One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning - Houston

The tech spent about two hours servicing our unit, replacing a couple of parts and explaining how the unit was operating.

On 07/03/2015 I sent a message through the company's national website asking for a service representative to come to my residence and replace my AC drip pan and drain lines; I received a call from the company's schedule setter stating that I wanted the service done. The scheduler stated the service call was $89.00 which I agreed to pay. I asked the scheduler could the service person do the job and did they have all the parts they need on their truck. The scheduler stated yes and their trucks are fully supplied. I agreed to an appointment on Monday, July 6th. The service technician (Hassan or something like that) was repeatedly asked can you fix the issue of the leaking drain pan, the primary and secondary drain lines, and he stated yes. He did little other than place a piece of AC tape on the AC unit, take a vacuum to the secondary line and add a pack of antimicrobial treatment. I asked him repeatedly would it continue to leak, and he said no. He suggested that the pan be replaced and the drain lines replaced. I stated well go ahead and do it since that is what I was expecting him to do. His response was that he could not do the job, but now an installer team would have to come in to do the job. My response was to ask him why he was there and not the installers since that's what I told the scheduler to send. The technician had a heavy middle eastern accent and he was not easy to understand. I asked him to get the installers here, and he then left for his truck and came back saying that the installers could not be there until the next day. So, the drain pan still leaked, and the drain lines still leaked. On July 7th, I called the company and informed them that they failed to perform the task, and I was highly unsatisfied with the result. The person I was directed to was Aaron who stated he was the operations manager. Aaron was no help, and suggested that I was not told by the scheduler that they could do what I asked, but he would listen to the recordings. I told him to do so. I assume my story must be fact, because Aaron did not indicate otherwise. I asked for a satisfactory resolution which to me would be to do the job when it was convenient to me and I was willing to pay for parts but no further labor since their website states they guarantee 100% satisfaction. I will be using another AC group to do the work. This company is not one I would recommend to anyone. I certainly am not satisfied, and I don't see them offering to refund me for their lack of actual service.

The installation was scheduled on a Saturday morning to accommodate my work schedule. The two technicians arrived on time, took care to cover my carpeting with a tarp, and worked for several hours in the attic to complete the coil installation. From time to time, one or the other would go outside, assuring me that the work was going okay. When they were finished, I asked if the second system had been tied into the new French drain and was told that it had been. The AC worked fine, as it had before the work was completed. Two days later (Monday), I happened to be in the guest bedroom and discovered the wind noise was still present in the guest sink pipe. The next morning I walked around my house and did not find any new exterior pipe to indicate installation of the French drain. I left a message on Mr Birdwell's phone, then called the main number which now seems to reach a call-in center rather than a local contact. I explained the problem and was told someone would call. In the meantime, I spoke with Mr Birdwell who assured me the work had been completed. When I described the pipe noise, he replied that it must be a problem other than that related to the AC. When I told him I couldn't locate the area of pea gravel, he explained it was probably covered with dirt. When I told him I couldn't locate the PVC pipe on the side of the house, he told me he'd have to call me back. I received a call from the individual I spoke to at the call center who reported the techs that performed the installation were not available until the next morning. A supervisor would talk with them and call me on Tuesday. When I didn't hear from anyone by Wednesday, I called the main number again. That operator contacted the Houston office and told me they were just booting up their computers and would call me back momentarily. Jennifer called back 90 minutes later. I explained the situation again, indicating that no one had called in response to my initial contact. She scheduled a service call on July 4. I asked that different techs be assigned, since Jordani and Jose had lied about their work. The 2 techs arrived at the scheduled time on Saturday morning. One tech stepped out of the truck and commented that I lived in a 3-story home. Asked if the unit was in the attic, to which I replied yes. Said he'd have to call his supervisor. Turns out they can't or won't install a French drain in a 3-story home. SO THEIR SALESMAN SOLD ME A SERVICE THEY DON'T PROVIDE AND THEIR TECHS LIED ABOUT INSTALLING IT! Shared my displeasure with Jim shortly thereafter. He said he'd get back with me. I'm not holding my breath. And by the way, my second unit stopped cooling tonight, 3 weeks after my maintenance visit. I also wrote an unsatisfactory review when this company was dba Hallmark. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me! Update: It is true that the company did rightfully refund the money charged for the work they never performed, along with an additional $200 "for my trouble". It took a certified letter to finally get a response. The question that remains is this: Had there not been a sound in my drain to indicate the work had not been performed as contracted, what is the likelihood this company would have identified and admitted their mistakes? Buyer beware!

Outstanding Carrier unit highly efficient. When the county permit man inspected the work he stated it was the only permit he issued that day out of 30 inspections. He was very impressed as are we.

