Yellow Dot Heating & Air Conditioning

After an annual heating and air check-up, I was advised, by a different company, to replace the entire heating and air system. After searching on Angie?s List and receiving several estimates, my husband and I decided to go with Yellow Dot. The salesperson was very helpful and appeared intent on helping us install the system that was best for our house. Like the other companies, the Yellow Dot salesperson sold us on the argument that we should replace the system before it dies and leaves us without heating or air conditioning for 2 to 3 days with a young child (we have a 10 month old). We agreed. The price was very reasonable and the salesperson asked us if it would be okay for them to install it on a Saturday, which would result in an extra discount. Even though our air conditioning was working, we agreed. Saturday: The two technicians that installed the system arrived on time and worked hard to get it installed. When they finished (around 2:00 PM), they informed us that a part in the AC system was defective and could not be replaced until Monday morning. Later Saturday my husband received a call from the project manager asking if the project was complete and if the technicians were still there. He said the project was complete and that the technicians were not there at that time. He also mentioned the defective part and the fact that we would be without AC until Monday. The project manager simply said ?okay.? Monday: I received a call from the project manager saying that the technician would be out to replace the part between 1 and 2 PM. Immediately after that call, I received a call from the Yellow Dot office saying that the technician would be there between 4 and 5 PM, after he completed his current job. When I asked why the new job took precedence over my incomplete job, the woman on the phone repeated that technician would be out between 4 and 5. When the first technician arrived, he had the wrong part and said he would have to order the correct part. He said that he would be back the next day to replace it. I became frustrated because we had been without air condition for three days, over a hot weekend when we had out-of-town guests (as well as a 10-month-old). I called the office and firmly insisted that they solve the problem and find a part immediately. Arrangements were finally made for another technician to take apart a new unit to take and install the necessary part. By 5 PM Monday night, the unit was working. Tuesday: By 11:00 AM the next day, the unit had shut off. Again I was informed that someone would be out to fix it as soon as other jobs were completed. I called the project manager who had been working with us throughout the project to as why other jobs again took precedence over our incomplete job. He said, ?Ma?am, I feel like you don?t think I have a heart?, and ?I don?t want to say it?s not our fault, but it?s not our fault?, that these things happen and it was just unfortunate that it happened to us. He said that rather than receive a bad review, he would happily come out and remove our system and let us contact another company to install a new one. I did not see this as a realistic solution, but I realized that he was not going to be able to propose a better option, so I agreed to wait for his technician to get to our house after he finished the job he was currently working. Finally, at 3:00 PM, the unit was working again. Now: I have waited a few months to post this review, so as not to be unnecessarily harsh or angry. The unit continues to work well, and there is some evidence from our past few electric bills that it may be more efficient than our previous (30-year-old) unit. However, At this point we are so frustrated with the service we received from Yellow Dot, that if we need the unit serviced in the future we are strongly considering going to another company despite our parts and labor guarantee. General comment: The technicians that were sent to install and service the unit were very responsive and we appreciate their hard work. However, we were without AC for three days in July when the sales pitch was ?be proactive so that you are not without AC for three days in July.? After we committed to the project, however, we were given the impression that all other jobs were more important than ours. Had this been a simple new service request, we would have accepted that. But, this was not a new service request; it was a request to complete an incomplete project.

The work was done efficiently and in a professional manner. I was pleased with the work.

The coupon was $99 for one pound of coolant. The problem was, the system is many years old, at least 30 years, and required an additional 6 lbs of coolant, which was an additional $600. The high price was not the fault of the company, but it did bring down my overall satisfaction since who wants to pay $700 to get an old AC unit working again. Overall, we were glad to have this company take care of this problem for us.

Great service. Tech arrived on time.Tech was comfortable with allowing me to go along on the whole process, which was a learning experience for me. Very friendly and knowledgeable. Customer service was great too.

Quick estimate provided, best price of four vendors. Installation went reasonably well, though installers replaced a piece of trim work incorrectly and didn't ensure that A/C drain was clear, causing a shutoff problem. The problem was identified and fixed quickly.

