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Business Profile

Plumbing and Heating

Polar Bear Plumbing, Heating and Air, LLC

Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Polar Bear Plumbing, Heating and Air, LLC's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

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Polar Bear Plumbing, Heating and Air, LLC has 2 locations, listed below.

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    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 1 complaint in the last 3 years.
    • 1 complaint closed in the last 12 months.

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    Submit a Complaint

    The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

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    • Initial Complaint

      Date:04/01/2025

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      AnsweredMore info

      Complaint statuses

      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      We have a cabin in *****************, in the mountains. We first started having issues in November of 2024 with our furnace not running. Polar Bear came out and eventually charged us $1387. I'm not entirely sure for what, because to date they have not sent itemized receipts for the work to the email I've given them, they continue to send texts and emails to the wrong number.We almost immediately started having issues again, over the busy holidays when we sometimes rent the cabin out. The furnace would stop working until someone manipulated the access cover, then it would often kick on. Our regular furnace guy later immediately diagnosed this as a problem with the pressure switch over the phone and said I should expect to pay up to $500 based on the drive time. Polar Bear responded again in early ******** misdiagnosed the issue again, and the tech that called me (the only one to actually use the correct cell number) tried to upsell me on other services without ever fixing the underlying issue.Shortly thereafter we had a cold snap. Luckily we had electric heaters installed which kept the pipes from freezing, but multiple guests left early and we refunded to the tune of hundreds of dollars. I called the answering service and put in an urgent service call. I heard nothing. On Monday 02/17/25 and spoke with *****, the manager. She apologized for the lack of callback and said she would have an answer for me and call back. She never did. I drove to the cabin and got the heater working by adjusting the panel then called ***** again. This time she sent a technician who finally diagnosed the issue but no one called us, they just sent a non-itemized estimate for $863, to the wrong email again. After finally another call to *****, they responded and finally fixed it, after 4.5 months, four service calls, 3 unanswered phone calls, and $2339 in bills, for a job another professional estimated at $500 max.

      Business Response

      Date: 04/21/2025

      Response to BBB Complaint 23142128-CA41B

      Hello.  In response to the complaint received, we offer the following explanation:
      The OLoughlins know the unit in their home was installed improperly and have been advised multiple times that the unit needs to be replaced and is going to continue to fail due to the fact that the unit has holes in the ductwork and sheet metal.  ****** ********* has also verbally recognized that they know the unit needs to be replaced but want to get all the use they can from it.  It is installed in an unencapsulated crawl space, allowing dirt and debris to enter the unit which is designed to be a sealed environment.  The furnace is 12 years old and is at the end of life.  The owners have refused proper repairs multiple times.  Each time we have been called to the home, as you will see from the details outlined below, multiple different repairs have been necessary.  THIS IS NOT FOUR VISITS FOR THE SAME ISSUE.  EACH VISIT HAS BEEN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT REPAIR ISSUE.  For example, the first visit in October has nothing to do with the second and third repair visits.    The allegations of not knowing what work was done, this is false as they have received and approved both itemized estimates and receipts/invoices for all work for each visit.  The customer has even made payment directly from the invoice on our *** portal.  As to what estimate was allegedly received from their regular furnace guy, they were certainly able to have him do the work, but we were told he would not go up to Red Feathers.  Regardless, as evidence by the number of calls back to us for additional repairs, they were clearly happy with the service, or I doubt they would continue to use Polar Bear.  Additionally, all estimates were approved by the customer prior to any work being done.  Allegations of upselling were simply our technicians recommending accurate and much needed repairs to keep the improperly installed equipment in proper working order.  We do not engage in the practice of upselling.  As to allegations of not having returned calls, you can clearly see from the timeline that not only were the calls taken, but technicians were dispatched on the same day in most cases.  Any delays in repairs were due to the customer delay in approving outstanding estimates.  It is our belief that, given the timing of this complaint with the customer invoice seriously past due, that the customer is simply looking for a discount on the bill. Absolutely no other contact from this customer occurred until the point that a past due invoice collection call was received.  The customers concerns were addressed via text message thread initiated by the customer on March 25, 2025 (also attached).
      TIMELINE AND DETAILS:

      On October 23, 2024, ****** ********* called in to Polar Bear Plumbing Heating & Air to schedule a technician out to look at the furnace in her ****** cabin in ******************  She explained that the unit was old and that she knew the unit needed to be replaced but they were trying to get all of the life out of it that they could.  Employee **** ******** was dispatched to the home with an appointment the following day, October 24, 2024.  Upon arrival, **** examined the unit  and offered the customer estimate 2578 (attached).

