Bradford White
Consumer Complaints & Reviews
Eco Defender HOt water heater U140T6FRN - For last 3 months, pilot light goes out periodically. Easy to relight, but a pain. Unit is 6 years old. Two years ago a plumber replaced the whole controller. After reading these posts, I'm going to do all the DIY stuff I feel comfortable with, and, if that doesn't work, I'm buying a new one -- obviously not Bradford White. The next plumber coming out on this matter will be bringing a new water heater. Period. Thanks to all for posting your complaints and issues. If BW does not read and take to heart these complaints, they're not a business. They're just some kind of ** up revenue stream.
Purchased an 80 gallon hot water heater for an apartment building. It continuously overheated to dangerous temperatures. The distributor sent out to inspect and repair. No luck. Still overheated. They then sent out a consultant who sent us on a wild goose chase to install an expansion tank at my expense. No luck. They then sent out a company rep. He blamed it on a non-existent waterline leak. Now a month has gone by and no hot water. I asked for a replacement. They said no. I finally ordered another brand at my expense. ALL OK. They picked up the defective unit. I never heard from them again. Stay away from this company. They are masters of stonewalling the customer with no support.
I bought a Bradford White water heater in 2010 and today the control module and pilot light are not working. I call to get it fixed and found out it is just out of warranty and is going to cost me about half of a new one to get fixed. This is the second one I have got from them and the first went out in 2 years and they go off the first unit on warranty not the new one. I have to say way to back your product up.
Eight years ago we put in our home a Bradford White energy saver 50 gallon hot water heater and it started leaking last month. Shouldn't hot water heaters last longer than 8 years?
Bradford-White mod# MI40T5LN10 - I must say that after reading previous reviews on BW hot water heater I just stood up and jumped for joy. I have two gas BW heaters and have not had not one issue with them. OH BTW both are 22 yrs old... yep that's correct... the original heaters that came with the house. A few weeks ago the gas company had to shut off gas to do some repairs and they re-lit both. We went on trip and didn't notice before we left but one heater wasn't heating. Today the gas company came back out to re-light. It stayed on. Now we wait and see if it was a faulty fire up the first time or if the thermocouple is out and needs replacement. But, really whatever. 22 yrs... Been happy happy happy!!!
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I am a plumber from Phoenix AZ and I have had a 50% fail rate with all of the Bradford White Gas Water Heaters I have installed in the last 7 years. Most of the failures are due to the Honeywell Gas Controllers. Both Honeywell and Bradford White should be ashamed of themselves for building such a pile of crap. I have also had quite a few leakers within the first year of installation too. I have switched to RUUD Water Heaters and so far I have had zero warranty issues. The Ruud Residential Gas Water Heater has White Rodgers Gas Controllers and that seems to be a bulletproof control valve. These water heaters make me look bad. I am a native of Michigan and Bradford White Resides in Michigan. It makes me glad I moved to Arizona so I'm not in the same state with such an incredibly poor manufacturing company.
Warranty service covers parts only?! Biggest scam on the planet. Go get a plumber and we will cover the parts. Yes wow - this amazing ty, serious scammers. Stay away.
These are garbage. Ours leaked flooding our basement and they will not replace under warranty. Stay away from this company's products, the tank was not even 4 yrs. old.
This unit was just in service for over 3 years when the gas controller failed. About 6 months later, the tank developed a leak where the flame was impinging on the bottom. Because of new government energy regulations, this unit is supposed not available anymore and I'm going to have to pay $50-100 more for the equivalent replacement. While under warranty, failures like this before the unit is even 4 years old is unacceptable. Not to mention that I have to pay a plumber to fix them.
This companies water heaters are garbage... Had two of these both failed in under 5 years each. Worst part... the company will not honor the warranty on the second unit because it replaced the first one and the total time owned is beyond the 6 year warranty.
I am going on my fifth water heater! First one installed Model # MI5036EN10 on December 23, 1999. Second water heater installed on December 16, 2003 Model #MI5036FBN, third installed on December 17, 2008, Model #MI5036FBN, fourth water heater installed on November 7, 2012, Model # MI5036FBN and now today May 16, 2016 yet another water heater bad. The same plumber has been replacing these water heaters (under warranty) but I have to pay the installation charges! Really Bradford White something for sure is very wrong here and not listening to us consumers with these issues is terrible consumer relations!! The warranties have gone from 10 year down to a 6 year warranty! Clearly they must see a problem and not fixing the problems!!
