Eric C. Foster Plumbing Heating & Cooling Inc.

A reviewer this May dropped a detail that explains much of this company's record: they called Foster the "only hourly rate provider in the area." That one line sits underneath both halves of what customers write — the ones who point out that nobody tried to sell them anything extra, and the ones who found the bill steep. The Chelmsford shop has 713 Google ratings averaging 4.9 and 458 written reviews going back to 2021. Its Massachusetts HVAC license, 1766-SM-M1, is active and registered to Eric C Foster. The company is also one of the named industry partners for Nashoba Tech's plumbing program and takes co-op students on alternate weeks, at least one of whom planned to stay on after graduating — which is why apprentices turn up in the reviews alongside the plumbers. Speed is the through-line. One customer found water on the basement floor around noon and had a new water heater by 5:30 that afternoon. Another whose water tank failed had a plumber at the house almost immediately and was fully back up within an hour and a half. In a February 2026 review a homeowner called in the morning with a leaking pipe and was squeezed into the schedule a few hours later. Reviewers name their plumbers — Shane, Mark, Nate, Rob, Kevin — and describe the same habits each time: explain what's happening, leave the basement spotless, don't push extra work. One customer wrote in June that they had been a Foster customer since 1976, through a heating system, water heaters, gas conversions and air conditioning. The complaints are recent and specific enough to act on. In a January 2026 review a customer called the work expensive and the expertise questionable, said it created problems another company had to fix, that three requests for quotes went nowhere, and that whoever answered the phone made them feel like a bother. In May a customer who booked a water heater service including anode-rod replacement got a technician who arrived without the right rods. Another that month had an installation left unfinished because the plate over the electric wire wasn't seated properly and was told to call an electrician — their view being that Foster, having selected the heater, should have supplied what the install required. A February three-star reads in full: "The radiator is clanging again." And a July customer who liked their plumber and wanted him back said they needed to review the price first. On r/LowellMA a resident this February named the company as their Chelmsford plumber, and in a June 2025 thread a commenter said they had hired both Foster and Frank's Heating in Tewksbury and rated both highly. For a plumbing failure around Chelmsford, this is a licensed, deeply reviewed shop that answers fast and turns up inside the window it gives. If cost matters, ask up front how the hourly rate works and what a call-out covers, and confirm the technician will be carrying the specific parts your job needs.