TLDR; These guys are more interested in selling replacement equipment than doing actual service.
Full story:
Recently had Boston Standard out to deal with a hot water heater issue. Rather than diagnose the problem, the person they sent performed a preventative maintenance (despite them having just done one three months ago) and left telling us everything was working fine. The problem was not actually addressed at all and it’s clear from his notes on the work order that he did nothing to try and replicate the problem or perform a proper diagnosis.
He left us with an $8,000 quote for a replacement water heater telling us that our 10 year old tankless was at the end of its life expectancy (15-20 years is actually typical). He also left us with a $1,300 replacement part quote saying that “these often fail and this might fix your problem if it happens again.”
We had a different company come look at the problem. They quickly diagnosed it as a failed valve ($70) and had it replaced in 15 minutes. Totally different part from the ones Boston Standard had suggested replacing, and the problem was resolved.
I left two messages for the service managers at Boston Standard to discuss and nobody called me back.
Boston Standard’s business approach seems to be to send minimally trained “technicians” to do maintenance, but actually just use the service call as a sales opportunity. Boston Standard was recently acquired by a larger firm (Sila) that’s backed by Morgan Stanley private equity investors. They now seem more interested in driving sales revenue than providing excellent service. What a disappointment.