AAA Cooling Specialist

I used AAA Cooling Specialists based on their rating with Angies List when i moved into my older house a year ago, and was pleased with their service and professionalism when they came to inspect my heat pump, so I called right away last evening when the heat stopped working and cold air was rushing through the house. I turned everything off and called AAA. A real person answered the phone, was very pleasant, asked if I needed help right away. We decided that this morning would be fine. Within 40 mins of making the call, I received a call back, and was told that Frank would be at my house between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. this morning, and would phone me prior to arriving. Sure enough, Frank phoned at 8:10 a.m., and was at my door by 8:20. He immediately checked the thermostat and declared it one of the problems, hopefully the only problem. When he went to look at the unit on the roof, he found that the surge protector saved it. Frank carries color photos with descriptions and prices of the products AAA uses, and told me that my small house's needs could be met by the least expensive thermostat, so he clearly wasn't trying to boost my expenses. He worked quickly, cleaned up completely after himself, and was gone within an hour. I'm happy to recommend AAA Cooling Specialists to anyone who doesn't already have a good company they can trust..

I wanted to contact these folks for a quote, so I tried to cut/paste their contact info to a spreadsheet I was using. They hijacked the spreadsheet. I can't delete them, edit them, anything. Whatever I do in the spreadsheet, a browser opens and takes me to their website. Screw these jerks. I would never consider talking to cyber terrorists about anything.

Tech came out for repair on same day, called me ahead of time before coming so overall communication was good. I did not like the way tech diagnose the issue and charged me price for the parts. Tech went to the attic and came down, he said controller board is bad, he wont be able to test anything until he replaces the board. He said the part is ~$500 and he will come back tomorrow to replace it, he came in next day and replaced the board. I heard the same symptoms/noise before and after replacing the board. He came down and said he need to replace 2 more parts costing another $300. After replacing all the parts finally heater worked. I asked him to show me the bad parts, only 1 parts had the burned mark and visibally failed symptoms. I asked him what was wrong with controller board he said it was burned out, but there was not any sign of any failures on the board. I am almost sure he changed the board for no good reason without investigating enough. I looked up the price of the controller board online and it is available for less than $150. I am an engineer by profession and the way tech approached to solve the issue was not correct at all, he should have checked the parts in the first place to see which one was actually burned out and start from there. Overcharging people so much more for the parts is just not right. I wish I had taken second opinion or looked up the price before commiting.

Our overall experience with this company was fantastically positive in every respect. We began with extensive research of the manufacturers of high energy systems, whcih was followed by cost estimates from three Trane certified dealers, one American Standard dealer, and one Lennox dealer. After reading the documentation each dealer provided, and doing some independent research on the Internet, we concluded that the Trane HVAC systems would be the best in terms of prospective longevity, product quality, technical innovation, and reliability. Of the three Trane dealers we interviewed, AAA Cooling Specialists was the best in explaining all of the major features of the various systems, taking the most time to answer all of our questions, making us feel the most confidence in their service, and had the best price for the system we purchased. Even more importantly, they were the best at determining the appropriate size of the air conditioning system we needed for our home. During the installation phase, we were very impressed with the responsiveness, neatness, and quality of the work of the company's employees. They answered all of our questions about programming the electronic thermostat, and how to get the most efficiency from our systems. This job was done extremely well from start to finish. We are delighted with our systems, and with the work of AAA Cooling Specialists. We would recommend this company very highly to anyone who needs a HVAC system.

It went well, however have not needed to use the system since it was installed.

They were recommended by APS. They kept their appointments, did nice work & were extremely clean - using little booties & cleaning up after themselves. I also thought the price was fair.

Frank, our serviceman, called to let me know he was about ten minutes away. Once he arrived, he serviced both units and made some recommendations for what to do as the seasons changed. He also made suggestions for other services that were available, and then took his leave.

Overall went well. But need to be very specific about needs and wants as things get expensive quickly. Identify areas that need special attention. Installation crew seem to know their equipment and installation process quite well.

Very thorough and professional staff. Very knowledgeable and provided good advice on how to proceed with certain problems. I would definitely say they are on the expensive end of cooling repair/maintenance.

He filled the freon and gave me a the bill for just under $400. Now, about a month later, my unit stopped working completely. It is 90 degrees in my house. I had to spend more money to buy a small window unit because it is so hot. Beware that this company doesn't rip you off!

My 2 A/C units were more than 25 years old and only one was barely running. I called on a Sunday and was told that they could charge me extra to come out that day but if I needed parts, it would have to wait until Monday so they saved me money up front. After a wapping $1100.00 estimate to repair very old units, I decided to replace them both. The owner came over the same day to provide a detailed estimate and sat down and explained every option. Because I had a young child, they also lent me a portable A/C for the bedroom until the units were installed, which was within 3 days. They also sent in all of the paperwork to get a rebate from APS. I could not be happier with the service and the new units are very effective and efficient (about 20% more efficient than the old units when they were working).

