B Carlson Heating Air Conditioning & Plumbing

While it was very disappointing to have to pay a large bill so soon after the purchase (6 years), the work was done in a timely and professional manner.

Got estimates from 4 local companies. Carlson was not the lest expensive, but we felt comfortable with their warranty, expertise, and reputation. So we contracted with them to do the work. They performed professionally, on time, provided all paperwork and inspections, and cleaned up after the work. The sales staff and technicians are first class. he unit also does heating and that is all we have used so far, but it is quiet and efficient. Looking forward to our first comfortable summer of sleep.

Prompt and very friendly. Furnace was acting up however, it was working properly when the service guy arrived. The furnace has not acted up since he did the partial cleaning a service on it. However, I feel it was a bit pricey for the work performed.

I dealt with two different repairmen from B. Carlson, one for the initial estimate and one for the actual work. They were both very nice and professional. The corrosion issue is well repaired and the heater is operating much more quietly than before. There was a miscommunication about the cost of the cleaning service, but I'm happy to report that B. Carlson handled the issue very professionally. I'm pleased to have found a plumbing company that takes customer service to heart. I know there are plumbers with prices that are a bit lower, but I feel this company offers quality, a willingness to stand behind its work, and a genuine dedication to customer service.

The service I have received from B Carlson has always been excellent. They give me a variety of options, make good suggestions, and then do the work quickly and professionally. They are a bit more expensive than some other options, but I don't mind paying for a quality job.

The heat coil went out and the heat pump couldn't keep the house warm. They determined that the interior unit had quit working so replaced with a unit that was compatible with the heat pump. They explained the process, worked quickly, and cleaned up when finished. Since I am writing this nearly 9 months after the work was done, I don't remember the details. I just appreciated having a warm house!

We just moved into a new home, and needed to know how the plumbing was set up (have a water softener & irrigation system and needed to know what hose bibs were hard water versus soft), and also wanted our heating system checked out. When we called they told us as part of the heater checkup, they would winterize our swamp cooler. Price for that was $139. For the plumbing portion, it was $79. The plumber came first, checked out the lay of the land and told us what we needed to know about our plumbing situation. The heating guy came two days later, as scheduled, serviced our heater and winterized our swamp cooler. We had some questions about putting in a programmable thermostat, which he answered. He offered a few suggestions about things we could do, and offered a maintenance contract, but said that our systems were in good shape. Both technicians were prompt, courteous, and professional. We felt the prices were fair.

Joel was prompt, professional and courteous. I have had annual furnace servicing since the units were installed (by B Carlson) and am very pleased.

Charles was wonderful, friendly and helpful. The work was excellent. I had no complaints. He answered all of my questions.

They're very good. They're very good at what they do. They always call in advance. They're always prompt. We've had them ever since we've lived here and we'll keep them until we move, in the event that we move.

Called and got an appt within the week and an estimate on turning on 2 floor furnaces. Arrived on time and explained what he was going to do. Had to go under the house(crawl space) to do the work. Then turned them on for awhile to check for any bad emissions. Replaced an old, no longer working thermostat which is doing great. He was very professional and friendly.

The whole process took about 4.5 hrs.

When we first called to get an estimate, we were set up for an appointment right away. The young lady who came was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions and concerns. She was prompt with getting the estimate to us within a few days and gave us some time to think about the job before calling back to see if we had any questions. We had called another company to get a second estimate and they did not follow through with any call back. Once we decided to go with B. Carlson, we were set up with dates and the crew arrived promptly and got right on the job. The refrigerated air is fabulous. The crew sent was very professional, courteous and even finished the job early! Left the place clean and when pavers had to be taken up to do some digging, replaced them as they were before. Very pleased with the service and quality.

Professional and timely people from the estimator to the installers. They came back a week later to inspect and noticed a couple minor things they will get corrected - that I would not of noticed until the fall - easy. Need to get competitive bids as their price was high but they came down.

They replace our furnace and old crusty swamp cooler. The new furnace is great, and the high efficiency evaporative cooler is going to be much less maintenance than the old unit. They were very professional from the bid process through the actual install and clean up. They were not the lowest quote we got, but they were the most thorough. The quality of the work they did was top notch. They really took their time to do everything right and even went above and beyond in several cases. After trying several other local companies for various heating/cooling/plumbing issues, I think we have finally found a company we can depend on.

They call to let us know when they are coming and they are very professional. They call after the experience to get our feedback. They are the best heating company we have ever worked with.

