Don Hoffacker’s Air Conditioning & Heating

Very well. Todd did a thorough check of the furnace and a/c/ unit and spent a good amount of time with me making recommendations about ways that we could improve the flow of air through the house to keep the top floor cooler during the summer, and the lower level warmer during the winter. This involved a good deal of trial-and-error and going all over the house checking the effects of each modification on the vents. Very good service and good value.

The repairman arrived on time, quickly determined that the compressor was bad and gave me an estimate. I agreed to replace the compressor, which was done very quickly. He also checked the coolant level and several additional things that might cause problems. Then he explained exactly what he had done, suggested I turn off air conditioning during an electrical storm to protect the compressor, and was on his way. He was quick, precise, and pleasant. I could not have asked for better.

Don Hoffacker's was fabulous all-around--HIGHLY recommend them. The company gave us a next-day diagnostic appointment, even during this busy summer season. Richard showed up promptly (actually early, with a phone call first to make sure I was available). Unlike other AC companies I've had dealings with, he provided the less expensive fix--replacing the capacitor with a part that he even had in his truck!--rather than prematurely pushing an expensive new system. AC's been working great. The system will no doubt need replacement soon enough, as it's a builder-installed AC unit that's approaching its expected lifespan, and I'll definitely call Hoffacker's/Richard for that job, too. (Bonus: $20 off with Angie's List coupon.)

A technician stopped by to see discuss the issues with me and said he would provide me with a quote the next day. Three days later I had to call to inquire about the quote an finally received the quote on the 4th day. I called back and asked to have the representative stop back by our house to discuss in more details where the vents and return ducts would be placed and I was told they were too busy to come back out. We agreed that someone would call me back to discuss the quote. I have called back 3 more times to find someone to discuss the quote with me and to this day (6 weeks later) I am still waiting for someone to call me back. Since then I have moved on to another contractor - Tuckers that has been professional and working with me to install the unit in our attic.

Called on Thursday and visit was scheduled for 2-4pm the next day. Technician Richard called in the late morning and asked if he could come earlier. Not a problem, as I work at home. After checking the system inside and outside, Richard discussed the situation with me. He recommended just topping off the refrigerant. Because the system is about 20 years old, he suggested I budget for a new system the next time there is major trouble, which could be in a year or two. I appreciated Richard's analysis and the option to take a lower cost approach now rather than being hit with the unexpected expense of a new system on short notice. I will definitely begin saving for a replacement. Richard completed the service in less than one hour.

Hoffacker did a great job. During the first service call the problem was well diagnosed--four years ago we had replaced two A/C units but in one we had to replace every year the refrigerant. A number of contractors had looked at it (and had suggested different problem solutions, plus always had to fill the refrigerant)--but nobody seemed to have a clue tackling the reason why the unit lost gas. Hoffacker looked at the 45 year old lines (with soft-soldering) and measured gas leaks there. The technician was able to give us a quote on the spot and some days later we made an appointment. The two technicians who came (not the same as number 1) were professional and did a great job. Considering their time investment and expertise it was a fair price. I had an Angie's List coupon that they forgot to include in the final tally but that was quickly rectified by the office. I called them a month later because I had the impression that the unit took longer to cool and another very capable technician came 5 days later and took a significant amount of time to check things out. Everything was working as it should and he explained the mysteries of A/C in understandable language. This service call was free--and I was very impressed. I have their number for my future HVAC needs.

Contractor did quality work and was responsive, professional and punctual.

I had other people recommend him, so I went with him. He was pleasant to work with, on time, and courteous. I would recommend him to others - he was very good!

The service person, Carl, came within the service window time frame. He discovered that the refrigerant was too low and the system has a cut off valve so that the condenser will not run once the refrigerant gets below a certain level. He also discovered that vermins had chewed into the wires around the outside coil and that when I had the new furnace installed two months ago the wiring was not connected properly. He quickly was able to reconnect the wiring without charging me and replaced the chewed wires outside at minimal cost, but the refrigerant needed refilling so he had to put in 4 pounds of the refrigerant and now he was able to get the A/C working. It would have cost me double the amount I paid Hoffacker if my current HVAC company came out to do the job. I told Carl that the outside coil was replaced under warranty about 2 years ago and the inside coil also under parts warranty was replaced approximately a year ago and both time the refrigerant was refilled. Carl thinks there might be a leak in the system but he could not do a refrigerant leak right now and I would have to make another service call. I told him I still have a year left on my manufacturer 10 years parts warranty and how much would it cost to fix the leak once it has been found versus a new unit. He said depending on the leak it could cost about $2,000-$2,500 if it is in either the outside coil or inside evaporator coil and more if it is also leaking in the pipes. Since we had both coils replaced once before, it is highly unlikely that the manufacturer would replace them again. I would have to go to my current HVAC company to do the repair since they originally installed the unit. The price Carl quoted me for a new A/C unit was less than what my current HVAC company has shown me two months ago when I was replacing my furnace and thought about replacing both. I did not call the Hoffacker back to conduct the leak check and decide to try another company and at the same time get a quote for a new unit from them so that I have at least 3 quotes for a new unit. Overall, I was very happy with Don Hoffacker and with Carl. The front office was very courteous and Carl was very knowledgeable and professional. I would definitely consider using them again.

