Service Champions Heating & Air Conditioning

They were cheap. They were half the price of everyone else. The work went fine. They did take a day or two longer which the tenants were not happy about. I was happy with the work. They finished within three days. The tenants were happy with the lower price of the utility bill.

I found this company through the Diamond Certified program. The installation was flawless and installers were quick, helpful, polite and efficient. I am very happy with the end result. The sales process was a little bit too high pressure for my liking although I have to say that the sales person was professional and effective. Service Champions is larger than other companies in the area. Because they have more resources, they were able to install my new system 2 days after the estimate. This was very nice but I agreed to this without getting the additional estimates that I had planned to get and to allow them to install while I was not present. This was completely my responsibility and my decision - it is just a warning. When attempting to get information using the "online chat" feature, it seemed that the representative was "schooled" in how to get work. I asked what brands they carried, the response was "all brands" - clearly not true. Also, when I attempted to get information about filters after my installation using the online "contact us" feature, I got no response. I have to say though that when I followed up with my sales person, he was very helpful. SO I cannot complain about the end result but this company definitely has the sales process down and is more aggressive than other Diamond Certified companies.

Upon my phone call, they set an appointment for within a day or two. The technician arrived on time, completed the work within the estimated time frame, and was very professional.

The air conditioner stopped working. We'd had other problems with the air conditioner, which I was unable to diagnose. On those occasions, I called the original installer to repair the problem. However, he had retired. So, we called Comefords, because of their persistent direct mail campaign. We were experiencing another heat wave and I assumed that I would strike out again in my repair efforts. Also, I couldn't afford the time away from work. So, my wife handled the appointment. The service man quickly diagnosed the problem as a tripped circuit breaker. Instead of pointing out the problem and allowing my wife to reset the breaker, the service man reset it himself and charged us a significant amount of money for this 1 second of "service". I don't blame them for charging for the diagnosis. It's the repair charge that really irritated me. I really felt ripped-off. Anyway, we will not be doing any more business with them - EVER!

I already told my story with name SERVICE CHAMPIONS, though I may have slipped and called them Service Masters, which is another company. I called Angie's to correct this. This would be back in January of this year. Possibly early February. I don't want to comment now, because I don't remember what I paid -- I'd have to dig into my records. I just remember it was a good experience. The only problem being that they didn't tell me ahead of time that there'd be a lot of inspections. I'm saving lots of money, from half to a third or better on monthly PG&E bills.

The technicians were punctual and professional for the tune-up. They gave estimates on some recommendations for repairs. My hesitation is that my best friend owns an Heating & Air company in southern California, and she thought the prices were very steep. Although, I don't know if that is due to the location and region; however, she thought Service Champion prices were 3-4 times higher than what they charge.

Our new tenant let us know that the older A/C unit was no longer blowing cold. The first company we called out said the whole unit needed to be replaced to the tune of almost $8000. Needless to say, we wanted a 2nd opinion. Service Champions was recommended by a family member and they had pretty good reviews on Angie's List. David arrived an hour later than expected, but their dispatcher kept us informed and explained that there had been a vehicle accident and he was delayed. When he arrived, he explained that he had seen the accident happen and needed to provide a witness report. Totally understand that. He was very respectful, professional and pleasant. He even battled hornets that had taken up residence in the unit (came prepared with spray!). Our unit is old and all identifying information had worn off. He said they would try to determine which motor would work as there are several kinds. The estimate was $600. We ultimately went with another company who was less expensive, but we would have gone with Service Champions as David represented the company very well.

The service man arrived at the time promised and spent about an hour inspecting and servicing our 20 year old heat pump system, reminding us that it would soon require replacement, as had been stated on their previous annual service call. He spent another hour quoting us on a replacement heat pump.

I was impressed by the time they took to explain how my system worked in general, and what the problem was with my system. I liked them so much I signed up for the maintenance plan.

They were really an excellent company to work with. They were fast, efficient and extremely courteous. We went over all the options for units available to us that would fit our home's demands, and decided to go for the top level model available due to the extra fan and air filtering capabilities, and it's higher energy efficiency. We could have spent $2000 less for the medium unit or $4000 less for the basic unit. Also the duct sealing was $2000. So we could have spent a total of $6000 less for a basic unit without checking the ductwork for leaks, however, since we are trying to be "greener" we went for the most energy efficient and "green" unit available. We do not have a bill for a full month of electricity usage using the new A/C, but even with only 2 weeks of the new unit on our last electric bill, we are already only using 75% of the power we used last year, and last year for the same time period it was not as hot, so we used the A/C less. When we see the next bill with a full month of the new A/C on it, I expect the energy savings to be even higher. They did everything in one day. The workmen were very efficient and polite, and since we have been using the new unit (with several weeks of 90 - 100+ temperatures outdoors), we are absolutely thrilled with how well the new unit works, and how QUIET it is compared to our previous 2 units. (Quiet both indoors and outdoors--when our old unit kicked on, if you were outside, you couldn't hold a conversation, it was so noisy) So even thought we got many bids for far cheaper, we are still happy with how much we did end up spending, due to their better selection of units available, and the very quick and efficient service, and the higher energy efficiency.

