A-1 Heating and Cooling

Our furnace is 22 years old. The technician (Pierre) found that we had a crack in the heat exchanger, took a picture, and told us we should stop using the furnace immediately, and turned off the gas. I later contacted A-1 and asked how much a new furnace would cost. They quoted $4800 (verbal only), and indicated that they would be willing to "discuss it" . Another local company came out and bid $2850 in writing. I decided to go with the other company for the furnace repair. My new furnace was up and running within 48 hours of my first contact.

The technician came to the house at the appointed time. My furnace is in the attic but I was unable to go up there with him since I just had knee surgery. He came downstairs about 15 minutes later and handed me his inspection report. The report had approximately 50 different line items and next to each line was a box, green, yellow or red (see picture below). Here are his additional notes. "Upon inspection found heat exchanger in very bad shape, found a lot of rusting and temp stress points where heat exchanger could breach ASAP. Also blower motor has bad bearing play and single cap to motor is below tolerance, needs to be replaced." The technician also told me there were cracks and a lot of rust. He pulled out his phone and showed me a series of pictures that looked pretty bad. Of course I was immediately concerned and asked if we had to turn the furnace off until we could schedule the work. He kind of shrugged and said it was best to get it done immediately. He gave me a proposal for the work and said he could be back as early as Monday to install a new furnace. He also asked if I could approve the work right now. It sounded like he had taken the blower or part of the heat exchanger out but I told him I needed to speak with my spouse and would let him know. He would not leave the pictures with me but left his name/phone number. I was feeling uneasy especially, since I could not see it for myself so I asked around for recommendations and hired a second company to come out and inspect the furnace. I did not tell him about the previous report so I could honestly compare the two. He went upstairs and when he came back, stated the heater looked about 2-3 years old and was in perfect condition. I asked if there was a lot of rust and he said there was none. I then showed him the report and asked him to please go back up and check the integrity of the unit since I had a feeling it had be disassembled and then reassembled. I also asked him to check the heater exchange and blower motor since they were pointed out to be in bad shape during the previous inspection. When he came back he told me everything was running normal, no distortion, no rust no imminent breach. He later emailed the pictures to me and they are also posted below. Rather than just write this review, I decided to call A-1 to give them an opportunity to address what happened and told them my plan was to include their response in my review. Having been in business for years myself I know there are rogue employees and wanted to give the company a chance to respond. I called and spoke with Christina who was very apologetic and concerned. I sent her the pictures as well as copies of everything I had. She promised to call back but never did. I called many times and each time she apologized and asked me to be patient while they investigated. Never heard back so I called again and spoke with someone by the name of Bill who said he was one of the partners. He was extremely rude and said he had not yet spoken with the technician. I told him all I want is my money back that I paid for the inspection ($49) and for the second opinion ($170). He yelled to Christina and said pay her $219 but then said to me, "no negative review on Angie's List." I said it doesn't work that way. You should reimburse me because it is the right thing to do, not to silence me. Bill said what their technician wrote was his opinion. I told him that was ridiculous as his opinion would have cost me $4,200. I did not pay for his opinion, I paid to find out if my furnace was OK. Then he changed his tune and said, "how do I know anything about the company's technician that came out, he may not have told you the truth!" I said the technician that came out has 30 years experience and came highly recommended. Also I told him he could call the company as I had sent their report to A-1. And, I have pictures showing no signs of rust, cracking or stress. Then he told me if I wrote a bad review on Angie's List he would respond to the post by saying I was lying. He handed the phone back to Christina saying I just wanted to argue with him and he was done with me. Once again she apologized as she knows I never raised my voice and I have always been extremely professional in speaking with her. She promised to escalate the issue and call back. Christina did call back and told me she spoke with someone who said it appears I got what I paid for, a $49 inspection that I signed and acknowledged. When I asked what that had to do with their person lying to me, she said she was going to speak with one of the partners. I never heard back from anyone and as far as I know, the technician is still working there. I will not call them back and am posting this review today as it has been almost a month and I am not waiting any longer.

