ComplaintsforBlack Hills Inc

• Initial Complaint

  09/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I live in a 1971 mobile home. My hot water line broke off of my sink faucet and flooded my bathroom on 9/13/2024. I called Black Hills on 9/14/2024 after determining that I wouldn't be able to fix the plumbing myself. I told Black Hills that it was mobile home because sometimes plumbers and electricians won't touch mobile homes due to different types of standards. When Black Hills came out, I was greeted by ****. He told me that I would have to go through a mitigation expert because the bathroom floor was too spongy (the flood happened three days prior) and potential black mold. They wanted me to replace my hot water heater, get new piping and a new faucet for this simple repair. So, I paid my $141.51 just for them to look at it and they referred me to a mitigation expert who came at the same day. The mitigation expert told me that all I needed to do was place a piece of plywood on the floor and didn't see any black mold and told me to go ahead and get the plumbing fixed. I bought the plywood to be placed on the floor and made an appointment online for Saturday morning (9/21/2024). Black Hills called me up and said they don't do weekends and the plywood was not enough. They wanted me to have the mitigation company to destroy my entire bathroom before they could work on it. They claimed it was an OSHA violation to do the plumbing.I promptly fired Black Hills and got another plumber, told them this story, and they told me they were willing to work on it by making a simple repair. The new plumber even came out for free just to look at it. Now I am out of $141.51 for work that never got done from Black Hills.

  

  Business response

  10/02/2024

  The following are the notes from the technician as well as 2 photos showing the flooring and Mold, we will not put our Technicians at risk, nor will we do work that we can not guarantee.

  "Arrived on site to go over problems with customers water line to hot water its 3/8 soft copper lines
  It snapped under counter at faucet potentially needing a new lav faucet
  In order to put everything back together, I would need to run a half-inch pecks, hot and cold line from the water heater over to the lavatory faucet with new shut off valves and tie everything together from there
  Would need to have the floor, looked at and cleaned up before I can make an attempt to crawl out the sink as there is severe amounts of wood, rot, and mold, which is harmful."

  We have issued a refund check for the "dispatch" fee of $129.00 plus tax for a total of $141.51 that the client agreed to pay.

• Initial Complaint

  01/30/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  October 7th spontaneous water leak upstairs master bath.October 9th ***************** from Black Hills tells us he can do nothing for us. says to call water mitigation ****** charge.December 5th ****** change to cap off two water lines in bathroom stripped to bones. refuses to provide an estimate to run existing lines through the floor and up a wall for new shower head, and move existing vent from the middle of a wall to the outside wall and back to existing roof vent. December 6th Provides ******* estimate for "bathroom remodel" which he verbally stated that is "more expensive than repair". that he was ordered to take off ****** because of the past visits, and he has brought in another plumber with him to do the work. When asked why he thinks this is a remodel, he refuses to answer. then leaves to purchase "equipment". we are given an invoice on. December 6th that is dated December 5th and this one has a different paragraph added to it than the one signed on December 5th. consistently during the process He is commenting that "black hills doesn't install showers, doesn't do this kind of work."He cut into the supporting structure of the floor/ceiling compromising it, while making snide comments about how it would be a problem for us. Refused to cut the drain hole or attach the drain pipe, said "we don't do that". Did not bring drop cloths to cover our furniture for drilling holes to run the water lines, and used ours all while stating what a huge mess they were going to make to his apprentice. told us there was more work to be done and he would give us an estimate for that if we wanted.Were told by Black Hills, ****** that they did not provide detailed invoices when we requested. When we called to customer satisfaction, they just said "oh sorry this happened, hope we don't lose you as a client". we had to pay for ceiling structure repair, work that was not done, but charged for, and a new shower pan. There is more that I can detail as well.

  

  Business response

  01/31/2024

  I spoke to ****************** this morning and we are issuing a full refund 

  Customer response

  01/31/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

• Initial Complaint

  08/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Called Black Hills Heating on the morning of 8/22/23 to come and check out my electrical panel, as it was having problems. Schedule for a technician to come other later that day and was told it would be a $129 service charge which I agreed to. My fiance is a stay at home mom so she met and worked with the technician, and he called me at the end to go over the finds and gave a verbal estimate for what the repairs would cost. They are a paperless company and therefore a receipt and quote were going to be email to me. I had to call back later that day to let them know I hadn't gotten that email. Upon getting that email I saw on the receipt an additional charge for $369 that was never brought up or approved. There was also no formal quote to do the repairs they recommended which was also supposed to be attached. We have reached out on several attempts to speak with someone and are told the manager is busy each time and would call us back when they are free.

