Mechanical Control Solutions

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All work promised was performed.

It's been really good.

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I was walking out of Costco and saw a promotional booth and gave them my name and phone number. It's wonderful to have Costco as a reference before you even look for a service provider. They acted as a good filter to me as far as price and the equipment. When it came to hiring in the past most specialist were difficult to talk to, but I found that these people did have the time and expertise. They were very helpful and courteous. They came on Monday to just look things over and they were professional. It was amazing. The high quality installation matched the high quality equipment. I initally had a 1970's furnace and I replaced it. I tried to get some outline on how the heater functioned because it's 96% percent energy efficient. They were tutoring me and gave me the facts as it related to the system. They removed my old cooler and also were very clean. They were professional all the way around and I am very pleased.

We were impressed with Anthony's initial visit and committed to the contract. After his callback visit, we canceled the contract after our handyman (Angie's List A rated, Joe Mangion) found the screw that was suppose to be in place blocking the hole in the shield. That stopped the leak and Joe replaced the kitchen light fixture and sealed roof vent mountings. I think Joe will do my seasonal switching for heat and AC in the future.

We are not very happy with them. We had evaporated coolers and they switched that out and they put in two furnaces and two refrigerated air systems which was one for upstairs and one for down stairs. We had to have them back out repeatedly and we haven’t had a lot of cold air. We were getting it ready for the wedding as the downstairs air-conditioning system was not working. They had to replace supposedly brand new system but they had to replace the TXV in both them and that’s what makes the refrigerator be cool. Two brand new systems and TXV was bad in both of them. It was not something that they had in hand and had o order it overnight but it seems like the brand new system shouldn’t have such kind of problem.