Very high marks for A1!! Just completed my Trane furnace installation and it's working great. Oscar and William were the installers and they did and excellent and very professional job -- respectful, clean, communicate progress along the way. My sales rep was Jerry -- great. Explained the setup and was creative in working with me. I had some questions and they were all answered in a timely manner. The CEO, Brad, even came to my house TWICE -- beginning and end of the job. Probably not too many companies doing that. Estimate was in writing. NO surprises. The only surprise is that it exceeded my expectations throughout the entire process. Great job... or should I say "A1" job gang. Thank you!! And, yes, I will be referring you to anyone I know looking for Heating/AC work to be done.

Josue was wonderful. He checked everything meticulously and patiently explained everything. He gave great critique on what was good & bad about my decades old systems and great tips on how to keep it going for several more years. The only issue I had with the company and not the service was the confusion regarding the appointment. I was told initially that the appointment was a four hour service call for A/C and furnace maintenance. Plus I told them I needed time to get input on exposed/chewed attic wiring. Somehow that appointment setup got lost. Christina who initially set up the appointment with me, did talk to me a few hours later and she apologized and explained they were transitioning to a new system. During the transition they somehow lost the original appointment details. She got someone to make it to my house before the four hour window was up. I appreciate the company trying to make sure someone got here to help. For a brief moment, even the manager/owner Bill talked to me and told me he could try to swing by in the late afternoon if they couldn't get anyone to come over earlier in the morning (during my appointment time). So I was happy they were so responsive and willing to fix the situation within the same day.

Contacted A-1 to provide an estimate for new residential HVAC service installation and scheduled an appointment for Monday 10/16/17. Took off work early to meet them at the house and even called the day of to confirm the appointment. I waited all through the 2hr appointment window but nobody ever showed up. Really demonstrated a total lack of reliability but at least that lesson was learned before making the mistake of hiring them to perform the service

Great service and very professional.

Josh the technician did an amazing job. He was knowledgeable & friendly. Everyone i spoke with at the office had the best customer service iv received in years! Calling A-1 Heating & Cooling was the right choice!

Excellent, professional work by Justin and Jose , schedule on time, fixed everything and very clean and nice work. Well Done

No call no show on installation day. I had to call twice looking for them, once after two hours late, then after 5 hours late. Finally rescheduling for following day. They did show on time next day after i threatened to cancel the sale altogether. Workers arrived on time and were professional. Was told it was a one day job when sold to me, but it turned into 2.5 days with the wasted no show day. Price was good enough. Not much detail to any of the paperwork on warranties by the company. Was just happy it is over. AC is working fine. Not sure I would recommend simply because of the no show day one which was upsetting, Otherwise things went fine and as expected overall.

Excellent experience with A-1. They made the process stress free and had us cool in no time. Brad came out to give us an estimate the same day we called about our A/C issues. He was able to provide me an estimate with multiple options catered to our budget and needs. The crew was on time and pleasure to work with. I will definitely use them again in the future and recommend them to anyone in need of HVAC services.

One positive thing was that the guy knew his stuff. I was pretty much nodding along and he noticed, so he explained everything to me. This was the only positive thing to come out of this experience. After he left and taking all my info including my email, he told me that I should get a quote with 24 hours, maybe 48 hrs at the most. The next day I get a call from the company saying the tech lost my email, which is understandable so I gave it to the lady on the phone, and she said it should be to me by end of day. Well two days later, no email and another lady calls and ask me if I have questions on the quote and I say I never got it from them. She said she would check on it and now it has been a few more days and still nothing! Too bad because I was going to upgrade my whole system

They did a really exceptional job. This was my first time using this company, and would recommend them to others. We actually signed up for a yearly contract with them too!