I purchased a Bradford white hot water heater 2 years & 3 months ago. The relief valve failed. Plumber stated valve should last several years. I am dissatisfied with the quality of this very expensive product.
Installed a 40 gallon gas water heater on 2/27/16. Pilot light keeps failing. Had to install a new gas burner assembly on a unit that is not even 2 months old. Call Bradford White to demand a new water heater as I just paid good money to have a new Bradford White installed. Big mistake using this company's product. Their customer service is rude. Product sucks and they don't stand behind their warranty. I WILL NEVER BUY A BRADFORD WHITE PRODUCT AGAIN. I have also informed all my friends and family to stay away from this Company as they are happy to take your money, but not so willing to back up their product. Just another corporation robbing the people. All scum at Bradford White. Pure scum.
I had the Bradford White "Defender" installed last week. This morning, it is completely dead. Nada. Zilch. Nothing. My plumber installed this piece of garbage without asking me what brand I wanted and had I done a search I would have landed here last week instead of this morning, with no hot water.
Like many, I was saddled with a Bradford White water heater when we purchased our new townhome. The clowns who built these stuck the thing under the stairs, in a utility room that just barely holds a water heater, washer and dryer, so I am quite limited as to what I can replace it with. This is my third one in 15 years. The kicker with ours is that we need to buy the model that has the power vent, because we have no basement and the utility room is on the main level, venting straight out the wall behind it. This one started leaking at the weld of the thread for the pressure relief valve, 1 month and 25 days after the warranty ran out. The first one burned out after nine years and I thought it had a 10 yr warranty, as was the minimum when I was growing up. No one in this household, of four, takes hour long showers. We are quite conservative.
I am only giving them 1 star because the person I have been in contact with agreed to upgrade my warranty to 10 yrs from the 6 yr. The following is from their website: "AT BRADFORD WHITE, OUR GOAL IS SIMPLE. We will be the manufacturer of choice in the wholesale market." I wonder how they will do that by screwing the customers and producing garbage?
Bought a Bradford White water heater from MEWS in Athens, Alabama September of 2009. Less than four months out of warranty unit began spraying water. Appears to be bad weld on top of unit. No help offered. Will not buy another one made by Bradford White.
Good news! Bradford White replaced my water heater. Luckily the six-year warranty still had three months left. I still believe it should have lasted longer, but at least, I didn't have to pay the $2,400 Roto-Rooter wanted. My total out of pocket amount was $454.
on Jan. 17, 2016Original Review
I purchased a brand new home, built from the ground up and to my surprise my hot water heater went out. There were no warning signs. I smelled a strange odor coming from the basement and come to find out the water heater was rusting from the inside and it was leaking from top. After 5 years, Wow! Then to top it all off it's no longer under warranty. The entire unit must be replaced. My builder is Toll Brothers just in case for future home buyers, DO NOT LET THEM install a Bradford White water heater in your home. A water heater should at least last 10 years. :(
We recently purchased a home with a previously installed Bradford White Defender gas water heater. The water heater was installed in the second floor attic space above the kitchen. We were not happy with this, because my husband works in the plumbing industry and these are notorious for breaking. We made plans to expand the washroom and bring the water heater down to the main level, to avoid any problems. We had the washroom addition done, and were just planning to move the water heater the next weekend. Literally, the next day, October 21, the thermal couple blew and flooded the kitchen. I don't know how long the water was running, we were home, but I was sick in bed, one son was sleeping, (he works nights) and the other is blind. When we found it, there was water pouring through a hole in the ceiling, and inches of water on the kitchen floor, it was even coming out the exterior joints in the slab.
Fortunately, I had a very large threshold on the kitchen door which kept it contained to that area. A restoration company came out and treated the entire area and left fans and dehumidifiers to dry it out. I now need new sheetrock, insulation, cabinets, flooring, and part of the appliances. Water also seeped into the upstairs bedroom and bathroom, but that was minor compared to downstairs, and I have already corrected it at my own expense. I filed an insurance claim, but the adjuster has not gotten back with me as to whether they are going to cover it or not. He did state that mine was the third that week for this same issue.
