Kalka Heating & Air Conditioning Inc

We had been long time customers of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing (also doing business as Kalka Plumbing, Heating and Air). However after our latest experience, we will never use them again. After a failed $500 toilet rebuild, they damaged our toilet and we had to chase them down to fix it. However, that's not the worst of it. Their "fix" actually made the toilet worse and when they promised to replace the toilet, they brought a used one. Their service manager was argumentative and rude throughout the two month long ordeal. Bottomline, you don't treat your customer cheap and Kalka Plumbing, Heating and Air did just that. As their customer for over a decade, it pains me to say I recommend you look elsewhere for your plumbing services.

Ryan arrived a little early than the scheduled time which was perfect! Didn’t tie up my whole day. He checked everything out on the AC unit and the heater and found no problems which was perfect. He did recommend the routine maintenance package they offer but wasn’t pushy. Today I just paid the service call which was in line for what I had done. Friendly, polite, considerate and not pushy. I will definitely use them again when there is a need.

They were good. I signed up for their annual services for the air conditioner and furnace.

Kalka's main objective is good reviews here and other sites. If you threaten with a bad review, they will act, otherwise, they'll fit you in when it's convenient for them. Our heater broke within 6 months of original install. Although it was under the manufacturers' warranty, Kalka was difficult to schedule with as it was around the Thanksgiving holiday. Once we threatened a bad review, miraculously an appointment was available same-day. I am now writing this review about 1 yr and 3 months later because the a/c no longer turns on although they control says its on. I will not call them for service this time because during my experience with the heater, they took the opportunity to try to sell me on a service contract. I did not want to be pressured into using their services any further.

Prompt. Efficient. Friendly. Competent. The best part: education: the technician shared his expertise. (This is part of my annual maint contract, so don't know the cost.) STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.

Tech did a quick job to resolve the issue......

On several occasions, during the course of performing the above repairs & upgrades, I had to call Kalka/Ben Franklin for follow-up repairs on work performed.

I would give them a C. It was mediocre.

I would not use them again because they did not return my phone calls. The owner actually came out to follow up on something and then told me that they were going to follow through and give me some sort of a call, something that never happened. It's a been a while. It seems like the technician who came out initially had not done something that was supposed to have done. There was a follow-up by the owner and I was very impressed except that they did not get back to me when I called them for follow-up of my calls. So, that was disappointing.

Fine - service person was very competent and professional; changed filter, added coolant and installed a new soft start to the A/C. Service was a special on Angie's list, $69 for an A/C service and then in the Fall a heater service. Felt there was some pressure to try to get me to buy some very expensive filters and other work.

Great. The service guy Shane was on time, efficient, knowledgeable, thorough, friendly and helpful. I will definitely use these guys again; in fact, I signed up for as AC and water heating maintenance plan with them.

The first person came out and said I needed 1200 worth of repairs to the heater blower motor and that he was ordering the parts. A week or so later technician told me that the wrong parts had arrived. Suspecting that the tech didn't know what he was talking about, I called the manager. When the manager went out to check, he said that I didn't need any of those parts but that I needed a voltage meter and a service on the a/c unit that is only 5 years old.. I still have not received a bill, but it's supposed to be less than 300. He looked in the attic and says that he thinks all the ducts need to be replaced, including the vents (which work just fine). They sent me photos which were very grainy and I couldn't tell what was being depicted. I don't trust them and I don't know what they did, but at this point I'm going to go and check for myself, in addition to getting other opinions.

They did a terrific job. They were on time and quickly fixed the problem.

They arrived at 8:56 am right as scheduled and left my home after 11 pm that night. Yes that is correct, the Kalka team that came to my home worked a 14 hour day to give my home a complete new heating & A/C system, including duct work and the full shebang! At first there was two technicians, then three, then four, and finally a fifth arrived. There might have been more but I lost track! They worked fast, they worked hard, they worked cleanly and diligently. But most importantly the Kalka Heating & Air team was knowledgeable, skilled, and did the job as a master craftsman would only do. The team was polite, the team was care full, the team cleaned before they set in for the job and cleaned again upon completion - even after an exhausting 14 hour day! My home was respected ? I never felt that things would go lost, be broken, or stolen. So much so by dinnertime I left the army of busy Kalka workers unattended as I went out to dinner with the wife. Heck they even smelled good! Edil - thank you for taking the time to explain everything and listen to my concerns. From the start your knowledge was clear and it helped me feel comfortable with what was to happen next. Quang - thank you for answering my questions and quelling my fears about the old aluminum wiring we have in my home. Jose, Rae, and Terrence ? Thank you for your detail and care. Even when you were filthy from working in my old dirty attic you took great steps not to get my home dirty. Robert ? Thank you. You are the creator of my new air condition system. And the reason I went with Kalka. Kalka Heating & Air Conditioning, I wanted to close by saying I received many bids for my new heat/ac system. Yours was not only the best - beating out such others are Home Depot?s (outrageously expensive) and Costco?s estimate ? but I never expected a crew as knowledgeable, courteous, and polite. From the initial sales visit with Robert and his follow up calls, to the direction of the team under Edil?s command, and how Quang, Jose, Rae, and Terrence executed Edil?s requests. Everyone?s knowledge and craftsmanship, care and cleanliness? I could never have envisioned an install going so well, but I actually can refer to my install as fun!

