Yost & Campbell Heating & Cooling

My nightmare began Wednesday 11/27/24 day before thanksgiving . Boiler would not turn on . Called Yost and Campbell. A technician came out $326 dollars later was told I needed 3 parts . A relay , A transformer, and a low water panel . He said he would be back Friday 11/29/24. After numerous and numerous of phone calls giving me a run around claiming they are speaking with the technician and office is open until 6 pm. Well 4:45 I called for the last hope of the day since I hadn’t gotten any call backs. To my disbelief the office was closed already. I was sent to service call and they took the message and said they would forward it and not one individual called me back . Saturday 4 days without heat on the coldest week of the year, I spoke to a lady ( wont mention names) and after a lengthy conversation I was told first well we let people go home early Friday to spend time with family because the day before was a holiday . I was totally beside myself. I stated understandable but I was told they are open until 6 pm and 4:45 everyone was gone. She claimed someone will definitely reach out today . Today came and went and still no phone call. Day 5 of no heat tried to get another company because Yost and Campbell was not communicating . Day 6 no heat , phone calls for days from tenants with children complaining constantly and no success with heat . Monday afternoon ( Also leaving names out) a female representative kept reaching out to me cause I wanted to cancel ) after numerous text messages back and forth trying to be apologetic and concerned came back with a quote with all inclusive 3 parts and labor . I agreed , giving them another try to complete the job . I paid the requested 50% and finally on December 7 ( 9 days without heat) the supervisor of technicians got the boiler up and running . ONLY TO MY SURPRISE was told I had to pay an extra $512.34 . Like a fool I paid the total that day after the 9 day nightmare and spinning of my head with calls , text messages etc etc. happy to have heat for the people. Now we are on December 12,2024 trying to get my refund on an not in the agreement and I’m totally being ignored . I can not believe a company as reputable as Yost and Campbell would do this to a customer and sadly having a technician call the customer and lie that an extra part was put in when he installed the exact three parts we agreed upon and to make a customer feel bad by saying now they are going to take it out of his salary which affects his family and I replied I as well have a family and grandchildren . A company of their calabra and 85 years in business to put a customer through this for $ 512.34 is totally unacceptable and disgusting . As of tonight no return calls , no text messages .

Dec 2022 received estimate from Omar. Within 10 minutes of him leaving my home & since I didn’t sign up right away John from office called trying to sell the product. When I finally decided both told me to call if any issues. Had issues, called Omar, never heard from either of them. Called office again to advise of issues, 4 different visits from different technicians of various levels came giving me different info & answers to my questions — issues still remain. Have used this company for minor year-end furnace start-up for over 25 yrs — will never use or recommend again. Getting quotes for central air, obviously not from them. BTW suggest their techs get their stories straight before arriving! This company is not what it use to be!

John examined my existing system to provide an estimate and we discussed a couple of options. This was on a Saturday and he indicated that the estimate would be completed by Monday. I waited until Wednesday to follow-up. The receptionist replied that the estimate was complete, that they first needed to enter it into their system and that I would have it by close of business. She verified my email address. I received nothing. I called three more times and each time the response was the same. This was a complete waste of my Saturday morning and If they somehow decided not to provide the estimate, they should have been honest. Called another company, received an estimate promptly and will be using them.

The first technician arrived and spent nearly 5 hours in my house going back and forth on the phone with someone who was helping him diagnose the problem. At the end of the night he said he had gotten it to work and charged me $734.04 for his visit. The unit was still not working, so the next day they sent over a second technician. This person took a wire - ran it from my basement - up 4 levels to my top floor hallway and then taped a new thermostat to my wall. Then he charged $1,088.11 on our credit card for this shoddy, unsafe work. They took advantage of the fact that my husband and I were at work and my 84 year old mother was here with them. So far, we have paid this company $1,822.15 and NOTHING HAS BEEN FIXED!!!!! STAY AS FAR AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY AS POSSIBLE!!!! By the way, when I called them regarding this situation today, no one would get on the phone to talk to me.

It took sometime to get scheduled after some cancellations based on other customer emergencies. They were willing to stay on schedule if I insisted. However, I was in no rush to get the job done. Once they get started, everything was done professionally and the office worked with me every step of the way.

