Orangutan Home Services

We needed a new A/C and were leaning towards a 15.5 seer Trane, but since we were going to be trying to sell the home soon, by husband thought a 16 seer would be more marketable for the new owners so we chose another brand to get the 16 seer even though we really preferred to get a Trane unit. We went back and forth with the salesman for quite awhile trying to decide which unit would be more marketable. They had an 'engineer' that showed up about 9am to look at the installation site (the salesman never looked at it when he sold us our unit). He determined that they would have to cut through our Master bath at the vault to get the new unit in. 30 minutes later the installers showed up (9:30am) and he looked at the site and said they would take the unit up through the existing opening. I told him what the other 'engineer' had said and he sounded like he had never heard that before and said, "no, we don't need to do it that way, we are going up through the existing attic access". I'm thinking to myself, "Did the engineer even talk to the installer? Why did he even bother to come out?" So the workman get to work chopping up the other unit in the attic to remove. For some reason he decides to turn off both A/C units at the board when he starts instead of just the unit he is working on. He doesn't tell me he has done this, so I still have my other A/C unit on in the house (the blower in the attic is still active just not the condensor outside). We are having record heat - 114 degree day and the house gets very, very warm. The other A/C seems to me it's not keeping up and I am thinking its frozen up and am messing with it trying to get it to work.... 5 hours later I finally figure out that they turned the 2nd A/C unit off. It is a very long day, at 7:00pm as they are finally finishing up, my husband looks up the unit number on the internet and sees that the internet is saying they installed a 13 seer unit instead of the 16 we paid for. We start making phone calls and the salesman says just let them finish and we will get the right unit out to you in a few days. My husband says, no - I want the correct unit installed tomorrow and they say they will check in the AM and let us know if they can do that. The installer tries to get us to sign off that we are satisfied with the work and my husband refuses. The next day they bring the new unit out, same workman and we start checking product numbers right away. The condensor says it is a 14.5 seer and we are ticked. We start making phone calls again and they say they are putting an 18 seer coil in the attic so that the system 'averages' out to a 16 seer. My husband is furious - the salesman didn't tell us he was piecing together units to get us to a '16 seer system'. We would have opted for the 15.5 seer Trane had we known our condensor was going to say 14.5. We talk to several people in management, our salesperson, etc. They say that we either take the current system or they will bring out a condensor that says 16 but then put in inferior equipment in the attic so the total seer system is only 15.5. We feel like the salesman mislead us and did not communicate to us what he was selling us correctly and that we have been slighted and tell everyone we talk to and they just don't care. They are belligerent and the only additional option they give us is to give us less than we paid for. I feel like we were taken advantage of and things were not made right.

The sale and installation for the packaged heat pump unit itself went reasonably well, but the long term reliability of the unit the company sold to us is suspect. It subsequently became apparent over the following short years of its operating life that the quality control for the products OHS sells is very poor. Less than 1 year from the date of install, our unit spontaneously burst its primary cooling line and vented all of the refrigerant. Orangutan Home Services/American Home Maintenance promptly sent out a repair technician and the issue was resolved under full warranty, but the explanation provided by the technician pointed directly to a design or assembly issue created by the manufacturer. 3 years after the purchase & install, and several subsequent routine maintenance and service calls made by the company to monitor and maintain the operation of our heat pump under warranty, the blower fan assembly suddenly failed while we were experiencing a brutal heat wave of 110+ daily temperatures. OHS again quickly responded to our initial service call, but the diagnosis and proposed fix was neither timely nor financially fair. Not only did the company try to pass along unrelated expenses to us for replacement of a critical operating component while we had been out of our house for days and were in desperate need, but they had the gumption to push for a hard sell of an expensive 4 figure extended warranty on an obviously defective unit. When we purchased the unit, we also agreed to a multiyear service contract that was billed then and even now by the company as providing assurance against these sorts of break downs and failures. So much for truth in advertising. Hind sight is 20/20, but had I known the products OHS/AHM was selling, supporting, and maintaining were so defective, I would have kept our 30 year old Goettl heat pump. At the very least, it worked.

