Ruud/Rheem Manufacturing defective product, class action suit won in court, still a ripoff company

I work at Hillcrest Plumbing and you have several things wrong in your statement.

Although we mostly install John Wood water heaters, our dealings with Rheem have been fair. They do honor their warranty.

There was a government legislated change in code to the hotwater tank industry a few years back causing tanks to significatly increase in cost. Manufacturers honored old style warranties with an upcharge to the new style tanks and receiving a new 8 year warranty as opposed to a pro-rated warranty. This is what they do with all customers with a valid warranty tank. This is what all Hot Water Tank manufactures did North American wide. The warranty has never covered the labour on the replacement of the tank before or after the change. All hotwater tank manufacturers are the same.

There are 2 different Hillcrest Plumbing companies owned by 2 different people. I work for Hillcrest Plumbing and Heating (1967), the original one. This is a bitter pill to swallow for many consumers and you can see on our BBB consumer report we have resolved 3 of these such issues.

You obvioulsy got the wrong person on the phone or the wrong Hillcrest.

This hillcrest just may be on the outs with Rheem and they're just blowing smoke in your face. Or maybe they think they can con you into a new system by telling you yours is obsolete. I've found that HVAC guys are just as crooked as auto mechanics and have no reservations about lying to the customers face to suit whatever they want.

I want to share a personal experience with anyone considering buying a hot water heater in North America. When my wife and I moved into our house in Vancouver, we soon found we needed a new hot water heater. After much choice, we went with a Rheem brand since it was sold to us as a high quality, North American brand with a 8 year warranty. Were we ever taken for a ride though. The warranty turned out not to be worth the paper it was printed on. While the warranty did state it was "limited", we were lead to believe by Hillcrest Plumbing that if anything happened to our hot water heater, it would be replaced within the warranty period. After all, what does warranty mean? According to Rheem, even today you are protected on parts but don't be fooled. They are unscrupulous and are lying to you.

Our water heater let go and we had to call Hillcrest during off hours. They told us that Rheem and Hillcrest are no longer honoring their written warranties and due to a change in design and rules , would not be able to honor their warranty on parts. WFT??? This is a clear case of a large multi national company imposing a unilateral change on a contract due to their own lack of foresight. We, the people are being ripped off.

My advice:

1. Do not believe anything Rheem promises in terms of warranty. They lied to us and did not honor their own written warranty.

2. I will also never do business with Hillcrest Plumbing again. I urge you to consider this when looking for a plumber. Get references from any plumber. By contrast, there are lots of reputable firms like Roto Rooter and others who have never ripped us off.

3. Rheem Canada also seems to handle the Ruud brand. Be wary.

4. If you are a contractor looking for a line of water heaters/holding tanks
to carry and install, consider how your customers will feel about you if this happens to them. It will cost you money if too many people experience lies like this.

In my plumbing business in the ballard area of Seattle, I was known to use the best quality known and why not. The customer paid for it, why not help get them quality for their money, was my attitude.
When it came to quality Water Heaters, there was AO SMITH and Rheem or Ruud...the the real cream of the crop of quality names in their field and the only ones aproved by the Gas Co. for all their energy saving programs.
I also happen to know a little known history about RHEEM...they long history at surving manufacturing in a dificult market, with many years to be proud of.
Dating way back to World War Two... yes they were then manufacturing the steel drums used to make Depth Charges.
The relatively few times we needed to replace a RUUD Tank on warranty, it was truly as simple as making one call...the customer was well taken care of...how do I know that, I always called them back at the end of the next day and I must tell you why I remember this so well, because I can count on one hand how few had problems.
Customer care is another item, too many customers turn their thermostats way too high, subsequently prematurely dammaging the heater.

In my plumbing business in the ballard area of Seattle, I was known to use the best quality known and why not. The customer paid for it, why not help get them quality for their money, was my attitude.
When it came to quality Water Heaters, there was AO SMITH and Rheem or Ruud...the the real cream of the crop of quality names in their field and the only ones aproved by the Gas Co. for all their energy saving programs.
I also happen to know a little known history about RHEEM...they long history at surving manufacturing in a dificult market, with many years to be proud of.
Dating way back to World War Two... yes they were then manufacturing the steel drums used to make Depth Charges.
The relatively few times we needed to replace a RUUD Tank on warranty, it was truly as simple as making one call...the customer was well taken care of...how do I know that, I always called them back at the end of the next day and I must tell you why I remember this so well, because I can count on one hand how few had problems.
Customer care is another item, too many customers turn their thermostats way too high, subsequently prematurely dammaging the heater.

In my plumbing business in the ballard area of Seattle, I was known to use the best quality known and why not. The customer paid for it, why not help get them quality for their money, was my attitude.
When it came to quality Water Heaters, there was AO SMITH and Rheem or Ruud...the the real cream of the crop of quality names in their field and the only ones aproved by the Gas Co. for all their energy saving programs.
I also happen to know a little known history about RHEEM...they long history at surving manufacturing in a dificult market, with many years to be proud of.
Dating way back to World War Two... yes they were then manufacturing the steel drums used to make Depth Charges.
The relatively few times we needed to replace a RUUD Tank on warranty, it was truly as simple as making one call...the customer was well taken care of...how do I know that, I always called them back at the end of the next day and I must tell you why I remember this so well, because I can count on one hand how few had problems.
Customer care is another item, too many customers turn their thermostats way too high, subsequently prematurely dammaging the heater.

In my plumbing business in the ballard area of Seattle, I was known to use the best quality known and why not. The customer paid for it, why not help get them quality for their money, was my attitude.
When it came to quality Water Heaters, there was AO SMITH and Rheem or Ruud...the the real cream of the crop of quality names in their field and the only ones aproved by the Gas Co. for all their energy saving programs.
I also happen to know a little known history about RHEEM...they long history at surving manufacturing in a dificult market, with many years to be proud of.
Dating way back to World War Two... yes they were then manufacturing the steel drums used to make Depth Charges.
The relatively few times we needed to replace a RUUD Tank on warranty, it was truly as simple as making one call...the customer was well taken care of...how do I know that, I always called them back at the end of the next day and I must tell you why I remember this so well, because I can count on one hand how few had problems.
Customer care is another item, too many customers turn their thermostats way too high, subsequently prematurely dammaging the heater.

I have been a master plumber for 30 years at least. I have used many Rheem products and always been very happy with the products and co policies.

As far as the wtr htr goes i think you would find that most wtr htrs are made in Mexico and there is no differance between them. However if you had contacted Rheem themselves I believe they would have taken care of this. It has been a good co to do bus with..Just my thoughts on this.

I can understan your frustration. However, to say the things you do about Rheem is to over react. Here in Yuma AZ where the temp can get over 110 deg F, many thousands of people choose Rheem as their source for heating and cooling. As a matter of fact Rheem products are a product of choice for most contractors.

So in one of the hottest places on earth, Rheem has proved itself as a quality product.

Research is key. do not over react. Yours was and is an isolated case that could have been resolved.

How do I know? I personally have submitted many Rheem claims over the years and am very pleased. Partly because you can get a lot more flies with honey than vinegar