When we decided to replace our old swamp coolers for refrigerated air conditioning, we decided to purchase the Lennox system through Costco. We trust Costco and their products, and we were confident that the company they contracted with for installation would be very professional and competent. We were so wrong. Our experience began on April 12th, when we signed the paperwork. The salesman led us to believe that a crew would come in and complete the work in no more than two days. He assured us they would explain the system to us and walk us through the set-up procedure for the Wi-Fi thermostat. None of that happened, and it has been two months since the installation was begun, and we are still waiting for a final city inspection - the first mechanical and electrical inspections did not pass. April 22 - Two technicians arrived at 9:00 and began the demo of the two swamp coolers. One tech left for about three hours, leaving one working alone. The swamp coolers were mostly removed, but the entire demo was not completed on the first day. April 23 - The techs had told us they would start working at 9:00. By 10:30, no one had arrived, so we called the office. The techs arrived at 11:00. The salesman came by and apologized, offering us four years of free maintenance. We are not very confident they will follow-through with this, since we've had so much trouble with the installation of the unit. And again, one worker left for about four hours, leaving one worker by himself for most of the day. April 24 - The two technicians arrived at about 9:00 and worked all day. They used a lot of our existing duct work, and only had to install two return ducts in the crawl space and cut new intakes into the floors. My husband tried to explain to the tech that he didn't like where they were installing the hard-wired thermostat, because it was directly above an existing register that they were using for our new unit. But he insisted that was the "optimal" place to put it, since it was near the return.. The next issue was the placement of the unit. We live on the west mesa, which is a huge sandbox. They balanced this huge HVAC unit on two 4X4 cedar posts - IN SAND. My husband told them it would not work, and that he would pay to have a cement slab laid as a base for the unit. They kept insisting that the 4X4's were "code". By 6:00 that evening, the unit was hooked up and appeared to be working. When we asked if they would walk us through the operation of the unit and the set-up for the Wi-Fi, they handed us the operator's manual for the thermostat. The holes cut in the floors for the return vents were larger than normal registers, so they had to special-order the cover grills. We were assured that they would arrive in a day or two. They also left two holes with exposed wires, where they had removed the old thermostats. Also, they didn't have the propane hook-up transition fitting that needed to be installed before the unit would work. So by the third day, the unit was not fully functional. April 26 - We called the residential manager, Sandy Adams, regarding the status of our cover grills, because no one had called us. She set up an appointment for the following Monday at 1:00 for the grills to be installed. April 29 - A worker came by Monday morning to install the propane hook-up. He informed us that the grills had come in, but now they couldn't find them! The employee who signed for them was off on Monday, and no one could find where he'd put them. We were told they'd have to wait until he came back to find out where our grills were. And when the technician went to the unit to install the propane hook-up, he realized he'd been given the wrong one! May 1 - The technician came out to install the correct propane hook-up. Still, we had received no calls concerning the cover grills. May 3 - The tech came out about 4:00 in the afternoon with the cover grills. Again, no one called us. He just showed up. He had the final paperwork with him, which we refused to sign. We were told by the salesman that a supervisor would conduct an inspection and make sure everything was working properly. And that hadn't happened. We still had holes in our wall with exposed wires, and the thermostat was not working properly. Because of the register directly under the thermostat, it was shutting off prematurely before the rest of the house was cool. May 7 - After not hearing anything from MCS, we called to see if someone would be coming out for the final inspection. Sandy Adams set up an appointment for the following day. Why she waited until we called her, I don't know. May 8 - Dave Getzen, the sales engineer, arrived at our door with the paperwork to be signed. When we told him we had several issues to discuss, he went back to his car to get a notebook. He was surprised to see the holes in our walls with the exposed wires, and he agreed that the placement of the thermostat above the register made it very inefficient. He set up an appointment for Monday, May 13, for the resolving of these issues. May 13 - The technician called to inform us that they wouldn't be arriving until early afternoon. They finally arrived, and moved the thermostat and covered the holes with the exposed wires. May 18 - We noticed that the unit seemed unusually noisy. We discovered that the sand had shifted under the posts, and one end of the unit had sunk into the sand, and the other end was in the air, completely off the post. My husband immediately shut off the propane, because the shifting of the unit now caused a dangerous situation, with a possible gas leak. He immediately called Sandy Adams, who kept telling him the 4X4's were "code". She did send a technician out. He arrived with a shovel, thinking he would just move the sand around to try to level it. My husband explained again that we were on pure sand, and would have to have a concrete pad laid as a base for the unit. Again, he stressed that we were more than happy to pay for the pad. And he explained that the rocking of the unit was very dangerous with a propane hook-up. At this time, we contacted Costco to let them know how poorly the installation was going, and how unhappy we were. The following week, my husband placed several calls to Dave Getzen, the sales engineer, regarding when we could have a concrete pad laid. His calls were not returned until Thursday. Again my husband stressed how important it was to have a concrete pad, and that we would pay for it. Mr. Getzen said he would talk to Sandy Adams and they would find someone to give us an estimate. May 24 - MCS sent a concrete contractor out to give us an estimate for a cement pad. He had not done any work for MCS, but one of the employees knew him and recommended him for the job, so Sandy sent him out. We accepted his bid. May 27 - We called the Sales engineer again to see when we could get the unit moved so we could set a date for the installation of the concrete slab.. Dave Getzen told us they would have to get a crane to move the unit. My husband agreed to pay half the cost of the crane, because it was essential that we get the slab installed. May 29 - We were contacted by a representative of Costco, who informed us they were in touch with Sandy Adams. Sandy then called us and said she would get the unit moved, and it would not require a crane. May 31 - Three workers came out to move the A/C unit. The job site foreman told my husband that he couldn't see the unit moving.. My husband then put his had on the corner and rocked the unit, showing him there was three to four inches of movement, and the corner of the unit was completely off the post. June 5 - The concrete slab was installed. June 7 - The unit was placed on the slab. June 11 - The city inspectors - mechanical and electrical - arrived to inspect the unit. NEITHER INSPECTION PASSED. Electrical: a 50-amp breaker was installed, and instructions on the unit itself clearly state that no more than a 40=amp breaker should be used. Also, some wiring had to be replaced. Mechanical: the position of the propane pipe was not to code specifications, and the pvc pipe had to be spray-painted to minimize sun damage. June 13- An electrician came and replaced the 50-amp breaker with a 30-amp breaker, and the job site foreman spray-painted the pvc pipe. We waited for the foreman to return and correct the propane pipe that day, but he didn't. June 14th - My husband called Sandy Adams to find out when the work would be completed. She stated that she thought it was finished. The job site foreman returned in the afternoon, saying he thought he'd completed everything. My husband showed him the Mechanical Inspector's Correction list, which he'd seen the day before, and pointed out again that there were two corrections to be made. My husband explained to him that it is the foreman's responsibility to thoroughly examine the work his technicians perform, to make sure everything is correct so that it will pass inspection. June 17 - The propane pipe was re-positioned today, and we'll have another inspection June 19. This whole experience has been so disappointing to us. We're paying top-dollar for an excellent product, and we expect professional-quality work to be done, without us having to do any trouble-shooting. We think the weak link in this company is the job-site foreman. If he'd done his job, we might have passed inspection. We do appreciate Sandy Adams for trying to resolve issues for us, and the technicians were all very nice. We think this company didn't realize all the work an affiliation with Costco would bring, and weren't prepared for it. We wouldn't hire this company for anything else.

