Genz-Ryan Plumbing & Heating Company
reviews and complaints

On 6/15/22 we had a Genz- Ryan representative out to give us a quote for an AC unit replacement. After about an hour or so investigation the rep was able to give us a quote for $6600.00 but would not provide a line item break down of the cost for the replacement, i.e. unit cost installation cost, disposal fees permit fees and things of that nature. I asked the sales rep. at least twice about getting the breakdown for the cost and at first he said he would talk to the main office about getting one but never supplied one, but I told him if the breakdown was on the final paperwork that he wouldn't need to get us the breakdown until we had the final paperwork upon completion. Unit was installed and no breakdown just a final cost. Now the rep won't return my calls or texts. I'm guessing they don't provide the breakdowns because their costs are outrageous and they know they probably would do much business if the customer knew exactly what they were being charged for. If it wasn't an emergency to get the unit I would have not used Genz-Ryan.

Troy is very congenial, thoughtful, and thorough! Can specific technicians be requested? I would like to request Troy for all future services for which he is qualified to perform at my house. BEYOND Troy's control is Genz Ryan's Equipment pricing and Service up-sell, which I consider above market pricing. We are paying for the convenience of one-stop-shopping combined with undeniable quality workmanship and professionalism (employee screening, training, and compensation does cost money). Can we pay less elsewhere? Probably. Have we paid less? Yes, with our recent water heater, the company owner who we know of personally. Will we stay with Genz Ryan w/ our HVAC service - yes, because they installed our new High-Efficiency blower, AC compressor, and humidifier and they "know" our system - GR's purchase, installation (pictures) and service history is available online to all their service reps. Is Genz Ryan worth the extra cost? It's debatable... who has time to research online reviews or the time in their work week for multiple service company's home visits? If you seek a wholistic "we will take care of your System" for the long haul, Genz Ryan is right for you.

My hot water heater was leaking water profusely on a Thursday. I called several plumbers and heating contractors who arrived and said they could not work on that heating unit. I called the manufacturer of my hot water unit and they said Genz Ryan could repair or replace. I called Genz Ryan on a Friday at 4 pm. They could not come out until the following Thursday... The hot water system also fueled my radiator heat system. Over the long holiday weekend the temperature in the house fell to 45 degrees. I pressed Genz Ryan to come sooner so their sailes people arrived on Tuesday am. I had researched the price of my unit that needed replacement: $1600. They gave me a choice of 4 options for pricing for quick installation ranging from $15,000 to $8800. I chose the lowest price and paid with a credit card because it was an emergency. The plumber came the next day and worked 8 hours. There were some additional parts. There was no emergency same day response. There was no night time or overtime work. Since I was stuck with Genz Ryan I paid at least $5000 over cost for the project. I have complained but the poor customer service person could not get her bosses to talk with me. I felt this was usury pricing and have reported them to the Minnesota Attorney General's office.

If you want to feel disrespected, by all means use GENZ RYAN. I was told it was an inconvenience for both parties! How is paying you $18,000 an inconvenience to YOU, to do what you were supposed to do in 3 days while instead it took you 3 visits and almost a month to install my furnace correctly. The furnace did not even last a year and it is rusting. Your tech told me, this last visit, because it was not sealed correctly during installation, which tells me it was still not installed right, even on the third time. All you kept telling me is that I 'have an extended warranty and have nothing to worry about' is not helpful. Having to take days off work to be home every time a new tech needed to come out and 'fix' issues is NOT helpful. I called customer service over and over and they couldn't even tell me what any of your techs 'fixed.' I asked for documentation and NO ONE could provide it. I even came to the office and everyone said that they don't have information at the office. What? It took 6 weeks to get the Customer Service Manager to send me my Invoice that had 1 line added to it that reflected my '5 year warranty.' B.S. And that 6 weeks, and me showing up at your office, to show me proof that there was even an extended warranty an inconvenience to you? I had to use PTO, change my hours and even clean up after your techs. I am still finding sheet metal screws in my basement. Never mind the one that I found in my flat tire while I was on a family trip. I may not be able to prove it, but I can show you the pictures of all the ones I cleaned in my driveway, and the receipt from the truck stop, the same week it happened. Inconvenience to you. My deepest apologies Genz Ryan!

