Higgins Heating Air Conditioning & Refrigeration

Water damage and threats! We purchased a new furnace and central air from Higgins in 2012, and after two years I still regret doing business with them. First problem was the mess and stained carpet on the stairs from their work- I don't know how they managed to spread greasy oily black goo from one end of my finished basement all they way up the stairs. While the bid I received included installation of venting, they hooked up to the old vents and never checked them. In the first heating season, we had destroyed ceiling tiles and wet carpet from the vent leaking- a technician came over, repaired that place in the vent, then left without cleaning up the mess or offering to replace the ruined tiles. The following year (late 2013) we had another leak we couldn't locate, so I called Higgins back to check the rest of the vent, which they did, and then charged me for it. When I disputed the bill, they sent it to collections without returning my phone calls. I then hand delivered an explanation of why I didn't feel I should pay $100 for 15 minutes of work (that should have been done when we paid for the new equipment and installation) with a check for the service because I didn't want my credit score affected by their threats and incompetence. My letter of explanation stated that I was happy to discuss this, but that it was in their best interest to tear up my check. Now, more than two months later, they cashed the check, without ever calling me. Idiots.

We had our heat pump installed by Higgins this year; we chose them because they installed the brand that I wanted. Charlie came out and looked at our existing furnace that we were adding this heat pump to, told us about the different models that we could get; I chose the one that would get me back the largest rebate, which incidentally was the most expensive and largest unit. We sign the dotted line; Charlie says it would be likely in the next week to get it installed. Didn't hear anything at all for a week and a half until I called, where I was told that, even though he had come out and saw what we had, couldn't find the right part for the $250 rebate, but that he ordered the one that would work, just no rebate. They would be out to install it on Tuesday. Fine, whatever, the loss of $250 hurt, for sure, and there was no discussion of, "Hey, this is different now, would you like to revisit the options, since you aren't getting back the rebate"... nope, not even discussed. Strike one, and I am starting to get that feeling in my stomach of a dishonest contractor. The installation went well enough, they got everything in place, mostly done well, and the things I didn't like I just fixed myself, mainly that they had cabling exposed to the weather, I came back and ran it through some sealtite, no big deal, I had enough. They said when the electrician finished, just flip the bypass and we are good to go. After my electrician finished, I flipped the switch, and it blew cold air instead of warm. Strike two. I called the company and the receptionist scheduled a tech to come out the next day. He did, on time, and I felt better, but unfortunately he couldn?t figure out what was going wrong, said it was something about high pressure, bled off some of the refrigerant, still couldn?t get anything, told me they would be back on Friday or before to look at it. The wife stayed home on Friday, no call, no show, I called them at about 4pm, the receptionist told me she would have them call me right back, never heard a word. Called Charlie again on Monday, installation options, since you aren't getting the money back that I told you would he said they would be out on Thursday at 9:30. Against my better judgment, I went ahead and paid for it. Thursday rolled around, 9:30 rolled around, no call no show, I called them at 10:30, Charlie said their guy was running behind, I said fine, what time, he said they were on their way now, another hour later they showed up. I wasn't at home, my wife stayed home again, bless her, to let them in. Turns out the initial installation missed an electrical hookup on the control board. I won?t say that was sloppy, but maybe not attention to detail? It is working now, but I am having serious misgivings if I need warranty work...

They found a plugged nozzle and replace it and did maintenance throughout the year. They kept coming out multiple times and I could have made a good down payment on a new unit for the prices I paid them.