The AC was bought at a home improvement store and Kalka Heating was the installation contractor. The crew showed up as scheduled and on time. They were very attentive to details and kept us informed of any concerns and provided solutions. We have a very low pitch roof that no human can get into, but they managed to get the new duct work and electrical installed. Very satisfied with the installation crew.

They ended up needing to reschedule the first appointment I had with them and then failed to show up the second time. I think that if a company needs to reschedule service a second time, they should at least show up.

He quoted me extra costs for a new unit. He was way out of the ballpark. He scared me to death. He shut the furnace off and unplugged it and stated that it was unsafe to operate. My home warranty person came out and informed me that nothing was wrong with the unit but I replaced it with another company anyways.

It went well. Jose Castro was the service tech and he explained everything he was doing and discussed all my options

Andrew the Technician arrived on time and was professional checking the AC and furnace. He recommended updating both A/C and furnace but the price was well above expectations. I eventually went with Cool Air Technologies for a much more reasonable price and very good service. Beyond the price difference, my main complaint with Kalka relates to their direct mail practices which I find dishonest and, so far, impossible to cancel. I continue to receive "Warranty Notices" for Annual Furnace Maintenance and Safety checks telling me that my A/C and furnace require preventative maintenance asap. This might be relevant had I purchased from Kalka, but despite 2 attempts to have my name removed, they continue to send me direct email. This kind of service is not what I would expect from an Angie's List Super Service Award recipient. Very disappointing.

young man literally checked over everything on my gas furnace, changed filter. Also gave me advice regarding the best filter to use for my furnace (I thought that they were all the same).

It didn't go well - I made an appointment a week ago and planned my day around the window of time they gave me and they never showed up nor did they call!. Not only was I home all day, but I have a dutch door which was open... there was no way they could have missed me!

It went very well. The workmen arrived on time and got right to work. They had all the necessary materials they would need for the job so there was no delays.They finished the job ahead of the scheduled time. They were clean and neat and covered the carpeting in the areas they would be walking through. They cleaned up completely after they were through. They were polite all the time and answered any questions I had.

Contractor showed up on time. Was nice and seemed to be knowledgeable. When he first looked at my furnace (attic unit), he immediate commented that it was a brand that had been recalled. He started to look at the unit, and diagnosed a few issues with it. As it's a very old unit, I wasn't surprising that parts broke down. I asked him what the unit make and model was, and he said it wasn't legible on the sticker on the back. However, he started pointing out "burn marks" around the unit as to where it was faulty and could cause fires. He then said not only would it be expensive to replace parts, but he just couldn't do it because the unit was unsafe. He gave me a quote for a whole new HVAC (heating, A/C, and duct work), and left. I did some investigation and found the make and model very clearly printed on the back. Looked it up and the unit was both not a brand that was recalled, but not even from the time period the recalled units were manufactured. The burn marks he pointed out are very minimal and normal, and not at all related to the recall notice he was referring to. While he did correctly (I believe) diagnose some of the issues with my current system, he could have easily looked up that my unit was not on the recall list. The fact that he lied to me about identifying the unit make and model, and tried to use a false statement to push me to buy a whole new system throw up so many red flags, even if he was just mistaken, and not outright lying. Also, the quote he gave me was not competitive with other quotes I've gotten, and he did not do a proper load calculation to determine what my actual heating/cooling needs would be. Overall I'm displeased with the experience, though I'm glad I got a deal on the service call, so I didn't lose much.

Went well and technician was a real gentleman.

It went fine. We were not having any problems with the system previously - just wanted an update on condition. After doing the service, the tech forgot to throw the circuit breaker back on so that when we actually went to use the A/C it was blowing HOT air. That gave us an hour of anxiety until I remembered to check the circuit breaker panel.