Olson Comfort Services Inc Heating & Cooling

unknown

unknown

Great

Put out bid to four companies that I found here on AL. Three of them responded. Responses were difficult to compare, as each company recommended different manufacturers and had varying advice for my specific issues. Ultimately chose Olson based on their thorough analysis of the house, professional approach, specific recommendations (adding return air and supply vents where I didn't think they could reach,) brand (Trane; high on Consumer Reports list for reliability,) manufacturer rebates. Mark set my expectations early and often. His crew (Dave, Kennett, and Drew) were friendly, polite, clean and neat (putting on hospital booties when upstairs and using carpet runners,) professional, and perfectionists. When an issue arose, they brought it to my attention and did not make assumptions. These three guys spent three days in my house revamping and adding to duct-work, re-attaching humidifiers and filtration units. Mark checked in daily. They left my house in better condition than before.

They were OK but not impressive like the other firms (Hucker Electric and Wendricks White) we had doing work the same day. When asked what they had done, he couldn't explain it clearly. He was not very neat in appearance. In retrospect, the price seems high for the far north suburbs, but that may be because they send 2 guys. Last year, we had hired them and found that there was a lack of supervision by the senior technician of the junior. Equipment was left at the house. We were never sure that the job was completed. I thought we'd give them another chance because other Angie's List reports on them were good.

Met with estimator Mark who was punctual, pleasant, and very thorough. He spent two hours with us. He gave us all our options, explained everything, answered all questions patiently, and recommended a furnace that fit our budget and our situation. (It was not the most expensive model either.) The work was done on time and very professionally. I was very impressed with the whole experience. Excellent product choices, excellent work. When the work was done, Mark personally came out and inspected the job. Couldn't ask for more. Clean-up was immaculate. Would hire again without question.

Very positive. The technician came on time, put on paper "booties" even before I said a word, and proceeded to the basement to service my unit. He returned a while later, and made some suggestions on upkeep and products (humidifier installation) offered by his company and politely accepted when I commented that I would think it over and get back to them if appropriate.

We found Olson through Angie's List and we were very initially impressed with the owner, Mark Thorn. He came over and gave a detailed estimate and detailed description of work to be done. They were the most expensive quote compared to others, but we thought they would do the best job. However, we were greatly disappointed. The crew did not do the job according to the careful parameters set and agreed upon, and when we called to complain on the Friday after the job was "done" we were told that the owner was on vacation for the entire next week. We then uncovered a gas leak in the new system (their fault) and various other issues, like the pump was in the wrong place. The owner came back from vacation and ultimately had the crew re-do the job (they had to start over on the furnace, which took a whole day). Their excuse was a "communications breakdown" with the owner and the team. The initial impression was great, but ultimately we were disappointed. We would not use them again.

This was one of the best experiences we've had with a service company. They were very responsive, professional and timely. There was no attempt to up-sell services - very refreshing! The service technicians explained first what they were going to do, provided an overview of the current state of our air conditioner when the work was completed, and what we could expect in the way of future costs. We will definitely schedule a return visit in the fall for our furnace.

Mark Thorn did two things that impressed me a lot. First, he was able to get my old furnace functional right before a nasty cold spell, after another company had tried twice and failed. He then patiently explained why I needed a new unit, in a logical and professional way. He then priced the job very carefully, considering all angles and equipment options. We settled on what I believe was a good solution at a fair price, considering we upgraded to add AC to our house. We could have spent far more, but settled on a unit that seemed like the best for us, on Mark's recommendation. The work was done over two days when we were not there and the workers treated the place like it was their own home (I mean that in a good way). The unit has been running for a month now, and is considerably more efficient and much quieter than the old one. Since this is a vacation home for us and we are often not there, we needed quick, professional and trustworthy advice and service; that is what we got.

THE SERVICE PERSON WAS ON TIME AND LEFT THINGS CLEAN WHEN DONE. THEIR PRICES ARE A LITTLE HIGH BUT THEY DO QUALITY WORK.