We contracted Genz-Ryan to replace 3 faucets in our home. We purchased the faucets in advance. The plumber arrived at the scheduled date and time. He offered to provide us with "options", which we later learned involved reviewing plumbing features unrelated to the work at hand. When the options were offered to us, we were taken aback at the high cost of all the options. We chose the second tier option, and he began the work. To our surprise, the appointment took 4.25 hours, including a trip to get parts. After the job was complete and he was gone, we discovered a persistent leak for one of the faucets, so we called and asked for someone to come and fix the problem. We were able to schedule a visit for the next day. When they contacted us to ask if they could move up the time, my wife directed them to call my mobile since she was working. They kept calling my wife, who couldn't pick up, and threatened to cancel the appointment since she was not confirming she was home. Once home, my wife called back to determine when they were coming, since the original appointment time had now passed. The plumber arrived about 2 hours after the originally scheduled time. The second plumber said the work was not warrantied because they had not replaced all the parts bringing the water to the faucet. After arguing with me for about 20 minutes, he called his manager and they agreed to replace the parts where the leak was. Looking at the invoice and what we learned from the second plumber, we learned of problems identified that were not communicated to us verbally, and the written comments in the invoice were vague and unhelpful. After this experience, we will not choose to work with Genz-Ryan again.

I had Genz Ryan out to install a new toilet and faucet. They sent a guy who went all over my house telling me all the things I needed to do in addition to the job I asked them to do, and which I did not want. They shut off my water, took off the toilet and discovered a clog. By the time we were finished, I was charged $3K for the work. I didn't know how badly I was being overcharged and ripped off at the time. Then, my drain backed up 3 more times. They came back out, once at no charge, but then charged me the third time. Finally I had another company come out and do an inspection to tell me what I needed to do to have this fixed. My pipes are fine! Turns out the GR guy did not do a complete job or used too small a bore and never really cleared the pipes, and for $225 I got my system thoroughly cleaned, inspected and guaranteed. After leaving them bad reviews, a guy from GR called me to say he would "make it right." I have called them back 4 times and have yet to have anyone "make it right." I am still waiting. I am not a crank- I am a nice person, and generally trust people- but I feel I was ripped off by Genz Ryan. I am a widow and unfamiliar with what it costs to do this sort of stuff. They took advantage of me for that reason, I believe. This is how they work: they don't tell you up front what they charge for their services, not even a price range. Then when they have you over a barrel and they are in your home telling you you have a disaster on your hands, you are willing to pay almost anything to get it fixed. They are quick to give you a financing option too because they are going to make money off you that way in addition to overcharging! Run, don't walk, from this company.

Had water leaking from wall in basement onto the floor. Water coming from Tcap. Called Genz Ryan and told service call would be $99.00. A guy by the name of Stuart came. He was in the basement and then going outside. He then quoted me a price of $314.00 not even sure what I was getting charged for. Then he comes back in with the exact words being this is bad. Chimney cap needs to be replaced on roof. It is obstructing the exhaust going back into the furnace and hot water heater. He told me carbon monoxide is leaking and will continue. He shut my furnace and hot water heater off. He told me he couldn't fix it but called a contractor to come over before ever consulting with me. This contractor would fix it and make sure there was no debris in the chimney Now my bill goes up to $813.61 and I had to pay it right now. I told him I need a receipt and he says he would e-mail one. I told him I wanted a copy mailed to me. The contractor came and was here only 25 minutes, adding on that additional $500.00. I checked the bill and it told me nothing, no breakdown at what the charges were for. When I called the co back asking for a more itemized, detailed statement. They claim they don't bill that way and they wouldn't give me anymore information. I feelI was fully taken advantage of quoting me a price of $99.00, then $314.00, and then the then being charged $813.61, having to pay this without a receipt and then no itemized statement. Then being told it's bad and leaking carbon monoxide, Stuart calling a contractor before consulting with me and giving me the opportunity to make a decision. I have been way overcharged by the actual work of a chimney, vent issue. I am sorry I didn't research this company at greater length. Since then I have seen other negative reviews of being overcharged by them. They are price gouging and taking advantage of customers. I would never recommend them to anyone and wish I didn't have to give them any stars.

