Thank You Mike Scott Plumbing for 6 Days Without Hot Water!
 

I am posting this information as a cautionary tale. We lost hot water last Thursday (2/6). We immediately contacted Mike Scott Plumbing (who installed the Rheem tankless water heater) and in fairness to the company, a plumber was at the house in 45 minutes. The issue was quickly diagnosed as a failed “ignitor coil” which according to the plumber is a common problem. It needed to be replaced. HOWEVER, this part is NOT carried on any of the Mike Scott trucks. The plumber could do nothing. It had to be ordered from Rheem and would be delivered by FedEx to our home in 2-4 business days. Are you kidding me?

We spent 6 days without hot water!! GUESS WHAT - THIS PART CAN BE PURCHASED FOR $20.95. You can even order it from Home Depot.

It is unacceptable that all of TV residents south of 44 will at some point face this problem and Mike Scott Plumbing cannot spend the money to stock their trucks with an essential part after all the money the company has made from all of us. UNBELIEVABLE.

We will be ordering a “spare” so we never have to go through this again.

Unfortunately, this is a problem that will occur until tankless water heaters become more commonplace. If you had the old fashioned hot water tank, almost any plumber in The Villages could have repaired or replaced it in a few hours. If you have a choice, I would not replace a water tank with the tankless type. I understand that the builder is installing tankless water heaters in the new houses, but many plumbers are not going to stock the parts.

Why couldn't this part be borrowed from a house that is waiting to be sold. You know officially with permission. You never mentioned if your house is under warranty? If is is then maybe the Warranty Dept. should have been involved. 6 days? That's rough. I feel sorry for your trouble.

Unfortunately, since we reside south of 44, we had no choice in water heaters. All of the new homes are built with tankless water heaters. With all of the thousands of homes being built, it is becoming commonplace and the part should be stocked by all the plumbing companies. We are past the one year mark so the Warranty Department would not have helped. Just wanted to alert other residents.

I agree, but I think the problem is that the water heater has at least a 5 year warranty on the parts. If you had called other plumbers, I don't think they would have had the part in stock because they can't charge you for it. So, I wouldn't single out Mike Scott plumbing. I would blame the builder.

Yeah being without hot water is no fun. Maybe the part was out of stock, maybe they just used all they had.

I did read that the owner, Mike Scott was killed in a car crash about 3 weeks ago. Maybe they are just a bit unsettled right now.

Maybe the company is in some disarray due to the unexpected death of Mike Scott a couple of weeks ago. He died in a car accident.

Thank you for this information. I had a similar problem with our dog (broke a wrist, tiny plate not stocked by very expensive orthopedic vet. Actually, they had one but gave it to another dog. Big delay, unhappy dog and parents). To me it's not acceptable to be servicing a large area with particular potential problems and not stock parts for such.

I would now, thanks to your info, stock the part myself. Wish I could have stocked the wrist plate for the pup.

How is this Mike Scott Plumbing’s fault? They can’t keep every conceivable part in stock. Did you call other local plumbing companies to see if they had the part you needed? I can name three major companies in the area you could’ve called to check.

Sounds to me like this is a TV development issue, then. If they are mandating that these are the water heaters to be installed, someone from the TV side has to communicate to plumbers of such (although it seems like the plumbers already know). Part of that communication has to be that if you're going to get the business installing these, you have to carry some spare parts.

You can't leave residents in the lurch for something that you mandated be installed. It can't be just a case of "oh well, that's just the way it goes". Hot water is a necessity, not an option. Someone's got to pick up the ball here, and it can't be the poor powerless guy who's at the cold water receiving end.

As a retired contractor from Pa., I would have gone to a well stocked plumbing supply house and purchased the part that same day. I'm not sure how well the supply houses down here are stocked, but I would bet that one of the supply houses up in Pa./NJ would have had the part, or at the very least have it shipped overnight. Weinstein Supply, for example.

Wouldn't a local plumbing company that does significant business in the area know the same? In other words, is it still up to the resident to find said part when the experts in the field can't do so? Yeah, yeah - I know you have to do what you (resident) have to do, but this is the kind of thing you pay experts for.

How much hot water do you really need while waiting on a part..next... purchase a spare part for the next time.. if this is going to be a normal problem..

Sarcasm is not a solution either. Living without hot water can be a major inconvenience, no doubt. But on learning that one company doesn’t have instant access to a needed part, I wouldn’t think twice about looking further for it. Where is my responsibility in maintaining my home? Condolences to the family of Mike Scott following his recent death.

Or simply call the other plumbing companies that service this area, and ask if they have the part in stock. Very easy to make a few phone calls, instead of blasting the only company they called.