  

  Business response

  08/24/2023

  Our ****************** Manager spoke with client and discussed the confusion.  He agreed to refund client for the $369.00 charged and we have mailed client refund check #**** for $406.64

  Customer response

  08/24/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  03/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Terrible service. Came out 2/28/23 The profile maker explained that the truck would cost 189 for them to come out and repair what needs fixing and if anything would be over that amount then they would check and make sure we would be okay with the payment.Bought an outlet at ********** that was defective. Didn't know that. Hence, why we needed an electrician. The outlet in question was wired together for 3 bedrooms. We wanted to separate that. Estimated price was 911 No problem. Until they only changed an outlet that only cost 3 dollars and charged ** with a 900 dollar bill. Then wanted to estimate a **** per room charge for separating the 3 bedrooms for the wiring.Most expensive outlet change.Sending you document of the invoice, the outlet they replaced which is 3 dollars, the defective outlet from ***********

  

  Business response

  03/13/2023

  Our Operations Manager spoke to the ******** on March 3rd, there was some confusion after they spoke to the Electrician and what the customer service representative had told them over the phone.  We have issued the customer a refund check.

  Customer response

  03/13/2023

   
  Complaint: 19524063
  
  I am rejecting this response because: we have resolved this issue. Thank you for fast response.
  
  Sincerely,

   

  
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  11/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We have been without heat for over 2 weeks, with temperatures dropping into the lows 30s at night. We used to have a very positive perception of Black Hills. We paid a lot for a good heating/cooling system and we trusted the business. At the hottest point of the summer the air stopped working. It took time but was addressed. As soon as we turned the heat on it was blowing out cold air. We called and they scheduled for a Friday a few days later. They didn't come in the 6 hour window that we scheduled for and did not notify us until it had passed (after 6pm). They rescheduled for the following Monday and said we'd be the first appointment. We got a message that they were on their way. An hour later we called and they said they were 8 minutes out. 30 minutes later I called again and was told the person went to a different house first because of a glitch. After they looked at the system they had to order a part. It arrived the next day (Tuesday) and even with no heat, they scheduled 4 days out to Friday at noon (3 nights in the low 30s). It's Friday and they've called to push us back another week telling us that we can wait another week. Other people are having emergency issues in the meantime and now don't have heat so they are being scheduled and we're being pushed back. No heat, working from home, kids in virtual school from the house, but we continue to be told we are not a priority. Others whose heat has gone out after ours are more emergent. We even pay for additional coverage with the company. It has been made very clear that our emergency is not their emergency.

  

  Business response

  11/07/2022

  We understand the frustration of having to reschedule on a client it is certainly not something that we ever want to do, however sometimes it is unavoidable.
  Unfortunately, we had 2 technicians call out sick on the day the repair was originally scheduled on and that meant we had to make changes to our schedule and make sure that we took care of those who had no heat and no form of back up heat or who are medically fragile.
  We did confirm with the client that they do have backup heat (emergency heat/Gas Furnace) and we also offered to bring out space heaters to help.
  Our Service Manager spoke to the clients on 11/4/2022 to discuss their concerns and again explained that we would not have someone available until 11/9/2022 to do the repair, he went over the use of their Gas Furnace (emergency heat) and explained that even when their Heat Pump is working properly when the temperature is below 30 degrees outside the thermostat would bypass the Heat Pump and run on Auxiliary heat (gas furnace) and he assured them that there is no danger in running the furnace without the Heat Pump.
  We have also issued a refund check for the Comfort Pass that they paid for in the amount of $403.32. and they are on the schedule to have the part replaced on 11/9/2022.
  Again, we do not ever want to have to reschedule anyone, we work hard to make sure that we are ready and able to serve our clients however,unforeseeable circumstances can make this a challenge.

  Customer response

  11/14/2022

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

• Initial Complaint

  07/24/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We purchased a brand new heat pump when my last one died during the summer fires 2020. I HATE this furnace and the service we have received. Whenever the weather is not mild it doesn't work. Within months of install they had 2 service calls because it quit blowing air both times.When it is cold the pump freezes up and blows the circuit. I have to get up multiple times a night to keep our heat on. They came out 3 times in February/March 2022 and replaced a $300 part and didn't fix it. After that they refused to come out.Now it is 80 degrees out. Our house is 74 degrees and no cold air blowing. I have it set to cool at 65 degrees and no cold air. I will call on Monday, have to wait til their next availability, pay $130 for the visit and it won't be fixed like it wasn't last year or the year before. We have had multiple parts replaced already. They made a claim last summer that we had our wall ripped out and open to the outside. It was not true and the manager was supposed to come out and look at our house to confirm that it was untrue but then he was just too busy and disappeared after a couple of weeks and never came to the house. We have received nothing but excuses about why it can't be fixed and how nothing is wrong with it but it does not do its job at 3 years, multiple repairs and many service calls. We have had the furnace serviced by the company and all repairs done by them.

  

  Business response

  07/25/2022

  Our Operations manager has made contact with the client and will be meeting with them on 7/26/2022 at 3:30 pm

• Initial Complaint

  01/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Once the heat pump system was installed, a whine appeared inside the house. It is unbearable. When you have tinnitis, all this noise does is make it worse. My wife can't sleep. She wakes up with a headache. It wakes me up also, each time it comes on. A technician came out and tried to make an adjustment and then said he could do no more. A comfort advisor came out and is attempting to find a solution, but so far, nothing.The company says that "if we are not completely satisfied, they will take the system out and refund our money". We are at this point. We can't stand the noise.

  

  Business response

  01/27/2022

  We have been in contact with the client and We have resolved the situation to the clients satisfaction!

  Customer response

  01/27/2022

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

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