They were very knowledgeable. They came out and looked at what we had and let us know what we needed. A consultant who was actually an engineer came out and let us know the best option for us. When they put the new air conditioner in for us they made it way more efficient. They were very prompt. The people were very nice and courteous as well.

Installation of my new AC was scheduled for Saturday 8/6/11 between 8:00 and 11:00. The crew didn't show up until 12:30 By 1:30 they have removed the old AC. It was then that they found that the frame for the new unit had been mismeasured, thus it wouldn't fit. I was told that they wouldn't be able to get a new one until Monday, because the company that made it was closed on the weekends. I called Orangutan and spoke to one of their representatives to find out is anything could be done. I was told that I could go to a hotel, but that they would cover only $75.00 a day. We have 3 dogs and cats. Boarding them was not an option and neither was leaving them. I was told I could buy fans (which I did) and that they would reimburse me, but only if I got them at Home Depot (which I did not). Needless to day, it got HOT. By Monday the indoor house tempreture was at 99 degrees with 52% humidity. I had been told that the crew would be at my house on Monday between 8:00 and 11:00. No one showed until 1:30. The new unit was installed without a hitch. However, the new unit came with 5 years worth of filters. The installer had only one on hand and said they would have to check on the rest. After going through a miserable weekend and being at the misery of this company, there was no apology forthcoming from anyone at Orangutan. In fact, their Customer Service Rep called Wednesday to ask how everything was working and wanting feedback on the installers. I told them then how unhappy I was and I got a half hearted "Okay...I'm sorry." I also asked about the filters and was told they'd have to be special ordered. Why have I stayed with them? Because I use them mostly for the AC service and their contract rates are reasonable. My current contract with them expires next year, but wouldn't you know , this new unit came with extended free service. Would I have stayed with them otherwise...NO.

First time I used this company...The man that came was really abnoxious..gave me a real hard sell for a service contract which I finally agreed to ($200 for three years)...Whether He did a good job, I don't know. But he never cleaned out my air/conditioning filter.....I have have not had enough experience with this company to know if this a good company with an obnoxious idividual or if they are both obnoxious. I have another cleaning due in the fall so I might know by then. Evadne Maller

On Monday, 6/27/11, I called Orangutan Home Services because my 14 SEER Trane under extended Trane warranty with Orangutan stopped working. Orangutan advised that a repairman would arrive the next day, Tuesday, between noon and 5pm. Around 5pm, the repairman arrived and diagnosed the problem as being a broken TXV or expansion valve in the handler. I asked if the valve had to be ordered and was advised that it did not, that repair trucks carried them and that, if they didn't, the Trane facility was located near Orangutan's. He said I would get a call from Dispatch early the next morning to give me the window for the repairman's arrival. On Wednesday, Dispatch called me at 6:40am and told me the repairman would arrive between 8am and 10am. I specifically asked Dispatch if that was "for repair" and he confirmed that the repairman would repair the unit. At 11am, I called Orangutan as I had neither seen a repairman nor received a phone call advising of a delay. I was advised that the repairman was on another job. Orangutan could not give me an ETA but I was advised that the repairman would call me shortly with an ETA. At 1:45pm, a repairman called me and said he was enroute. He arrived about 10 minutes later and asked me what the problem was. I told him the Trane had stopped running and that Orangutan had sent a repairman out the previous afternoon and that he had diagnosed the problem as being a broken TXV or expansion valve. The repairman, after checking out the unit, diagnosed the problem as being a broken TXV valve, and said he did not have one on his truck. He said he had called the office and was advised that the replacement part would have to be overnighted by UPS as the part was not available "in Arizona". He said the repair would be scheduled after the part was received. After he left, I called Dispatch and was told the same thing and that they would try to squeeze the repair into the schedule on Thursday, 6/30, if the part's arrival allowed it. On Thursday, 6/30, I started calling Orangutan at noon--the part had not yet arrived. I called at 3:10pm--the part had not arrived. I asked for the UPS tracking number and the woman who answered said she didn't know what that was as it was not on her computer screen. I replied that someone at Orangutan had the UPS tracking number, if the part had in fact been ordered, and at that point I didn't believe it had (and I still don't believe it). I called again at about 4pm and, after holding for awhile, I was advised that the part had just arrived and that the repair was scheduled for Friday, July 1st, between 8am and 11am. On Friday, I called Dispatch to find out if I was the first stop on the repairman's list, and I was told that I was. The repairman arrived at 8am and finished the repair about 2 1/4 hours later. The two repairmen with whom I dealt were professional and competent. Dispatch was not. This repair episode was a repeat of the nonsense I endured a year ago and, again, the problem was the office's poor customer service, not the repair technicians' expertise. On that prior repair experience, the first service call by Orangutan was on 6/30/10 but the repair was not accomplished until 7/8/10 because no one had ordered the replacement parts before the long holiday weekend. I wrote a letter of complaint to Orangutan's president. I received a telephonic acknowledgment and apology about a week later and was provided with a telephone extension number should I encounter a customer service problem in the future. I was assured that my complaint would be addressed with the appropriate staff. I cannot favorably recommend Orangutan Home Services.

