WaterBoss

After noticing I have excess brine water in the brine tank I did the troubleshooting stated on the owners manual. Nothing changed. I called water boss and spoke to a rude woman named Brittany. Not patient and very rude. She told me to hand drain the water and to call back as she wasn’t going to stay on the phone. I did as she asked and called back. I got a nice patient woman named Jane. Her burping technique worked. She said to try it again the next day to see if it worked. Unfortunately on the brine water removal it didn’t work again. So I called water boss again. I asked to speak to jane. She told me to clean the programer and she would answer when I called back. Unfortunately when I called back I got a horrible rude person named Lisa. She talks over you and is extremely rude. They lost a customer for life. And I will tell social media about this as well. You call to get help and only get frustrated. Lisa and Brittany aren’t good for water boss at all.

I have had a few issues with the Waterboss Pro380 that were resolved quickly by a girl that used to handle these things. She must have moved on. Now I can't get any help at all. They finally responded to my second request by email by asking a question. I answered it via email and have had zero replies in two weeks.

In one year they went from exceptional customer service to non existent. This is now my second and last WaterBoss softener.

I purchased the waterboss proplus 380 10 monrhs ago. I have already had to replace the drive end cap. Called service they sent out the replacement part no charge. Arrived in 4 days. After replacing the bypass assembly ( in/out) started leaking and filling the cabinet with water. after taking apart 3 more times, still leaks. Once again service who informed me there hS to be an o-ring missing ~ after 3 times thing everything apart, having to remove excess from cabinet, I called service again... o-rings are all in place ~ I get the same answer ~ it has now been 2 weeks, unit still leaking water ~ zero help from waterboss ~ I spoke with the supervisor, who told me to hire a maintenance person! DO NOT PURCHASE ~ $700 wasted ~ frustrating that I have spent hours troubleshooting and all they can say ~ if it's leaking you have to have an o~ring problem...currently cannot do laundry or take a shower in my own home... so sad a company that will not stand by their product that supposedly has a 10 year life span ~ unfortunately I did not even get one year! Horrible customer service and product! BEWARE

I bought the softener 3 years (8/24/2019) ago and it has now started to put brown water into water lines after regenerating softner. I have a 5 micron pre filter that removes excess particles before softer works. Is there a maintenance service requirement for the valve? The softer leaks brown water into water lines on both normal regeneration and on power clean regeneration.

I purchased unit from Menards in Springfield.

DONT BUY WATERBOSS SOFTNER SYSTEM - WE HAD TWO neither over 5 years old one just 5 years and the other not even 2 years We replaced our Softner in our house in 2015 have been have water issues for 8 months - it dont work anymore and have had to replace. We put a water boss also in our office / Barn Nov. 2019 that is finished two years will be this Nov. it isnt working either VERY UNSATIFIED~

This water softner has never added water tso the brine tank. I have called several times to the help line and have done everything they have sugjested and have bust in the parts they have sent me to fix the problem. But still no water added to the brine tank, I have added water myself. By adding water myself we have soft water.

Install date 10/20/2020. model #950 the ser.# [protected]. I would very much like to have it ether repaired or replaced! My address is 8170 Old Coventry Cr. Sandy Utah 84093. My cell phone # is [protected].

Thank you
Thomas Kenney

Save yourself hours the guide is the worst guide I have ever came across. It will talk about the fittings that the company doesn't include. It will tell you on most sites not to use PTFE and in the guide but Please use the tape! Or you will have water everywhere. Like I did. After hours of cleaning water up. I went a brought 2 shark bite water softener connections it was that easy. Please save your time. The company has the worst CS ever. Good luck.

In the two years I owned it, I had to get replacement parts for the valves. The board failed twice of which one was covered by warranty. The customer service lady was very rude. I was excited that they were a USA company and fairly local.

Replaced by a GE in the same environment that I was told was causing the failures and no issues for several months. Far better performance over the four major downtime events that I had with this unit. I'm disappointed but at the same time I hope they succeed and fix their issue. They need to focus heavily on the customer service department.

No where on Any of there products boxes or literature or their website does it specify the maximum working water pressure is 70psi. To the contrary it actually lists a maximum working water pressure of 120psi. After purchasing the unit do you discover in the installation manual a tiny note of their actual maximum working water pressure of 70psi. Falure to install a separate water pressure reducing device will cause the unit to dump it's resins and garnet into your sink during regeneration.

