Complaints

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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/19/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  Details in word documents and invoices attached. Short version:Hot water tank installed Feb 2024. Due to issues showers being inconsistent temperatures, several repairs were done over the next few months. None of the "repairs" had anything to do with the issue. The tank was replaced a 2nd time July 2024. The issue has continued to date & the last answer I got last August was an unacceptable solution given the risk of a malfunction running the tank at 160 degrees & also already having spent over 9K to date on the ******************* September I sent feedback on the issue & also on additional ************ services. I have mentioned it to people via text/phone twice & sent it two more times (details in word doc). I have not received any acknowledgement, follow-up, apology, nothing, it is like I fell into a black hole & am being completely ignored. I am going this route in hopes that the company really does like to make sure their customers are satisfied. I expect a professional plumbing company to know the details about the tanks they install. It is obvious that they didn't. The "repairs" would not have been done & they certainly wouldn't have installed the same one again after continued discussions about hot water usage in my household (which was included in the attached document given to the 2nd ******* before the 2nd tank was installed.) Now, not only am I out $9300, I basically have a tank that gives me daily showers as much as 10 degrees colder if I don't run hot water at any other point in 24 hours - I am now having to waste water to get hot showers.The other feedback is on the ************ Service offered. The brochure I was given in June was incorrect as there were certain things stated as included services that were not done. They were small items, but two of them were part of what swayed me to sign up for the service & why I noticed the discrepancies. My information is more pointing it out & a suggestion on how to not mislead people in the future.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/03/2025

  I am sorry to hear that our customer still has concerns and issues with the performance of her water heater. I would very much still like to work towards a resolution, and I do desire satisfaction from our customer. As with most, if not all, storage tank type of water heaters, the water heater itself will heat the water to a preset temperature within the tank and then shut off. At this point it becomes a storage tank awaiting either demand use of the hot water system in the home (hot water flow), or for the thermostat to recognize a temperature drop in the tank from simply not being used. If a hot water system is not used often, the temperature often drops on average by as much as 10 degrees in the tank until the thermostat turns the heater on to reheat the water being stored. This action of raising and lowering by an average of 10 degrees can dictate the temperature of water the user receives at the point of use. For example, if hot water is being used on the tail end of the sitting natural temperature drop, the arrival of hot water at the tap may be only 112 degrees, even though the water heater is set to 120 degrees. On the flip side, if the user happens to use the hot water shortly after the heater stopped heating up water in the tank, the arriving water may be 119 degrees. Those are normal temperature fluctuations within a tank type of water heater. Another contributing factor of time it takes to get hot water can be the length of pipes the hot water needs to flow through to reach the point of use. Water sitting in pipes tends to cool much quicker than water sitting within an insulated tank.

  Having stated all of that, it is possible that the addition of a recirculation pump on the hot water supply coming from the water heater may increase overall efficiency and provide hot water quicker. This may even bring water temperatures closer between the times at which the heater turns on and off to heat stored water. A consideration prior to installing a recirculating pump is that in some cases, the user may momentarily experience **** warm water at the cold side of a water faucet. This would only be seconds of warmer water, but it may be a bit different than what the user experienced prior to the installation of a recirculation pump. An additional consideration would be that we are adding an energy consuming product and would need to plug the pump into a power supply near the water heater.

  If the installation of a recirculation pump is something our customer would like to explore, I am happy to provide one at no additional cost. I would do this as part of trying to provide a higher level of customer satisfaction. The average cost to install a new recirculation pump, that does not currently exist, is approximately $1200 to $1900, depending on site conditions and pipe accessibility. I would attempt this at no additional charge to our customer as I would like the concerns resolved as well. If this is of interest, please let me know and we will schedule a visit to confirm this pump can be installed and what would be necessary for the homeowner to be aware of with this additional no charge installation. We can do an evaluation of what and how to do this install based on the homeowner's current arrangement of plumbing pipes and power supplies.

  Thank you, ***** ****** (Black Hills Inc Plumbing Manager)

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/06/2025

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and am willing to discuss if this will solve my specific issue. I still have concerns about it actually resolving the tank portion of the equation. The shower I have the issues with is in the room next to the hot water tank and I do not feel it takes long for the water to heat up. It is the tank itself that needs to be triggered to reheat as the water never gets warmed once the hot water hits the shower because the tank itself isn't warm enough. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/25/2025

  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.

  For complete transparency: Called Black Hills because power was lost in back of house. I contacted them via yelp and was informed of the dispatch fee but they failed to mention the diagnosis and repair fee until the technician arrived. ***** was great at finding the issue: a circuit breaker was not secured with a s**** ***** went a bought a new circuit breaker and reinstalled it. The power is back on in that room. But the total cost was $744.86! Cost break down: $129 dispatch fee (just for them to come out). Then there is a flat diagnostic and repair fee of $550. The diagnostic and repair charges should be separate and relevant to the work completed. Some repairs may actually only be less than $100 (like mine) and some maybe more but a flat fee is ridiculously high. ***** was great though, professional, friendly, and did a great job. Im not happy with the final bill and I know its not Tylers fault but Black Hills needs to do better because their pricing seems predatory and excessive for a circuit breaker issue. All repairs are not the same.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/28/2025

  Our Electrical Manager is reaching out to the client to come to a resolution to their concerns

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/21/2024

  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.

  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

  Date: 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

  Date:01/30/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  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

  Date: 01/31/2024

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

  Customer Answer

  Date: 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

  Date:08/23/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  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

  Date: 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 Answer

  Date: 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

  Date:03/01/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  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

  Date: 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 Answer

  Date: 03/13/2023

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

   

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/04/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 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

  Date: 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 Answer

  Date: 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

  Date:07/24/2022

  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 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

  Date: 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