Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning

I'm not going into all the details because Angies List does not offer reviewers anonymity. I will be generous and give this company a C based on good experiences in the past. I have to agree with a reviewer who said they always seem to be selling something. Couple that with a recent, costly experience with an incompetent tech. We are switching companies!

Showed up as scheduled. Took about 2 hours to resolve problems with both units. One unit had probably been out for a while but it had not been hot enough to notice.

I have dealt with this company a couple of times in the past, at my former home, and they did OK, although their marketing department drove me crazy. They called me literally every day for months, presumably to sell me a service contract, although they never left messages....ANYWAY, today my a/c stopped working, so I called them out of desperation. I've lived in my current home for a year, and I decided to bite the bullet and call them only because their name was plastered on the thermostat, the indoor unit, and the outdoor unit of my current home. When the service tech arrived, I explained what was happening with my system, and told him of recent maintenance performed on it by others (addition of refrigerant and a new $30 capacitor). He told me "I'll pretend I didn't hear any of that" and proceeded to tell me that he would have to do a full diagnostic test. I don't mind paying for a full test (and indeed I wanted one), but his manner was insulting, and downright rude. I don't know if he was trying to talk down to me, or if he was just clueless as to how to deal with people.... He fiddled around for 30 minutes, pointed out a "potential fire hazard" (a cardboard box stored near my air handler), quizzed me about the last time I replaced my filters, and presented me with an estimate for around $1400 (all said and done) to replace a "txv" plus all the coolant on my air handler, with the offer to provide an estimate to completely replace my 9 year old unit. I told him I wasn't interested in dealing with his company, asked him to tell them NOT to call me, and paid him for his $99 service call. However, in between his dire warnings about my ancient 9 year old system (sarcasm intended), he gave me a clue as to what the problem might be, so after he left I went outside, bled the refrigerant line for 2 or 3 seconds (it's a valve, like on a car tire), and my unit came on when I switched it on at the thermostat. It's still running, and it's now 72 degrees inside. If it keeps running, that's great, but if it stops again, I'm certainly NOT calling Service Experts!!

Very well. In fact when we had a later problem unrelated to the original service the company made every effort to help us an the same day that we made the request,

I was told that I would need a new unit which would have been really expensive. So I called to get a second quote and they told me my unit was fine and did not need repaired. Their tech that day did an awesome job. He gave me numbers in case a repair was needed They were very open with their communication and responded to my concerns. He was on time. The tech wore booties in my house to protect the floors. He took the time to explain to me what he was looking at.

They put in a completely new HVAC system, replacing the old one. What was particularly good was the level of expertise, from the sales person that come out and measuring and determining the right size of the equipment to the quality of the installers and the cleanliness and quickness that they got the job done. And then the follow up afterward providing minor adjustments, providing for the county inspector to come out for the inspection. They have just been great all the way around. Their prices are competitive, the value that you receive for what you pay is excellent. They are a reputable company and they stand behind the product and their labor.

My experience with Service Expert was the last straw in a three year-odyssey of problems, I?m exhausted from dealing with them. It began in April 2010 when I contacted them to replace a broken AC unit with a new heating and cooling system including a whole house humidifier, cost $11,000. I had used Service Experts when I replaced the system in my old house and was very pleased with them. So when I needed a new system at my new house I called them without hesitation. The installation seemed to go well until after a few days water started to drip from my first floor bathroom ceiling. The systems humidifier had falling off the unit and was spraying water all over my second floor utility room. The humidifier was installed using duct tape. When they came to repair the problem the technician discovered the unit that was initially ordered and installed wasn?t even the right one and wouldn?t fit (explains the duct tape). Next, it was time to have the unit?s installation inspected by the city. A nice Service Expert employee called me to set a time. When the day came I waited and waited. Calling the employee back in turns out she failed to ever contact the city with the time. That fall I found that the unit wasn?t able to warm the house, to the desired 72 degrees. After two different ?expert? visited a third discovered the fan speed on the unit?s blower was set too fast when it had been installed. I was tired of their inability to get the system working right and complained to the company and was considering invoking my right under their warranty to have the whole unit removed and my money returned. They assured me all was fixed and to lessen my concerns offered a three year extension on their original one year platinum warranty, which I understood covered everything. I agreed. I have to call every year and remind them of our deal to get the next year?s warranty into their system so I can get the unit maintained. This usually requires going through several different people. I have complained during all the previous maintenance visit that the house was very dry and I felt the humidifier wasn?t working properly, my humidity meter was flat lining. The technicians assured me that the humidifier was working properly. Though he must have had doubts he cranked the humidity setting up to 70 percent (normally it is set at about 45 percent). During the last tune-up I complained again and it was discovered that the humidifier wasn?t working properly. No worry, I have the platinum coverage. But no, the humidifier isn?t covered; $284 to fix the thing that started these several years of frustration in the first place and that I was assured was a quality, reliable product installed properly-- so much for their guarantee. I will add that I am handicapped and in a wheelchair and cannot check on the work myself. I have to trust them. I truly wish I had never called and had gone somewhere else.

