GUARDIAN HEATING & COOLING LTD

Our unit quit working in September, 2007. Temperatures stay in the 100s well into October here in the Phoenix area. After ORHW delayed the process for several months while trying to make fixes, none of which worked for more than a day, and hiring numerous other companies for evaluation and attempted fixes, ORHW finally hired Guardian to engineer and install a new heat pump. The law now requires 13 SEER on new installations. The original installation date was delayed by Guardian because the technician had mis-measured and the shelf for 13 SEER would not fit. We had to pay a part of the re-engineering that ORHW did not cover. Then, after the unit was installed, in the dead of winter, at 40 degrees F, the heat did not work -- we just had cold air blowing out of the vents. We called Guardian to complain and were told that we had to suck it up because "that is just the way heat pumps work." I read the technical booklet that came with the unit and learned that a heat strip was supposed to have been installed in locations where the temperatures reached 45 degrees F and less. ORHW had another technician come out to confirm that there were no heat strips. Guardian said that installations of heat strips would be an upgrade. When the 3rd party technician inspected the new unit, he also found that the unit's electricity had not been engineered, upgraded or installed correctly (a fire hazard) and the electrical upgrade was not included in the amount we paid originally because it was not included in the original re-engineering estimate. So we had to hire an electrical contractor to re-wire and then Guardian re-installed the unit. ORHW paid for the "upgrade" installation of heat strips which is standard for this area where temperatures can drop to 28 degrees F at night. In October, 2008, we had a HVAC company we have happily done business with in the past perform our pre-winter servicing. That technician found that a piece of the unit's insulation was hanging down over a motor, causing it to run hot and another piece of installation was totally missing, thereby cancelling out any savings on power that the 13 SEER would have helped. The technician also commented that the unit looked pretty banged up and might be a rebuilt instead of a new unit. The cost to repair/replace the insulation will be $125.00.

I was very satisfied. This company was chosen by my home warranty company. The service representative arrived a little earlier than the appointed time and then quickly found and fixed our broken A/C. He showed me how to replace the fuse in the future (it's easy but I would not have known where to look). He also did some simple repairs of the wiring to prevent future problems. He took time to explain how the unit worked and was very friendly.

THE FIRST GUY THAT WAS AT THE HOUSE NEEDED TO GET HELP, HE CALLED A GUY AND THEN THEY PROMPTLY FIXED IT. THEY ORDERED A PART AND THEN IT WAS FIXED IN A RESPECTABLE MANNER.

IT TOOK ABOUT 2 WEEKS FOR THEM TO FINISH THE ENTIRE JOB. THEY LEFT THE COVER OFF AND THE WIND BLEW IT OFF MY ROOF, AND BENT IT. THEY WOULD NOT REPLACE IT. THEY GAVE ME A DIFFERENT UNIT THAN THEY SAID THEY WERE GOING TO PUT IN.

TERRIBLE.