issues....

The reason I am posting this information is,,,,,
I get a call tonight from someone with a Rheem heater that they bought
from HOME DEPOT a short while back.... the heater will not stay lit.....
The warranty folks that are supposed to take care of these issues for the
first year cannot come out to their home until next FRIDAY;)

This fellow calls me tonight and wants me to repair the heater tomorrow
and he has the nerve to ask if I would do the warranty work for Rheem on
a Home Depot heater and just send rheem the bill:mad:

If I had installed my Rheem heater, I would probably had gone out at
5 tonight to make the repairs to the heater.......



the moral of the story folks is .........

he paid just a little less for his Home Depot Rheem heater
over buying one from his local family owned plumbing company

So now he has to take cold showers until next friday
because Rheem does not pay the clowns that do their warranty work
very much money to make the repairs.....
so he has to wait and wait..and wait .
.till they find time to work him in...;):p...

and he does not want to pay me holiday rates to repair
his 3 month old Rheem heater


I think he really got what he pair for.......
 
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Terry

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Yes, Let Home Depot fix it.
Why should plumbing contractors be expected to handle Home Depot warranty calls. It aint' happening. :)

If Home Depot wants to be also be a plumbing contractor, they should at least to their own warranty work. Though I don't know I would want them working in my home. Contractors that earn that little? And then there's a cut taken out of even that little amount they get? I wonder if you ever get the same guy twice at that rate? Ouch!

I'm with you Mark. If you're not buying from a plumbing contractor, then buyer beware.
 
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Master Plumber Mark

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I hope the fellow likes his cold showers, because him
and all the rest are basically putting the small family plumber
out of business just so the big "wall mart" stores can thrive...

those guys that install the heaters for Hd get about half of what
they charge the customer which is about 275.00... they are scabs
and they usually burn out and move on after a few months.....

they dont pay then dirt to go out and do the warrnaty work on those
things , so why should they even care to show up asap...
especially if they have bigger paying jobs that are working on....
 

Terry

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I saw a water heater installation last month, by a big advertiser in our area.
They didn't bother to connect the relief line. It would have take three soldered joints. They had pulled a permit, but it was never signed. It would have never passed anyway. It's just take the money and run. You can't really expect good work when the pay isn't there. Imagine if some little girl had pulled that T&P and burned herself. There is no way it should have been left that way.
 

DonL

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They have sold them in the stores here for a while, They also sell them at Wal-Mart here, in the appliance store front, that is operated by a third party.

I would not expect to get one repaired, Unless you repair it yourself.

Warranty work has always taken a back burner over new money work. That is how you pay to do warranty work that you get little for.

If you are a dealer, You have no choice but to fix it, In a "reasonable amount of time", or your your dealership can be revoked.

We had a Tech that was held at gun point because the costumer did not want to pay. He also parked his Police car behind the service truck, so he could not leave. A cop did this.

That was a bit funny in a way. Most of us had a carry permit, Because we carried a large amount of cash, But I am not sure what I would do in that situation.

If a customer would not pay for the repair, The techs were instructed to remove the repair parts that they installed.


I do not miss the days when I was in the repair field dealing with people that want something for nothing.
 
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DonL

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It sounds like the folks down in Houston Texas can get a little nasty when they
dont have hot water.... That cop should be called before his merit board
and repremanded for behaving that way....


That happened in your neck of the woods in Anderson Indiana.

It was in the 70s when cops could do no bad, and they can get away with anything.

The customer ended getting the repair for free. Someone getting hurt was not worth it.

Now a days a swat team would be out in a hostage situation like that.
 

Houptee

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Home Depot sells the Rheem Tankless units here in NJ in stock on the self. That unit requires a coaxial vent but they do not stock the venting so you have to call Rheem and order it. Totally asinine.
 

Will Rogers Plumbing

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What I don't get with Home Depot, the advertise that THEY do plumbing work. In Oklahoma, and I'm sure this applies to other States, but if you advertise plumbing work, YOU must post your license number with the add. Home Depot has no license. They hire 3rd party plumbers to do the work. They are advertising illegally. The add should say , "Home Depots has Joe Blow Plumbing license #XXXXXX Install our Rheem Water Heaters for $XXX.00
 

Dj2

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What I don't get with Home Depot, the advertise that THEY do plumbing work. In Oklahoma, and I'm sure this applies to other States, but if you advertise plumbing work, YOU must post your license number with the add. Home Depot has no license. They hire 3rd party plumbers to do the work. They are advertising illegally. The add should say , "Home Depots has Joe Blow Plumbing license #XXXXXX Install our Rheem Water Heaters for $XXX.00


The trouble with HD's installations is not the license. Believe me, HD can produce any category license you ask them, in a flash. The trouble is the low quality workmanship that their subs perform.

Just Google HD complaints and law suits.
 

DonL

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Around here HD caterers to Contractors.

They have special checkout lanes for Contractors only. They have plenty to get any job done. That is their living.