I would like to know how to have my system be able to maintain cooling. And in the past I have other companies clean my AC unit - I don't remember them using my water hose to clean it. Not sure if this is standard practice.

Yesterday, my AC stopped blowing cold air. The fan that circulates the air was working, but the outside unit was not. Neither the fan, nor the compressor was working. After I described the symptoms, the technician turned on the AC and verified that the air was blowing, but the outside unit was completely silent. He opened the service panel on the side of the outside unit, where the capacitor is within easy reach. The dual capacitor (if I understand it correctly, it supports both the fan and the compressor) was blown (the top of the cylinder-shaped canister was domed/bulged out). The technician then replaced the capacitor with a new one. After that, the AC started working fine. There was a loose cable going to the fan that came off, so he also tightened the clip and reconnected it). At this point, I think he spent less than 10 minutes since he came, and the AC was back up and running. He then hooked up a temperature gauge and pressure gauges to the AC unit and made some readings. he said the high-side was a bit high (slightly under 300 psi). He said it may be due to low refrigerant, but also may be because the radiator fins were dirty and thus not dissipating heat very efficiently, and that may also be causing the high pressure reading. He then went up into the attic to check the inside unit. He checked some amperage somewhere (not sure exactly what) and said that even though it was a bit off, it was still acceptable. He also strongly recommended that I get the outside unit cleaned, and recommended I buy the maintenance plan (which includes 2 trips to clean (and possibly doing some other checks - not sure). He told me they charge, if I remember correctly, about $105 for the cleaning. I am overall happy with the experience. They were able to accommodate me the same day, the tech arrived when I was told he would, he seemed to know what he was doing. However, there are two things I did not like: 1) He was a bit pushy about getting the coils cleaned and/or purchasing the maintenance contract which includes the cleaning. I asked him if it's something I could do myself with dish soap or some other household cleaner, and he advised against it and cautioned me that I may damage something (he said there are aluminium and copper parts - I don't see how I can damage them with dish soap). He said they use some chemicals to clean the coils. I'm not sure how long it would take to do the cleaning and how much the chemicals would cost, but $105 seems way too much for a cleaning job. I can have my whole house cleaned, with two people working up to 3 hours, for that same price. he brought up the cleaning and the maintenance contract several times even after I told him there's no way I'm paying over $100 for cleaning. 2) I had asked them beforehand how much the charge would be if it turned out to be a bad capacitor, and they told me, and I agreed to it, so technically I cannot blame them for the charge. However, after they replaced the capacitor, I looked online to see how much the capacitor would cost if I bought it myself. I found same spec dual capacitors on Amazon for - less than $30. At almost 7 times the price, the $206 they charged me for that same capacitor is way, way overpriced. I can see them putting a mark-up on parts, but 7 times the price? That's unacceptable. A few weeks ago, I had the same exact problem with another AC in a condo in the Washington, DC area. They replaced a single capacitor, and the charge for that was $35. The price Yellow Dot had quoted me for a single capacitor was $99. That's almost 3 times the price of the other one, and that is the DC area prices. I did agree to the price when I called them. But having learned how much mark-up they have on such a simple, low-tech part, and having seen how simple the whole thing was, I am very much inclined to buy an extra capacitor myself, and the next time my AC breaks, I'll check the capacitor first, and replace it myself, rather than calling someone else for service. If the parts markup was more reasonable, I might not mind calling for service the next time and paying for the service. But in this case, I'll be replacing my own capacitor from now on.

Our A/C went out before one of the hottest days of the year. I called Yellow Dot first thing on Friday morning and they calledme back promptly. I wanted an estimate over the phone and most companies these days don't do that. I knew what was wrong with my unit. I provided them a little bit of information and they were able to give me a quote over the phone. I asked if they could come out the same day to replace my evaporator coil and they said that they were very busy but would see what they could do. They informed me that I could go on their "on call" list. Within two hours, the technician was at my house. My A/C was fixed by 1:30 pm. How's that for service?! I found this company to be up front, punctual, and honest. I would definitely do business with them again. In fact, I signed up for their semi-annual service!