A water softener that cannot handle city water and it's standard pressure, failure to inform the customer prior to purchase on Any of their litature except a tiny note in the installation manual is very deceptive. All other brands do not have this issue. I highly suggest to avoid a deceptive company and even more a product that cannot handle it's own stated maximum working water pressure is defective before even being installed.

Also anyone that is on a city water the pressure will fluctuate. when i was installing the unit I had a water pressure of 65psi and met their requirements. But late at night the water pressure exceeds 70psi at the highest point 85psi which is causing thier unit to empty its regeneration contents into my sink. Very very poor design. I highly suggest you avoid their product at all costs. All other brands of water softener that I have installed in the past do not have this issue. The manufature will not stand behind their product and warrenty their own incompetence of a failure to inform the purchaser of their actual maximum working water pressure. Look up the spec sheet for their softeners nowhere will you find this imformation.

Very rude customer support and only want to sell more parts when they have mis-diagnosed my unit. I am an industrial electrician and I deal with equipment and support every day. The rude ladies in this support department treat you like you can't possibly know anything. I have cut my losses and have switched to a GE unit. Not owned by Hague Quality Water Groveport Ohio

I contacted the company and they forwarded new parts. Good for them.

I could not get the new parts to seal, continuous leak. This is probably the worst purchase I ever made. I spent 4 hours on just one of the replacement parts on and off on and off.

I have had it. I shipping this back to them at my expense to there office not their repair service maybe they'll make serious engineering changes. What piece of garbage.

I would not recommend this unit to anyone.

I purchased my waterboss at menards and I noticed recently that they no longer sell them. That was a red flag for me and sure enough six months later my softener started to act up. There are relatively simple things to fix so I called and inquired if the part I was buying woodwork to fix the problem. You could not believe the response I got from the customer service lady. She must get off i'm being rude. I own apartment buildings and I buy water softeners regularly because of the large number of units I have. I deal with a lot of customer service representatives for different appliances but this lady takes the cake. She was rude from the get go. She acted like I had just shot her pet dog. She was absolutely no help and advised me at the park with work and basically told me to order the part and get off the phone. I couldn't believe it I just basically decided that even if I could fix this thing I didn't want to deal with these people so I went and bought another unit from another company. Save your time, money, and mental health by not buying from this company

If you're one of the lucky ones that get a machine that stays working then good for you. But if it fails and I'll bet it does then you're on your own.

No service. The run a round from their tech line. Grossly overpriced replacement parts.

Had several other softeners over years and all lasted 10 to 15 years. Like all appliances they do wear out. But water boss didn't make it 5 years. Resin tank failed and the 10 year warranty meant nothing.

Do yourself a favor, avoid water boss.

I am a landlord in a rural part of Florida. I began installing the WaterBoss 900 softener for my clients to help remove rust. At first I was so happy and amazed and how the product worked. I installed them per the manual and at the time they did not recommend covers or weatherproofing. The unit performed flawlessly.

I had bought a total of 4 units...and hit the 3 year warranty period and EVERY SINGLE WB900 I have installed has had the electronic head FAIL. At first...when the first one failed they happily replaced the head. The customer service was great. This was about 2010 or 2011.

Something happened in 2012. The customer service department started balking at the electronic failures requiring me to produce not only receipts for purchase but installation receipts from my vendors. They questioned dates and took days to respond.

I have bought a total of 5...FIVE units before I quit them and gave up. I now have 2 of the original units (1-2017) still in service and have had to wrap them in tarps and it makes it difficult to fill with salt for clients. The electronic heads are $189 for replacement and I would NOT GIVE them another dime of service!

I have a box of 4 heads left (they replaced 2 that failed under warranty and I kept them). They ALL failed from weather exposure and line surge. Waterboss KNOWS this is happening and is preying on the general public with their inferior design. By the way...the 10 year warranty they offer is on the 'tank'...the solid fiberglass part...nothing else. Who would ship that back to them?

Sorry WATERBOSS. NOT going to recommend you. I will vote with my dollar!