They did a very good job. I was very pleased with them. They gave me a senior citizen discount. They weren't the cheapest nor were they the most expensive. We scheduled that within a week. They were here. They are very nice, very neat and clean up very nice. They come in with construction paper and they don't mess up your basement. They clean up and vacuum up. I've always been very pleased with them, very professional. They came with 2 technicians. One was proficient with gas and the other was the actual plumber. They are prompt, reliable, courteous. They clean up and no drama. It is what it is. There's never any additional charges or something they discovered.

That was a costly job that was in the thousands. I can't remember exactly, but somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000. I can't remember really remember exactly what we paid, but that was a big job. I will recommend that company to everyone. The head of the company came home and sat down and explained everything and then he sent a crew to do the job, and they were very efficient. They came when they said they were coming.

It's a very good company. They were very professional. I forget exactly what we payed, but there was a service charge. I'm very happy with them. They were very wonderful. They send very professional people who know what they're doing. It was not an emergency, so he didn't come that day or the next day, but you call and you make an appointment and they come the day they say they will come. We've been using them for a few years now for service. We did a back job, we changed all the air conditioner units and furnaces with them a few years back, and we were very happy with their professionalism. They were wonderful. Now we are probably going to change our hot water heater and use them again.

Y&C explained in detail what they recommended and why, and submitted a competitive bid. Work was done promptly, quickly, cleanly and politely with hardly any intrusion on the household. We haven't really put the system to the test yet, but Y&C already sent a technician to fine tune the output from the vents.

Work is good, trying to get office is terrible, billing problems. Workers are great to deal with, polite. Never get the same people twice.

It is hard to tell about price because I have never dealt with anybody else, but I don't feel like they are too expensive. It has been a solid company in the area for a long time. They leave the area clean when they are done.

The first time I used them was when we bought the house in 2000. They have always been great. When we bought the house I just kind of took over the contract so I think they have been in here even longer. I have nothing bad to say about them.

They're not bad, they're not amazing, they're pretty good. I have a yearly contract with them, so labor is free and if any parts were necessary, then they would have charged me for the parts.

They have been very good over the years. They even take care of my house. We have been using them for over 30 years. Their prices are very good. The quality of their service has been very good. It is a good company. They do what they say. If they cannot do it or if they need to look up something or bring something, they go get it and take care of it. They are very good.

I have been with them now for 30 years. Sometimes, it takes a while to get an appointment, but that is what all of these places around here. They are very booked up. When you call to get an appointment, it will take you a couple of weeks. You would not get it right away, but that is with all heating and conditioning places. It is not unusual because it is that time of the year and everybody calls at the same time and everybody wants it immediate, but it does help to have a contract with all of these people because you get top priority. They give you a four-hour window which is what cable gives you. I do not like it, but there is nothing I can do about it. I would use them again. In fact, I just book an appointment with them this morning.

I got a proposal from Yost & Campbell to install a new furnace, A.C. condenser, humidifier, hot water heater and whole house HEPA air filtration system. It was late 2014, they put me with the salesman John. I had called across two months to try to get the proposal from John. He would not return any of the calls, so I called to have another salesperson to come out to look and start over. Tom the owner got on the phone and when he found out they were already out to look, apparently walked into John's office and helped John respond to me and got a proposal out. I left the proposal until this year and wanted to get started with the whole house filter portion and wait until after the cold weather to remove and replace the heating equipment. I called and spoke to Gina, she looked up the contract and saw it was one that John made and wanted me to deal with him. I really did not want to because of the difficulty he has communicating, but she insisted. John and I spoke and emailed before the Christmas holiday and he said he will call me after the holiday to get started. Over a week after the holiday still no call. I left multiple messages and an email, no response. I tried Gina multiple times, she never called me back. I asked to speak to Tom Monahan (owner) he called me back on Saturday and left me his cell phone, when we spoke he said we will call on Monday to do or schedule the work. I never heard back from him or the office. Why give a proposal if you have no intention to do the work, if they are not interested in a $14,000 job I understand, but don't waste peoples time. In the past I had one service done by Yost where they cleaned the burner lit a hot water heater and Ivan the technician who was polite, told my mother there was a leak, she called me and I had her explain to him, when you light a cold hot water heater it drips condensation on the flame a little until it warms up. I know everybody has to learn, but you would hope they would not send people who are that inexperienced to do work on units that contain gas and electrical connections because it could be dangerous. Maybe ok as a helper, but not a mechanic.