We considered and selected this contractor because they are affiliated with Costco. We thought that this affiliation would bring an extra level of service and pricing. We were wrong. The work we contracted to have done was to replace our original swamp cooler unit and furnace with a new high efficiency Lennox refrigerated cooling/heating unit. The issues we encountered really started with the sales process in March and didn't end until we settled final problems in June. 1. Mid March. Met with salesman from MCS who walked us thought the options that were available through the Costco arrangement. We selected the Lennox High efficiency configuration. 2. April 4-5: Initial MCS crew (HVAC and Electrical) arrived and started tear down/installation work. Work was completed and there were a few IOUs for them to complete the work but nothing that was significant. They owed me a new return grill because the unit pull was causing a whistle sound from the return grill and they owed a box covering the new exhaust piping that vented though my exterior wall. 3. April 8-11: Received no less than 6 phone calls from the sales person and other MCS personnel for payment. I indicated I was waiting for city inspection first. I was never told I needed to call MCS to call the city. I would have assumed since MCS knew they completed the work that they would know to call the city to close out the job. 4. April 17: I had to initiate a call to MCS to schedule the city inspections. 5. April 25: Failed both city inspections - HVAC and Electrical for code violations. Still had not received the final "punch out" items mentioned on April 4/5. The inspector mentions that they have had trouble with MCS on several other jobs in the area. 6. April 25: We call MCS to inform about failures. Office personnel schedule apt and tell us that the person that is coming can fix "some of the issues" then corrects herself by saying "can fix MOST of the issues" then corrects herself again by saying "can fix all the items". Not sure which was the right answer but we learned why we received a strange explanation based on the May 7th visit. 6. May 7: MCS came to correct code violations. The electrician was sent to resolve both HVAC and Electrical red tags. One of the violations included having to punch a new hole though my exterior stucco wall for a 3 inch PVC exhaust pipe. Now I have a open 3 inch hole in the stucco. 7. May 9: City re-inspects. We pass the electrical (not surprising since it was the electrician that came out on May 7) but we fail the HVAC a second time. 8. May 14: MCS comes back out to correct HVAV problems. They have to drill a THIRD hole in the stucco to move the 3 inch exhaust pipe a second time because of code requirements for distances from wall corners. Now I have two open 3 inch holes in my wall. Still do not have the punch list items from April 4/5. HVAC Technician manually widens the return grill vents with a screw driver to eliminate whistling. They still owe me the covering for the 3 inch PVC pipe sticking outside of my house. 9 May 15: Negotiate and agree on a solution for the cost of repairing the extra two - 3 inch holes that were punched in the stucco. Since we have already paid by this point for the unit this requires MCS to issue a check back to me. 10. May 23: City inspects - we finally pass. 11. Week of May 30th sometime: Have to call MCS to inquire about check for stucco. "Check should be there in a few days" 12. Week of June 7th sometime: Have to call MCS again for check to repair stucco. "Sorry, there was a misunderstanding in accounting, your check will be mailed on Friday" 13. June 11: Finally receive check to repair extra stucco damage. To not make this one sided and unbalanced. The crews that came to the house where ALWAYS professional and courteous. If I was to grade the work crew I would give them an A for professionalism despite all the failed inspections. They cleaned up after themselves very thoroughly. However, the overall score slipped for all of the other folks that we had to deal with in the office. As an overall experience I would tell you that you gain nothing by going though Costco with this company. The cost was higher and the repeated headaches to get through the process, having to ensure we were home to accommodate all of the extra visits was not convenient. I would unquestionably do homework if you are considering converting and I would not give these guys any extra points simply based on being affiliated with Costco. I am most surprised that we failed THREE inspections (two HVAC and 1 Electrical) before it was done correctly. On a related matter, when the installation was done, we were warned that we should expect to see regular and continuous condensation drainage to a 1 inch pipe that was drained to the outside of the house. With the temps running nearly to 100 for the last 2 weeks we have been running the A/C fairly continuously and haven't seen 1 drop of condensation. This makes me think there is an installation problem but I am not certain. I'm very reluctant to call them to understand why this isn't occurring when they were so clear that I should expect to see a regular stream. I'm still deciding if I call them or if I just call someone else to establish maintenance plan with.

