J&S Mechanical

Buyer Beware!!! I wish I could put ZERO STARS, or negative stars. I look at the other reviews and laugh because I got caught in the exact same situation as several of these other reviewers. My water heater broke on Sunday, 2÷28÷16, and I contacted my «home warranty» company, First American. J&S was assigned to perform the work. I contacted J&S before the appointment regarding the technician, and they couldn’t even provide is full name. Chris Slaton (I struggled to get his last name from him, because he nearly refused to give it out) was the «contractor» who came out to look at the water heater and he seemed almost annoyed that he had to work. He explained that it would be about three to four days to get a new water heater and complete the work, plus I would need about to spend about $ 500 on additional repairs, not covered by the insurance.
Upon investigation with the Georgia Secretary of State website, Chris Slaton isn’t a licensed plumber in Georgia! His license expired in 2012!!! I couldn’t believe it (actually I can believe it after reading these reviews). Needless to say, First American and J&S are both a joke.
I had Allgood Plumbing (I highly recommend them and they have great reviews) replace the water heater. They even did it same day, no hassle or waiting. Their LICENSED plumber told me that several of the extra charges from J&S are not needed, they just want more money. My recommendation if you get assigned to J&S from your home warranty company is to take the cash-​out option and have someone reputable perform the work. I was only given roughly $ 400 for the water heater replacement from FA, but when you add on the extra, unnecessary charges J&S requires, plus the fact that it won’t be done correctly, it’s definitely a rip off. I spent about $ 200 more, in total, with Allgood, but I’m confident the work is done correctly, plus I have hot water now instead of waiting three days.

I too was put into contact with this place through my home warranty company. The time window I was given was 12 — 6pm. Ok fine, waited all day, no call. Someone from the office called me at 5pm and said that the tech was heading to the house before mine and it would be about 7pm before he got to me, but they would still give me a call when they are on their way. Fine no problem. I finally gave up waiting for them at 10pm.
I called the next morning to figure out what was going on and the lady who answered the phone told me they cancelled my service call because I didn’t answer the night before! They never called me that night. She pretty much called me a liar because she says she can see on her call log that they called me. Well I have a call log too that shows no call. I kept my cell phone close for this very reason. Was then told they couldn’t fit me back into the schedule until the following week. Totally unacceptable — especially if you have to take a day off of work to sit around and wait for someone to show up. Oh and the reschedule for next week — yup another 12 – 6 window timeframe.
If someone from J&S would have said that it became too late after the call before mine, I would have totally understood. I get it, things happen. Just reschedule me for first thing the next morning, no biggie. Right? That’s what a business should do? Nope this place will just cancel your service call altogether and tell you its your fault. Any and all excuses to make it your fault. Ridiculous.
I wish that I could give a review about their work but I couldn’t even get that far, and based on the other reviews it seems I might have gotten lucky about that. If your home warranty company tries to send this company out to you, ask them to give you a different company. Save yourself the hassle and a missed day of work.