Images show defective part versus a new part. (The bottom one is not mine, I didn't think to photograph mine before it went in.) The water heater was still within the warranty period, so Bradford White covered the new part, but there was no compensation for the installation. We are thinking the water heater was about 2 years old, during which one year the house was vacant, and the other, it was occupied by an elderly disabled man. In other words, very little usage, it should have been good for years. My pressure is set at 40. (Extra low, just until we can replace the water line; not because it's bad, but because we don't know.) There's really nothing we could have done to prevent this.
In my dealings with the supplier, I have found that the defective part was manufactured by Honeywell. The problem came from a little plastic piece that protruded from the box into the unit. Mine was split right in two allowing water to just flow out. The supplier thought that Bradford White might be in litigation with Honeywell, and that my flood might be covered under their insurance, but I suppose that would require a lawsuit on my part. I did notice on the replacement part that the plastic piece has been replaced by a metal piece, so hopefully this will not happen again. I would also hope that they would have stopped selling heaters manufactured with that plastic part inside. There really should be a recall on these water heaters.
Less than 2 years ago I had a Bradford White water installed by my plumber. Yesterday (12/28/15) the burner went kaplooie (technical talk for stopped working). I called my plumber who said he needed the part. I then call Bradford White and confirmed that the heater was still under warranty. However, they had stopped manufacturing that model and had no spare parts. I called the distributor and they had no parts.
I called Bradford White with my tale of woe. They told me that they understood and felt very badly about my predicament, and would especially manufacture the part. I should get it in "several weeks." I went up the ladder and finally found someone who said they could make the part and ship it promptly. I should have it by Friday, New Year's Day. I suggested that it might be better to replace the whole heater rather than manufacture the part specially and make me wait an unconscionably long time, and pay a plumber holiday rates to come out on a holiday, New Year's weekend. They told me, "No!!" Thus I have an obsolete water heaters that is still under warranty.
In 2006, we had a hot water heater installed. In 2012, it was replaced due to a thermocouple that failed. In December 2015, we had pilots shut off several times and a contractor discovered that the tank had a crack in it. The warranty will not replace the heater a 2nd time on the warranty so we now have to repurchase another hot water tank at $484 plus installation. Bradford should change their claim to being such a great product and reconsider changing their warranty due to shoddy workmanship.
$1500.00 unit leaking in tank seams 2 months after warranty over, NO HELP offered by company. Purchased for $1500.00 Bradford White Defender 50 gal tank 8/28/2009 Model # M1TW50S6FSX Serial # FG12138580 from Wayne J Pisanchyn Plumbing & Heating Clarks Summit, PA. Unit is leaking 12/2015. Warranty was over 2 MONTHS ago. Warranty dept mgr Amy @ Bradford White corp. offered nothing. She was very robotic and unsympathetic. Amy was very glib and informed me that she was the TEAM LEADER for the warranty dept and no else could help me. The unit was maintained and is leaking in the SEAMS of the tank. It is obviously defective. Both plumber & manufacturer offered nothing substantial.
I will have to pay another $1500.00 for another unit. NO DISCOUNT or EXCEPTION in warranty. My previous basic hot water heater lasted 15 yrs +. I will be sharing my Bradford White corp. experience online for any potential consumers to be advised that $1500.00 every 6 yrs is unreasonable for a water heater. Bradford White corp is not interested in happy customers and manufacturing QUALITY products, they are only interested in their bottom line and following their warranty rules to the letter.
I had a Bradford-White Defender water heater professionally installed. After 3 years, it failed and is going to cost me $400 installation fee plus another $149 for another technician visit to diagnose the problem. I have a pressure maintenance valve set at 70 psi, tested and working, as well as an expansion tank, so I know it isn't a problem with the water pressure being too high. I also have a professionally installed water softener, so I know it isn't a problem with hard water deposits eating away the tank. I have been reading numerous negative reviews on this site as well as Amazon with the same story I'm telling.
Bradford White water heater installed into purchased Pulte home/tank develops leak in 5 yrs from purchase date. Customer relations denies the warranty. Tank was leaking from the insert nipples at the top for over a year and rusted out a hole at the top. Tank was slowly leaking but could not be detected because of the outer jacket. Customer relations was not concerned/not interested in my problem, showed no support, were indifferent, rude and said I was wasting his time. Non sympathetic to homeowners, could not communicate properly... poor choice of words. Only interested in company's liability and made no effort to help.
