MERRIMACK VALLEY CORP

unknown

WE had an advance call prior to the service call. The Tech arrived within minutes of the schedule. He was courteous, knowledgeable, and considerate when the customer (me) was wrong about prior work done by MV Corp. He concluded the job professionally, then proceeded to spend extra time discussing some upgrades and additions we are considering for our heating/cooling system. The invoice was submitted, paid and receipt given on-site, digitally, which I greatly appreciated. In general, I find these services pricey, especially in light of the history of past services from this provider. Despite this, I will continue to use this vendor, including later this week on a related matter.

They dispatched Guy Cilluffo to my home to replace the zone pump on my hot water heating system. On day one, Guy didn't have a pump to replace the bad one, so he had to come back. Guy suggested that he would also perform a cleanout on my system, as I told him that had not been done in some time. Guy told me he would sell me the Gas-Water MVP plan for $108 and perform the cleanout under that plan. Guy returned on day two (a Friday) to perform the work. He replaced the pump, draining the system and refilling it. After refilling the system he bled the radiators, and broke one of the bleeder valves in the process. This required an entire new trip to the supply house where he bought 3 new valves (they can't cost more than $10 each) for $440. After replacing the broken valve (and 2 others) Guy started the cleanout. At the end of his “cleanout” Guy reported to me that the system was throwing off carbon monoxide at moderately high levels back into the house. He also told me that the system had to be replaced because the CO problem could not be fixed. He said he determined this at the end of cleaning the system and testing the CO levels and stack temperature was the last part of the service. Here’s the thing—he didn’t clean the system out. I discovered this when I replaced the system and found that it was FULL of ash—now all over my basement, including a 2 year old carpet in the finished part of the basement. This is particularly a problem as I am putting the house on the market. In addition, I discovered that when Guy bled the radiators after (twice) draining and refilling the system, he didn’t close one of them, and it was dripping water through my walls. While Guy was pleasant, and showed up on time, the work was not done as professionally as I would have expected, and I believe that the charges were unreasonably high.

The heat is working better and when the final part replacement is done, no doubt that it will work. The company is responsive to calls, schedules visits promptly, has staff arrive on-time after calling to reconfirm, and gets the job done. It's fantastic to have people who know what they're doing, and have pride in their work that is backed up by knowledge and how to apply it. We're glad they're there and that Guy is the specialist for our area. System is still on warranty by builder, but even if it were not, we'd work with this company because they get the job done. That's the bottom line.

They came on promptly Saturday morning for an estimate on a new furnace. They presented me with options for a high or average efficiency unit, along with air filters & humidifiers. While reviewing the furnace they discovered that my BRAND NEW tankless water heater was not properly installed by a local plumber. I will continue to have Merrimack Valley corp service my HVAC and strongly recommend them. As they were my first estimate I will seek other quotes to see how reasonable their prices are.