GEM Plumbing and Heating

Reviews

• SN

  siyamek Neragi

  6 days ago
  1.0
  If I could give minus five stars, I would. I’m genuinely shocked by how misleading online reputations are. I joined GEM as a member to ensure easy access to home maintenance services. They were scheduled to perform work at my house, where the second floor had hot water, but the heating system was functioning intermittently. The first technician they sent managed to eliminate the hot water entirely—without resolving the heating issue. As a result, my tenants endured cold temperatures throughout the weekend. GEM scheduled a follow-up visit for Monday and sent another technician. With the boiler cycling on and off and hot water present, all signs pointed to a problem with the thermostat input. I am not a technician myself, however, using common sense, I repeatedly asked them to inspect the thermostat and its connection to the boiler. They ignored my requests and insisted the switch board was faulty. Despite my objections and explanations, they claimed that refusing to replace the switch board could result in a house fire. Under pressure, I agreed to the replacement—at a cost of $1,270. After the repair, the boiler still didn’t work. Only then did they admit that the thermostat wasn’t connected to the boiler or the switch board. I do not believe the technicians were unaware of the real issue. Instead, they chose to ignore it and performed an expensive, unnecessary repair. Is this GEM’s business model—pressuring clients into costly fixes by exploiting urgent situations? People who rely on and pay for these services deserve better. Their manager later admitted it was a faulty wire but refused to refund the money. I believe this matter will ultimately be resolved in court, and I will also seek compensation for the time I spent dealing with this situation—time that would otherwise be billable in my profession.
• JC

  Joseph Carvalho

  Nov 15, 2025
  1.0
  *ZERO STARS*Completely unsatisfied with service. To start i contacted GEM to see if they could replace my well pump that night, being that I have 2 young children and animals that need water. I told the operator (Alvin) that I have already checked that the pressure switch was functional (not stuck) and that i had 240v leaving to pump. As well as 240v at well. I told him there was no water coming from pump when it was energized (i removed my inline filter before the expansion tank). I was certain it was the pump. It was explained that it is $199 for night service. I asked the operator on the phone if a well pump is something they could fix that night,because I did not want to pay the night fee if they were going to have to return the following day. I was told there would be a good chance the technician would have a pump on board that would work. I agreed and scheduled service. The technician, Nicole, showed up quickly but as soon as I took her to the well cover she stated " oh, this isn't getting pulled tonight." Which i then told her the person on the phone made it sound like it would be fixed and I wouldn't have wanted to waste her time, my time, or my money. She requested to go inside to take a look. We went into my utility room and right away she was concerned with the work I was actively doing in my electric panel and said she'd have to call her supervisor to "see how he wants her to handle the situation." She went outside to her van for a while. She then returned inside told me "I have to take some pictures for my boss." We went downstairs and she took pictures of my electric panel. She then went back to her van for a few minutes until she returned with her iPad. She told me she "wasnt able to test my pump because there were no connectors to test from outside" ( which was false) and that she " would have to cut the wires to test it" and she "wasnt going to do that in the dark." We returned inside and she presented no options for me and told me I owe $621 for night service fee of $199 and a $421 diagnostic fee. No diagnostic took place what so ever. And it wasnt required i requested a new well pump do my my diagnostic i already performed. I was so unsatisfied with the service I called GEM back. The operator(Austin this time) told me "do to time he wasnt able to connect me with billing and he would write an email on my behalf" and they would call me "within 48hrs." The following day there was no follow up or anything while my children and wife were home with no running water. I called again and was told the same thing that the operator would "send an email on my behalf to billing explaining id like to dispute my charges." That was Tuesday. It is now Saturday and I havent received a call. I did receive a text from nicole hoping i can leave a good review...I have since installed a pump myself (for less than I was charged for the lack of service) and water works fine. I cannot find a way to reach billing to dispute the charges for a "diagnosis" that never happened. She was looking for a reason to not do the job from the minute she arrived. Hopefully someone can contact me soon. I would never recommend their services to anyone, in fact I will actively warn anyone in need of plumbing repairs to never go with GEM.
• MG