Dean and Tim were excellent technicians. They were prompt, professional, and friendly to my kids/pets. What I loved most was the explanation of why certain work needed to be done. My only complaint was the up sell. I know that you can always do more to your home, but I get tired of companies having their technicians trying to sell additional services. I will say that my cooling bill is truly lower than last year, even though we have had a very warm summer. I believe the sealing of the ducts is the reason for the improved efficiency.

I scheduled an appointment with AAA Cooling Specialists to troubleshoot and repair a problem I was having with one of my AC units. Frank showed up within the promised time window and was teriffic. He spent a lot of time trying to fix the problem I was having which impressed the heck out of me. In addition, while he was here he unplugged a drain line at the air handler, cleaned both AC units, repaired a wiring problem that I didn't know I had and checked the freon levels on both units. I was so happy with him that I signed up for a maintenance plan with AAA to have him come out twice each year to keep my AC and heaters working properly. Frank is a very nice guy, a hard worker and very knowlegeable. I am new to this area and am relieved to have found someone I can trust to take of my air conditioning and heating equipment. I thoroughly recommend AAA Cooling Specialists and Frank in particular.

I am located in TX and my mother's house is located in AZ, but she is in CA convalescing from a stroke. The AC was not working and AAA Cooling took care of it. It was so easy and let me concentrate on my mom and her needs. I called, made an appt and arrangements for a neighbor to be there when they said they would be. They called to let the neighbor they were on the way and they fixed the issue. They were able to take my credit card information to pay for the call so no one had to collect at the time of repair. Like I said, it was easy, reliable and the repair was quick.

I was not impressed, he did not do a good job. We had to leave to go on a trip, and we asked that the work to be completed before the work was done before we had to leave. We ended leaving with the exact opposite result of what we called them to do. I feel like he did not know what he was doing, and i do not think he knows the train product. They did offer to come fix the problem in 2-3 months when we return home.

This was my second experience using AAA Cooling on my rental property. Last year they replaced my downstairs AC unit. This year the upstairs went out. I am very pleased with all the work performed. They coordinated everything with my tenants. I was left out of much of the calling and relaying messages. The workers were very courteous, professional and cleaned up after themselves. My tenants gave a very positive review. The workers were supposed to leave all recyclable material for me to recycle. Somehow that material got loaded on the workers truck. I was surprised and please when a worker called me to coordinate a drop off time of the material at my personal residence. All correspondence with the business office was always handled professionally and courteously. I plan on AAA Cooling servicing and replacing my AC unit at my personal residence whenever it needs it.

The techs arrived on time and looked and acted professionally. They were courteous and asked for permission to use any paths though the property to get to the equipment. Unlike other contractors they did not try and sell me on any "repairs" but gave me an honest evaluation of the system. I have one unit that is attached to a work shop. When they told me they found it low on freon and estimated it would require a pound I told them that that was the amount it was low last year. With that the tech recommended I just have the system topped off each year as the cost to diagnose the problem and the likely repair would be in the $1500 to $2000 range and at this point it does not make sense for that unit. The next issue is with the design of the ducting which is inadequate. There is a major leak, which they will be repairing, but, unlike the last company, they did not recommend redoing the duct work at this time. The units are 12 years old and as such may have a failure that would warrant replacement and that would be the time to have the ducting modified. This gave me the confidence in AAA to sign up for a 1 year maintenance contract. I felt they were honest and concerned about providing me value not just performing service. There is one thing that does irk me and maybe I'm too critical, but they offered two "protection" devices that I don't feel were value adds as offered. The first was a "Compressor Saver" device. There is differing opinions as to if these are necessary and there are different technologies available. I can see the benefit and AAA does install units that are the only technology that actually does what is advertised the problem I have is the cost. I was quoted 575 (after my discount) for 3 units. The device itself is $40 retail so almost $160 per unit for install is a bit much since it is a simple 30 minute install. I understand that this is "book" rate and takes into account easy and more difficult installs as well as the trip charge but the same cost for all three units?. A better approach I feel is to pay full price for the first unit then a discounted rate for any additional. The reality is I'll install these myself as I have the knowledge but this made me feel as if it was more of a profit center than a protective device. To be fair $200 for one unit is competitive with any other contractor out there. The next issue is the surge suppressors that are offered. They would install them on the units, and that is fine, but to do a proper job a whole house unit needs to be installed along with suppressors on the individual units. I know this is a tough sell but educating the technicians on what proper surge suppression entails along with their current no pressure attitude would go along way towards instilling increased customer confidence in the recommendations. Bottom line is these two "issues" are pervasive through out the industry and most contractors try and scare you into buying the "protection". AAA did not do that and I feel they are an honest and trustworthy contractor with professional and knowledgeable staff. I was very happy with the service and would recommend them to anyone.

