EXCEL MECHANICAL INC

I have good things and bad things to say. The guys who came out to do the work were professional and were the only people we called who understood the problem and how to fix it. However, when we got our bill, the amount was much higher than what we were told verbally. We tried to get an itemized bill and all we got were evasive answers and the runaround. In the end we decided to pay it because we would have had the work done anyway. I would not hire them without a prior written estimate.

I was referred to Excel Mechanical by the previous owners of our new home. I decided to pay for a "seasonal startup" to determine if I wanted to establish a relationship with this company for my long-term requirements and to garner info about the systems in my house from the folks who'd been maintaining them. I couldn't be more disappointed. Here are the things that went wrong: 1) 2.5 hours late for the first appointment. 2) Didn't call to let me know they were running late. 3) Didn't reschedule when the person who knew my house was involved in a minor accident and couldn't make it. 4) The trainee who came to my house didn't let me know he was a trainee running solo and instead tried to "fake" it. I only discovered later that he was a trainee. 5) Trainee took 2 hours to perform a minor repair on one of the swamp coolers that I estimate should've taken 15 minutes, partly because he repaired the wrong thing first. I was charged for 30 minutes. 6) Once the two hour repair was completed, the trainee left quickly, failing to verify the swamp cooler was actually operational (it wasn't and I was back on the roof that evening replacing a pump). 7) Trainee failed to perform any checks on the a/c units. 8) The Service Manager stated I shouldn't expect much if I'm paying the standard season startup fee and I have three a/c units and three swamp coolers, despite the fact that his company has been maintaining this house and knew exactly how many units there were when they quoted the job. 9) For the return visit to complete the job, which I had to call and request, the technician called 5 minutes after the appointment time to let me know he was 15 minutes away and could he come by and finish the job, as if it was his good idea. 10) While finishing the work, the technician let me know that he'd told the trainee not to touch my a/c units on the first visit, revealing that he and the company were aware that the trainee had done an incomplete job, yet the only way I got it completed was by calling up and demanding they come back out and finish the job. 11) Charged a nice, evenly rounded $25 for parts for the trainee's repair. Even though multiple parts were used for the repair, I think only one part (available at Home Depot for $2.95) was necessary, if the correct repair had been performed the first time. The other parts were a 3/4" PVC coupling, 90 turn and a short section of pipe. I believe the bill for parts was padded, at least double the reasonable amount.