Excellent. Same day appointment. The technician, Dave, was very knowledgable, thoughtful, and thorough. I will use them again.

I called them and the guy came over. He went underneath it and there were no air vents. He took out rocks and I haven't had any problem since. They really got more and more expensive in the way of their service contract. They're charging $600 for the year. The guy was here for less than an hour. When they called and said they would come, they did. They also called and that's what I like too. I felt confident that they called me half an hour before they came.

On the first visit they could not relit the pilot and stated that a new part was needed. There was a suggestion that maybe I would want to get a new hot water heater that sat higher. Knowing what a new water heater would cost, I opted to order the part. A week later on the 2nd visit,after a minute, the repair person stated that they had ordered the wrong part and would have to reorder. Time went by and several calls to the office were answered with they only ship the parts by truck. I contacted the company myself and was told that depending on the item, they could Fedex, UPS priority etc. My item arrived in a small plastic bag that could have easily been shipped. The upshot is that I was without hot water for three weeks or more. I can't help but feel that this was an attempt to sell a new water.

It went well once they got there. Getting them there was a bit physical.

I do not like writing negative reviews but I felt compelled to do so by virtue of the outrageous conduct of this contractor. To start at the end I had to chase them for two months to get them to close out the last permits on my house with my municipality. My final remedy was to have the city building inspector intervene. They do not respond, they do not return phone calls their work is shoddy and they delay work without excuse. This contractor did an an oil to gas conversion for me. They were incompetent in dealing with ConEd. I had to oversee the entire process which was repeatedly delayed by their failure to file the appropraite documents. I had to call Con Ed every step of the way and dun Yost and Campbell to get the documents needed. They installed an entirely new HVAC system the completion of which was inexcusably delayed for by months. They did significant damage to my home during the install process which I had to have a seperate contractor repair. My general contractor upon inspecting their work found that many of the high velocity lines were improperly secured and I paid him to correct it as I had no trust in their ability to get a single thing done correctly. At the end of the project I did a walk through with the President of the company who was puzzled why I would want one. To his embarassment they had never programmed or turned on the $10,000.00 natural gas powered emergency generator I installed. In the end the system worked, but for 50k the aggravation was not work it. Good luck getting these people to return a call or doing anything properly or on time.

