Durham Mechanical Services, Inc

unknown

I had them work on my downstairs heatpump last fall. They seemed to do a good job. The service tech mentioned that if I had a contract I would save money and be first in line in repairs. They seemed fine and the Angie's reviews seemed good, so I purchased the agreement. During the winter the upstairs heatpump failed. I called them and they came out the next day. They diagnosed a leak. It meant they would be there quite a bit that day and we had guests and a party. I decided to wait. Well, I waited until mid May until a week before guests were scheduled to arrive. I called last night and left a message asking to talk to someone the next morning. At my lunch break, I had to call them. The person I got was courteous and called me back after checking with someone. I was told that everyone had called in, not hot weather, yet, 83 degrees today, and that I would probably not see anyone before Monday, five days. Well, I thought maybe it was the luck of the draw. Since I wouldn't be available the early part of the following week, I looked up 3 other Angie's List A-class AC companies. I checked the BBB ratings as I always do. I called them and all three could send people out today or tomorrow. No just one, but three -- within 6 miles of my house, all Angie's As/BBB A+ companies -- could be out same day or tomorrow. Hmmmm, so much for a contract. I was willing to accept wrong timing which is why I looked up three before calling. When the first one was ready for that day, I had to call the other two. So, if they are available, they are fine, BUT don't bother with a contract because they won't bother about you.

Service by the visiting technicians has always been excellent. I appreciated the professionalism and punctuality on each of 5 past visits I have had with DMS. I have had two preventive maintenance contracts with DMS and just recently signed for my third. My initial contact with DMS in 2007 was to replace a thermostat that had gone out. It was replaced at no charge. I appreciated the service so much that I started my PM agreements with DMS when it was offered in 2008. I have two units in my home and came to find out when renewing my agreement this year that DMS had been undercharging me for the first two years. I always thought it was a great price so the cost will be a little more going forward on an annual basis but still well worth it to me. This year though they added a feature to pay for two years on the PM agreement and get the third year free which brings the net price below what I was paying on my first year. The only criticism I have for DMS was that in 2010 for some reason we fell off their radar and wasn't offered a PM agreement renewal. A call to their office went unanswered though I could have easily been more persistent. I let it slide in 2010 but renewed my efforts this year to get back on the PM agreement. Even their office staff was a bit puzzled on how we were missed for the previous year.

This was the first time we used them. They were fine and we liked them. We called them on a Saturday and they were able to come out immediately to tell us what was wrong with our unit. They told us that we would have to replace it and within the next 3 or 4 days they had the new unit out here. They were pretty professional. The guy that came out to talk to us seemed to really know what he was talking about. We have a contract with them now.