I was first put in contact with J&S Mechanical through my home warranty company Old Republic on December 7. After a few attempts at scheduling, I was able to get someone to come out to look at a leaky shower. They informed me that the leak was in the wall and would have to remove a portion of my shower wall to fix it.
When I contacted my condo’s Building Maintenance Supervisor, who has been on the property for over 10 years, he said he wanted to take a look at it. He told me he didn’t think the repair was as serious as J&S had thought and he would call them to see if they could work together to take care of the leak. I was shocked when he called and told me he and the owner got into it on the phone and she basically told him he didn’t know what he was talking about because he was a lowly handyman (she called him this several times even when I spoke to her), that he should just fix it himself, then hung up on him. That was a bad sign.
After spending another week trying to find another plumber to come out to resolve the issue, I gave up and called J&S back. It had been several days since the owner had hung up on our maintenance guy and no one from the company had followed up with me after that incident. I hoped it was just a miscommunication and that things could be resolved.
Fast forward to December 22^nd, they were scheduled to finally make the repair and they’d put me in contact with a general contractor who would cut a hole in the wall that morning for them to make the repair. The next day I asked my tenant to send a photo so I could figure out next steps in getting the wall repaired. When he did, that’s when I realized they hadn’t shown up for the appointment I’d scheduled 5 days previous. I immediately called them and left a voicemail but no one ever called me back. I then called the contractor. He informed me that Chris (one of their plumbers) had called him that morning and told him not to come and that the appointment had been rescheduled. Really, this was news to me.
I was not being able to reach anyone until Tuesday, December 29^th. Mind you I hadn’t spoken with anyone since December 17. I asked them why the shower hadn’t been repaired as scheduled on December 22^nd? The woman who answered the phone said she didn’t see any notes as to why it had not been fixed and she apologized and said «I’ll find out what the heck Chris was doing.» She told me the next available appointment was on Thursday, December 31^st but she would call me back that evening or Wednesday with the time. She never did.
Last night, when trying to find an email to contact someone, I came across their reviews on Unilocal and their complaints with Better Business Bureau. Why didn’t I check this before wasting over 3 weeks going back and forth with them? Looks like I’m not the only one who’s had a less than satisfactory experience with them. So 3.5 weeks later my tenant is still dealing with a leaky shower (and I just received an above normal electricity bill) and now I have to start this entire process all over again. Needless to say I am not happy with J&S Mechanical and would not recommend them to anyone.
I totally forgot to mention, they didn’t come for one of the appointments because I didn’t answer when the dispatcher called an hour before, I was in a meeting. Mind you they had already been there and there were notes in their system saying to simply get the key from the concierge as they had done previously.

After reading all of the 1 star ratings I feel much more confident I’m now starting the process over with a different contractor! This place is a joke! And the «owner» is the worse part I should have knew from the get go when she was the one answering the phone and not of any quality! I too wouldn’t have employees to answer my phone of I acted like this woman that owns this «business». I love the responses/​excuses from JS saying «it’s the customers responsibility to make themselves available» aren’t you the one getting paid to provide services!!! I’m not your scheduler, your person to follow up, nor will I be a dedicated customer after my warranty is over!
I did make myself available and JS showed up to my home with the incorrect supplies and blamed it on the warranty company!!! A business that was ran properly would checked that before using their gas and vehicles to drive somewhere to install a system!!! Ignorance!
Above all the «owner» talked to me like a hormonal 13 year old girl today. I’ve never did business with an establishment that’s is ran like a circus.

Horrible company and poor excuse of «repair man». (To start i’m a master automotive mechanic and run a shop so I was on the fence about this from the beginning about getting ripped off) I was referred to them by my home warranty company that came with the house when i bought it. «waste of money» I’m guessing they work a deal with them so J&S are there contracted people for the heating and a/​c problems, charge them less and more money in there pockets. They sent the person out, charged me $ 60 for the visit. He inspected the heating and said the pilot light was out and thats why it is not working. «I was well aware of this». So I tell him that there has to be a problem and he needs to diagnose why it went out and why it still does not work. The gas heat would turn on and turn off after 30sec and not getting hot or heating the house correctly. He tried to give me a BS excuse that it is a bad thermostat. I have a brand new 2^nd gen NEST. He was banging on the touch screen and had no clue what he was doing or how to use it. «Just because you do not know how to use technology does not mean it is bad. Also if you test the signal for it to turn on the furnace you would realize it is working but that causes you to use your brain/​diagnose skills» So the next thing he does it feels the air flow from the vents and it is not strong enough and my evaporator core for the A/​C that is right about the fan «on my set-​up» must be clogged and that is why it is kicking the heat off. So he completely guessed on that, no removing panels to look or anything. Then he gives me a price between $ 450 – 900 to have it cleaned, and that is considered maintenance and the warranty does not cover it. Takes the $ 60 and leaves not doing anything and leaving me with no heat. Needless to say I was VERY angry. So I take it apart and inspect it, the evaporator coils were VERY clean and there were signs it was recently cleaned. Went ahead and cleaned it myself with foam cleaner. Install everything back and see a vacuum hose for the exhaust fan was not disconnected. «remembering when he was testing it the fan was not coming on at all» Hooked that back up and not it has been working good for the past week. Just recently the pilot light has gone out so it will need to be replaced. Overall just very sad that a company has people like this that rip you off and do not do there job like they are supposed to do. DO NOT USE THEM if you can avoid it.