Update after their response. The response goes to show how lazy this company is. They truly don't care about your business. ------------------- We've leased our house for over 4 years and the entire A/C was replaced 2 years ago. Sadly the homeowners used the ?cheap guy? they found (NOT Hallmark) and he did a horrible job. Every 6 months, he would have to come out and blow air through the drainage line and refill the A/C. After him doing this for 2 years, the owner finally called someone else. This other person (NOT Hallmark) fixed the drain issue and said the Freon was full. That was two months ago and as of 2 days ago the A/C stopped working again. I can't tell you how happy my wife and I were to know the owner was calling out an actual A/C company, not just a handyman. As advertised they were at our house within an hour. This is when thing got VERY odd. The man knocks on the door. I open it and he does not say anything. Looks at me for a second, standing very far back (like he was a door-to-door salesman). I start explaining the A/C isn't working. He looks on his tablet and tells me, ?there's a water leak?. I started to explain to him ?No? and what the issue was. He asked me where the outside unit was and for me to follow him over there. Since it has been raining off and on I thought it was odd to have the customer walk with you to the other side of the house. I was fine with it though. When we start to walk he asked me ?where did I get my tattoos?? Both of my arms are covered and I often have people ask me about them. Especially if they have some. I told him here in Houston and San Antonio. He points to a dragon and ask if it was a ?Demon?. Nope, it's a dragon I tell him. He didn't seem too concerned with the giant American star, or the skull, or any of my other tattoos... just my dragon. As we proceed to walk and look at the outside unit, I continue to explain the issues of the past couple of years. I couldn't tell you if he was listening or not. No acknowledgment of what I was saying at all. He stops by his truck (parked in the front of our house and along the way from one side of the house to another) and lets me know he can't work on the outside unit in the rain. He, '?can't get his tools wet.? Knowing that he'd probably have to add Freon to our A/C I asked, ?does that include adding Freon?? He responds back very sarcastically, ?It's electrical?. How was I suppose to know that? At that time the rain had stopped so I asked, ?well shouldn't you do whatever you need to the outside now since there is no rain?? as we are walking toward my front door. His response, ?I've been doing this for 16 years, don't tell me how to do my job!?. WOW... did he really just say to that me? His customer? As an analyst it only made sense to me to take advantage of the rain stopping and do what I can outside while it had stopped. Even if to check to see if the Freon was low. We continue to go inside the house when he says, ?if you don't want me here I don't need to be here.? What a jerk. Of course at that point I didn't want him in my house. I told him, I needed his supervisors name and phone number. He said nope, get if off the side of the van. ARE YOU JOKING ME? I tell him great costumer service and he glares at me as he's walking down my driveway. At that point I told him to get the f*** off my property. While he's driving away I call the company # to let them know he just left. The customer service rep started talking and I asked to speak with a supervisor. She let me know everyone had left for the day (6pm) and I'd have to wait until tomorrow. I refused to accept that knowing there has to be a way to get in contact with someone in charge. She refused to no end and said they'd have another technician come out as soon as he was done with the job he was on. She would call me when he was on his way. Once 9pm rolled around I figured neither was going to happen. That's when I went to Google to look up their website address to email someone. WOW, I only wish I would have done this before letting them try to fix my A/C. The first thing that showed up was from the BBB with 19 complaints over the past 3 years. Most of them being customer service related. Since then I've found tons of complaints on numerous sites. The next morning I received a response from the VP, William Fortner stating: Mr Kav*** after speaking with my technician and dispatcher we are probably going to differ in how we perceive the situation. Our technician and dispatcher both felt it was to hostile a situation for us to put our people in again. We are asking the owner to please find someone else that may be more to your liking. This is how they treat their ?potential? customers? Not asking to speak with me. Not asking my side of the story. Nothing! Instead, please go away. I called him after receiving the email and explained to him what really happened. That the ?hostile environment? comment only happened after his technician was staring at me as he walked down my driveway. That he seemed to be too worried about my tattoos and not my A/C. Also assuming that ?hostile environment? is probably one of their valid reasons to leave a job. Then when I told him I wish I would have looked at the BBB website before letting them attempt to fix our A/C he went off. That is all he was concerned about was that the complaints were a small fraction of the work he really does and would not stop making excuses for the complaints. The funny thing is, I've been in customer service for years and years in a few different industries. I've never treated a customer like that especially when I don't know the full story. Hopefully my review will help others stay away from Hallmark One Hour A/C and Heating in Houston.