I bought a pro plus 380 on 8/18/2012, we have had issues from day one with it. I have called at least ever few months with a problem and they have sent me different parts each time I have called. The last three times I have called within a 6 week period its been the same complaint. They sent me parts that were just replaced a month before the call so we would continue to replace them thinking it was just a bad parts. They didn't fix the problem either so they sent another part and it didn't fix the problem. The same problem has been consistent since Feb. and now it is May 29th. Water keeps filling up in the tank and no one seems to know why. They told me I could call a service tech to come to my home, but the closes one to my house was over an hour away and I WOULD BE RESPONSABLE for the fee. I spoke to the supervisor RICK who didn't care what problems I was having and kept saying its now not a new unit, no its not but its only a year and half old with the same issues since the day I bought it. He just kept telling me I can call for a service tech or their customer service would keep diagnosing it over the phone. He had the worst customer service I have ever dealt with and wasn't willing to help or understand my point that I just want to talk to someone who can correctly diagnose the problem . I just want to get it fixed instead of it being a ongoing problem. I have to take off work to call them or on my lunch hour. They are open the same hours I work and I always have to take off work and be home so they can talk to me while I'm at the unit. Either way I have lost money by taking off work and when I purchased this piece of junk that they cant fix.

I had no choice but to use this size in a small place in cottage. Concept is of this ws is wonderful but parts are weak.
I have much experinece with the water boss units. The plastic parts are not durable like most other units which have solid or heavier plastic parts to last longer. Lube parts with silicone grease to keep friction down. Parts I had to replace are:
1) I have replaced the brine valve elbow assembly due to the rubber inside the float disinegerated which caused it to not suck brine.
2) I had to replace the drive motor which the gears internally wore out.
3) replaced the filmsy piston slide located inside the drive end cap assembly that cracked and would not suck brine or flush out in the reg cycle.
4) had to take the brine valve housing assembly apart and re-lube the piston assembly with silicone grease which was sticking and wearing out the magnet dish assembly.
5) had to replace the magnet dish assembly 2x:s do to being worn down on one and the other fell totally apart in pieces.
If you start having problems I would have just go ahead and replaced the whole drive end cap assembly since that is where all the weak easy to wear and break parts mostly are and also replace the brine valve elbow assembly. Being a assembly eng I took time to break down all the parts and had time to see where parts were becoming loose and cracking. If you use iron out (use only if you had to) only add it at the bottom of the tank before you add salt. Iron out disinagrate plastic parts and eats metal so do not pour it on top of salt. My unit so far runs at the time I set it on delayed reg time at 4am.
I set it this way...
Hc (high capacity)
96 canceled
Delayed mode (4am)
45 hardness
I do add 1/2cup iron out once a month at the bottom of the tank when you see water, then add 1gal water and salt over the top of it so it won't corode parts.

DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT. All the complaints you read about it are true. I am going to throw the unit away and chock up my losses, before i have more headaches with it. DON'T BUY

After sending three messages to WaterBoss's on-line help department and not receiving a reply to any of them, I called their technical service people today because my new water softener exhibited a problem yesterday. This problem was not related to the original problem that I tried to contact them about. What I experienced when I called WaterBoss technical support was a nightmare.
I called because the Delayed mode does not work as described in the manual. Because of that, the softener can regenerate at any time of the day or night and not only will the user then be on hard water, but, if they are using hot water at the time, their water heater may then be filled with hard water which can take days to flush out.