They were fantastic! Their price was high when we first looked at it, but now, it is reasonably priced. They only schedule for two days, but it actually took like four days because of the issues we had. If you do not have any issues, it will only take them two or three days. They were very professional, and our communications was great. They were just fantastic guys! I would use them again in the future, but hopefully I will not have to. Not in this house anyway.

They really know what they're doing and are really nice people. They come when they say they will and let you know when they're on the way. They will give you prices beforehand so you can decide if you'd like the work done or not. I have an annual contract with them, so it discounts a lot of other services that they perform, which has saved me a lot of money.

I called in response to their mail offer to inspect heating and air conditioning systems. The customer service representative on the telephone was pleasant and professional when she scheduled the appointment. The service man arrived on time and was very pleasant and professional with his inspection. He serviced the unit, explained several things to me regarding the system, and answered all of my questions. He was clean, performed the inspection wery well, and handled the system properly to ensure its continued operation. I will definitely use Mechanical Control Solutions in the future so I will highly recommend them.

I called this company because they were recommended by Costco. If Costco recommends them, they have to be good, right? Not so much. They charged me $84.53 just to come look at my HVAC unit. They did nothing. They quoted me a price in excess of $900 to do the maintenance and enter into a maintenance agreement. Alarm bells went off. They charged me $84.53 to LOOK at my unit? I called Daniels HVAC on a recommendation. They charged me $405 to do everything that this company had wanted to charge me $900 for in addition to the $84.53 they charged me for doing nothing. This promotion through Costco is a scam in my opinion. Avoid it. I wish someone had told me about it before I called them.

I bought a groupon for $59 for start up of our swamp cooler. Called to schedule my appointment, and they gave me the two hour window I wanted on the day I wanted. The technician, Anthony, showed up on time, and was very polite and extremely helpful. Having just moved into this home last October, this will be our first experience with a swamp cooler. He supplied lots of information, but not overload, just what I needed. He also noticed an issue with the intake tubing connection being corroded on the water heater, and gave me detailed instructions on how I could deal with it myself, or, if I wasn't comfortable doing it, what they would charge. He got the swamp cooler going, gave me prices (that I requested) on switching to refrigerated cooling, and was not a hard sell, just very informative. I feel I can trust this company and would definitely use them again.

Everything went according to plan. They were able to install even sooner than originally discussed. We have every hope that the furnace will perform as well as the MCS employees.

I had planned to replace my swamp cooler this year, and I ran into a rep from this company at Costco. The manager of the company came to my house and reviewed my current heating/cooling systems, including crawling up into my attic where the furnace was located in order to check it out. He determined that my furnace was very oversized for the house (showing me how he figured it out and what references he used) and that just installing an air conditioning unit would be very inefficient with that current system. He was prepared with information on about 10 different kinds of air conditioners/furnaces, including Consumer Reports ratings. We discussed what would work best for my house, what would save the most money, and which systems were most efficient. After settling on a system, he scheduled the installation for two days from our meeting. Manuel and Leon came to my house, explained what they would be doing, reassured me that I would not be without heat, and proceeded with two days of very hard work, including lifting the furnace to the attic and the air conditioner to the roof. They were very professional, friendly, considerate of my home, and knowledgeable when I asked questions. Their work was incredibly thorough, and they cleaned up even more mess than they had made before they left. I would hire these people again in a heartbeat.