they always seem to find things that need replacement. Often, the need to replace is questionable, especially when we get a second opinion from another company

I purchased an annual service agreement for both my heater and A/C unit. The company was very punctual and scheduled an appointment the same week, for which I was very grateful. They found a part that they recommended be replaced because it controlled the heater blower which would impact if the system was operational. Unit is a 7year old Lennox. I agreed to have the part replaced. A week later we had an early cold snap. One morning I woke up to cold house. Temp was about 60 degrees. I called the company and referenced the fact that I had just paid $336 for an annual service contract and part replacement exactly one week before. They sent a tech out. He was even nicer than the first gentleman. After several cycles of the unit he was able to replicate the issue. He thought the replacement part was faulty, so he replaced it with a new one. The unit failed again when he tested it. Utlimately he had to call the Lennox company rep, and was advised that my particular Lennox system does not work with generic parts which was being used. The tech had to go the a supply company to get a genuine Lennox part, which he installed in no time. My system has been working well since.

Service Experts did an excellent install of a complete HVAC system in the fall of 2009. We purchased their top-level service agreement which was stated to include heater, a/c and ancillary equipment, which we took to mean the thermostat and humidifier since they had been installed at the same time. After the Spring, 2011 service, they told us ?they had turned the water flow to the humidifier up.? We had no problems until the fall (because the humidifier was off), when we started hearing an intermittent loud noise in our pipes. We had Service Experts out twice, but the problem never happened while they were here. Finally, we traced it to our humidifier. We learned to turn the humidifier off when it happened to keep our sanity. (The noise was VERY LOUD) We proceeded to have 3 more service calls by 3 different technicians, each of whom attributed the problem to a different humidifier part. They replaced first the fan motor, second the solenoid, and third the entire circuit board of the humidifier. They would always leave us a bill, but say ?Don?t worry, it is covered under your contract.? The sum of all the parts was hundreds of dollars more than we could buy a new humidifier for on the web. We finally escalated our problem to the service manager, and they sent out someone who took the time to diagnose the problem carefully, rather than just replacing parts. It was fixed by changing the water source from the hot water to the cold water pipe. The symptom had probably been caused by turning up the humidifier flow but they moved it to the cold water to be sure. We then received a bill for the parts. After we complained that everyone had told us the parts were covered, Service Experts agreed not to charge us for the repairs. We debated whether to continue with them, but since they had not charged us in the end, we did purchase a service contract for another year. The person doing our fall 2012 maintenance (in September) replaced the pad on the humidifier and left the water turned off by mistake (we learned later). When we turned on the heat in late October, the humidifier was not working. So, we called Service Experts. This time, they made it VERY CLEAR that our service contract did not include the humidifier. (We had not understood that from the previous experience, but maybe we should have). The service tech came out, and spent about an hour studying the humidifier. He asked for the manual, and took many voltage measurements. He pronounced that we need a solenoid, and it will cost $223 plus installation, and of course, the service charge of $84 for today?s visit. It was deja vue. This is exactly the way our previous years? nightmare had begun - replacing parts-- only this time it was clear we were paying. We did not have confidence that this would be the end of it, so we decided to cancel our service contract and call Progressive Heating and Air. Their technician came out the next day. He quickly analyzed that the solenoid was working, but water was not getting through it. He took it out, and washed it in Dawn, and made a wire to pass through it to clean it further. The total cost was for the visit, no parts. We decided to cancel our service contract with Service Experts, and look to Progressive Heating and Air for further work. Service Experts agree to give us back a pro-rated amount on our contract. They did not seem to be interested in why we wanted to cancel the contract.

