AOS Air Ducts

They were late but called to let me know in advance. The lead man was very courteous and professional. My request was for air duct cleaning and dryer vent cleaning (I had a $49 coupon). I asked if they had a camera so that I could see how bad it was since I had only been in the home one year and had no idea how long ago the work had been done. He left to get his camera out of the truck but somehow the vents were cleaned and no photos were shown. They worked very quickly. The vacuum they used was enclosed so I could not see how much dirt came out. The lead man checked my furnace in the attic and reported mold. He did show me the cover with mold on it. I am not able to go to the attic given my age so I could not verify otherwise. The price they quoted to clean furnace and disinfect seemed very high. But they were here and from the cover it apparently needed to be done so I went along with it. They also sold me a static filter (I needed to order some anyway -- odd size nt available in stores). Total cost at that point was $750. Then they tried to sell me a ultraviolet light for the furnace -- another $600 -- I refused. They left and it had cost me much more than anticipated. They also left dirt mark on my cream color carpet. Did I need all that? Will never know. After they left I found their ad in the paper offering 10% off for elderly. I had not requested it and they did not offer it.

I was not happy with them. They just came with a tiny brush fixed in the vacuum cleaner to clean the air ducts. Then they advised me to get some work done, which they said was necessary, but, quoted me a heavy price. They did check a duct which was clogged and they quoted me a couple of dollars to unclog it, but, my husband just used the blower and unclogged it immediately. I was not satisfied with the services rendered. I will never use their services in future.

First, I am to blame for selecting this company to clean my ducts. Had I simply spent 5 minutes to Google their name, I would have seen numerous poor reviews for this company. Also, they have recently changed their name to Aos from Austin City Air Ducts, which has been reviewed here on Angie's List. But, thrift got the better of me! I received a coupon for their service in my ValPak mailer and thought I'd try to get the work done cheaply. I had a good front end experience. They scheduling was easy and the technicians arrived promptly (in fact 30 minutes ahead of schedule, but they did call to ensure it was okay to arrive early). The assistant, Mario (?), then was working in a very harried way and broke a glass that was a good six feet away from him with the vacuum hose. (I did not witness this but my niece conveyed the event to me.) While Mario picked up the larger broken glass pieces, it was my niece's job to pick up the smaller pieces and mop up the liquid. Then, while clearing out the dryer vent, I saw Mario lift himself over the dryer and put the full force of his weight on the top of the machine. As a result, there were shoe prints and dirt on the top of the machine (which also was my responsibility to clean up), and a new dent on the top of my dryer. Both of these things I could mark up to "stuff happens", but then Erik tried to sell me additional services. The pitch started with him stating that my air filters were filthy and only captured big particles. Had I not changed the filters myself no more than 2 weeks prior after purchasing the highest quality 3M filters available at Home Depot, I might have believed him and authorized him to replace my filters with ones he was selling. Also, he offered to "clean, brush and disinfect" my two HVAC units for $330. When I asked why I would need such a service, he said there wa construction debris in the units and "it was up to me if I wanted to breathe dirty air". While I appreciate his concern for my and my family's health, the manner in which he communicated was rude, condescending and irritating. Suffice it to say that I couldn't wait to have this company out of my house. I certainly will not use them for any services in the future, and recommend others avoid this business.