Arrived 2 hrs late. Were in contact initially about the revised time frame but they did not follow up after being an additional hour late. Technicians were rude. They talked to each other in front of me about how hard the work was that they were doing. All they did was shop vac the water out of my pan in the attic. Also seemed eager to replace my whole system and didn't address my questions regarding other options.

--- Below is my original comment which I will leave unchanged --- To One Hour AC - I can tolerate the frequent upsales but not this outright lying. Either the technician was so incompetent that she cannot tell the different between mold growth and dry dirt (and didn't even try to wipe out one of the spots as the 2nd tech immediately showed me), or she is lying to get the $1000 sell which I don't need. In any case, shame to you for having such incompetent or dishonest worker!

I scheduled the Spring check-up for this afternoon. One Hour was supposed to be here between 3 and 7 pm. At around 6:20 pm, a woman from dispatch called and said that the technician would not be here by 7pm. She said that it would take 1 1/2 hours per unit and implied that if I still wanted the technician to come out, he would have to be here very late at night. I told her that I did not want someone in my house at 10 pm. She really offered no apology or remedy. Since I had left the office early to be at home when the technician arrived, I insisted that one be at my home on Saturday morning. She said no one was available. It wasn't until I asked for a supervisor that she offered to send someone out on Saturday. I have used Hallmark/One Hour for at least 15 years. After this maintenance check (if they even show up), I will never use them again. The service had gone downhill ever since Hallmark (a local company) become part of One Hour (a national company). They do not value their customers. I even referred them to a friend so that she could get a quote for a new system. I really regret that now.

One thing I do not like about them is that they are very pushy about their contracts.

First mistake: we did not go through Angies List to check this guy out. They came promptly however after a quick inspection of the problem unit, out came the slick book and proceeded to badger us with horrible expensive scenarios of what could be wrong. They wanted us to invest thousands of dollars into our 13 year old units. We could not get him out of here fast enough. We now use Another company, one with high ratings from Angies who is fast, reasonable, and very trustworthy. Just stay away from One Hour Air!

Both furnace and AC were installed by Hallmark in 1990's. We has service contract with the company until 2012 and knew Hallmark had been bought out by One Hour. We always had great experience with Hallmark as we had same service technician for several years. We decided to call One Hour since furnace wouldn't come on at all and see what they would do. .The technician came out the same day as the call, within 2 hours. He was friendly and professional, inspected the furnace and discussed our options. He got it up and running quickly. He didn't try to pressure us into more expensive repairs or try to sell us on new equipment. Furnace is 15 years old. We decided to renew our service contract with One Hour AC and Heating. We were satisfied with this experience.

They are punctual. They are affiliated with the plumbing company. Pricing is very transparent and there are no surprises. I was very happy with them.

As with anything --especially in this industry you want three things: 1) Honesty & a Fair Price, 2) Quality service and 3) Reliability I received all three in an industry notorious for leaving people dissatisfied---FAR FROM IT WITH ONE HOUR. They are GOOD Service technician Sakis Margetusakis is about as fine a professional as you will ever meet. If you can get him you will be ABSOLUTELY THRILLED with his knowledge, honesty, integrity and quality of service. He will absolutely take care of you like you are family. I am the first to complain when it is not right---Sakis deals straight up, patient, professional and committed to satisfaction. He operates like you are the most important customer in the world. DO call Sakis -- 713 494-4205 HE IS AMAZING! Insist on him----I mean it the guy is A++++++.He will manage orchestrate and get it done impeccably. YOU WILL GET TREATED RIGHT AND YOU WILL BE HAPPY. DON"T ---- call the office other than to get Sakis to work with you---they are a nationwide company and you want personal service --trust me. IT IS THE DIFFERENCE ETWEEN CALLING THE HOSPITAL AND SPEAKING DIRECTLY WITH YOUR DOCTOR. DON"T speak with a guy a guy named Aaron --ask to speak to someone else immediately. I am sparing you the details but trust me on the Aaron recommendation.

We come home to the smell of an electrical burning smell. We couldn't locate where the smell was coming from so we called the Fire Department. The Fire Department confirmed a/c motor burnt out. I called One Hour Air Conditioning the next day and they gave me a two hour window. Everyone was very professional from the customer service rep over the phone to the repair man who came out. The repair man came out and quickly assessed the problem. The prices were a little expensive (a local repairman called while One Hour was out and gave us his price to compare) but since the repair man had pretty much finished the job we went ahead and paid the more expensive service. Overall, I would give them an A- just for price. Everything else was great! If you need the job done quickly One Hour is great. Convenience cost! The repairman we know may not have been able to get the job done in two hours.