I really wish negative stars was a option. Like all the previous reviews this company is horrible. They are rude and unprofessional. This «business» came recommended from my home warranty company First American. I requested an afternoon appt because I have a job. I get a call the day before less then 24 hour notice that they can not service my home on the time slot I requested and that she scheduled me for a 8 – 1 time slot. Well, that is problem 1 – 3 right there. I stated that the time slot is not acceptable and I need an appointment in the evening. I then request Saturday morning because my daughter has an birthday appointment that afternoon and another unprofessional women says my daughter’s birthday party is not their problem and I need to make myself available. First, if First American assigns them to your home don’t even wait immediately request a different company. They are horrible.

I agree with all these horrible reviews. I also have First American (FA) and they seem to be their default service provider.
I was originally promised a appointment on Friday, but stated they stated they couldn’t give a time frame (not even morning or afternoon) until the day before the appointment. Who does that?
Then they called me on Thursday and left a message. I literally called them 10 minutes later and the person on the phone stated that Friday was not available and that they were only taking «confirmed appointments». What the heck? I thought I was a confirmed appointment!
The person on the phone was completely non-​apologetic and actually seemed to have a bit of an attitude. When trying to reschedule, they stated they could come on Tuesday, but couldn’t give me any indication of time.
I called First American to let complain about their service and try to get different provider, but FA stated that they were the only ones available. Magically, they got me an appointment window though when the «manager» (using that term lightly) at J&S couldn’t. I think everyone who is FA should call the company and ask them to switch providers in the Atlanta area. I may leave FA if they keep sending the jack holes.
BTW — This same company has been to my place 6 – 7 times. I have had an issue with them every time, besides one instance where the tech was great. One time that really stands out is when a tech couldn’t reproduce the issue and just left without doing anything, causing me to pay the copay with no service done. I believe J&S just contracts out anyway.
Horrible company, horrible people, mostly bad techs.

J&S was referred to us by our home warranty company Old Republic. First, the «good» part: they gave me a 4 hour window, between 2 PM and 6 PM. Two techs got to my house around 3:30, hmmm, not so bad; however, once here, I tried to explain to the main tech (Chris S.) what the problem was, but it I felt that he was not listening to me and that he had made up his mind on the cause of the problem. I didn’t quite agree with his assessment and I asked him to explain to me what was he going to do to fix the problem, but he seemed incredulous and even upset that I was asking him questions. He was short and rude with his responses, and added that he had more than 20 years in the business and he knew what he was doing. I wasn’t questioning his expertise; I simply wanted to know in which manner was he going to fix my problem.
I’ve never encountered such an incredibly haughty attitude from other contractors that visited my home for several other projects and repairs. They all took the time to explain what the work or repairs would entail, not just a simple «I’ll fix it ’cause I know what I’m doing.» If someone does not tell me what they are going to do I just feel that they will not do a good job. I don’t know this guy from Adam and a simple «I know what I’m doing» doesn’t cut it.
I felt his hostility and a lot of tension so I asked him and his partner to leave. I then called the warranty company to assign another contractor.
Now that I have read other reviews, I agree with most of them, and I’m glad that I asked them to leave. I guess my gut feeling was right on point.
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Updated 10/​08/​2015
When I called my warranty company, Old Republic, they were VERY apologetic about what had happened. They assigned another contractor right away.
When the 2^nd contractor — not from J&S — got here a couple of days later, I explained the problem what (I didn’t mention what the J&S had said); he listened to me, asked me further questions, he listed a few possibilities for the source of the problem — not one of them was what the 1^st guy had said — and he went from there. It was a world of difference!

Unfortunately I seem to have the same First American Home Buyers protection plan everyone else does and got stuck with this crappy company. How they are still in service I don’t know but I have been waiting since last week for someone to come fix my furnace. They give you the OBNOXIOUS time frame of 8 am to 1pm and I was told they would not arrive until 1 pm. I have to be at work at 1 hence why I requested a morning appointment. Today is Wednesday and I asked for another appointment and they won’t be able to book until Monday. I have no a/​c, it’s summer, and I have pets. These people are absolutely ridiculous

I must agree with others that this company is HORRIBLE. TWICE, once last fall and again last week, they failed to show during their ridiculous six hour window. When I called, they said they didn’t have us scheduled. Then they claimed that we didn’t renew our contract in the fall or that they come out. They had came out and we had given them a check. We found that the didn’t deposit so we concluded that the just erased they visit from their systems. Because if we hadn’t paid them then they would have billed us. They were also aggressive and rude on the phone. Fortunately we have been able to find a new company that shows up when they say they will and doesn’t give a six hour window.