The treatment that I received when I called WaterBoss was almost beyond belief. I am not exaggerating when I say that the treatment I received was possibly the worst I have ever experienced from anyone that I can remember in my nearly 60 years.
I first talked to a woman who was incredibly obnoxious and rude, in my opinion. My question was about why my unit was regenerating in the middle of the day when it was set in Delay mode (described below) and was supposed to regenerate at my set time of 3:00 A.M. when water wasn't being used. She said that the Delay mode "does not always work for some people." (?) When I tried to get a better explanation and one that made more sense, the woman immediately became sarcastic, downright nasty, and argumentative. When I could see that we were getting nowhere, I asked to talk to her supervisor. She said she would connect me to him but that he would tell me the same thing. Unbelievably, he (Rick Straight) was even more rude than the woman, in my opinion. In fact, he wouldn't even respond to me at times and I thought our connection had been broken. He then asked me what my name was and, when I told him, he actually moaned! I asked him what he meant by that rude expression and he said, "You're the guy who emailed us." I then asked him why, since he had just acknowledged that he received my email question, he hadn't responded to it. He said he “didn't need to”! (The question I had asked them via email was why my Waterboss 900 only held 90 pounds of pellet salt when the specs say it should hold 170 pounds. That's a very big discrepancy and it could cause a problem. I just wanted to know if something might be wrong with my unit that blocked salt from filling the cabinet. I can get 110-120 pounds into the unit if I poke individual pellets into tiny crevices which takes 20 minute to do but, even then, it holds 50-60 pounds less than the it is supposed to hold. The reason I asked about this is that if salt is not reaching behind the filter tank as it should, the proper amount of brine won't be produced. Mr. Straight simply refused to address my question, let alone attempt to answer it. In fact, one point, he refused to even respond to me and I thought the line had gone dead. I then asked him again but he said he didn't understand the question. He was clearly just being difficult. The question was very simple. When I re-phrased the question and asked him again what could cause my unit to hold 58-80 pounds less salt than it should, he simply said, "It holds 160 pounds." (Actually, the manual clearly states that it holds 170 pounds so Mr. Straight obviously doesn't even know his own product but, despite the specs, Mr. Straight insisted that they say it holds 160 pounds of salt. As anyone who looks up the product specs on-line will see or looks in their manual if they already own this unit, or even just looks at the carton that it is packed in will see, it is supposed to hold 170 pounds of salt. But Mr. Straight insisted on arguing about this. The only explanation I can think of to explain his bizarre behavior is that he wanted to argue this small point to avoid dealing with my question. He will probably feel a bit foolish if he looks it up for himself. But that was a small point so, ignoring Mr. Straight's lack of knowledge of his own product, I tried to get an answer from him again with no success. He again said, "It holds 160 pounds." (I would love to see Mr. Straight try to put 160 - really 170 - pounds of salt in my unit! That would be interesting to see.)

It was Mr. Straight's behavior that was the worst part of my experience with Waterboss. By the time I ended the call, I felt as if the support people at WaterBoss get their kicks out of treating customers as rudely as possible. In my opinion, something is seriously wrong at WaterBoss. No company should allow customer support people to treat their customers the way I was treated but the people I talked too made it clear, in my opinion, that they simply couldn't care less. I asked them a polite question and their responses were amazingly rude and obnoxious.
When I informed Mr. Straight that I was going to write a review of my experience with WaterBoss when I got off the phone with him, as unbelievable as it may sound, he said I couldn't do that!
I don't think that my experience with WaterBoss is an isolated case because other reviewers in other review forums have said they have had similar experiences. (I would highly recommend that anyone even thinking of purchasing a WaterBoss product first search for and read existing customer reviews, especially those by customers who had to deal with WateBoss support.

As for the product itself:

The bad:

When you unpack the WaterBoss 900 (and I assume any of their other models) you will find an owner's manual and also a DVD. That's all well and good but the installation instructions shown in the manual are different than those on the DVD. They are each very specific but contradictory. I worked in the industry for years and am very familiar with the operation of all kinds of equipment but even I was a bit confused. Someone who is not handy may be very confused if they watch the video AND read the owner’s manual installation instructions. Either way may work but each insists that it is the right way. Toss a coin! Also, on the DVD they mention how, as a WaterBoss product owner, you are now a member of a "family" and WaterBoss is there to help you with any problem you might have with your Wateboss product. As you can imagine, that rings hollow with me after the horrible treatment that I received from them.

The instructions on how to program the unit are a bit confusing but once you figure them out, it's fairly easy. I would suggest that once you figure them out that you make your own notes for future reference since the instructions in the rather poorly written manual are unclear and ambiguous.
DO NOT use the default settings and DO NOT follow WaterBoss's recommendations to use the "Demand" mode or the "96 Hour" mode. They are separate programmable features and your softener will default to them.