They were a pretty good crew. It was easy to get them to come in and do the work. They came, did the job and left.

The workers were responsive. They acted quickly to install the unit. They seemed to be as good as anybody. They are connected with another service provider. We have to go through the other service provider originally. They have the same part combination as the other provider. I have been scheduled for an appointment in the near future. That would be their first follow-up.

They were great. They came out at the time they said they would. They were very prompt. They came out and fixed the air conditioner. They did not pump it up and did all that they needed to do and nothing more. My overall experience with them was good. They were competent and honest. Their price was perfectly fair.

Home Depot scheduled a time for a rep to come out. On the scheduled day the American Home Maintenance representative showed up with a "trainee" in tow. They were both very courteous, dressed in clean uniforms and businesslike. He asked the trainee to check my existing system, he did some measurements and asked a few questions on what we were looking for and since the old unit was still working and why we wanted to replace it. I explained we were looking for estimates for a new unit since our 26 year old Rudd unit was obviously a great unit but isn't at all energy efficient and very costly to run, plus it was starting to lose freon, which is becoming harder and harder to get and is getting more expensive, so its life was probably very limited. He then went into a long explanation of why an American Home Maintenance program would have helped prevent our old Rudd from failing as they are experts with Rheem who now makes Rudd. He then sat down with us with his presentation "flip book" to talk about what we needed. He said AHM was the only outside supplier Home Depot used for their Trane systems then went on to talk about what he considered a better unit than the Trane, Rudd or Rheem. We listened but since we consider ourselves somewhat savvy shoppers and Angies List members, who do our homework before going shopping, were still leaning toward the Trane unit He prepared an estimate that priced both the Trane and the other unit and again told us how their included annual maintenance program would be of great benefit. He touted the Government Tax Credits and rebates from manfacturers which he calculated into the estimate. We then received three other estimates. All of the other estimates were significantly lower than either of his estimates. The closest to American Home Maintenance's estimate was still 25% lower, and the others 35 and 50% lower. We finally went with the one from Budget Mechanical. Guy Phillips, the owner has worked on our other units for years and has provided new units at other locations before. He was $6,000 lower, and we got the high efficiency 4 ton, 14 SEER Trane "Gas Pack" Heater/AC unit installed. With the government tax credit and the incentive rebate from Trane our bottom line was a little over $2,200 total.

They were not very good. They did not do what they were supposed to do and lost on the job very quickly. They were not that great. They were more focused on sales. They were trying to sell me their plumbing services or yearly air conditioning check-ups and things like that which always costed more money. They were not customer service oriented. They showed up on two appointments at the time they said they would. However, prior to this, they did not show up on time for two other appointments like they said they would. I have stopped using them and have hired a new service provider who is good.

They were great. They showed up on time. They were always here when they said they would be here and so we never had to keep waiting for someone who didn?t show up. The work that they had to do after they got done with the installation moved right along. We also got free duct cleaning. Those people showed up and did a good job. They were polite and nice. Our whole experience with them was good and fine as well. I think they were honest when they talked to us about the product and what we would need. We compared some prices with some other companies. They did what they said they were going to do in a timely manner. If need be, then we would use their services in the future too.

