Rude/gormless person on the phone.

I'm a homeowner and rely on my tradesmen to supply a good product. Well, this product was a fail. In November of 2012 I decided to replace my 1943 oil-fired hot water boiler with a gas-fired. The old unit worked fine but fuel oil was almost $5 at the time with no sign of going down in cost (boy did I bet wrong!). About a month ago – late January 2015 – I noticed a puddle under the boiler. I called the plumber who put it in and it was determined that the block was leaking at a factory-sealed seam between two of the three cast-iron heat exchanger sections. Columbia won't cover the labor cost to repair or replace the defective boiler. So I'm stuck for another $1,500 after the $3,000 I paid in 2012. Moral of the story: make sure your service professional provides the warranty information prior to purchase and read the fine print.

I recently purchased a Colombia Waste Oil Boiler. From the first start up the stack temperature has exceeded 1000 degrees. I have provided the local representative and Colombia technical service all the readings they asked for. They are now asking for more readings and will not return my calls. They have no explanation for the high stack temperature. I also didn't mention the boiler cannot reach temperature, even with a bypass fully open. I would not recommend anyone buying anything from this company. It seems they don't back up their product.

We recently replaced an old Columbia L-Series boiler (which still worked wonderfully, it just wasn't up to safety standards, and was 41 years old), with a brand-new Columbia WL-Series boiler in our commercial building. It is now just over a year old, and we are extremely pleased with it. No problems to report so far. Overall, a solid, built-to-last boiler.