Practical Systems Heating & Air Conditioning

Awful - worth suing them over: - The technician was supposed to arrive around 3 PM, but showed up at 8 PM. - He identified the issue to be a faulty thermostat. He asked for over $300 to replace with a new thermostat (the market price of the thermostat was <$50). It was literally a 10 minute job at that point. - We had used a coupon on Angie's List for trip charge and diagnosis for $90. He agreed to charge us that amount, and send us the invoice the following day. - He charged us $170 and did not send an invoice. - Here's the kicker - before he left, he removed a 8' section of one of the wires between the thermostat and the furnace board. So, when we replace the thermostat ourselves, it did not work. Eventually, we had to get another professional to come out and figure out the issue. - If we had time, we would sue them!

My air conditioning went out on one of the hottest days of the year. I called many businesses and they were booking atlas one week out. Practical Systems returned my call within an hour and came at 8:00 a.m the following morning (a Sunday!). I was so grateful.

I had some questions and they came out. They were out within a few hours and reassured me that things were alright.

Troy came out one day to see what he would be removing in terms of the old heater and to take a look at the new unit that would eventually be installed. (the online site had sent us a propane heater instead of natural gas but they were the same dimensions). On December 28 we finally received the correct natural gas heater so I called Troy to inquire about an installation date. He called back about an hour later and said they could come the next day. They removed the old heater and installed the new one in a couple of hours. They also offered to fabricate a galvanized metal box to cover the existing piping (the old heater had a large enough cover to hide all of that). John came back on Friday the 30th to install the galvanized box. We were very pleased at the quick responsiveness of Practical Systems in getting us heat before the cold snap!

This company used to be called Ductworks, and they provided great service. I believe they were bought out by Practical Systems in the last 1 - 2 years. Epic fail since being bought out. I called 24 hour help line, as my furnace went out in 10 degree weather. Technician pushed me to wait until Monday, and said it would be best to put an all new furnace in. Ummm... a couple of things: 1. I have no heat. Waiting another 24 hours will work great for you, but by that time, my water pipes will have frozen and ruptured. 2. How can you push someone to buy a new furnace from you WITHOUT EVEN SEEING WHATS WRONG WITH IT? Blatant money grab. I will not EVER call these people again.

I have used services of this company since the time it was Ductworks MN, I should say after practical systems took over, we had multiple scheduling issues...and the very recent one was giving me a appointment for 9 to 11 for a specific service technician and another technician calling me at 7:45 to say they are at my house. I was outside and had other things to take care of at this time, so told them to send the original scheduled technician between 9 to 11, if he is available otherwise reschedule to a diff date and time, I was told he will call office and let them know and someone will call me to let me know what next...so I waited from 9 to 11, thinking either the service tech will show up or someone will call to explain what is going on and probably move the appointment...neither happened...I called later to check on why no one called or the appointment was not kept...but the manager who I spoke to was not apologetic instead started saying we did the best we could and that is how we work here...and the next available appointment is at November 1st week...take it or leave it...A good company good at service being taken down by its own careless and rude employees. I am not sure if the owner of the company even knows what is going on...and he is eventually loosing business. Anyways...beware and stay away...unless your day is wide open and you can expect a technician to drop by anytime.

The originally installed fireplace was nicely done. My concerns are with the other fireplace that I called about later. They came to fix it once but I had ongoing problems. They charged additionally for coming out a second time to diagnose that it was a vent problem. The person who came to service was friendly and nice but the company rep was not good at returning calls or discussing problems. I finally paid half of the $199 price for second visit. I then called a second company to get this fireplace fixed and they said the logs had not been placed in correctly so the problem was from that creating poor air flow. It is working for now so I think the venting was an incorrect diagnosis.

It is the largest one they have ever seen in a private home. Any time I call they are very quick to respond. They are wonderful to work with and always fix any issues I have. I will be using them for any HVAC needs! I would highly recommend them!

Great service, fast and on time. Troy was super helpfull.

Professional and thorough. Friendly and fast. Made a painful experience bearable (who the heck wants to drop that kind of cash on a rental). Very impressed with the cleanliness: no parts, garbage, metal etc left behind! Friendly and eager to answer all questions to first time landlords. STRONGLY recommended. They provided service right after a 12 inch snowfall and they had no complaints and still made their appointment on time.

No charge for initial service visit as no work was done due to complexity and obsolesence of existing plumbing. Quick quote turnaround for replacement of manifold. Work was done on date promised. A few hours late, but it was not an issue. Work was completed, mess was cleaned up, very thorough check of the system before they left. Technician had good advice on future considerations for this system as the existing boiler is nearing replacement. Very pleased with the job.

I did it through a contractor and it was the contractor who oversaw the installation. Everything went fine. There was good attention to detail and they worked with me to make sure that the units were placed where I wanted them in each room. They did a good job cleaning up afterwards. The contractor called them in the fall and they never got back to him. It did not affect me at all as I had the other work done but they told me.

They are extremely competent people. They assisted us in ordering the correct size insert after another company mismeasured our opening. They were right there to help and kept us up to date on the steps of this process.

They are really good. They seem to be pretty honest and prompt. They are here when they say they are going to be here. It’s the same guy who comes back every year to service the system and he is really nice. We wouldn’t want a better experience. I would use their services in the future too.

They were very accommodating and we've done business with them since as far as filters and that sort of thing and we have been very happy with them so far.