  Myles G

  Nov 11, 2025
  3.0
  Gem Plumbing and Heating: Greatly Overpriced Emergency Service Calls Review: 3/5 Stars While Gem provided good quality plumbing work, their pricing was exorbitant and significantly higher than many Rhode Island competitors. Below are the details of my review, which I think is thorough and fair. I called for emergency service on a Saturday evening of a holiday weekend in late August to repair the main water shut-off valve at my home which had been turned off while we were away on vacation since we had a leaking pipe. It had come “off the seat” and was no longer able to turn the water back on in the house. When I initially called Gem to get an emergency appointment, the Gem Scheduler/Dispatcher Alaina disclosed to me only a $199 emergency service call fee, failing to mention an additional 35% surcharge on any work done during an emergency service call, which I learned about later on after the work was done. Gem needs to improve on transparency of pricing with customers. After evaluating the job on Sunday morning, which involved easy access on the floor of the basement, the Gem plumber Walter quoted a flat rate of $2,437.27 to replace the main gate valve and one other gate valve with new ball valves. I expressed my concern about the high price since I had spoken to a retired plumber ahead of time, who had said that replacing a gate valve with a ball valve was a relatively easy repair. Though Walter seemed pleasant enough, he made it seem like he had no choice on the pricing. Because we had no water in our house and it was a holiday weekend, I felt pressured to authorize the expensive repair, which took less than 90 minutes to complete. The final invoice which I received later by email provided no breakdown of parts or labor. (The parts probably cost no more than $75.) I then did some research looking at a Google AI explanation of typical charges by Rhode Island plumbers and an Angi’s List article based on 2025 data. This revealed that the total price of the job, even with a typical emergency surplus charge of 30% and the Gem $199 emergency service call fee, should have cost between $1,300-1450. This meant I was being overcharged by about $1,000 with their "flat rate pricing." After my experience with Gem, I spoke to a different plumber who is reputable and he said the job should have cost $1200-1400, not the $2437 that Gem charged. I contacted Gem several times to try to get a fee adjustment-partial refund, and kept being told someone would call me back. After eleven days and many phone calls, I finally reached the plumbing Manager Ron who was very nice and reasonable. He acknowledged the dispatcher's error in non-disclosure about the 35 percent surcharge on any emergency service jobs and arranged for me to get a refund of $657.81. Even after this adjustment, I believe the final cost was still about $350 too high. I believe Gem’s "flat rate fee" is an excuse for excessive charges, and that pricing for plumbing jobs should be based on parts, plus a labor charge for the number of hours actually worked, and in my situation a reasonable charge for an emergency service call. So plumbing customers be forewarned about Gem’s use of expensive flat rate pricing, especially during emergency service calls.
• CM

  Cheyenne Moniz

  Nov 11, 2025
  4.0
  UPDATE: After months of trouble with our previous oil company, GEM initially felt like a huge step up. Harrison came out expecting to be working on a gas system despite us telling the dispatcher we have an oil system. He and made a real effort to help us. But we were expecting him to give a quote and instead handled most of the major issues the same day. Or so we thought… His initial repair ultimately took three more separate visits to get right. The issues we ran into after the first visit could have been avoided if the initial work had been completed correctly, but I appreciate that GEM honored their warranty and kept coming back without charging us extra. The final technician, Steven, was the one who fully resolved everything. He corrected the earlier mistakes, updated the piping, bled the system properly, and fixed problems that had been building for years, even parts that weren’t effected by the initial repair were replaced to ensure efficiency and to avoid further damage to the system. Our heat now works better than it ever has, and Steven genuinely deserves five stars. Because of the multiple visits and avoidable setbacks, I can’t give the company a full five stars, but I’m grateful for the Steven seeing it through!
• CL

  Cory Lachance

  Nov 4, 2025
  1.0
  My furnace stopped blowing heat and was only blowing cold air. I called GEM, and a technician arrived on a Friday around 4 PM. The technician restarted the furnace, identifying the issue as a tripped high limit switch. The technician attributed the cause to a clogged air filter, instructing me to replace it, despite the old one clearly not being obstructed. I followed his instruction, immediately replacing the filter. The furnace worked into the night. The furnace failed again overnight. I called GEM at 6:03 AM Saturday (the next day). The call taker apologized and scheduled a service call "under warranty," waiving the dispatch fee, but the only available window was 4 to 9 PM Saturday. At 5:09 PM that day (an hour into the window), another dispatcher called, stating no one could be sent that day. He stated that there were not enough technicians available and that he was simply "trying to land the plane with one engine on fire". Despite my insistence, given the cold and the presence of young children in the home, he said he could only reschedule me for "first thing tomorrow," (Sunday), with a "guaranteed" 8:00 AM arrival. He also offered to "waive the weekend charge." He told me a manager would follow up on Monday. (None ever contacted me.) On Sunday (the following day) at 8:00 AM, a technician had not arrived, as had been promised. I called GEM and was informed that the appointment was simply an 8 AM to noon window, not a guaranteed 8 AM arrival time. A technician finally arrived at 9:48 AM Sunday but was unable to fully diagnose or fix the problem. He stated he needed to contact the manufacturer for guidance and parts. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the technician reached out and told me he was "still working on it". That Friday (a week after my original call -- with no working heat for all of that week), the technician finally called back to tell me that my less-than-two-year-old, name-brand furnace is "obsolete", he cannot get parts, and my only option is a full furnace replacement. Bottom line... I was charged for a diagnosis and repair, although my furnace was never correctly diagnosed OR repaired... no manager ever followed up with me, as promised... several appointments were missed or changed during the arrival window AND I was led on for over a week (with no working heat) with promises of answers and next steps which never came. I called another company for a second opinion and they fixed my furnace by simply adjusting the hi and low fire gas pressures with no parts needed. It has now been working properly for a few weeks, so obviously that had been the problem all along. This other company also stated that parts are easily available for the furnace for future repairs, if needed.

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