This company is awful. They failed to show up one day and had all the excuses. Ok, think they could make it on the next day they scheduled? Gave a window of 12 noon to 6pm and showed up after 8pm! The «lead» technician could not have been more rude and said they are unable to even look at what’s wrong because he didn’t have the proper paperwork I guess the company gives them credit for just showing up at a home? Unbelievable! Management is unresponsive and unable to produce a plumbing license with the State of Georgia. I wish I had checked Unilocal first … I’ve actually never seen a company on Unilocal with all 1 star reviews.
I too, hate to write such a negative review … however, in some cases like this it is important to alert potential customers of shady and possibly unlicensed businesses.

J & S is the absolute WORSE experience I have ever had. I have been inconvenienced for 2 weeks regarding my A/​C. So we get a part ordered for my unit, the rep calls to schedule my appointment between 8am and 1pm. I have someone to sit at my home to meet them. NO ONE called. I called twice to get an update as to where the technician was. Finally at 1:05 the rep calls me and states the technician is about 30 to 45 minutes out. I state that this is ridiculous and high inconvenient. All she states is «There was an accident on the highway». So WHAT! Where is the communication prior to 1pm letting the customer know that there is an issue?
My home warranty company «First American «called these guys on my behalf. Clearly I would not recommend these guys. Additionally, I will be going with another home warranty company because I think they should have better contractors. Their customers pay a pretty monthly fee and definitely deserve professional services.

Worst contractor i have ever dealt with of many many contractors on my 30 year old house. My 30 year old furnace went out recently. I called my home warranty co. first american which has very long hold times. Up to an hour or more at times. They assigned J&S. J&S said it took the home warranty co. a week to deliver the furnace. Once they said they got it they came out the next day. I was in California visiting a dying relative so left my roommate to deal with the situation and told him to call me when they completed the job and I would make payment. I have learned to never pay a contractor prior to the work being done to my satisfaction. I was having poor phone service but my roomie contacted me and said they would not start without payment. I promptly called the office and the girl told me there that she would have them go along with the work. My roommmate calls me back five minutes later and says the crew left. Mind you it was going to be 15 degress that night. I immediately called the office back and found out she lied and did not call the crew but called the owner who told her they do not do work without previous payment due to being burned in the past. I know this is not true because i have used J&S in the past without that requirement. She told the crew to go to the next job. So that my roommate two cats and a bunny would not freeze over night in below 40 degree temperatures inside which you may know is about like 10 outside. It was literally five minutes after they left and I reluctantly agreed to pay prior to the work being done. She would not call them back under any circumstances. Also they replaced my thermostat with a non programmable one and lied and said the one i had was non programmable. I am waiting more than two days now for them to call me back to get that replaced at my home warranties insistence. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. If you do not believe me just read all the other reviews. And know if you have a home warranty like me you can always request an alternate contractor come out. I would like to suggest Ace Pierce appliance repair they are very knowledgeable helpful and friendly and will explain everything to you. The amount that J&S charged me out of pocket was $ 1,400 for supposedly bringing my 30 year old system up to code. I have seen whole systems to be installed for $ 1,300 so i think it was a ripoff. Thanks for your time in reading this extensive review warn your friends and family.