      At 8:20 am on October 25, 2024, ****** called the office and verbally approved all three options and the parts were ordered. 
      On Monday October *******, **** was again dispatched out to the ********* home to make scheduled repairs.  Technicians notes for the visit were:
      10/28/24 B.M Arrived to Stacys place . Gained entrance to the ***** . Down in the crawl space I Began with Removal & installation of the *** High Limit Switch . Next I installed the Hot Surface Igniter. After I removed the existing ************* Remembering to label all wiring. Finally I installed the new *** ************* &Completed all connections . From outside at the ******* I opened the Liquid Propane Valve then I opened the valve at the regulator. I energized the Furnace in heat mode from the thermostat . The furnace is operating at factory recommended Specifications at this time .

      Repairs were completed,customer was advised that repairs were successful but that the unit was installed improperly and we highly recommended replacing the unit due to multiple points of failure.  Unit was operating properly and technician finished work and sent an invoice to the customers, which they paid online on November 8, 2024.  Our system also sends the customer a paid receipt upon such payment and that receipt was sent  to customers email address as provided at ******* on Nov 8, 2024 and documented in our *** system.

      On December 31, 2024, we again received a call from the OLoughlins stating that the furnace was not working properly.  We then dispatched technician ***** **** to the property at 11:55 am.  Technicians notes:
      12/31/2024,3:16pm
      upon arrival the furnace was calling for heat but no ignition process starting. soon as I opened the top door the furnace started its sequence of operation. furnace fired up and ran well. There were no error codes present. noticed 4 loose connections in the top cab on the gas manifold and the pressure switch. the door switch was taped, tape was coming off. everything on the furnace tested good. There was a large amount of rust coming from the trap inside. found that it was missing a s**** and was able to replace the s**** to make a good connection for the water. I also noticed a belly in the flue pipe and drained it the best I could. No joints were sealed on the furnace or duct work. Large hole with a piece of metal leaning against it and dirt is coming directly into cabinet. Got it temporary covered but not a permanent fix. due to no service at the house I was unable to let the customer know any of this till I left.  Note:  Previous repairs were holding and still working properly at the time of visit.

      Estimate 3077 was sent via email to the customer along with a hand written assessment (attached). Customer was charged $89 diagnostic fee, regardless that the technician had a 5 hour time investment and  made several repairs while there.  Customer paid the invoice #*********** online on January 21, ******************************************************************** the *** system.  An email receipt was again sent to the same address.  Customer declined any further recommended repairs regardless of being advised AGAIN of the system be installed improperly and being given knowledge that due to the multiple points of failure, the system was literally sucking dirt from the unfinished crawlspace into the system and that this issue would continue to have failures due to this fact. 


      On February 11, 2025, we were again contacted by the OLoughlins that the unit was not providing heat again. This time, owners and Master technicians ****** *********** and ***** ******* were dispatched to the home and arrived at 11:00 am.  Again, no customers present for the visit.  Technicians sent estimate 3398 to the customer to replace the pressure switch same day, Feb 11, 2025 .  Customer approved the estimate (signed approval attached) via online access on Saturday, February 22, 2025.  Job was dispatched to ***** ******* on Monday, Feb 24, 2025 and he returned to the home to make the approved repairs.  Work was successfully completed.  Furnace was working properly.  Customer once again advised that the furnace was not installed properly and will continue to cause issues due to the multiple points of failure. Invoice sent to customer multiple times, including February 24, 2025 at 1:13 pm,   March 13, 2025 at 12:28 pm,March 25, 2025 at 8:35 am, and April 18, 2025 at 2:07 pm.   After a phone call and voicemail message regarding the past due invoice was left for customer on March 25, 2025, the customer began a text message thread (copy attached) in which every aspect of the repairs were outlined and explained. This was NOT a single repair that took 4 visits.  There have been multiple points of failure in the furnace due to improper installation and poor maintenance, in addition to the furnace being at end of life from an age perspective.    There has never been a request for missing receipts and clearly the customer has the receipts, as they paid their invoices online each time, meaning they had to have a copy in order to make payment in that manner. 

      We have never been required to return to the property due to any repair failing or not fixing the unit.  This is a unit that was not installed properly, has several breeches in the ductwork and actual unit, allowing debris and dirt to be taken into the unit, causing failures at multiple points.  The owners acknowledged that they know the unit needs to be replaced, but refuse any repairs that would prevent the infiltration of dirt and debris into the unit. The series of bandaid repairs that have been successfully made to the unit on each visit are all still working properly to our knowledge.

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