Again I had the service person recommend that I replace all THREE of my a/c units. The first is 10 years old and the other two are 5 years old with one only in light use. All three supposedly had something wrong and needed attention from adding freon to oil leaks. One unit was working fine until it was "serviced", and now blows warm air instead of cool in a/c mode. There was no problem prior to it's "service". This outfit seems more like a sham than ever whenever they are out. Always wanting to replace ALL units. Why??? Reading past customer comments, it seems like at least two thirds are saying how happy they were. And what did the experience? They all got NEW A/C UNITS!! What is this saying??? I have lost all faith in American Home Maintenance. It seems their best interest certainly is not mine. I'm intending to have another firm come out to recheck my units. It will be interesting to see how they respond to these questionable problems.

They are awesome. I believe American Home Maintenance got bought out by Orangutan. We have worked with American Home to check our AC unit twice a year for the last 10 years. They make the initiative every 6 months to come and check. They keep us serviced so well. They forsaw problems that saved us ahead of time. They are awesome.

Things didn?t go very well. They didn?t do a tune-up that I know of; they just went to inspect it then told me everything that was wrong with it. After he left it quite working so I called them the next morning. Another tech came out and he was good and nice. He showed me the capacitor that was burnt out and he replaced some wires. The first kid that was sent out just took pictures of the capacitor and the wires whereas the second guy fixed things and put it back together. It was supposed to be a tune-up but he didn?t do anything; all he wanted to do was sell me a new air conditioner. I decided to replace the unit and I called another company. I can't remember what they used to be named but they changed their name and they work for a home improvement store, which is why I used them.

(06/07/2010) I paid $5,600 less than three years ago for a Trane air conditioner from American Home Maintenance (for a 1,000 sq foot townhouse). I could have made a less expensive choice but wanted to "do it right" and the referral from the home improvement store gave me some confidence in this company. On Friday, June 4, 2010, the unit failed. AHM made a Saturday call to service the unit, but the service rep only confused me with the information he provided. UPDATE (06/13/2010) Following up on service that did not meet my expectations Saturday, June 5, 2010, American Home Maintenance "made it right" after I paid a visit to their offices in Tempe. I was very impressed, when the situation was brought to the company's attention, by their quick assessment of the facts and advocacy on my behalf. For one reasonable charge, they performed the needed repairs and backed up their work with an extended warranty package.

The project went very well overall, completed in a timely manner. I would definitely recommend them.

Overall it was a good experience. I made the appointment through a rep at the Home Depot in Glendale. The rep explained all the services that would be performed. When the tech arrived he did perform all the tests.

Their maintenance program is very reasonable and they call to remind you when it is time. They are great.

The service is very good, and I have used them for around two years. The guys who come to my house are fine, but their office staff is a challenge right now because I think they don't have enough help. Sometimes it's hard to get to them, but they are working on it.

I felt they took advantage of me because I am a woman. They said that things were wrong with the a/c and there's wasn't anything wrong when they came to check out the units. They were trying to get an easy sale out of me and I didn't appreciate it. I would not recommend them to other people at all. They try to take advantage of you and are not honest.

I had initially bought a "Maintenance Program" from American Home Shield to cover two cleanings annually and discounts if parts were needed.Called for a maintenance service on my A/C unit. Henry showed up on Saturday afternoon in the predetermined time. He walked in and was puzzled by the thermostat. This gave me a very uneasy feeling. Henry set both thermostats at 60 degrees after I showed him how to set it and then went outside to my units. I told him that one of the units was not cooling well and another A/C company had told me that my units needed to be cleaned and would cost $300.00 for both. Henry said he would clean them and check everything else out. Well when Henry saw them, he said I needed new units without even testing them. I guess paint peeling means new unit. Anyway, Henry took of the cover of the unit that was not working properly and tested one capacitor and said it was failing. He checked another and it was failing.

The installation was smooth as possible. The installers were professional, organized and clean. At the end of the installation, the lead foreman went through a complete walk through on the new system. Both AC and Heating systems were check completely to make sure that I was comfortable with the end product. All room vents were check to make sure that the cooling and heating were within specifications. I highly recommend using this company for your future HVAC work.

It was great. He is experienced and knows what he is doing.

I have no problem with the new unit. They serviced it and checked it for winter. They were prompt. They were very courteous.