I hate to be that guy who only writes bad reviews…
J&S are contractors for a large home warranty firm. The warranty company dispatched them to troubleshoot a hot water issue at a rental condo of mine. I contacted them directly telling them they needed to work directly with the tenant regarding scheduling.
When the plumber arrived he called me from the security gate asking me to let him in. I told him to contact the tenant since I don’t live there and didn’t have access to the security system. He repeated his request. I repeated my answer. He then hung up on me. When I tried to call him back he wouldn’t answer. He finally connected with the tenant and diagnosed the issue and had to order a part. He requested that he needed the water turned off when he returned to complete the repairs.
When he returned with the part he said he couldn’t locate the shut off. The plumber was walking the property in an attempt to locate the shut off. He called my tenant as he walked the other side of the property. While on the phone with each other my tenant ran into another resident of the complex and asked him if he knew where the shut off was. The resident jokingly said to my tenant, «How the f*ck do I know. Shouldn’t the plumber know?» Hearing this the plumber went ballistic. «I don’t need to be talked to like this. I’m leaving!» No one was talking to him. It was a random comment from a random resident. So he left with the part and no repairs completed. I called the office and spoke to a woman who said that her employees didn’t have to listen to that and that they weren’t coming back and I was rude to him we he called me to let him in… yada, yada, yada. She was completely unprofessional and would not listen to reason.
After doing some research about J&S I discovered that this company has similar issues with other clients.
I’ve been in the service business for a long time. Sometimes you need to leave your ego at the door, be professional and grow some thick skin. People don’t call you to say ‘hello’. They call because they need help and may even be desperate.

Do yourself and favor and never use this company. They are not only rude but don’t stand behind their work. The work they did to our air conditioning failed after 3 weeks and they would not come out and make it right. One of the worst companies I have ever had dealings with.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!
I have never been so disgusted by a company, or any person for that matter, in my life. RUDE, UNPROFESSIONAL, INDIFFERENT and SHADY are the best adjectives I’ve got for them. The owner, Michelle, is a liar, conniving, lacks any sort of customer service savvy and most definitely couldn’t care less about anything but the excuses she can make up to bide more time. Phone calls are not returned, her explanations and excuses change from phone call to phone call and from person to person.
This was a furnace replacement job in my condo and was the third attempt by this company to do work in my building for multiple units. On all 3 occasions they have failed to provide the required proof of insurance and licensure to my building. First she says it was mailed, then says it was Emailed… than she says it’s my buildings fault… and the excuses go on and on, and ultimately nothing gets done. WHY? because SHE DOES NOT CARE.
It took them 6 days to just place the order for the new equipment I need in order to restore the heat to my condo. Mind you, we are in the midst of winter. We are 3 weeks in and I still have not heat.
Like the previous reviewer, I was locked in to using this company due to my home warranty. I too would have abandoned doing the job with them if it weren’t for this factor.
Do yourself a favor and avoid this integrity lacking company at all costs. I have looked them up on the BBB, and seen other reviews. You will note that the few positive ones that they do have are short and lack any detail about the experience. The plethora of NEGATIVE ones are extremely detailed and specific.
And they are NOT an accredited Better Business Bureau of GA company but they do display the BBB accreditation seal on their website. ANOTHER LIE!

If I could give a zero star, I would! Home warranties are only for the benefit of the warranty company. The seller buys the warranty to help sell the home the buyer is thinking they are covered in the event something major goes wrong after purchase. Sellers save your money and buyers BEWARE!!!
We have had several issues since buying this home and as of last week the coils in two air condition units went out and we still were out of $ 1700 for repairs because the warranty didn’t cover secondary damage that the covered damage caused! What a racket!!!
First American Home Buyers «PROTECTION» Corporation also contracts very dishonest companies. They use J & S mechanical in the Atlanta area and the ethics at this place is terrible. I’ve had plumbers come with their cracks showing, I’ve had appliance people come over and promise to return or call with updates and a week or more later I was trying to track the workers down for update. As of two days ago, I had the HVAC guy lie about returning to do some work he promised to do. He gave me his personal phone number which was WRONG! I called the company and they said that changing out the thermostats is not under contract and we could schedule and pay to have the guy come out. His excuse for not doing what he promised was because he was tired and had been up since 5 am and he would come back the next day. After giving me a wrong number, he had no intentions of returning. That makes me not trust the entire company because instead of this man being truthful about what he could and could not do, he decided to be deceitful and lie. Definitely not a good reflection on the J and S Mechanical company that First American Home Buyers Protection Corporation has a contract with.
I don’t want anyone from that company (J & S) back in my home again because the trust factor is GONE! Not to mention the rude response from the woman who answered the phone when I called regarding the worker returning! This the type of company that First American sends to PROTECT its customers!
My advice to everyone is to get on Angie’s List to find a reputable warranty company and read all of the small print to see what is and what is not covered when you do find a decent and honest company.