No one wants their furnace to go out in February when it was actually so cold, I was huddled by a space heater and couldn't even type on a keyboard. My fingers wouldn't relax. But It happened to me. Every couple years, I'd have a problem with the old furnace and someone would cobble it together (it was huge and old and on borrowed time since I bought this house in 1998) and it would last another year. It finally broke permanently in 2008. Even though I was desperate and cold, I still arranged three estimates because this was a very expensive project and I wanted it done well. I chose this B Carlson because of their reviews on Angie's List. I worked with Jeremy Larson, who was very skilled at coordinating all issues. Because the housing code has been revised many times, there were many logistical problems that had to be overcome. They had to vent through a closet in one of my bedrooms, for example and go up through the roof. The city came out several times to inspect and this inevitably this created more work for the installation crew. Despite the frigid temperatures and city inspection people, everyone managed to keep their wits about them to complete this exhausting job. The old furnace needed to be dismantled and lifted piece by piece through a crawl space under the house. This created horrible work conditions for a group of employees who never complained despite having to work in very close quarters for several days, often improvising about how to get the old boiler out and the new one in. I would recommend this company highly. I've had no problems with the new furnace- but it's only seen one very mild winter so far.

Overall, the service went well. The specialty pads these coolers used were somewhat hard to locate, but eventually they were purchased and installed during the single service call on these coolers. There was absolutely no drama involved in the service call and things were handled very professionally.

Estimate was well explained, including the multiple options for A/C, heat pump or new evaporative coolers. We have sidewalk clearance issues so the agreement was to put the outside unit in the air where the old cooler was. Reference provided to allow us to look at a similar installation. The removal/install work organized to minimize the time without cooling. The coolers were removed and the condenser installed on the platform using a crane from the street with no issues (no damage to concrete, plants, etc.). Crew arrived on time, did a quality install and cleaned up well. Only minor issues were some plastic left on the condenser and the termination of the drain line. Coil drain is pumped to the outside of the garage - the hose is well mounted and secured but just left on the sidewalk for me to figure out where and how to run it (no obvious place). Warranty extended to 5 years with service agreement, although service / maintenance timing is complicated by when the unit was installed (near the end of the cooling season). Programmable thermostat backlight turns off somewhat quickly, making it hard to program.

One of three A/C units in the house stopped working. This happened once in the past. I found notes from my recently deceased husband. The notes said that a service person from Carlson that time had pushed the reset button to re-start the unit. I did not know where this button was and was uncomfortable trying to do this myself, so I called Carlson again. Even though when I called, I said there was no rush as there were two other area A/Cs in the house, the company tried to get me to agree to an after-hours service call that same day at something like 50% more in cost. When I said no thank you, they scheduled the service call for the next day. The service person who came out was not interested in the notes of my late husband, an expert engineer, or what I had to say. He, spent a lot of time checking out other possible causes, finally, as a last resort, he listened to what had happened before, and pushed the re-set button for which I was charged $165.37. I still don't know whether that is something I could have done myself. He said not.

Installation went well, according to my wife, I was at work. I did meet the installers on there last day. They explained the operation of the Digital Thermostat. I had to call them back to finish there "clean up." They left the roof a mess with lime scattered all around from the swamp cooler removal. They did respond the next day and completed the clean up to my satisfaction.

Paid way too much for sub par service. The plumber didn't come prepared to do the job. Talked all the time about himself. He acted like I was asking him to do things outside of his job description. He enlarged a hole in the sink with a pair pliers making a jagged uneven mess. When he left, the plumbing was leaking. I called and they would not come back out. His phone assessment was that the leak was from my existing plumbing (that he was working on!). He said he wasn't in the area any longer and wouldn't be back for several days. I was astounded. We ended up fixing the leak ourselves which wasn't difficult but when you spend $600 to have a plumber do the work, they shouldn't leave it leaking!!!!

I scheduled B. Carlson one week in advance to perform the spring start up/maintenance of our refrigerated air conditioning systems. I scheduled the service with them after being told by another company that they didn't schedule the startup/maintenance on A/C systems until June & July. They made several recommendations during the servicing of one system that would amount to over $1100 in additional services. It is difficult to assess however, if these services are really required for the overall "health" of the 4 year old system. Overall, they were professional, punctual, and performed the start up & maintenance of the systems very well. The technician took 2.5 hours to perform the work, while the dispatcher told me it would take about 1.5 hours.

The gentleman arrived on time, was pleasant and did his assessment within minutes. However, we had expected the cost to be in the ballpark of $500, having had a couple plumbers make estimates within the last year. His estimate was for approximately $900. He explained that they charge a "flat rate". We knew they charged an estimate price if they didn't do the work, but we had figured that the price would be somewhat close to the previous estimates. So, we were out time off from work, $60, and no bath tonight.

Our furnace shorted out in the spring but we didn't address it until we tried to start it in the fall. B. Carlson could send someone out sooner than the other places we called, and they replaced the transformer and thermostat. The furnace still didn't work so the next thing to try was the circuit board. They said it would cost about $350 for the board itself, and that it might not solve the problem; but in the end it did. The only gripe was about the dispatching. For the second visit, replacing the board, we were scheduled between 1 and 5pm, and around 3pm I missed the call to see if we were there. (I was in the bathroom.) I called right back but they had sent the repairman somewhere else. We assumed he wasn't coming and were about to go out when the repairman called at 6:30. So eventually he put in the board and by the time he was done it was 8:30. I took off a half day of work for that, totally wasted. Dispatching, D, but repairman, A.