Despite the rain, the two installers did a great job and were done in6 hours. Relocated the new heat pump and removed all the old equipment.

Overall, it went pretty good, there was a problem. It was a gas furnace and there was a part that was malfuntioning and I had a gas leak. They don't have 24 hour coverage, so it was difficult to find someone to fix the problem. I had to call Washington Gas to come out and shut off my gas until they could correct the problem.

They came on the day following my call, and as noted performed the corrective work explaining everything in detail. I would recommend them without hesitation.

We were very happy with the service and we were happy with their price. We got two or three quotes and they were very affordable. They were very responsive. They cleaned up after themselves. Overall, we were completely happy and we would recommend them.

Todd arrived on time and was very professional and helpful. Examined the HVAC Fan and identified the issue as a slightly out of round fan....not so bad as to need replacement. Found and repaired several wires that were burned. Provided a quick fix for the whole house humidifier. All of this work was included in the cost of the service call. No upsell or other nonsense. I will use them again next time I need HVAC work done.

Woke up to find our house cold and the heat not working. Used AL to find an HVAC service provider. Don Hoffacker was highly rated and able send a technician (Brian) the same day. Brian arrived a little early, he was very personable, and he quickly diagnosed the problem -- a bad hot surface ignitor -- and replaced it. Took about 60 minutes from start to depart. Afterward, I scheduled for Brian to do Spring maintenance service for the two HVAC systems in my house. Cost of the repair was $289, $89 for the service call and $200 for the part, which was surprising given that it was a simple-looking part. Decided to look up the part on the Web when preparing to write this review and found numerous sources selling the part for $20-$30. So, the part cost was either a mistake or a gross overcharge. Called the office @ 10:55a and was directed to Angie, Don Hoffacker's daughter, to discuss the part cost. She had to call back because she was on another telephone line ordering parts. At 12:37p, Harry, a tech, called me back in place of Angie to tell me that there was no mistake. The part was priced based on a book of some sort and by calling around to other companies to see what they charge for the part. Harry said they need a 900% part markup to cover overhead. I told him I am not planning to pay $200 for a $25 part and that if we don't get this issue resolved to my satisfaction, I'll cancel the two Spring services in addition to writing this chronology into my Angie's List review. He said he'd have Angie call me. No word from Angie a/o 1:37p. Will update/modify this review as warranted when/if she calls. Update 4/2/13: Received a call from Don Hoffacker who was a friendly enough fellow as he informed me that (1) he prices parts according to a national parts pricing guide and (2) I was given the cost of the repair upfront and agreed to it . He made clear that he thinks the markup is completely reasonable and that there would be no reduction in the part pricing. With regard to his claim that I agreed to the pricing upfront, I told him that I was not given the pricing until the bill was presented. I thanked him for his call, explained that a part markup of that magnitude over and above the $89 service charge was not acceptable and then cancelled the already-scheduled Spring tune ups for my two HVAC systems (2x$89, plus partsJ). He suggested I call a company called Eddie?s in Silver Spring that does fantastic work and charges substantially less than he does. Update 4/5/13: I received in today?s mail a letter from Mr. Hoffacker reiterating that Brian ?thoroughly explained ... the cost of the repair? before the work was done. As I?ve said, the cost was not provided until the bill was presented. I don't know why he would reiterate a false claim, but it must be important to him. No matter, I would have approved the fix anyway because the heat was not working. The problem here is not a breach of protocol (or the effectiveness of the repair), it's markup. If the pre-approval is so critical I suggest Hoffacker?s modify its forms to get a customer sign-off in advance of the work being performed. The rest of the letter had a cookie cutter feel to it as it included generic language and it contained the same material included with the company's response to my review on AL. There was also a highly complementary email from a supposed customer that purports to say people love his company. I?m not so sure they?d love his company so much if they knew the parts markup policy. I suggest that Mr. Hoffacker hire an independent research firm to conduct a customer satisfaction survey that includes a measure of happiness after the customer is informed about the company's parts markup policy or, failing that, that he initiate a fully transparent/full disclosure time-and-materials pricing model. I challenge Mr. Hoffacker to fully inform prospective customers about probable repair costs before they commit their time and money to an appointment but, of course, this would reduce the probability of getting the "go-ahead" for the job while a tech is onsite after someone has waited for days or hours for an appointment to fix something that really isn't an optional fix. What's more, upon request, I will consider performing an analysis of Mr. Hoffacker's operating expenses to either verify that they are justified as he has represented or, perhaps, discover cost savings he can share with his customers. Alas, this is my last note on this experience. Search until you find a great service providers who produce high quality results at reasonable prices and stick with them, and do as much preventative maintenance as possible so that you avoid service situations where you just can't say "no." Had I known ignitors fail after about five years, as someone told me (Brian?), I would have shopped around and made a preventative replacement.