I had a direct vent heating put in. They did a good job. They were kind of pricey. They The gas line and the heater both was around $2,650 or something like that. I think the whole thing was around $2,600. I think they were good because they came out there pretty quick. I?ve used them before, they put in another direct vent heater in my other house. I?ve used them twice. I?ve been satisfied with them, I think they do good work. I had a studio apartment over the garage, it was a rental. I was going to sale the property, but they wouldn?t give a loan on it without an actually attached heater. They came out within a week or two. They were quick. They responded because I told them I needed to get the loan and I couldn?t get the loan without the heater. The interest rates vary from day to day, so I wanted to get them out there quick before the rate changed. They accommodated me on it. They were really good and the lady in the office was very good. The office lady was very helpful.

Disappointed with service. Filter was missed during installation. Faulty installation after paying 9000$+ =================================== I got my HVAC installed a year ago with A-1 Heating and cooling and they missed the filter grill. I paid over 9000$. All through the year we were breathing dirty air. This was despite telling them that my wife has asthma. Bad maintenance after paying 95$ ========================== I found out during my scheduled maintenance that the filter grill was missing near the return area. I reminded them 5 -6 times and it's been a month but no filter was installed yet. My biggest complain was they promised a technician's visit but never came through. I had to remind them again and again. I had to literally remind them each time about my name and address. Eventually I told them not to bother about the filter, as I would go to a different provider.

There were a few things that went wrong, that weren't entirely their fault, but it was enough to not warrant a perfect rating here. First, when they did the estimate, they failed to notice that as-is, my panel would need an upgrade. Turns out it would cost another $5,000 and 3 months for PG&E to do this, with the other alternative to replace other electric appliances (stove, dryer) with gas. The original estimate was 2 days of work, but it took the entire week (M, T, W, Th, Fri) for them to finish. They tested the A/C and it was working fine, but failed to realize that this disconnected my 6.6kW car charger (where the cable runs directly from the panel and is visible on the outside directly from the panel to the outside of the garage where the charger is), and mistook it for a hot tub switch and disconnected it. I told them I need my car charger, so they moved it to the same switch as the dryer, tested the dryer, and then left. I soon noticed that they never reconnected the air conditioning, and we had to go through a few 90-100 degree days before they got back to me and fixed it. They also accidentally disconnected my solar panels, so I was without solar for a few days. They had to go into the crawl space, and one night I didn't notice until late that they never closed it back up (so at first I was a bit concerned that a racoon could have entered the house this way, since not all the crawlspaces are not perfectly sealed, and we've had racoons once in a while in the back yard.) There was also an incident where they were installing things, and a pipe came loose because it was either not installed properly or not glued. They glued it again and I'm hoping there are no issues, but I haven't inspected their work in the crawlspace to know for sure that there's no leaks or loose pipes (and have taken their word for it). Ultimately everything finally worked a few weeks after the installation, but it was a bit rougher of an installation than I expected.

I got a call back and scheduled estimate promptly. They worked around my work schedule to set up a day to do the work. The job was completed in just a few hours. Everything was left neat and tidy. The price is competitive for a quality unit and work done. Just in time for the height of summer heat. Much appreciated.

Excellent. Took only a couple of days. VERY gentle demolition. Professional and efficient workers, in the garage, on the side of the house with the new compressor installation, and under the house to get all the electrical and plumbing in. Passed the building permit with flying colors!

The technician came out early since he had finished another job and found it was a thermostat setting that wasn't correct. I appreciate that he didn't try to make it a bigger problem than it was. He talked to my wife and I, helped us get the thermostat set correctly and made sure it was working before he left.