I am extremely frustrated with this business. We called them earlier in July because our 15+ year old air conditioner wasn't working. The salesperson was very friendly as was the technician who came out to look at it initially. We did learn that our old unit was irreparable and we were convinced to buy a new unit through Genz Ryan. We decided to purchase the more expensive model of air conditioning unit at $9,000+ because the sales person claimed it offered "meat locker" cooling and quiet efficiency. We had it installed July 11th. Last week, August 3rd, I started to notice that it was not cooling our house efficiently. We had it set to 72 on a very hot day, and it wouldn't go down past 75. The breaker also tripped twice on the unit and the condenser was icing over. I called Genz Ryan and set up an appointment for them to come out. The technician who came out spent about an hour and a half here trying to figure out the problem until he deemed it a faulty part ( frustrating because it is brand new!) and he would need to order it. Here we are, a week later, with no communication from Genz Ryan. I've called them twice, once asking if we could borrow a stand alone air conditioning unit since our air conditioning is hardly cooling. I didn't receive a follow-up call from them. Today I called again to get any updates about the part and when it might arrive. Apparently there are no updates about this part at all oh but someone could bring out an air conditioning unit... days AFTER I requested it with no follow-up. This is not how you do business, installing faulty equipment at a high price and then not fulfilling your obligation to fix it in a timely manner plus, not being communicative every step of the way. I'm extremely disappointed and now at their mercy for when this part will arrive and when this problem will be fixed. We're essentially in the same position we were in with a broken air conditioner. The only difference is that we're $9,000+ poorer.

Genz Ryan heating and plumbing will try to defraud you on purpose...they came to look at a leak on my water pipes.minor leak...technician then examines the water softener and tests my water...says flat out the water softener is broken and my water is hard and will ruin all my plumbing/pipes... Ok...He tests the water hardness with his lil water testing kit. showing me how hard it is...ok...then prepares a quote for 3 bids to replace water softener and my initial repair (which he insisted the entire pipe and manifold be replaced and put in better hosing ) , put new filtration system and replace water softener and do full replacement on pipe manifold... or just do repair... when I looked at cost of watersoftener , I was immediately shocked $2700..I know they are not that expensive and know someone who does this as their business... so I just opt for them to do only the repair... and I said well should I wait for repair to do water softeter replacement or do that before the repair...he said doesnt matter... I sign off on bid and pay half... I then call my water softener guy who has done this as his business for 30+ years...his wife who I know chat...she insisted I test my water and gave me some info that really made me question Genz Ryan ...gave her kitchen and bathroom samples of water just 30 min after the Genz Ryan guy left...she calls me up ...turns out my water is perfectly fine ! zero hardness...my water softener is NOT broken , its working JUST fine ...and she proceeded to tell me how she sees this all the time , esp with these big plumber companies...He purposely tested the kitchen water knowing that is never hooked up to the water softener so of course the cold is always hard...its like that for every single home ! When I called back to complain, they wanted him to come out and rediagnose.. ...insisting he would not recommend an unnecessary repair and defraud thier customers... No cuz my BF heard the entire conversation upstairs