STAY AWAY!!! YOU WILL BE TAKEN FOR A RIDE! I PAID $400 FOR 30 MINUTES OF LABOR AND A $50-$70 PART. WHAT A RIPOFF!!! SENT AN E-MAIL TO TOM, THE OWNER OF Y&C, BUT HE DIDN'T BOTHER TO REPLY SO THIS SHOWS HOW CUSTOMER CARE IS IMPORTANT TO Y&C. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU! P.S. THE ONLY REASON I GAVE SOME GOOD MARKS IS THAT THE TECHNICIANS WERE REALLY FANTASTIC AND KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING AND DID IT FAST WHEN THEY HAD THE PART. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SHORT STORY: Called Y&C on Sat saying ConEd shutoff gas to my Trane XR80 heater because gas valve was leaking gas. Was told it would be $175+tax if it was a quick repair (less than 1 hour which this job was). The technician arrives knowing full well what was wrong and what heating system I had as I had stated all that on my call for service. The technician takes 5 minutes to diagnose and confirm that ConEd was correct and says he doesn't have the part. Technician knew what was wrong and he knew the model and make of my heater before coming - why did he show up knowing full well he couldn't repair the problem without the needed part? He promptly asked me to pay $175+tax for the 5 minutes he was there to confirm what ConEd has said and write down the model of my heating unit and then he left. The technician, Chris, said don't worry, when Y&C would come next they will just charge me for the part. 2 DAYS LATER, on Monday I am called to say that they can install the part for $200. I told Y&C that the first technician told me that I would be charged only for the part which I looked up and costs $50 (online) - $70 (called local Trane dealer in Hawthorne, NY - 15 minutes drive from me). Y&C said that they didn't know what the first technician said and this is their rate for replacing a gas valavle on my heating unit. I thought this must be a complex repair and would take a couple of hours, I thought maybe I wasn't fully aware of the scope of the work involve so I agreed. The technician arrived and made the easy repair in 30 minutes - it was just to unscrew a gas valave from the gas pipe and screw in a new gas valve (simple work). The work was made even simpler because ConEd already unscrewed all the pipes when they were checking for the gas leak. I was ripped off! I would never hire Y&C again! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LONG STORY (WHAT I WROTE TO THE OWNER OF Y&C): Hi Tom, I appreciate your time in reading and responding to my email. I recently had service performed at my home by a Yost and Campbell service technician who I must say was terrific and very friendly and I was considering starting a more long term relationship with Yost and Campbell. Unfortunately that fell through because of the charges I got for this minor repair. I called on Saturday because I had the fire dept and ConEd at my house trying to detect a leak that we all smelled. A ConEd technician had successfully detected the leak coming from the gas valve in my furnace. He pointed it out to me and left a note saying that he is closing the gas valve closest to my furnace. He said I would need to contact an HVAC company to replace the furnace gas valve. I called Yost and Campbell based on your great reviews on Angie's list. When I called Yost and Campbell I repeated that the ConEd technician said the furnace gas valve is leaking on my Trane XR80 gas furnace and I would like it replaced. The technician from Yost and Campbell showed up, confirmed with soap bubbles that the ConEd technician was correct and said that he doesn't have the part and needs to order it. (Would have thought the technician checked if he had the part with him as I am sure ConEd employees know what they're doing). The Yost and Campbell technician charged me $175+tax for literally 5 minutes of work spraying the pipe with soap solution and writing down the serial number of my gas furnace. Since he didn't have the part he assured me that I would just need to pay for the part and that would be it - I would not need to pay any more since you use a flat fee structure. That sounded reasonable to me. On Monday I looked up the part online and it was $60 and I called a local Trane parts supplier in Hawthorne and he said it was $78 there so I figured a reasonable price is somewhere in between. So I was thinking this is a great and honest company to deal with. BOY, was I WRONG! Then I get a call from Stephanie on Monday from Yost and Campbell and she says the install would be $250 so I said that since I already paid $175 it would be reasonable to pay an extra $75 for the part as we discussed with the initial technician. She said, NO, that would be an extra $250 on top of the $175 I already paid. I was at a loss for words. She said she can lower the price to $200. I thought that this must be a complicated task and I wanted to get this fixed so I agreed. Turns out that it was a pretty simple task that took at most 30 minutes. Again, the technician that showed up for the install was great! So in total I paid $175+$200+$20 in tax for a total of about $400 for 30 minutes of fairly simple work installing a $60-$80 part. I think that is an outrageous price to pay for such a minor fix. Most places charge a diagnosis fee but then wave it if you do the repair with them and that's how I thought you work and I would think that was reasonable and that was confirmed by the first technician I talked to: Chris. I would see it being reasonable to charge for 1 hour of work (your $120/hour rate) + the $80 part (top end of the price range for the part) for a total of $200 for this 30 minute repair as I think that would be more than fair and reasonable. Let me know your thoughts.

Chris was the service man. He quickly diagnosed our overactive boiler and fixed the problem. Although we were told someone would be by early in the day we were actually the last call of the day but that was a minor issue. Chris was extremely pleasant and competent and the office staff were very responsive in keeping us posted on when we could expect someone when I called. Y & C fixed my boiler about 5 months ago for an unrelated problem and did a good job them too under emergency conditions of no heat.

They always show up quickly when I call them, and they usually do a pretty good job. I'm very happy with them!