Called 713-690-8800 on referral of another company, they said they could not service 77057 zip code. Called the 281-601-1498 # thinking they were a different franchise of same co and set an appointment for 8-10 next morning to service unit that wasn't removing the humidity. Called back shortly thereafter (10-15 minutes) to try & reschedule for later in the afternoon, they said they had no record of appointment & then I was told they could not service unit as they did not have the ability to do so. The people that answer their phones apparently don't know enough about the business to know what they can and cannot do. Thankfully I found out by chance that had I been waiting for them to show up in the morning, they wouldn't have.

Firstly, the lady who answers the phone/coordinates visits is rude. I'm sure she doesn't mean to be, but she hangs up while I'm still talking and her tone sounds like she thinks I'm stupid. Secondly, I used this company two years ago and left them a good review on here. The technician was excellent. But since then, THIS COMPANY KEEPS CALLING ME TRYING TO SELL ME THEIR AC/HEATING CHECKUPS. They call repeatedly WHEN I AM AT WORK (They have terrible timing. They call when I'm in meetings, or when I'm in the middle of telling some family that their loved one is dying, and then they have the nerve to act RUDE when I tell them I am busy and please stop calling me at work!). I only called them back this time because the actual technician was good... The first guy who came out for the diagnostic trip (the one with the 90 dollar fee) was excellent. Knowledgeable, respectful, gave us advice on what to do to see if the system would come back to life after all (it didn't, but I was also told this thing needed to be replaced 2 years ago when it broke, so I wasn't surprised). It was already late, so he arranged for another guy to come out the following day to give us an estimate on replacing the system. The second guy was very knowledgeable, but his quote was by far the highest one we got. They do have a "cash pay" discount, but even with the discount the quote was still far higher than the other 3, considering what they were going to give us for it (coil and condensor only, no furnace). He kept saying "My price won't be the best, but you have to pay for quality installation." He kept trying to talk us out of getting more estimates (this was the first one we got). At that point, my trust level became extremely low. I already think this company is all about getting my money, since they keep calling me at work to schedule my "yearly AC/Heating check" even after I've repeatedly told them the system is old, I'm going to use it till it breaks since you already told me to replace it 2 years ago, and I'm not interested in any checkups since it will break soon anyway, and please stop calling me at work or even AT ALL. They have not removed me from their calling list, and last called me a few weeks before this.

When he told me that I needed a new coil, he said that he called Lennox and learned that there was only a five year warranty, so I was out of luck. He called his supervisor, who quoted around $3600 for a new one. Then because I'm a member, I got a 5% discount which brought it down to about $3400. He said that the unit was 7 years old and for that price, I could get a whole new unit. He called his boss, and got the price of the new Lennox unit of $5100. This guy would be a good used car salesman. Talked fast, wrote numbers on his yellow pad, told me that they could install it in 2 days, much better deal, etc. I applied for instant credit with GE Capital and was approved for 0% interest for a year. I did not sign any sales contract. I mentioned to my electrician about the problems I had with my units and he suggested an AC guy that he'd worked with for years. Leon Ortega of Apex Air came today and said that my coil WAS under warranty and furthermore, I don't need a whole new unit. He will do the work for $950. I cancelled the installation with One Hour. It pays to get a second opinion!

They showed up on time, completed all work in the estimated time frame, provided thorough cleaning and a/c is working better than ever.

The capacitor had died on a two year unit - good news, it's covered by warranty (for parts), bad news, the charge for unscrewing seven screws and replacing the capacitor (about the size of a small spray paint can) was $186. If it were not under warranty it would have cost $389. I looked up the cost of A/C capacitors on Amazon after the guy left, $10-$50. I also foolishly allowed myself to be talked into installing a "hard start kit," for the low, low, discounted price of $187 as opposed to the regular price of $246. I've since looked up the hard start kit online, and it really is a very good idea to have one. It almost certainly extends the life of the compressor. Amazon price, $45. Installation time, 3-5 minutes. I had this company replace my entire unit two and a half years ago, and have always been impressed with the professionalism, dress, manners, knowledge, courtesy, etc. of the technicians. But I am tired of having to put up with a very high-pressure salesman each and every time I interact with these folks. They will do what they say, they are not con men, but they are far more interested in you as a target, a revenue source, than as a customer. Their intent is to get as much out of you as possible on every interaction, but they do complete the work they say they will. It's insanely over priced, may or may not be truly needed, but it's done with a smile. Of course if I were getting $246 for a $45 part and three to five minutes of work, I'd be smiling too!

They are very efficient and punctual. Over the years our experience has always been good.