It took them a couple of weeks to fit us in - apparently they only do a certain number of "specials" a week in terms of price. So I worked from home the Monday the serviceman was supposed to come, and he called halfway through his allotted time window and said that since a hot weekend had just concluded and our A/C wasn't actually broken he'd like to take care of some customers that DID have broken A/Cs instead. He said that if we rescheduled he'd knock a bit more off the price, so we agreed even though it meant my wife would have to meet the serviceman on another day without me there (meaning that she'd also have to manage our kids). The serviceman showed up within his window the second time, and the checkup was uneventful except for the fact that he said our A/C was low on refrigerant and needed a charge - interesting since he was only going to check the furnace, as Service Champions made it quite clear on the phone that they would check one system only, a furnace or an A/C compressor, for the special price. But my wife thought that maybe this was just them doing something extra to make up for rescheduling us. The serviceman tried to talk my wife into agreeing to add refrigerant but she declined because our compressors were just over a year old. She called me, and I called the company that installed them. The company that installed our compressors agreed to come out at no charge and check/fix/charge them as needed (they're Trane compressors and were NOT cheap). I made sure I was home when they came, and the serviceman showed me the readings off both compressors - they were both operating optimally at recommended pressures. All of this leads me to conclude that the "special" Service Champions was running was just a means of getting their foot in the door so they could upsell us on unnecessary services. I don't see any other explanation since the company that installed the compressors showed me the measurements on their instruments, unless the serviceman didn't know what he was doing. Either way I won't be calling them again.

Service Champions gave me a discount for the new control board. However, I believe the $312 I paid for replacement was too much.

They did a good job. I thought I had a big problem but they took care of it.

Very thorough, polite, professional individual. Had to order a part but returned promptly to install when it became available. Will use this service again.

They were great. They were very prompt and they always showed up when they said they would. They were very clean. Since they were working inside the house, they were very careful not to leave a mess. They were very friendly people and very competent. I have no complaints, they are awesome.

We had 3 different companies come out for estimates. The first and second companies tried to oversell us. We worked with Brian from Service Champions, who gave us an education on heaters. The servicemen were on time, finished the job promptly, and there weren't any extra charges when the bill came.

The service was not good and I was very unhappy with it. The system is good but they were not punctual. They promised that it will do it within 2-3 days and it took more than 3 days to do it. I kept calling them to find out as when they would come and finish the work. They kept telling that they will but did not and I could not wait for the whole day. I called up their boss to complain and he promised that they would be prompt. It was still the same problem the next day and they came without the foot guards. They made a lot of mess in the stucco and they made holes in the walls. They were not communicative and they did not listen to me. They had a specialist in their team who was proper and I asked for him. He also came late and was not punctual. Their ad said that I would be paid $150 if they were late and I called them up for it. They agreed to pay by cheque and I told them that it was very unprofessional. It was a nightmare and I will not use them again.

They came out and did the work and it was fine. They recommended that we replace our heating and air-conditioning unit because it is 17 years old. They charged us $48.00 for the heat-pump tune up. I told them that I would be shopping around to have a new air-conditioner and heater installed and they had no problem with us using information they gave us.

We choose not to use their recommendations, because I knew the parts were not really in need of changing. Even if we agreed, their prices were too inflated for our taste. They did a fine job, but I would not use their services again in the future.

Everything was excellent. The communication was good and they were very punctual and polite. They were capable and I was very happy with them.

The price listed is a monthly fee and they will come out to fix anything at no charge with this contract.

Great. They arrived on time, got right to work. They wore foot coverings while inside my home to protect the flooring. My dog managed to slip out and they helped me capture her. They were very friendly, answered all my questions with good attitudes, made sure I knew how to operate the new thermostat installed. They cleaned up inside my home, and outdoors too. You would never have know they had been there - except I then had heat! They didn't even stop for lunch.

The tech measured the performance of the furnace to determine its heating efficiency throughout the house, and inspected interior parts for wear and did some minor cleaning. Recommended that a senior tech come to inspect duct work since some rooms were not being heated as well as others.

By and large the work went well. The men were knowledgeable and conducted themselves professionally at all times. That said, we did have several problems. Our house is in the Walnut Creek area and on the install day the temperature was over 100 degrees. In the attic, where the furnace is, the men measured the temperature at 124 in the afternoon. By the end of the day, these guys were beat, and mistakes were made. Bigger ones included forgetting to turn the water-heater back on; not tightening wires in the attic causing the A/C to fail the next day, yes another 100+ day; and nearly driving off (I had to remind them) leaving their outside ladder going to the roof. Further, we failed the code inspection because 1) they forgot to put in the gas shutoff valve and forgot to put the pan in the bottom of the furnace. On the positive side, the company is extremity responsive. When we called the next day to report the A/C not working, someone answered on the first ring, they had a technician at the house in three hours and it was fixed in 15 minutes. This responsiveness and accommodation has continued in resolving all the issues mentioned above. Further, when noise due to refrigerant evaporation required rerouting the line outside, they offered to do so at no extra charge. Kudos! It is unclear to us how many of these, really stupid problems, can be attributed to the guys working so hard in such hot conditions. But, we ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that your experience should be better. Grade: B+

Job 1: The workers arrived on time and completed the work in the time allotted. They were careful when inside our home, making sure they did not damage our belongings. With a small exception, they cleaned up the debris and mess created by the installation of the new air flow return. The two workers missed cleaning up half a dozen screws and some sawdust from the hole cutting, but this was minimal compared with the amount of work done. My husband was home at the time and overlooked this small mess. Items moved out of an attic access closet were replaced exactly as they had been. In paying the invoice, my husband paid the full amount of the estimate forgetting that we had made a deposit, thus overpaying for the work. Neither he nor the technicians doing the work noticed the overpayment. However, when I called Service Champions to request a refund of the overpayment, I was told that the refund was already in process and the mistake had been caught by the office staff, a very nice surprise for me. Overall, we were very pleased with this company. Job 2: Jason arrived on time, introduced and identified himself, was very pleasant, and went to work inspecting our HVAC system for its annual checkup. Upon completing his work Jason made several suggestions for making our system work more efficiently. The recommendations included installing a second air return, where it should be located, and why he felt it would benefit us and prolong the life of our unit. He gave us a written estimate for us to consider. After considering it we approved the work and he set up a follow-up appointment for the following week.