The first few years, it seemed to work well but sometimes did not keep up w/ very cold days. About three years ago we began to have persistent problems with air bubbles in the water lines. Last year, we had 1 $800 repair bill and frequent monthly repair bills after that, each at $100 -$200. The furnace was not heating our house at all and the natural gas bill was suddenly $400/month. We we went several days without heat waiting for service. After the last nearly $200 bill in Feb, we gave up, turned off the furnace and used space heaters. Expensive but cheaper than the monthly service bills, outages and gas bill. We just finished paying off the gas bill. Very disappointing performance. We were really proud of the innovation. We are looking to replace the furnace in September with a traditional high efficiency forced air furnace.

In the fall of 2006 we were advised that there was some type of problem with the furnace, and a problem with the electronic air cleaner. Despite 2 calls to their office we never received a return call or an estimate on the work. In May of 2007 we called them again for a tune-up on the air conditioning system. I reminded the service rep who visited that we were never called about costs for repairing things that needed to be repaired. He said that the electronic air cleaner needed to be repaired and that someone would call us with a quote. That was now 3 1/2 weeks ago. I believe that the service rep was knowledgeable and did his best work, but things don't seem to be working well in the office/with follow-up.

Great experience overall. They met my best bid and then some.

THEY CAME OUT A 4TH TIME TO "FIX" THINGS. THEY SAID THEY COULD NOT SMELL ANYTHING AND ADVISED THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO. THIS WAS RIDICULOUS. WE HAD 2 OTHER CONTRACTORS IN THE HOME LATER WHO INDEPENDENTLY ASKED ABOUT THE SMELL. ONE OF THE CONTRACTORS, A SUPERSERVICE WINNER THOUGHT PRACTICAL SYSTEMS SHOULD CREDIT ME FOR THE WORK AND PAY MY HEAT BILL. I STAYED AT MY PARENTS HOME 30 MINUTES AWAY, CONTINUALLY GOING TO MY HOME TO OPEN WINDOWS. I EVEN BOUGHT A $400 AIR FILTER. AFTER A WEEK OF INSANITY, MY HOME FINALLY SMELLED NORMAL. AT OUR REQUEST, THE COMPANY TOOK BACK THEIR PIECE OF GLASS AND RETURNED OUR OLD ONE. HOWEVER, THEY HAVE NOT CREDITED US FOR ALL WORK DONE. ALL I WANTED WAS TO USE MY FIREPLACE. I STILL CANNOT DO THIS. THIS EXPERIENCE WAS EXTREMELY STRESSFUL, AND FINANCIALLY EXPENSIVE. I WAS FORCED TO LIVE APART FROM MY DAUGHTER FOR A WEEK, AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHEN SHE WAS GOING TO BE ABLE TO RETURN.

Mr. Pruse arrived on time, and was very helpful in explaining what he was doing, and what I might do if future problems arise. He worked quickly and thoroughly to find and fix the problem and cleaned up well when he finished.

IT TOOK ALMOST A WEEK TO GET A QUOTE. THE JOB I WAS LOOKING TO HAVE DONE WAS ABOUT $6000.00. THEY MADE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS DOING THEM A FAVOR BY ALLOWING THEM TO DO THE WORK. I DECIDED TO HAVE THE WORK DONE BY ANOTHER COMPANY. MUCH BETTER RESPONSE AND SERVICE.

JON CAME EARLY 10:30 AM WHERE AS IT WAS TO BE 11:30 AM; ROBIN FOLLOWED ABOUT 20 MINUTES LATER. WE DISCUSSED THE SYSTEMS. JON SUGGESTED THE MEDIA FILTERS INSTEAD OF THE ELECTRONIC FILTERS. I DECIDED TO GO WITH THEM. MY BUILDING INSPECTOR HAD SUGGESTED IT ALSO. AND IT WAS $48. JON SHOWED ME HOW TO CHANGE THE LIGHT BULBS AND HOW HE WAS INSTALLING IT. VERY HAPPY WITH BOTH OF THEM.

I CONTACTED THE COMPANY HALF AN HOUR AFTER THE SCHEDULED TIME FOR OUR ESTIMATE. THEY SAID THEIR GUY WAS RUNNING LATE. HE FINALLY SHOWED UP AND DID A REASONABLE JOB OF SCOPING OUT MY PROJECT IN THE 20 MIN. I HAD LEFT BEFORE NEEDING TO LEAVE FOR AN APPOINTMENT. IT'S BEEN A FEW BUSY WEEKS AND NO ESTIMATE, NO CONTACT. I CALLED PRACTICAL SYSTEMS AND ALL THEY COULD DO WAS ASK IF I WAS A CLIENT OF THE SHOWROOM THEY WORK WITH. I'M NOT. I GOT THEIR NAME FROM HERE. THE PERSON WHO ANSWERED THE PHONE JUST SAID ''WELL TROY'S A VERY BUSY PERSON.'' I THINK THAT'S A PRETTY SORRY EXCUSE FOR WASTING MY TIME.

MARK LOOKED AT THE SYSTEM. MADE SUGGESTIONS AS TO WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST SOLUTION. HE ANSWERED MY QUESTIONS. HE CLEANED UP AFTER WARDS AND WAS VERY REASONABLY PRICED AND KNOWLEDGEABLE.

EVERYTHING WENT VERY WELL! I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THE COMPANY.