John O'Donnell & Sons Inc

Many of our neighbors use O'Donnell, so we expected them to be skilled and reasonably priced. They got the routine work done well and quickly, but then handed us a bill for nearly $800! I expected to over-pay (maybe $300) for something that I should have done myself, but this price was unconscionable.

On Saturday morning, I begin calling all the regional HVAC service providers, with very few able to get out. We had one service technician come Saturday morning from another company (separate review) and he was "baffled" and couldn't figure out our problem. I called O'Donnell's and spoke with a guy there who said he could come out. He said he had three calls that day, but I asked him specifically: "You will be able to come this afternoon?". And he replied "Yes, I will come today". Great! Hopefully we will have heat for Saturday night. I originally called around 1:00. By 4:30, I have not heard a thing so I call him back. His response was "Oh, you didn't pop up on my iPad so I forgot about you." At this point, I almost threw the phone thru the wall. Not only did we have service tech's out to our house who couldn't solve the problem and GAVE UP, but now I have someone who was so nonchalant about providing us a service that he essentially said "oopsie". I asked him if he could come out still that day, and his response was "Well, I can come today if you want or I can come tomorrow". I told him that if he couldn't come out that minute, that he could forget about me because I don't want to pay someone who isn't genuinely interested in helping me. His response was "ok". I am amazed at the lack of professionalism and while he did apologize, I really blown away at the lack of customer service here. As a company in my hometown of Glenside, I am greatly disappointed. Since it was 5:00, I was now screwed. Clearly no one else was able to come that day. We had to build a small fire in our borderline functional fireplace in order to put some heat into the house and get a space heater for our daughter's bedroom. I ended up going with another company the next day, who was able to solve the problem with our furnace. It doesn't always pay to keep your business local.

They are good only that they are expensive.

Ray came and assessed my problems. He gave me estimates before starting work. He was prepared and had all the materials he needed to replace and repair as needed. I didn't feel he was trying to sell me on extra repairs. He worked well, and quietly and left the place in great shape. We discussed other issues I was having around the house and other estimates I was getting, and he offered to give me an estimate for the furnace replacement I am considering. He was knowledgeable and respectful (not condescending), and talked to me about different options. He gave me detailed estimates with 3 options, that will be a big help in comparing the other bids I receive.

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Terrible. The A/C cannot keep the house cool in the summer when it's over 90 degrees. It continues to run. THIS IS AFTER O'DONNELL'S put in an entire new A/C-HEATING SYSTEM for $8800! O'Donnells have been back no less than 5 times, (we have the receipts). They changed the Condenser/compressor unit, they changed the heating unit (THIS IS AFTER THEY INSTALLED NEW ONES!). I demanded to see an Amana field service representative and they broiught out their distributor from whom they buy equipment. Distributor said everything was okay. (HUH?). The fact of the matter is, after paying other A/C guys out of our own pocket, they each confirmed the A/C was under size in tonnage and (subjectively) suggested a variable speed motor, not a dual speed only motor). Gee, seems pretty obvious if it can't keep the house cool in summer. The previous air conditioner (20 years old or so) that they removed worked fine. We had it replaced when we had the heater replaced to have an entire new energy efficient system. We were misled every time O'Donnell's men came out. The owner John O'Donnell even came out and I suggested the temperature split was only 8 degrees (should be at least 15, better at 21). John O'Donnell raised his hands and said, "Hey, I own and manage the place, I haven't been in the field for years." Good to know. Means you can't train your own men or see when they are doing an inadequate job. Our house is owned by my 92 year old mother who is still active in the community. She has instructed me to NEVER-EVER let McDonnell's in the house again. So now I'm calling Amana to see if we can transfer warranty work to another company. Even if I can't get that done, McDonnell's will not be back here. Oh, now it's winter and the heater is loud, loud, loud. So, off to call another heating guy to fix that.

I have to call them back like three or four times before they really found out what was causing it. They cleaned up after themselves. They're very responsive. They're pretty expensive. They call before they come to your house and you get a follow up call the next day or the same day if everything is going okay.