The "Demand" mode is a mode of operation whereby the softener will begin to recharge the moment a set amount of water has passed though it since the last recharge. WaterBoss recommends that you leave it on that setting and they incorrectly claim that, when using that mode, you "will never run out of soft water." Nothing could be further from the truth! If you use that mode, your softener will recharge after a set amount of water passes though it no matter what time it is and, in most cases, it will start recharging when you are taking a shower or bath or washing clothes. That’s not an exaggeration. It’s logical because it will start charging when you are running water and the chances are greater that it will reach the re-charge point when you are doing something that uses up lots of water. When the recharge starts, you are then on hard water (bypass mode). That is exactly what happened with my unit yesterday and I am still getting hard water from my water heater today. If you need a water softener, your water is probably hard enough that it will cause a load of clothes to be dingy and your fixtures will have hard water ### on them - the very things you bought the softener to prevent. Even worse, if you are running hot water when it starts to recharge, your water heater may fill up with hard water and that can take a couple days to flush out of the system so you will be on semi-hard water for a day or two. Then, just about the time you have good soft water again, your WaterBoss will recycle again and you are back to square one. DO NOT use the "On Demand" mode! WaterBoss should never have set the unit to default to this mode and they should not recommend it.
The alternative and preferable thing to do is to set it to "Delay" mode. In that mode, the unit will (supposedly) recharge at a time that you set (but not always, as I learned yesterday - see below) preferably early in the A.M. When it reaches the point where the amount of water has run through it that would normally turn on the recharge cycle in the "Demand" mode, it will delay the recharge and schedule it to run early in the morning at your set time when water is probably not being used. (Note: In my phone conversation today with WaterBoss, I was told that Delay mode “doesn't always work FOR SOME PEOPLE"!? Not only does that comment make no sense but it is an understatement. As I mentioned previously, my unit started regenerating yesterday while I was using water and, at that point, I was then running on hard water and, worse, my water heater filled with hard water. I am still getting hard water today! When you own a WaterBoss, you are going to find yourself running on hard water sometimes even if you use the Delay mode because the delay mode doesn't prevent the unit from regenerating at any time of the day as the manual says it should. Apparently, when a set amount of water has passed through the unit, the program sets it to recyle at your set “delay” time. But if a reserve capacity is reached, it will recharge no matter what time of day it is, even if you are running water. That’s very poor design, in my opinion. Even my 15 year-old Sears watersofter didn’t do that. That softener kept track of the total amount of water that ran through the softener since the last charge and produced the precise amount of brine needed based on the actual amount of water that passed used. The WaterBoss’s chip is not intelligent enough to do what other water softeners have been doing for decades! Again, DO NOT use the default "On Demand" mode. If you do, you will definitely be running on hard water quite frequently and your water heater may be filled with hard water quite often. Unfortunately, as I learned yesterday, that is going to happen sometimes even if you use the Delay mode. Very poor design, in my opinion!

The "96 Hour" setting is also set by default and it makes no sense at all, in my opinion. If WaterBoss has a logical reason why it should be used, they should explain it in the manual but they don’t What it does is make sure your softener recycles at least once every 96 hours. If the WaterBoss is working properly, it will automatically recharge when needed (but sometimes when you don't want it to) so there is no logical reason to use that setting that I can think of. If, for example, you go away on vacation with the default 96 Hour setting programmed to run, your softener will recharge every four days even though no water has run through it. That's a waste of salt and water. It is the default setting so you have to manually turn it off. In fact, every time you make any program setting change, the 96 Hour mode is turned on again so you have to turn it off even if you just change the time.

WaterBoss water softeners make a set amount of brine and use a set amount of salt for each recharge. Unlike better water softeners, including my old Sears unit, it's chip is not intelligent enough to vary the amount of brine made based on the actual amount of water used. That’s very inefficient and poor engineering and it virtually guarantees that you will find yourself running on hard water at times.

The good: The unit is compact and it looks nice. It also appears to be well made. Another thing that I like is that by simply lifting the top off, you have access to all the workings of the unit including the valves, etc. That should make maintenance and repair easy - much easier than my old Sears softener which I did repair a couple times. I cannot judge it's long-term dependability.

Based on what I know now about Waterboss water softeners and especially after the truly terrible treatment I received from WaterBoss support, I would not buy any WaterBoss product in the future. And since Waterboss water softeners will recycle any time of day or night when you are using water, even if in Delay mode, I find its operation to be unacceptable. In addition, sine the main housing and media tank design prevent the user from putting anywhere near the proper of amount of salt in the cabinet, I will have to assume that the proper amount of brine is not being produced which would cause the softener to not work properly. For those reasons and the absolutely disgraceful treatment that I received from WaterBoss support, I am returning the unit for a refund and buying a good water softener from a company that cares about their customers.