This repair started nearly three months ago. We had a faint smell of gas in the kitchen. Me being a member of the Chicago Fire Department know to call the gas company. They arrived within 90 minutes. I explained the situation. They had me turn the gas back on which I had shut off prior to calling them. They detected a low reading of gas, less than 100 parts per million. We turned off the gas and called Choice. That day my wife spoke to a technician and he showed up the following day in the late afternoon. Just so happens he works for the gas company and does repairs on the side. He explained that this type of problem is generally located where the gas line connects to the wall or the range. He tightened both fittings and then assessed if there was a leak at either of those fittings. There was no leak detected so he left with 45 bucks. I unfortunately was not at home that day and was not able to let him know that the guys from the other night had already done that. The next morning I got home from the firehouse and there was still a slight odor of gas in the kitchen. I had my wife confirm and she agreed that it still smelled of gas. As directed by Choice my wife called the technician directly. He told us to turn off the gas and he would return within "a few days" to recheck the problem. Several days, voice messages and text's later he didn't respond or show up. We recontacted Choice and they sent another repair technician. He showed up within 48 hours and assessed the issue. He found that the valve that was connected to the gas line into the range had a leak. He was unable to trouble shoot the leak and stated he needed to replace the part. He told us that he would call us too see if Choice would be willing to replace this part. 5-6 days later no call. My wife called him and 2 days later he called to report the part was on back order. He said he would call mus when it arrived. 2 weeks later no word. We left messages over the next 5 days, no return call. Calls to Choice to pressure him to update us led to a call a couple of days later. He told us he was out of town and would get back to us when he returned. more than a week later more calls to him, he finally called us back, part has not arrived. He said he would call his supplier and get back to us. A week later still no call. Again we chased him down, "I'm going on vacation, I'll call you when I get back in town." 2 weeks later we caught up to this guy, he called the supplier and was told it would be there within 48 hours. My wife scheduled an appointment with him for 3 days from that day. He showed up with the part in hand, ready to work. he removed the faulty part and told me that the new part did not come complete. He would need to go to a hardware store to get a "nipple". He told me that this not his responsibility and it would only be about "ten bucks". I gave him $10 and gave him directions to both Ace hardware and Home Depot. He left and returned an hour and twenty minutes later. He said he went to Home Depot which is 10-15 minutes away, even in heavy traffic. When he returned he said he couldn't find anyone to help him find the part. He eventually found assistance and said he stopped to eat before returning to complete the job. He gave me no change nor a reciept for the part he replaced. I looked it up on line, there were several similar pieces that ranged fro $1.60 to $3.25 or so. He arrived initially at 3:30 PM and returned with the part at just past 6:00 PM. Needless to say, my family and I had not eaten dinner and were waiting until he was done. He replaced the part after borrowing some of my tools. Yet another sob story. He said his minivan was broken into and tools were stolen. He said the replacement tools he bought are broken. at 7:15 PM he packed up his tools as well as a few of mine to go, after replacing the part. he did not test for leaks. I reminded that some of the tools he was packing up were mine, his response, oops! we cleaned up his mess after he left. The very next morning, the gas smell was still there. My wife and I thought we were being hypersensitive and critical but, no. I called the Fire Dept. They responded and tested with their meter, the gas reading was 66 parts per million. We called Choice, we told them to have a different technician. Thank god for Andy! he called within hours of receiving the job notification. He was very accommodating and he gave me an appointment for 3 PM the next day. He showed up on time with all the tools needed to assess and repair the issue. He even went out to purchase a "Gas sniffer/detector" tool. He found a leak immediately where the gas line was connected to the newly replaced valve. He disconnected it and it was obvious what the problem was. The previous repairman, a term I use very loosely, did not use any pipe dope or Teflon tape at the connection. I'm a homeowner with some basic knowledge and even I know metal on metal connections need Teflon tape or if it's going to get wet pipe dope but either is acceptable in this situation. Andy quickly fixed the issue and was on his way. I can not speak highly enough about Andy. He did not give anyone else a bad name or sell them down the river. He just took pride in working, efficient, fast, clean and showing interest in customer satisfaction. The other two repairmen were just interested in getting in and out quickly, not thinking about quality work, just getting out as fast as possible with as much money as they could. I've had other repair serviced thru Choice and the experience was most definitely more possessive. This leaves lots of room for improvement, this time. I hope this does not become the standard of customer service.