Two technicians inspected my units both outside and in the attic. After which the primary technician went through a speel that indicated my equipment was low end and on it's last leg but they would try to keep it functioning for a litttle while longer. He then went down his list first of which was maybe there was a chance of salvaging a few more months if only I'd buy a maintainence contract. The technician then went down his considerable list of recommended service. Had I been a bit more aagile I would have just paid the $150 inspection few and said good bye. Instead I allowed them to put one pound of freon in one of my units and re-insult two suction lines which brought the ttotal cost up to $361.51. The last time I had a similar amount of service done the cost was roughly one third of this amount.

He just came in and did his job. He was very professional. I have a yearly contract. I am quite happy with him.

The techs were on time, clean and very helpful. I trusted the advice they gave me and would certainly use them again.

To start I'll say that I believe the tech was fairly thorough in his testing and he explained everything he was doing as he did it. He was very helpful and extremely professional and the company honored a discount coupon I presented. They also showed up on time and responded to my service request very expeditiously. I had an air conditioner that was having a hard time starting. It's only 3 years old but it developed a symptom some service techs call "stuttering". This is when it tries to start several times and finally starts and runs at normal speed. The AAA Tech ran some test on the unit in question and based on the info determined that it was a "hard starting" A/C system. He installed a Hard Start Kit on the A/C unit. A "hard start kit" is basically a capacitor which gives an extra electrical "jolt" to the compressor motor to get it moving. This seems to have remedied the starting problem. After he installed the "Hard Start Kit" he checked the refrigerant pressures and determined that the unit was overcharged. He said that it would cost $107 to "recapture" the excess refrigerant in addition to the $248 that I already spent for the Hard Start issue. Both Goodman branded units are only 3 years old and I have already had a number of problems with them. Most likely a previous A/C company overcharged the unit. I did not want to spend another $107 on this unit so the AAA tech said maybe the other company would recapture the excess refrigerant for free. I graded them a "B" for 2 reasons. First, even though I did not request it, I believe that the AAA tech should have checked the refrigerant pressures first, fixed that issue and then determined if that service would have fixed the hard starting problem. If it fixed the problem then this would have been a savings to me over the cost of the hard start kit. If not then we could have progressed to the next step. The second reason I grade them a "B" is because the exact same hard start kit they installed can be purchased through various means for about 55 to 75 bucks. The install of these products is very straightforward for anyone that knows which end off a screwdriver does what and there are plenty of instructional videos on the internet that show you exactly how to do this work. The same goes for another A/C part that commonly fails, the capacitor. A/C companies will charge $65 or more, JUST FOR THE PART, when the same part can be had at, say Graingers, for about 8 to 23 bucks and is extremely easy to replace AS LONG AS YOU TAKE THE CORRECT SAFETY PRECAUTIONS. (I stress the safety part). There are also lots of instructional videos that will help you with capacitors too. In my opinion this is no better than PRICE GOUGING by this industry. These companies will try to justify the doubling, tripling and even more, of these parts for all kinds of weak reasons but the justifications just don't hold water. Soooo, unfortunately, even though I consider AAA one of the more honest and easy to work with A/C companies, to their detriment, they are victims of their own industry. The sins of a good man's brother situation, so-to-speak. Industry leading companies, LEAD, with industry changing business protocols. The rest just get lost in the crowd. I don't appreciate the inflated prices but I understand how and why this happens and I appreciate the things that AAA do right. Thanks for your service.

They wrote me up an estimate and I asked them if they would take the estimate amount of $69.95 off of the service they would do and they told me no. I was not happy with this, I think they should apply the estimate charge towards the service repair or at least a percentage off for seniors.

I spoke several times with the co-owner of the company, Erin. She is really nice and responsive. Unfortunately she is still learning some of the ropes, so she had to consult with the other owner, Kurt, for a lot of my questions. I requested several quotes but ended up going with another contractor that I felt had a better overall value. I was looking for a new system. My existing system did not have enough return air, so they were also going to replace the return and add an additional return to supplement the system. They were also going to replace some of the supply ducting due to rust damage. I requested a few different quotes to try and get the price more manageable, but the duct work was simply too expensive to keep the price competitive, even with a similar scope. I ended up going with a contractor that is BPI certified, which is nationally recognized to know how to improve energy efficiency in the AC system and throughout the home. AAA was great to work with, though. The decision really came down to BPI certification.

The work went very well. I had to call them back to clean the outside of the air conditioner, but they did it well and didn't charge for the extra work. They did a very good job.

I was very pleased with the service. Our tech hit his window, called ten minutes ahead to let me know he'd be arriving shortly, and showed up ten minutes later. He quickly diagnosed the issue and made necessary repairs. If I were to name a downside, I'd say the cost seemed slightly expensive for the work done, but there were no surprises. Everything was discussed. On the upside, however, our tech really went the extra mile to carefully demonstrate the problem, explain in great detail what he was doing and how we might watch out for and prevent the same issue in the future, and he even took quite a while to give us some general maintenance tips for our system. Also, he made a number of suggestions to try to keep our repair costs down, doing necessary work while suggesting a few items we might easily do ourselves. All in all, a very positive experience.