I found the technicians who came to the house to be punctual, knowledgeable, courteous and overall great to deal with. The aspect that brought the company down, in my experience, was the front office. I found communication between the people who answer the phone and the folks in the field to be pretty poor, which in my case, was detrimental since we had to have them come back ceveral times. Specifically, a tech told me that if A happened, then call them and tell them, but that message never got back to the original tech. Furthermore, I had one person who answered the phone treat me rather rudely when I reported that I had no heat int he middle of winter. Her basic attitude was, what do you want me to do? But again,the guys who showed up totdo the work were excellent. It's too bad they don't get better support.

We called on Sunday night and an answering service took down our information. They called promptly on Monday Morning to make an appointment for Thursday. I called two hours later to change the appointment for Monday 4 pm as I was going to be at home. They changed it and the tech came on time. The repairs were done on time.

I like to use local people and he is a local business. He has been taking care of my heating and air conditioning for 30 some years. He has just been very faithful, very prompt, and very good and I think his prices are good too. A lot of people have a stroke when I say the cost of the work but they are a little unrealistic. He has also replaced my total unit once; they did that work as a result I have not had a break down. I have annual contract for $150 a year and then it would cost me $50 or $60 more for any other little things. Just checking the unit does not cost me anything. He is good guy but a busy man.

They are extremely detailed. Mike, the person who came out, which I guess was the salesperson and technician was absolutely amazing. I never had anybody so honest. The interesting part about them, which I must say is the fact that I thought my compressor was broken, they investigated it so and they found out it was really a problem with my air handler and not the compressor. They went that extra mile instead of telling me that I needed to put in a whole new system.

Smooth process from start to finish. Mr. Hoffacker's crew was professional and completed the install in a timely fashion. I couldn't be happier with the product and the experience.

They came out to check on my furnace. The heat exchanger was bad. We got a price on a furnace and air conditioning. we called them to set up installation. It was set up for three days later. They came did the work and cleaned up explained the thermostat and left. A great job.

We called Don Hoffacker's Air Conditioning and Heating, because one of our outside units was icing up. This same unit had been repaired the previous year by a different company. We were concerned with the work that had been performed on it, and decided to call in someone else. Our serviceman, Rick, arrived on time and began diagnosing the problem. He seemed very knowledgeable and honest. After evaluating the unit, Rick determined that it was working properly. The icing up was normal, and no further repairs were needed.

Glad we consulted Angie's List before hiring this firm to replace our furnace and ac condenser. Their detailed estimate gave us numerous options with variables such as rebates factored in, so we could see exactly what we would pay before making a decision. Technicians showed up on time, and were clearly very experienced in this line of work. They were respectful of our home, and even made friends with the dog. Harry in particular is a true professional. He made sure we had all the documentation we needed, and spent time explaining to us how to use and care for our new system. No BS from these guys and no surprises. Just honest, straightforward professionals who know their trade and perform it well.

Had trouble with my heater. Anticipated he would say I need a new one, which ultimately I do. But he was able to repair the issue and my heater safely goes on to live another day. Very professional and friendly. I think this company has tapped into the idea that if we provide good service we we get the larger business later. I was very happy.

They were excellent and also fixed another company's previous work on a second unit. The price was very competitive and they were very knowledgeable.