Customer Relations is a joke!!! Bradford White is a joke. Do not buy water heaters from them. Much better alternatives. Pulte stood behind the warranty and offered compensation. Bradford White are only interested in profits according to the poorly articulated customer relations manager. He needs some speech therapy for his position. I am also writing a letter to the company to review the recorded message and evaluate this IDIOT!!
1.0 star rating. 11/19/2015. I purchased a Bradford White water heater because I thought I would support a company that it is American made. Pathetically, they are NOT supporting me while after ONLY 3 years I lost hot water due to a FIRE WITHIN THE UNIT and a defective blower. Yes, those are on warranty BUT I have had to pay for 3 visits from my tech to sort out this problem and that they will not support me in covering these expenses! They try to tell me it's my poor quality of water, what a load of crap!!! I will NEVER EVER purchase another product from this company. Maybe they should listen to their recordings of how they have high quality, years of trouble free problems. Reliable?? What a horrible company with which to deal and absolutely no support!!! BEWARE before you purchase a water heater. Buy from another company!!! Their service is awful.
I purchased model m1403s6fbn in 2012. Immediately I noticed something wrong with my water pressure. I called the water company, who installed the unit, and they said it was an existing problem not connected to the unit. I then noticed water collecting on the top of the unit and called them back. It still took 2 other visits, until a person from the Bradford company came and said yes, it was definitely the unit. They did replace it but it was 2 weeks of back and forth. Well, now 3 years later and they have to replace it again for the same reason. I have to pay $500.00 installation fee. I have no water and have to worry if it will happen again. I don't think it is fair that I have to pay installation for a product that has a history, at least for me, of this issue.
In July, we replaced our 16yr old hot water heater with a Bradford White hot water heater. I know regulations have changed, and this was maybe one of the first models, so we tried to give the benefit of the doubt when it started leaking 4 months later. So, we called the installer, who promptly replaced it with another Bradford White Defender hot water heater. It has been 3 days, count them, 3 days, and it is leaking already. What is wrong with this product???
I purchased my first home back in 6/2010. 6 months later my water heater was leaking and my home warranty ended up replacing with brand new Bradford and white water heater which I came out of pocket 275 for. I was told the unit comes with 6 year warranty. On 8/27/15 the gas was shut off temporarily then pilot would not light. Had plumber come out to light pilot but was told valve would need to be replaced and they would confirm warranty. Bradford informed plumber that unit was no longer under warranty because Bradford had unit as a replacement and rolled over warranty of original unit from a different company.
Bradford would not honor the 6 year warranty of the new unit which I feel is unacceptable especially when they are aware of the faulty valve on these particular units. I will continue to expose this unethical business practice until there is a resolution or correction made. My children and I have been without hot water for a few months now while I continue to get the run around.
I purchased a new home not to deal with a broken hot water heater. I called Mike ** at Bradford and was told he was in a meeting (surprising). And we all know that he called me back, NOT. My house is two years old and my hot water heater broke. I needed to call for service and the service man called Bradford. My hot water heater wouldn't light. Bradford told the service man to replace the GAS VALUE and the PILOT ASSEMBLY. REALLY I think that Bradford White should reimburse me the $450.00 it costed me to repair the crap.
Hard to believe that a house that only has two people living in it, could possible use the Hot Water Heater that much to break the gas assembly and pilot in two years. In all honest I can't ever remember my water heater breaking any gas parts. Just remember the parts might be under warranty but the labor is expensive. DON'T BUY THIS PRODUCT. EVEN THE COMPANY DOESN'T CARE ENOUGH TO RETURN A PHONE CALL.
Our Defender series heater stopped working recently. It is less than two years old. A technician diagnosed the entire pilot assembly as bad and replaced it. The heater still didn't. The technician also determines the gas control valve to also be broken. How does a relatively new product fail on multiple fronts? Bradford offered no consolation.
There are only 2 adults at this location. No problems until we would go more than 2 days with no use of hot water. Had strong sulfur smell. Neighbor suggested pouring bleach down well head. Cleaned smell after 2 days. Worked a couple of times. Now, after 7 years stinks all the time. Read that the problem is the anode. Why should this happen? Makes no sense to me. Out of warranty 1 yr ago. A 50-gallon tank for 2 people should last more than 7 years w/o repair. Not happy. Would not recommend.