Right after installation they had some problems. After they installed it, the furnace was not working actually. So we had to stay without a heat and cooling for two days on the weekend which caused some problems. They responded pretty quickly actually. They sent a person. They installed it on a Friday. On Friday night, we discovered that there was some problem and both the heating and cooling were not working. But they sent one person the next day promptly, but he could not fix it because the part was not available on Saturday. But they came back promptly on Monday and fixed it. That was the only hiccup they had. Otherwise, the installation and everything, they handled very well. Everything went okay. The AC is working quite well, the furnace and everything. Overall, it's a good feedback about them but they just introduced one snag on one day. I can give an A. I can exclude one particular snag on that day. Price is definitely very good. They gave the best price among the competing people there. Once they installed, it was working fine. Punctuality was good. They should not have left something that's not working after installation.

Went well. Technician diagnosed problem, ordered the part and came back a few days later and fixed the issue. No more problem.

Great experience start to finish. Tech available next day, arrived on time, professional and courteous, solved the problem right away and fair price.

I took time off to meet with the provider and he did not show up.

I recently got HVAC system installed at my home in Sanjose evergreen. These guys are fantastic and very helpful. KESHA First of all Kesha who picked up my phone was extremely courteous and answered all my questions. She understood my concerns and worked around my schedule to send the estimate guy. She followed up the next day after the estimates and helped with the paperwork. 5 stars to her Bill Bill recommended a duel fuel system because I have solar at home. He is technically very sound and gave me all my options unlike others who would rush you. He was not at all pushy and gave me the best possible estimates. Alberto Mancho Roberto came out to my place and did an excellent job. The inspector who came out later also mentioned that the wiring was done well. Justin did a terrific job configuring the thermostat. These guys provided me the best trane wifi thermostat.

A-1 was very responsive throughout the process. From the initial bid through getting energy rebates, they were very helpful. Their bid was in the mid-range of 5 bids we obtained. Bid was to replace existing furnace and A/C units with new high-efficiency units (e.g. 95% efficient furnace). Ducts were to be sealed as part of a state/utility rebate program. Work took about 2.5 days. Later appointments were needed for rebate-related inspections. Within a few days of the new furnace being installed I noticed problems. There was a puddle of water at the base of the furnace closet. I called A-1 and they reported that another recent customer installation with the same type of unit was having the same problem. A-1 initially blamed the manufacturer. But, they sent a senior technician to diagnose. Over a few weeks there were several attempts to diagnose the issue, including ordering a replacement part under warranty for suspected manufacturing defects. I pulled out and read the installation manual and noticed a few places where the installation performed by the technician differed from what the manufacturer required. It appears most of the problem was due to the installer not following the directions. Either poor training or laziness on the part of the installer would be my guess. But, in the end, a solution was devised by the senior technician and I'm satisfied. Another mistake related to the installation. My doorbell transformer is on the same circuit as the furnace and in the process of the installation the installer had managed to disconnect my doorbell transformer from the circuit, leaving me without a working doorbell. When I mentioned this to the company they sent out a junior technician to try to solve the issue. But, he wasn't able to figure out the problem and determined the transformer had gone bad. Odd; that was a timely failure. A-1 provided me with a replacement transformer and offered to install it. I ended up opening up the junction box myself and realized the installer had completely mis-wired the system. I was able to put the old transformer back on the circuit and everything works now. If I were to do another furnace or A/C installation I doubt I would use this company again given the errors that occurred. The installers were mostly neat. But, I did find about a dozen screws in my driveway the morning after the installation was completed. Not a good situation if you want to avoid a flat tire. Based on the interactions I had with their senior technician, I would consider A-1 again to perform routine maintenance on my system. But for new installation of a high-efficiency furnace, you may want to look elsewhere.

Furnace stopped working. A-1 was able to send out someone the next day. Zach was on-time and diagnosed the problem. He ordered the part needed right away since the weekend was coming up and we obviously were concerned about the days without heat. The office was able to confirm that the part would be in Monday afternoon and scheduled our appointment for Tuesday morning. Again, Zach was on time, courteous and efficient. Best of all, nobody involved tried to up-sell us on any other items or services, which was very refreshing! A-1 is now my go-to place for my furnace and air-conditioning needs.