I have used One Hour in the past for drain pan repairs and french drain installation. I contacted them to get an estimate for adding a filtration system to my current unit. I mentioned that my drain safety switch wasn't working. The technician investigated it and told me that something called the contactor on the outside unit was no good and needed to be replaced. The estimate he gave me for this was $415!! Then he proceeded to push very hard to convince me that my unit was 13-14 years old and I should just replace the whole thing. He could give me a deal that was only good for 24hrs to get a $13k unit for $9600. He said at the very least I should do the contactor replacement because my unit wouldn't work without it. I didn't understand this as both my heater and A/C had been working just fine. I had turned off the unit when he was inspecting it but afterwards I turned it on to find only hot air blowing. I was suspicious that he'd done something to it to make it now appear broken. I contacted another company to get a second opinion. They found that the unit outside had been unplugged! They could not find anything wrong with the contactor. The A/C worked immediately. They said that even if it had been broken, it would never cost $415 to replace. They told me my unit was only 10 years old and should typically last 15+ years. I told this second company what deal One Hour was going to give me on a mid-level unit, they said that would be the cost for the highest end 3-ton system out there. I just can't believe the level of deception I was almost pressured and scared into considering. My previous experiences with One Hour had been good but this was the worse. I'm considering reporting them to the state board. Be careful and always get multiple estimates!

Our one-year-old air Rudd conditioner went out on Saturday of Labor Day weekend 2013. My air conditioning service company doesn't work on weekends, I called Hallmark because of their reputation. One Hour Air Conditioning and Heating now owns Hallmark. The technician said the starter kit needed to be replaced and the unit needed five pounds of Freon at a cost of $46/pound, which normally retails for around $26/pound. He also put a surge protector on the unit for $255, which retails for $55. Total cost $681. The following week I had my AC service check the work. The starter kit was covered under Rudd's warranty; I shouldn't have been charged for it. Though there is no way to tell for sure the unit needed Freon, my service person said it is very, very unlikely a one-year-old unit would have been low on Freon. The technician also told me my unit wasn't one-year-old because it was manufactured in 2010, so it was three-years-old. I contacted Ruud and was told that the age and warranty for a unit is NOT based on the year it is manufactured, but on the date it is installed, and the technician should have known that. I contacted One Hour about the starter kit being covered under the unit's warranty. They agreed. I was refunded $125. It took three months to get reimbursed. Bottom line, the AC did get fixed. I certainly expected to pay a higher price for service on a holiday weekend. but both my husband and I felt the $681 was way out of line for the services provided. I would NOT use this company in the future under any circumstances.

The divorce is final between Hallmark One Hour and us. We had used them for years, joining their Club Plan which provided one tune-up each year for the A/C and one tune-up for the heating unit. It also provided a discount for any new equipment. Increasingly, with each visit, there was more pressure to purchase ductwork, new units etc. The doubt rose in our minds when we sold our house, as the ductwork passed two inspections with no negative comments from the inspectors. Then when the A/C went out in the house we moved to, we called them for the last time. They said we had a freon leak and the entire A/C unit needed to be replaced. We told the guy to recharge the freon and we would get a second opinion. The second company saw where the leak was and fixed it! This happened in July 2013 and as I write this, it is November 2013 and the A/C is still working fine. I wanted to wait a while before I wrote this as the Hallmark guy said 'I can't guarantee how long that freon will hold before it all leaks out!'. Also, don't believe that 'One Hour' promise. It was not uncommon for them to reschedule the tune-up appointments once or twice before they actually showed up. I guess they were too busy replacing ductwork and compressors!

The technicians name was Juan. He was very courteous and professional from the beginning. Even though our furnace and a.c. systems are both 14 years old, he did not try to "fudge" the readouts of the electrical efficiency of either one. That really surprised me because he could have said that they were about to fail and it would have been believable. His honesty in this day and age of everyone out for themselves was appreciated. He called me up into the attic and showed me where dust and animal hair(we have 3 pets) had managed to get around our air filter and were starting to clog the air inlet to the system. He gave me a fair estimate on the cost of cleaning the furnace motor and the air inlet to the a.c.. I explained that I could not afford it right now, and that I would just try to get up there and do what I could with my shop vacuum. I expected him to balk, citing danger to myself and that it would not be as good of a job. He surprised me again by nodding his head in understanding. I had never even seen any ads for this company before I called them, I had just recently seen a couple of their vehicles in my neighborhood. But I will definitely use them again.

They were prompt and arrived as expected to check the system, when i told them that i have problem with having the master bedroom being warmer than the rest of the house, and asked them to check that there is no leak in the duct work or the plenium, they assured me that there is no leak in the system. I endured the summer with using a fan in the bedroom to keep the temperature bearable at night. when i called another contractor to recheck the system, it took them 5 minutes to find the leak and get it fixed