It went very well, they showed up earlier (with advance notice) and quickly took care of the problem.

I called because we weren't getting any cool air upstairs. Several other places couldn't come out for several days, but Yellow Dot could come out the next morning. Cesar showed up promptly and was professional and courteous. He diagnosed the problem quickly and fixed it right away. He also gave us some tips on how to maintain our systems better - all great advice. I liked the service and attitude so much I took the plunge for the annual maintenance contract, so we will be seeing them twice a year.

I called Yellow dot and told them that I wanted to employ them for an annual maintenance contract to take care of my HVAC. I was directed towards the Mgr that handled that area. They told me he was in and would call me back in a couple of minutes. Three hours later I called back and we set up an appointment for the following week for their Field Manager to stop by to review my location and gather information for a quote. The appointment date came. No one showed up. I never received a call. Two days later I called back and left a message asking them what the status was and when they were going to come out. Two weeks later I still have not even received a call from them. Not showing up for an appointment is not a good thing, but not even giving a customer a call back is unexcusable. Keep in mind that this was even after I called them asking them to call me. I won't be using Yellow Dot and would not recommend them. If they are this nonresponsive before the sale, I don't want to find out how they would respond after I was locked into a contract.

Because of the other great reviews I bought 2 of the Angie's List $99 coupons (since I had 2 units that needed service).I contacted them via Angie's List on 7/1 but did not get a response, so I contacted them via Angie's List again on 7/3.I didn't expect to get a response on 7/4, but they contacted me that morning.They said they could see me that day, so I agreed.When the technician (Miguel) arrived he went straight to work and was very professional.He did a thorough cleaning of the heat exchanger units outside and fixed the inside evaporator units, so the condensate flowed correctly.He added coolant to one of the units that needed it and advised me that it may have contamination in the line which we can take care of later (which I'm not surprised about considering who put the unit in to begin with).At any rate, this company was the first to even consider cleaning the units and that impressed me.Overall I am very satisfied with Yellow Dot and will do business with them in the future.

I was overall pleased. The weekend that I had issues was a record breaking temperature weekend and their response was good. I'm a fairly technical person and he did a satisfactory job of explaining the issues. He walked me through things I can do to keep the system running well or if I preferred they could come out and do it. In the end I believe that he performed high quality work. Based on this service call I would recommend them again.

They did a terriffic job! I give them an A PLUS!!

- We returned home from vacation to find that our downstairs AC was not working. I called Yellow Dot after reading the reviews on Angies list - Saturday evening at 7pm. I received a prompt return call, very valuable information and scheduled an "emergency" after hours call. Our technician, Jason, was fabulous! He called to let me know what time he would get to our home (10pm!), was very professional, courteous and got us up and running quickly. Very hard workers and knowledgeable about their trade, very professional, thorough and courteous. No one tried to upsell, just told us what we needed - greatly appreciated their service!

Professional, thorough and courteous service. Jason was the technician. He arrived on time and did a great job. Prices were very reasonable and my AC is working great!

They gave me a good brand name that I was looking for. Their customer service and clean up were excellent! They arrived exactly on time and completed the work efficiently. Both the sales and service managers stopped by to check on the work and called a few days later to ensure my satisfaction. The city inspector also verified the unit was installed correctly. Although it was just installed last month, I’m very happy with it. I’ve chosen to sign a service contract with them.

Called them the day prior to service. They scheduled an afternoon show with a more specific time being called in in the morning. We had to call to get that time but other than that they showed up exactly when they said they would. Turns out that most of the problem was our fault for not changing the filters. Between my wife and i we had thought the other one had done it. The guy was really nice and did only the service we needed without charging us extra for our ignorance. We appreciate the honesty.

