Air-Rite Heating & Cooling

Reviews 3

RI

Richard Shroyer

First some background.... Air Rite installed the system in our new home in 2007. We have two units in this home. One unit went out a few years ago ( I think in 2013) and the tech came out. I cant remember his name but he found the issue and let me know that the evaporator coil unit need to be replaced. I had him do that and it was a flat rate to replace that unit. It seemed expensive (about $800-900 as I cant exactly remember) and paid it. All was good. I felt they treated me fair that time BUT...BIG BUT HERE...and here is where it gets really almost unethical/unconscionable. A REAL BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE STORY The 2nd unit started having the same issues as the first one. Tim the tech came out to service the unit. The lady at the desk said it was a $98 service call fee to just come out. I agreed (oh boy, its starting already). He said the unit was froze up with ice and that he need to turn the heat on to let it thaw and that I would be charged per hour for him to wait for the ice to melt. He did not know how long it would be. He said it could be 1/2 to 1-1/2 hours maybe several hours at $160 an hour. I called the office and was livid. I said it was ridiculous to have a tech sit there waiting for ice to thaw. They said he could come back and with a return call charge of $64 so I had them do that since I figured it would be cheaper to have them do that instead of potentially getting an additional $160-200 charge. He came back after a few hours to start the work after the coils had thawed. He mentioned a leak check needed to be done which was another charge and that it was $100 per lb of Puron and if it needed more $50 after that. He asked if I wanted to do that... (wow! it sounds like he has me strapped over a barrel at this point.) He mentioned that a leak is usually in a place such as the evaporator coils(duh). He found the leak on the evaporator unit and said it would be $1,098 to replace it (shock therapy going on here now) and that he didnt have any idea how long it would take to get it. The charges for the tech to get to this point (service call, Puron, and leak check/Troubleshooting) was $354. Needless to say I felt that there might be another alternative so I will check into getting another company to perform the evaporator replacement if they cant do it on time. If Air Rite is the lowest price and fastest, then I will have them replace the unit, if not then another company will do it. All in all, after this event...NO MORE AIR RITE FOR ME!! I"M PISSED Also, when he presented me the bill, he seemed to want to make a point that I had the wrong filter in the unit (electrostatic) and that he left it out since it could cause more problems (strain on the system) and that the coils outside were hard to work with because they were dirty (Doom and Gloom going on here). He mentioned that another tech would be installing it (praise the lord - miracles do happen!) since the techs were so busy (Glad they have work). NOTE TO SELF...Ill have to help them with that part so I can reduce their work load. Bottom line is that I felt like I was being nickled and dimed by the tech for everything the that was done. Unfortunately, they have lost a customer and Im sorry that their techs have the attitude that they are the only company around. NEWS FLASH...they arent. Ill post an update as this plays out. UPDATE: I called several places and the prices were generally the same. I spoke with Sherri and they had the part in stock and were able to get a schedule in a couple of days for repair. The repair was done but was being up-sold on the annual service cleaning for $500. I gave her my email so I could get the warranty emailed but have not seen it. Still not the best experience with this group. My advice is to call around before having to feel like you are between a rock and a hard place.

TI

Tiana Lawrence

Really Bad experience. In June of 2014 I had an air rite service tech inspect my air conditioning unit. He entered 2 Lbs of freon and my unit worked for several months. . I entered into a 2 year service contract at that time as well. When I called this year (2015) to have it serviced, It was a rainy day on June 17, 2015 when the service tech arrived at 9 am. Either he started out having a bad day, maybe he had a late night or maybe it was the weather. he was rude from the start. When I asked questions he acted like he didnt want to answer. When he did, he was short and had an attitude about it. When I asked him to put freon in my unit, he advised me it had a leak and it would cost $400 to $600 to find it and then we could discuss the freon. I also had the option to buy a new unit of course! I told him i knew the unit had a leak but it was a really slow one and to put the amount of freon in that came with the service plan. He did, or so he told me he did. My air conditioning unit never blew even 1 minute of cool air after he left. I called an HVAC guy that I use for investment properties to come and check my unit behind Air Rite. He performed several tests in my presence and it was apparent there was no freon installed the day before, not even a lb. He located and sealed my leak filled my unit with 6 lbs of freon and its been working every since. I called Air rite and told them about it and asked for a refund for the service plan I purchased. Of course they gave me the run around. I finally talked to the office manager Shelly who informed me she would issue me a refund. Never got it. I called again in August and Shelly informed me she was waiting to see if my unit would still be working after 2 months before she processed the refund,,REALLY! She told me in August that she would issue the refund, again. Never got it. I tried contacting Shelly in September only to be told Shelly was unavailable at the moment but she would check into it. It is now October 30, my air still works, Shelly hasnt contacted me and of course, no refund. How can we trust that the service techs are doing what they say, when apparently even the office staff dont do what they say.

ST

Stuart

First impression was like a scene from an instructional of "How Not To Run A Business." Air Rite pulled in my driveway to give a quote. Within the first 2 minutes it was a no. We hadnt even made it in the front door. The employee gets out of his vehicle with tobacco in his mouth. (I use the same type of tobacco but...first impression...). He walks up 3 of my 5 front steps as I am telling him this is a full house installation (duct work, air handlers, heat pumps, etc.) He proceeds to make it known that there was a misscommunication between the receptionist and himself by collapsing to his knees and putting his face in his hands on the floor of my front porch as if I had struck him in the abdomen. So now we are at 2 min. and 1 sec. (2:01). I continue with the quote. We walk through the house and he measures nothing to get the square footage of the house. My down stairs is about 1000 sqft and my upstairs is about 700 sqft. I also have an 800 sqft basement that would be using the same unit as the first floor utilizing a damper. While we were in my basement he walks outside and spits his tobacco on my patio. At the end he sent me the quote. One with the damper between the first floor and basement. One without. In the quote he planned to use the same size unit for the first floor/basement and second floor. He also said to just double the price on the quote to get the total. I dont run a business but I feel the last thing you want is to tell a potential customer to add numbers to get the total. With the damper i was looking at around $23,000. With out the damper i was looking at $20,000. Remember i had to add two numbers to get those. I went with W. G. Speaks.

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