It is Not required for HD to make public its Contractors information.

But it is required for the contractor to Have his ID on his service truck. At least that is the law here.


If you have a problem with something that a HD contractor installed, You go back to the Original Contractor not HD.

It is not fair for another contractor to fix a screw up of original, that made the money on the install. Because the second contractor will not get paid for it.


You are better off going to Sears.
 

Rich W

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I bought a Rheem water heater at Home Depot less than a year ago. This was the shortest gas model I could find after much searching. I installed it myself in the crawl space under the house. Unfortunately, in a recent bad storm the crawl space partially flooded, and the water reached about 1 1/2 inches above the bottom of the water heater. As a result, I can no longer start up the w.h. I called Rheem twice to ask if there was any way to salvage it. Both their replies were: no, the water heater must be replaced. They also told me that Rheem no longer makes this model, because of their recent buyout of G.E. This is a disaster for me, and it may mean redoing a lot of rough-in work that I had to do installing the heater only months ago. Their technical service people, however, weren't the least bit sympathetic. They were rude, brusque, dismissive, and unhelpful. I don't think either of them knew anything about the inner workings of a w.h. either. Consequently, I will never buy a Rheem appliance again, and I don't recommend it to anyone else. These people don't deserve your business!
 

FullySprinklered

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Is there any way to keep the bean counters out of the plumbing business? I understand the concept. Save a penny here and there and multiply it times a million and you're looking at a substantial amount of money. But if the savings comes from lowering the quality of the parts and appliances, and a significant reduction in the longevity of these products, then someone needs to get popped in the nuts with a wet dishrag.
 

hj

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HD has sold Rheem/Ruud/Richmond/Vanguard/Hotpoint heaters for years, but they called them GE water heaters. GE NEVER made their own water heaters, so I don't know what effect a buy out could have on it. I haven't looked at them but if they have a thermopile it probably has an electronic thermostat which many manufacturers are now using.
 

DonL

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I bought a Rheem water heater at Home Depot less than a year ago. This was the shortest gas model I could find after much searching. I installed it myself in the crawl space under the house. Unfortunately, in a recent bad storm the crawl space partially flooded, and the water reached about 1 1/2 inches above the bottom of the water heater. As a result, I can no longer start up the w.h. I called Rheem twice to ask if there was any way to salvage it. Both their replies were: no, the water heater must be replaced. They also told me that Rheem no longer makes this model, because of their recent buyout of G.E. This is a disaster for me, and it may mean redoing a lot of rough-in work that I had to do installing the heater only months ago. Their technical service people, however, weren't the least bit sympathetic. They were rude, brusque, dismissive, and unhelpful. I don't think either of them knew anything about the inner workings of a w.h. either. Consequently, I will never buy a Rheem appliance again, and I don't recommend it to anyone else. These people don't deserve your business!


So you blame the water heater for where you installed it ?

Blame it on Mother Nature.

You should buy the next one at Walmart, and they will take it back. They sell water pumps too.


Good Luck.
 
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SLRuud

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I have had two recent experiences related to water heaters from local plumbing supply shops.

I work as a local handyman, but won't take on the responsibility for water heater installations, so I have a very competent plumber who handles them for me. He replaced a water heater, Rheem/Ruud for a client, and after a few days the pilot went out, and would continue to shutoff 3 or 4 times a day. The plumber was at the mercy of the local shop, and they would not over night a replacement thermocouple/burner unit. I asked to replace the water heater with another new one, and they just told me to get lost.

I had the same plumber install a water heater for me at my house. This time a Ruud/Rheem from a different supply house. Everything went well until we fired up the unit, and the water heater hummed to beat the band. It vibrated the whole house. Later that afternoon, the plumber came back with another water heater from the same supply house, installed it, and same problem. I worked with their experts for few days, but nothing worked to stop the humming. A week later the same plumber came over with another water heater, Ruud/Rheem, from the same supply house at the behest of Rheem, and again the same problem. Rheem was willing at that point to pay for another brand of water heater for me. Later that afternoon, the plumber called and said the supply house had received a box of burners for my type of water heater and would like to try one and see what happens. The new burner cured the hum, and water heater has been working fine since.

Two different experiences, but one supply shop understands customer service, and the other one doesn't.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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What kind of heater was this anyway???
Did it have the Honeywell thermostat with the blinking light on it or was it the older style with
just the dial???

With home deopt I would guess that they would tell you to take a hike, I am not sure who would
do their warranty repair work....

The common Rheem water heater from a normal
supply house would normally stand behind their product

the lesson learned here is to buy from the place that will back up their product..
 

SLRuud

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The water heater was a basic 50 gallon gas heater with a dial. IIRC, it had a push button igniter. It came from one of the local plumbing supply shops, not Home Depot or Lowe's. That particular shop did not stand behind their product.

The other shop where my replacement water heater came from did stand behind their product as evidenced by my story above.
 
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