Ising’s Culligan Water

This is one of the most unprofessional companies I have ever done business with.
Unfortunately, they seem to be the only company serving the area if you want soft water that follows local laws/​regulations.
If you go with this company expect:
— your bill to have price hikes every month. This will not be specified in the contract when you agree to a monthly fee for their service. We have seen bill increase for fuel surcharges and for the water service itself. Kind of makes you wonder what the contract was for when they change how much you pay as they see fit. We started off paying somewhere in the $ 50 range and are now closer to $ 70 under the same contract!
— water tanks that break almost every time the new one (s) for the month are installed (broken gaskets and busted manifolds are common, get used to your garage having water on the ground)
— an extremely rude and unprofessional lady answering their phone if you ever call with questions (she thinks it is the customer’s responsibility to know THEIR COMPANY’s holiday schedule, and finds any question about their service an opportunity to be rude
Make absolutely no mistake, if we find a competing company in the area we will be dropping Culligan in a heartbeat!

I called in regards to a water leak on my Culligan water softener. Lady on the phone was nice, albeit not very helpful. In a nutshell, I ended up not using them and took my business to a local plumber. Here is why:
1. $ 80 for a «Dispatch fee» to give the call to a technician. I asked (politely, because I honestly wanted to know what I was getting for $ 80 bucks) what is involved with dispatching a call that costs so much. I was simply told, «That’s what they charge» to send a technician out.
2. $ 110 per hour on-​site billed in 15 minute increments. Apparently being a plumber makes just as much money as a commercial airline pilot or a hospital anesthesiologist.
3. The soonest they could schedule me was the following week (Monday), but they don’t know their schedule until the day before (which is Sunday). I asked if they could at least tell me if it will be in the morning or afternoon, and they couldn’t. I’m expected to be at home all day waiting until they can figure out when someone can get to me.
4. I was told the technician would determine if the repair would be covered under warranty (I told them my water softener was 10 years old). I asked what the warranty entailed and she couldn’t answer. I subsequently found out it was a limited lifetime warranty on the Culligan website.
This is factual information, along with a bit of personal frustration. I ended up finding the leak myself which was on one of the joints on the copper water pipe (installed by Culligan), and having a plumber fix it for $ 150 on a Sunday. I’m satisfied with the water softener, but not really impressed when I had to call for service.