This work was performed within the last 3 months. Our upstairs HVAC unit stopped working so we called out Service Experts since they installed both of our HVAC units and we are under a service contract. My wife was at the house to meet the technician who arrived an hour late (past the last time given within the range of times originally provided when the appointment was made). I spoke with the technician on the phone and he informed me that the system turned off due to water in the pan in the attic due to clocked drainage. He said both lines were clogged at that he could put a device on each line which would cost $200 per line. I didn't think this sounded right and my wife had to leave the house to pick up my kids from school (since he was late). We had to write a check for the visit even though he didn't do anything. He indicated he would return at 5:00 when I expected to be home. When I arrived the technician was not at the house. I called the Service Experts office and was told he was put on another call. After much aggravation they decided to send a supervisor. After looking at the situation, the supervisor had no idea what the technician was talking about with regards to two lines or the devices. The supervisor indicated the line was clogged and he had to fix the line so he could run a snake to clean it out. What I learned is that the twice a year maintenance I was paying for was actually not being done since it was physically impossible to run the snake down the line. I was still asked to pay despite the problem being a result of not getting the proper maintenance by Service Experts. Finally, I was told they would agree to not charge for the visit. This company talks about being "local" but good luck speaking with someone local. When you call the "local" 919 phone number you are routed to someone out of state. My experience is Service Experts cares more about selling me multi-thousand dollar units (one in 2012 and one in 2007) and less about providing dependable and high quality service. I can put up with a lot as long as a company attempts to care but I've seen nothing from Service Experts that indicates they care or wish to keep my business. Good luck.

I highly recommend them. They are a very honest family-own business.

they call frequently to set up another service date.

The technicians arrived promptly and, during several hours, cleaned all floor and ceiling duct-work thoroughly, then a mold abatement tech scrubbed the affected parts of the air handler. Thereafter, the UVC lamps were mounted within the air handler. The technicians were very careful around the furnishings and carpets, and to remove any debris. I've used the services of this company for annual heat pump maintenance over the past 3 years, and expect to continue to call on them.

Overall, it was a 100% positive experience. It was not inexpensive, but I feel we were given appropriate choices, not pressured at all and gotten an appropriate value for the money we spent.

Everything went ok. I wasn’t totally thrilled. Part of the problem was that the techs were not as experienced as I would have liked. They spent more time on the phone then actually serving the unit. There was one tech that came out though that really knew what he was doing.

They actually called when the tech was on the way about 10 minutes before he showed up; he showed up early. He diagnosed the problem and took me out to the unit to show me what needed to be done. He asked if I wanted him to proceed then he told me what the cost was going to be. He fixed the problem and actually saved me some money in the long run by signing me up for a service contract which is only that service and one other service in case we need it. Then he went about his day; and my AC works, which is even more important. I will use them again in the future.

I was satisfied with the service. I would recommend them.

They had to come out twice to resolve the problem. The technicians were friendly and knowledgeable but the company itself is horrible. They charged me $305 for a part and when I looked up the part on the internet it only cost $32.00 which is a 854% mark up. This cost was supposed to be for the part only. The weather was in the low 30s so I felt like I had no choice but to pay for it because it was too cold to "shop" around. I will never use this company again because of this issue. The technician also agreed with my frustration and advised me that it was out of his control because the prices are set by the company.

They did a good job, and everything went well. However, I do not like that they do not knock before entering my home. This didn't just happen this time, it seems to happen every time they come out. Other than that, they are good. They are on time, prompt, and I never have to wait for them.

We have dealt with them for a long time and they do a great job. They check our heat pump, thermostat and regular heating system. They go underneath the house and check filters; it takes several hours for them to do it. I will use them again in the future.

It was just after hours on one of the hottest days of the summer when we realized that one of our A/C units was not cooling properly. I was not that impressed with the Angie's list rating of Service Experts; however, they had installed the unit originally (previous home owner) so I called them along with several others. They called back very promptly and were able to come to the house to access the situation that evening. No other company was able to make that promise. They arrived around 10:30 or 11:00 pm - calling first to make sure we still wanted the service call - and were able to determine what needed repaired. When I called around the next day to check pricing, theirs was not the lowest price, however it was competitive and they did have a coupon on Angie's List. They came within the time frame agreed upon to perform the repair and again called to inform us of when they were coming. Gary K. performed the repair quickly and in an extremely professional manner and even changed the capacitor out for free. I was highly impressed with the service from start to finish. We did have a slight billing problem after the repair, however when I called to inquire about it, they looked at their records, realized their error and fixed it immediately. Our A/C has continued to work for the balance of the hot summer. Thanks for a great experience!

They are fine. We have a contract with them. The repair man was very thorough and polite. He did a good job. He cleaned out the A/C unit. I have no complaints.

I don't believe we ever need it. We had a collapsed air duct in the attic. They had to come back a few times because they couldn't get the work right. They were supposed to put in dampers (which they had to come back in correctly). They didn't have a part to make the humidifier to work correctly. They seemed very incompetent.

I've been with them for a few years. I generally like them but recently they have been pushing the upsell.