THIS WAS AN OVERALL VERY POSITIVE EXPERIENCE. THE SERVICEMAN WAS EXTREMELY COURTEOUS,RESPECTFUL, KNOWLEDGEABLE AND PATIENT. HE ALLOWED (AND ENCOURAGED) ME TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SYSTEM, AND SHOWED ME SOME PRACTICAL THINGS I CAN DO MYSELF TO KEEP THE UNIT WORKING EFFICIENTLY IN WINTER. I WOULD NOT HESITATE TO USE THEM AGAIN NEXT YEAR.

JOB 1: I CALLED THEM BASED UPON THEIR GOOD RATING ON ANGIE'S LIST. I SPOKE WITH NADINE THORN, ONE OF THE OWNERS. SHE WAS VERY FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL. TOM AND MATT WERE THE TECHNICIANS THAT CAME OUT TO DO THE WORK. TOM WAS ALSO VERY FRIENDLY AND KNOWLEDGEABLE. JOB 2: TOM ARRIVED AT EXACTLY THE TIME THEY SAID HE WOULD. IT DIDN'T TAKE HIM LONG TO FIND THE PROBLEM AND HE HAD THE PART ON HIS TRUCK. I WAS JUST GLAD I DIDN'T HAVE TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE A/C SYSTEM, AS IT IS QUITE OLD. SO, I GUESS, I WAS HAPPY WITH THAT PRICE FOR THE PARTS AND LABOR.

THE TECHNICIANS CAME AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, AND PERFORMED THE WORK WELL AND QUICKLY.

THEY CAME WHEN THEY SAID THEY WOULD, THEY DID A GOOD JOB AND CLEANED UP AFTER THEMSELVES. I WILL USE THEM AGAIN.

ELIZABETH, WHO TOOK THE CALL, WAS VERY PLEASANT. RICH WAS KNOWLEDGEABLE AND VERY PROFESSIONAL. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND OLSON!

THE DISPATCHER/SCHEDULER PROMPTLY SCHEDULED FOR SAME DAY AND CALLED TO CONFIRM APPROXIMATE ARRIVAL TIME. THE SERVICE TECH ARRIVED WHEN PROMISED. THEY QUICKLY FIGURED OUT THE PROBLEM AND REPLACED A FAILED SWITCH. AS A BONUS THEY FIGURED OUT THE WATER SUPPLY VALVE TO THE HUMIDIFIER WAS SHUT OFF. WE DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS A WATER SUPPLY VALVE, SO IT HAD PROBABLY BEEN SHUT OFF SINCE WE BOUGHT THE HOUSE 5 YRS AGO. SO THE HUMIDIFIER THAT WE THOUGHT HAD BEEN RUNNING ALL ALONG, WASN'T. NOW IT WORKS GREAT.

THE TECHNICIAN TOOK ONLY FOUR MINUTES TO DIAGNOSE AND FIGURE OUT A FIX FOR A VIBRATING NOISE THAT HAD BEEN BOTHERING US FOR SEVERAL YEARS--AND THAT A PREVIOUS HEATING COMPANY HAD BEEN UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE, MUCH LESS FIX.

THEY WERE GREAT FROM THE FIRST PHONE CALL TO WRITING THE CHECK. I FELT I COULD TRUST THEM BECAUSE THEY WERE VERY PROFESSIONAL AND TOOK THE TIME TO SHOW ME THINGS AND EXPLAIN WHAT THEY DID.

COMPANY WAS CONTACTED BASED ON LOCATION AND PREVIOUS RATING IN ANGIE''S LIST. THANKS!

VERY EASY TO WORK WITH; SALES REP IS AN EXPERIENCED INSTALLER THAT WAS ON THE JOB SITE SEVERAL TIMES EACH DAY. DIDN''T PUSH ITEMS I DIDN''T WANT. INSTALLERS WERE VERY GOOD, AND THE SHEET METAL JOB WAS EXCELLENT. LIKE MOST INSTALLERS, THEY TENDED TO BE A BIT GRUBBY WHEN INSTALLING MY NEW THERMOSTAT BUT CLEANED UP THE BASEMENT AREA NICELY. TOOK MY CONCERNS SERIOUSLY, EVEN WHEN I WAS WRONG. GOOD, CLEAN JOB ON ALL THE EXTRA DRAIN VENT PVC PIPES. WOULD DEFINITELY USE THEM AGAIN.