When you own a house that was built in 1920, you quickly realize that insulation management wasn't something they considered a priority back then. The incredible sunlight from the south-facing windows was one of the selling points when we decided to buy the house in the spring. Then summer came and the heat that accompanied said sunlight became an issue. Having had good experience with Mitsubishi ductless mini-splits from previous homes, I knew that was the direction I wanted to go. I brought five companies to evaluate the house and to give me estimates using the same equipment and installation criteria (I was very specific with where I wanted the interior and exterior units to go). The Estimate My initial opinion on Y&C was extremely unfavorable. I called the company and spoke with Gloria, who told me weekend estimates were not an option. I, therefore, took a day off on a Wednesday and scheduled Y&C and one other company to come by. When the appointed time for Y&C came and went, I called to find out the reason for the delay, and was told that I never made an appointment. The misunderstanding was supposedly the fault of a new scheduling system, but I didn't buy it. As infuriated as I was, I could not ignore all of the good Angie's List reviews, so I made a new appointment for a Saturday (which was apparently an option all along) a few weeks later because that was the only available appointment they had. Saturday arrived and so did Kevin, one of the company's owners, a few minutes early. He apologized for the misunderstanding and proceeded to do one of the most thorough walk-throughs of any of the A/C companies that had given me estimates. He took initial measurements of the rooms, listened to all of my installation requirements, made a few pretty good installation suggestions that I hadn't thought of, and did an excellent job explaining how the job would proceed. I was even able to finance the project through GE Capital. They weren't the cheapest, nor were they the most expensive, but I am a firm believer in "you get what you pay for." Alas, Y&C was redeemed thanks to the efforts of Kevin, and my faith and contract went to them. The Work Gerardo (supervisor) contacted me shortly after I faxed the signed contract back to the company, and scheduled a time to come to the house to take detailed measurements so he could order the right lengths of copper, electrical lines, and SlimDuct. Great guy. He even wore paper booties over his shoes so he wouldn't dirty my hardwood floors. A few days later when the work was scheduled to start, Gerardo was there (15 minutes early) with Juan Carlos and Roberto (installers). Gerardo explained the entire job to them while I was present to confirm they all got it right. After they started the work and I was satisfied, he excused himself to visit another job in the area. Juan Carlos and Roberto did a great job, as did Darwin (electrician) towards the end of the project. They were courteous and professional and always straightened up after themselves before they left. My wife actually made a comment that she knew where the guys were working because that area of the room was cleaner than the rest of it. One of my requirements was that the two exterior condenser units be stacked on top of each other and be elevated a few inches off the ground. Kevin scoured the world to find such a rack, but one that could support a pair 30,000BTU condensers was not available. "What was the solution" you ask? They made me a custom rack that fit perfectly in the spot I wanted. This delayed the work by a day but was well worth it. Change in Scope The original scope of the work included running the refrigeration and electrical lines from three of the internal units through the walls, then the basement, then out to the condensers. When we opened the old plaster walls, however, it was determined that this could not be done. My solution was to run the lines outside, then pierce the house through a crawl space. This method required additional SlimDuct. That same day, Sal, another supervisor came to review the day's work instead of Gerardo. His solution was to simply move one of the condensers from the side of the house where I wanted them, to the back where it would be easier for them to run the lines. The problem was that the location he chose would have blown hot air all over my patio table, where guests would sit in the summer during BBQs. When I explained my concern about his idea, he grumbled about how the job would now cost another $1,000 in SlimDuct. Kevin got involved and assured me that there was no way he would charge me more due to these unforeseen circumstances. I credit Sal for being extremely knowledgeable in his field, but he needs to tweak his people and business skills. In the end it worked out and the job proceeded without additional cost to me. Scheduling Staying consistent with the trend I've noticed from other reviewers on Angie's List, the Y&C scheduling group isn't as reliable as their installers. I had to take off several days from work because I wanted to be home for the installation, which any responsible homeowner should do when they initiate a project of this magnitude. Every day, I had to constantly call Chris to find out about the next day's work in order to take off from my own job; several calls and messages per day. On one of the days where I called in the afternoon, she didn't get back to me until 8PM, which was too late for me to take the following day off. Luckily, my wife was able to stay home on the last day of the project, where most of the work was to simply tidy up loose ends. Overall It's been six months and the units are working much better than I expected. I can feel them working but I often find myself having to look directly at them to see that they are on; they are that quiet. The units cool quickly in the summer, and warm quickly in the winter. My experience with Yost & Campbell has been positive and I would certainly use them again. I would also refer them to anyone looking to do a similar installation. I am not perfect; you are not perfect; I don't expect any company that undertakes large construction projects to be perfect. But if you can get the job done right for the agreed upon price, you're OK in my book. I want to thank everyone from Y&C that worked on my house for the good work (even Chris and Sal).