AbleAir-1, Inc.

Reviews 3

A

Anonymous User

Incompetent, Un-professional and Crooks! They are more interested in selling new units than repairing broken ones. I normally dont write reviews, but this time I feel that I should give a review of this company to warn other people. My AC stopped blowing cold air this summer in August, 2010. After reading reviews on Yelp about this company, I decided to give them a try because one of the reviews said that this company found the leak others didnt. The tech was late, so I couldnt be there. As soon as the tech stepped off his truck, my wife showed the tech to the outside unit. He touched the lines, and immediately told my wife "its not cold, and its suppose to be cold. You need a new system." The system was only 3.5 years old. My wife was shocked and immediately call me at work. I got on the phone and he told me "normally a new system lasts about 5 years, but this is builder grade system, 3 years is what it can do. If you install a new system now, you will qualify for a tax rebate.". I immediately detected a sales pitch there. I repeated to him the system was only 3.5 years old and it doesnt make sense that I need a completely new system. In addition, the system is still under the 5 years manufacturer parts warranty. I told him that I think there is a leak somewhere in the system and insisted him to look for the leak. He said he will do a visual leak check. My wife proceeded to show him the indoor units. My wife said that as soon as he got off the phone with me, he started to talk on the phone to his friend about their weekend plan. He quickly follow the copper lines with his eyes. Within 5 minutes, he was done inspecting the basement and the attic units. He then told my wife that he couldnt see a leak. My wife told him to give me a call. He called me and told me the same on the phone. On the phone, I told the tech to use his ultrasonic leak detector to do the leak test. He said it wont help. I insisted, and he said it would cost me $200, and I said OK. My wife said he took the detector out, run it quickly over the outside unit. Within a couple minutes, he said hes done and couldnt find any leaks. Here is the kicker, he then said not only I need to replace the AC unit, but I also need to replace the lines inside the house. My wife was in even more shocks and told him to give me a call. He called me and said it would cost me at least $5000 to replace the lines. I said thank you and told him to give the phone to my wife. I told my wife to write this man a check for $279 ($79 for truck roll and $200 for a 2 minutes leak test) and get this man out of my driveway. Two days later, I got a friend who is a researcher at U of MD to come to my house with this leak detector and a bottle of soap water. Within 15 minutes, we located the leak. It was because the cap in the outside unit has gotten loose and started leaking. We went to Home Depot, bought an O-ring for $1, fit it inside the cap and put the cap back. We re-charged the system and the system has been working perfectly since. Moral of the story, run the hell away from this company because they are all crooks!

A

Anonymous User

Let me start by saying I have never written a review before, but I feel in this case I really need to. My air conditioning went out the other night - when it was in the upper 90s. Called Able Air 1 the next morning - they were at my house within hours. Decided it was probably time to replace the unit because it was so old. I told the technician (several times) that the house I bought in Jan. has had a LOT of repairs that I had to pay for, and I really needed him to provide an adequate system for a reasonable price. I told him I would need financing because I am so cash-strapped right now. He wrote an estimate and told me to go to their website and select the option for financing, then complete the application. When I did, I learned that I was approved, but the amount was still $2500 less than his $8714 estimate. When I called the technician, he explained that this was because that is the cost of a "normal" system, and I just needed to call the financing company and tell them I needed a higher credit limit - which is when I told him I cannot afford this, and needed other options for what we were going to have installed. I called around, and learned that what he had arranged to install was a top of the line Trane XL20 communicating heat pump (SEER 19) with a new communicating air handler, easy clean drain trap, special thermostat (because I was told I couldnt use the digital programmable $200 thermostat I bought in Mar.) with the trane system. I was also told that his claim that our electric bill would be cut in half was not true. Bottom line - I can have a new HVAC system installed for around $4000, and can keep my existing thermostat. I will NEVER call Able Air 1 for help again - they are crooks, out to sell you very high-dollar systems at a high-dollar price. I am insulted that when I told the technician (several times) about all the money I have had to spend on house repairs since I bought this place in Jan. and BEGGED him to find me a system that would be affordable - he really tried to take advantage of me with the Trane XL20 communicating heat pump with all those bells and whistles. Avoid these crooks at all costs

A

Anonymous User

I had a water heater replaced and everything was OK although I felt like I was overcharged. A few weeks later, I had a problem with AC not cooling the second level. The technician came and gave me a diagnosis that the zone damper needs to be replaced and they would call me back with an estimate. I never got a call back for 3 days and I called them back to find out if they were able to order the part. I was given a price which was pretty high. The cost + labor was almost three times I would have expected. I checked the cost of the part online and it was listed at 160$, they quoted me 450$ for the part and 250$ for the labor. This is very laughable when you consider that it is a 30 minute job to replace the part. I asked the rep if I could get the name of the company they were ordering the part from. I was told that its confidential information and that the reps time is very valuable. I just hung up because this clearly told me that they were way overcharging me for the part itself. Excellent! So they not only overcharge you for the labor but also the part. Very unethical if you ask me. So much for treating your customers right. I am disappointed. I guess all homeowners should spend time on research to avoid getting ripped off!

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