We purchased the coupon deal offered on Angie's List for a service and up to a pound of freon. Our first pleasant surprise was how quickly a service call could be made: I called on Tuesday morning after a holiday weekend, and received a 7:45-8:00 am arrival time for Thursday. Our service person, Jason Anderson, was a paragon of service. Not only did he arrive on time, he explained everything as he went along. He was cheerful and friendly. He pointed out two troublesome capacitors and estimated their remaining possible lifespan. We replaced the one that had maybe a year, and decided to wait on the one that might last five. He showed my husband the wire that had a short, and my husband fixed that. Jason cleaned our condenser and checked our filter status. All together, he was here for about 90 minutes. We couldn't have had a better experience. Bottom line: the company is great. Their employees are terrific. We are thrilled and happy to recommend them to anyone needing A/C service.

Richard was professional, punctual and courteous. Service was performed quickly and efficiently. He informed me of a service plan that would have saved me a lot of money that I wish I had known about. Overall, I was very satisfied.

Great! They came on the date that was agreed upon. Very thorough.

They’ve been a great company to work with. After the installation, we had a problem. They sent somebody out the next morning, and they fixed the issue. They’re very responsive, punctual, and everything went well!

They were very good. They fixed a problem that nobody else found.

They had a promotion going on about six months ago and then we called them a month ago because we were having problems and they came out and they were wonderful. We were having trouble with unit coming on, they fixed that, they cleaned, and did maintenance on it. They were very prompt, very personable, and very thorough. I was totally pleased with the service. I was satisfied with their pricing. I would absolutely use them again in the future.

I got a bid for a 15 SEER Trane unit and during the pitch the salesman indicated the actual rating with the particular air handler was 15.75 SEER. Buying an HVAC is like buying a car in the sense that you don't really know what the real price is and prices are often negotiable (e.g. who knows if the company gets rebates and so forth?) I got another bid from another company and decided to buy the unit from Yellow Dot if I could get a reasonable price. I negotiated and we agreed on the $6K amount. I was asked to send an email indicating that I agreed to the $6K price, so I asked the salesman to send me the heat pump and air handler model#s. With those model#s, I tried to find the SEER rating with google, but could not. I asked the salesman about where to find the SEER rating and he pointed me to trane.com. However, a search of trane.com with those model#s did not turn up anything. trane.com only reports high-level names like XR15, not the 10 or more character name that represents the true model number. I contacted the salesman and asked him to find it and he came back wth an official AHRI data sheet, but it was 15.00 SEER. Since it was lower than the 15.75 SEER value we verbally agreed to, I asked for some discount and was refused even if it was just something like an extra free maintenance visit. The written bid shows "15 SEER", but a verbal selling point was "it's really 15.75 SEER". If the company's job is selling HVAC units and SEER rating measures the efficiency of the HVAC units then accuracy during the selling/bid process should be a given. The difference was not 15.75 versus 15.60 nor 15.80. I made the conscious decision that the mistake was an honest one. I had my choice to make. I was disappointed in the bid process due to the above, but maybe the price was okay, so I decided to go ahead. It helped that the technician I dealt with previously to prove the old unit needed replacing impressed me, so I had some good feelings about the company along with good Angie's List reviews. Two people installed the unit. Time will tell if it's a good or bad purchase, but my impression was that they did a very good job. In general, I would suggest you get a company (any company) to show you the one-page AHRI datasheet that shows you the SEER rating for your heat pump and air handler before you sign anything. That datasheet is not part of the pre-signing process I have gone through before, but it will be from now on. It's also worth noting that I have a 10-year Yellow Dot "craftsmanship" labor warranty, but that's for all non-Trane equipment. The Trane equipment is a 5-year labor warranty and I almost missed that distinction. I'm not an expert in getting HVAC bids, but I think some HVAC manufacturers offer (or the companies that install them) 10-year labor on the HVAC units and air handler units, too. Trane and Yellow Dot parts warranty are both 10 year. Trane has a varied reputation if you google it, but I've decided to believe it's high quality :-)