Complain about a product or service

American Water Heater

Also see Whirlpool Water Heaters.

Marc of newark, NJ September 17, 2009

My complaint is the same as everybody. Afetr a few months the pilot doesn't stay on. We have called several times to no avail. I am going to replace this brand new boiler because a "Manufacturer" refuses to accept fault for their shortcomings. What a shame. Maybe I can find a boiler made in Europe or Japan from a Company that will stand behind their product.

Mark of Madison, WI September 15, 2009

Put one in. The thermocouple failed, worked for a while, broke, worked for awhile broke. They would not let our plumber do a reroute, so we could have hot water until the next part came in. After 5 plus days of cold water. We put our trusted plumber out of his misery and told him to yank it out and put something in that he knows works.

Beau of Jackson, MI September 8, 2009

Being a plumber who stands behind his work, I'm furious to the fact that AHWC has knowingly put this defective product out on the market. I installed an AWHC water heater in 2005, and now the pilot won't stay lit. Can't get the replacement thermocouple to fix it. Was told there is a class action suit pending and want to know how to get on it to recover the cost involved with replacing the bad components. I will never direct a customer towards an AHWC water heater again.

Must replace the burner assembly as a whole, costing up to 5 times the cost of the bad component. Was told the burner is overfiring, causing the thermocouple to fail. If the burner is the problem, then replace the component at no cost to the customer and reimburse the "qualified technician" at scale. I'm mad as hell and will NEVER use an American water heater again unless this can be resolved.

Michael of Malibu, CA August 27, 2009

My plumber installed an American Water Heater "Flame-Lock" GU model on Saturday. By Sunday, the pilot light would not stay on, and no hot water. A sign on the heater says you cannot return the product to the vendor, but must call customer service. CS representatives told me that the product has no real history of problems,and that AWHC will not replace or refund unless its warranty representative confirms it cannot be repaired and rules out faulty installation or maintenance.

When I called the warranty rep, he said they had done "hundreds" of repairs for the pilot light problem. I called CS and demanded replacement or refund. The representative stated, "If you have no further questions, I am terminating this call," and hung up on me. I read the reports of hundreds of complaints and a class action against AWHC for this same pilot light defect, and that AWHC is now marketing the same defective product under the model designation GU. I cancelled everything, called the plumber and distributor who stood behind their work and replaced the heater with a Bradford White at no cost to me. Apparently the Distributor recieved the same rude treatment as I did.

I am told he then pulled out his economic leverage as a large distributor, and AWHC agreed to reimburse him. In my opinion, there is a deceptive corporate scheme by AWHC to market heaters with known inherent defects, to force consumers into warranty repairs that do not work as a permanent fix, to lie about the repair/complaint history of this defective product, and to force consumers to pay for multiple "replacement" components when in truth the defect cannot be "fixed." DO NOT BUY PRODUCTS FROM AWHC.

I would encourage state and federal agencies to investigate unfair business practices and violations of consumer protection statutes, and a state or federal District Attorney to investigate possible violations of penal statutes. The corporate executives who promote this policy should be held personally accountable.

Christine of los Angeles, CA August 24, 2009

Pilot light won't stay lit. This happened a year ago and company sent replacement part that cost me shipping and a lot to have installed. This time the company directs to instructions in the manual for maintenance, that it should be dusted out by a trained professional if needed. The whole production of this product is just a scam for plumbers to get the repair jobs. The product is faulty. Company rep said the government requires they be made this way. Is that why the American brand name is so appropriate on this piece of junk?

Rachel of Sanford, FL August 17, 2009

I purchased this water heater from our local utilities company. Within the first year we were replacing the pilot light and to date, we have replaced 5. Last one was 9/08 and it it out again.

Ann of Hingham, MA August 14, 2009

It broke after 2 years. First it would not stay lit, then would not light at all. The plumber who installed it ignored my calls. American Hot Water heaters said I needed new parts but have to pay for shipping. I am just going to get a new hot water heater from a diferent company. That is the cheapest option in the long run.

Marc of commerce, MI August 11, 2009

I am having the same problem as everyone on my hot water tank that is 5 years old. Is there another class action law suit I can join.I keep gettting the run around

Gloria of Detroit, MI August 3, 2009

I was told by a service person that the American water heater that I have requires a conversion kit do to the left handed thing that is on my water heater is defective, he told me to call the company or go to lowes to get the conversion kit, I called the company had to speak to another person for the letter for tht kit so I could pick it up at lowes the first person told me that I need to pay 20.00 to have iot shipped to me, and that it was not at Lowes, which was a lie, my question is why if they are aware of there defective product, why am I having to pay for any shipping?

Dianne of Sacramento, CA July 25, 2009

I purchased a new hot water heater in June 2008. The local company (Clark & Rush Mechanical) that I contracted with recommended the American Water Heater Flame Guard model, although there was a class action lawsuit already issued in 2008 (which I was unaware of at the time of purchase).

Similar to the other hundreds of people reporting problems with American Water Heater Company, I sadly have had the exact same experience. The pilot light on my unit stopped working and the local gas company representative that came out told me that I may have a bad sensor/control valve.

I called the 800 number, spoke to an individual in India, who would be shipping the part out in two days. She also gave me a different 800 number to call to arrange for installation. I called the other 800 number to arrange for a service technician. Guess what company answers the phone? Sears.

A year ago when shopping for HWTs, an in-store Sears employee told me very plainly and directly NOT to purchase from Sears due to the poor quality of service work technicians that Sears subcontracts with in our area. Anyway, I call the 800 number provided by American Water Heater Company reps in India, and the US person that I spoke with told me that Sears does not service the brand that I am calling about. Call back to India rep, and now am in an endless "do loop"!

Rather than dealing with all of this, and particularly after reading the posts on this website where so many people have worse or similar problems, I am quite tempted to simply call a new plumbing company and have them come out and install a brand new unit after I am able to determine what company out there actually makes a reputable product any more. However, it is doubtful that it will be an American-made product - too bad that Toyota doesn't make HWTs.

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