I had a plugged up bathtub and was also going to have them replace my faucet and knob to turn the water on. They told me it would have to be 2 different appointments and I was fine with that. They were supposed to come out on 7/30. The guy that came out to unplug my tub, I think his name was Mark though I can't remember, was extremely pleasant though the charge was $295.00 to unclog my tub drain. I was fine with that seeing I thought it would take more than 5 minutes. All he had to do was snake it. There was a blog of hair stuck in the trap. That was an outrageous price for 5 minutes of work. Had I not had him do it I would have been charged $95.00 just for him to come out. Again ridiculous. The guy that was supposed to come out to replace my bathtub fixtures never called or showed up. I should have read the reviews though one of their employees lives in my neighborhood that is how I found out about them and he comes into where I work. He doesn't work in plumbing so he didn't know what they charged. I trusted this company but I feel completely ripped off! I called the next day, 7/31 at 9 am and spoke with a lady about my dissatisfaction and she was going to have the manager of the plumbing department call me. Ted called me at 9:42 am and I explained to him my feelings and thoughts. Because I paid by check vs. credit card he told me that he couldn't give me a refund. I talked to him about getting a reduction on having the faucets replaced and he said he couldn't speak for them but would put in a note and hand walk it down to customer service. I in turn called customer service back at 9:57 am and was told she didn't have nor did she see the note but would have someone call me back. Nobody ever called me back and it is now 9:26 pm. Extremely bad customer service. Never would I suggest these folks ever! I want to reiterate that the tech that came out was very pleasant and courteous it was customer service that was awful! I feel as though Ted didn't follow through either seeing nobody ever called me back. I have seen the companies responses back to people saying that they have tried calling them back. I am not sure if that is true or not but I can tell you they never called me because I was home all day long and the only phone call that I made was to Roto Rooter so my phone was open. I wound up contacting Roto Rooter for the rest of my work plus talked to the tech named Jake about my water softener because it wasn't working and I purchased one from them. He got everything done in a matter of hours! I asked him about what they would have charged for the plugged up tub and he said it would have been around $100-$125. I will be contacting them from here on out!

When the first two representatives from the company came out to give an estimate on furnace, water heater and plumbing, they told us that we should replace certain pipping and that if we didn't, there was a chance of our walls would flood with water. When we asked questions about our various options, they seemed to be knowledgeable. However, they were not forthcoming with information nor details. We thought this might have been because they wanted us to spend more money (which we get because they are representing a business). Turns out, it might have been incompetence. In the end, we felt like we were tricked and really have a bad taste in our mouths as a result. Let me preface the next part by admitting that we were in a time crunch and wanted the work done quickly (within the next few days) so we didn't get more than just their quote. First, when the plumber arrived, it turned out that the pipes the first two gentlemen indicated needed changing because they could flood the walls were not even water-carrying pipes at all AND the plumber had never heard of a situation that the two men had indicated happening in his 14 years experience as a plumber. Then, to install a tankless water system, many modifications would have had to been done to our basement. Upon hearing them, we said we wanted to change to a tank system. It took talking to the plumber's supervisor, but it got done. It got us wondering what others things the company indicated we needed that we didn't. Thus, both the materials needed and the labor for the plumbing were much less expensive than the original quote. Further, upon more research done by us about the systems we needed and the details of how they worked, we realized the full either incompetence or lies that the first two gentlemen fed to us. We will give credit to the company that the installation was done professionally and the products they installed are of good quality. However, the worst part was trying to ask for a partial refund for the change in plumbing and hardware from the original quote in price to the actual price. Of course, Genz-Ryan does not itemize the cost - they just give customers the total sum. But, because of the incompetence, the change in parts and labor and even the significant water heater change, we thought it only fair they give some kind of refund. In fact, the plumber said he would put in his paperwork the changes that happened and encouraged us to follow up with Genz-Ryan. Well, we tried. When we sent upwards of 4 or 5 emails, none of them were answered. When we called and no one picked up we left 4 or 5 messages that were never responded to. We made 6 to 7 additional phone calls to a real person at the company and each time were told that the person we needed to speak to had just stepped out and that that person would get back to us within the day or the next day. He didn't. We finally called back at a specific time on a particular day and we were able to speak to him. The resistance was palpable. Fortunately, we didn't give up. After a few weeks, they finally gave us some money - not nearly what we thought was fair, but we took what they offered thinking that going the legal route was probably going to be more costly. In the end, we felt we paid too much for what we actually needed. That would have been fine, but the incompetence or lies followed by the lack of customer service follow through has led us to be very weary of this company. While we appreciate the actual work and products, we will not be doing any future business with them.