AAA Air Service

I have used AAA Air for several years now. They have replaced 2 units in my house and repaired the 3rd unit. I really like the fact that Jason always reviews the different options (brands, sizes, "fixes"etc) that help me make the best decision for my needs. He doesn't try to push the most expensive "fix", if it isn't the right "fix". The pricing for the replacement units was inline with another company's bid. His crew was timely, respectful and cleaned up after the install. He also seems available when I have a quick question or concern (which have been very few).

The AAA Air Service representative (I forgot his name) was prompt and professional. I knew my system was low on refrigerant and the cost of the whole service was nearly same as the cost of the Freon. I'm not totally evil, I also wanted to give them a test run because I was going to replace the whole unit within a year anyway. I received my two pounds with just a little hesitation (understandable because they took a loss on this job). We finished talking about what to expect and helpful information about buying a new system. Overall an excellent experience.

Tune up and general service of A/C system which hadn't been serviced in several years.This was done in May 2014. The A/C system has operated fine since then.

Technician performed the check as outlined in the Angie's List deal. Found an issue with our A/C (leak) which we did not have fixed by this company. We went through our home warranty service to get it addressed.

After some phone/ email tag to get a date set up, the serviceman arrived to do a tuneup on my AC unit. I had been nursing my HVAC along for several years, and every spring feared that this would be the year that it was beyond repair. Well. This was the year. He determined that there was a blockage in the coil in the inside unit (1987 original installation), which would require replacement... if they could even find that part. His recommendation was replacement and I agreed. He cleaned up, left and said that he'd send me an estimate. I received the estimate later that day but for a purchase of this size, got several other estimates and ultimately chose another provider because of their ability to provide financing.

I had not had my 2 air conditioners serviced in the 7 years I owned it.

He was prompt and courteous. He was at my house for all of five minuets. He said that there was no Freon and that it PROBABLY leaked out. There were no other checks that he discussed with me. When I asked him how much refrigerant would I need, he said approximately 8 - 10 pounds. He said I probably need a need AC system. I have a home warranty plan, so I called them. They came out and put in 2 pounds of refrigerant and said my AC unit does not need to be replaced at this time.

Quick & efficient, with a followup e-mailed inspection report.

It was good to know the refrigerant level was ok.

I bought the $49 Tune-up with 1 lb refrigerant deal to service 2 different homes, both on the same day. I service my homes once a year. Both are 14 yrs old systems installed by the builders. There were several similar coupons, so I read the list of services to be performed carefully to compare. On the first home, I was tied up and didn't go around with him to see the work. On the second home, I went with the tech everywhere he went. First we went to the air handler in the closet. He pulled out the filter and looked at it. Clean. Nothing else for the indoor unit. I was surprised since other techs usually at least look at the evaporator coils and blower and tell me the state. I also had a home where the blower fan became unbalanced (screw loose) and blew up and shredded the entire air handler so I had to install a new one, so I care about checking for loose screws and connections. There was no looking. No tightening. I also have homes where the drains have plugged up and caused water damage. There was no checking of drains to see if they need a blow-out. He said he could just look at the system and see there was no dripping so nothing plugged, and he didn't need to open anything up because he had meters to tell if anything was off. He must have meant for the outside because he didn't measure anything on the inside handler. Off we went to the outside unit. He put a meter on it and showed me it was pulling more amps than it should at start-up. I agreed it appeared so. He shut the unit off. It didn't start up. Got it started again. He said we needed a hard-start kit for $350. He said I needed that on the first house too. I thought the price sounded high, so I said no thanks. I asked about the refrigerant level because at the last checkup the tech said there was leak somewhere and to watch the levels. But this tech said the refrigerant level was fine. Every year, every tech says something different so I was just like, well ok about it. I checked around on the hard-start kit and was told that it could be done for $150 so yes, the quote was high. Still, I wasn't going to bother with an Angie's review (but just make a mental note not to use these guys again)...but the kicker is...I went to the first home he "tuned-up" today (tune-up was yesterday), and the AC will not come on. We checked all the breakers and switches. I had explained to him yesterday when he did the tune-ups that I was going to be PO'd if the systems broke right after a tune-up because it has happened before. He said that it happens. Well what are the odds that it works fine for at least 2 years or more (I can't even remember the last repair)...and the system goes down right after his tune-up. Maybe something about the way they take it down and bring up stresses it? Anyway...not happy...but I gave a C because I'm used to this kind of service by now...

The scheduling of the appointment was fine- even great because they had an opening and came two days earlier.... but it went downhill from there. He performed a few of the agreed inspections. He would not supply the Freon as per the deal purchased on Angie's list. And then after taking apart the unit, he said there was a problem he couldn't fix. When pressed for a further explanation on how the system can not be fixed, he wouldn't give us a straight answer and ultimately just left and got back in his truck and started to pull away. My husband attempted to follow him and he almost ran him over on the street. We were left putting the unit back together and ended up having to find another provider, paying for emergency services and in the end, our unit was in fact operational. We will be calling this provider on Monday to ask for a refund. Very disappointed.

It went very well. He was courteous, professional and knowledgeable. The big deal I purchased was only for one a/c unit but he extended the offer to cover all three units. He looked at each unit, diagnosed a problem with one unit and provided an explanation for what was needed to resolve the problem. He then installed the replacement part quickly. We later had a problem with one of the units unrelated to his service and he came back, diagnosed and fixed the problem at what seemed like a fair price.

When the other company that Jason called came out. I pointed the A/C Coil out to this new crew that Jason told me was leaking. They naturally assumed that it was for the upstairs unit. When they started to take it out, the temperature downstairs started rising drastically. I immediately told Stevie the lead member to the new crew that was out there & he immediately told me he knew that Jason pointed out the wrong Coil that was leaking. It wasn't the Carrier Coil that was leaking, but actually the unit that was above our game room in the same attic. Stevie told me that he doesn't like those sniffer devices because they give false readings all the time. So Stevie started putting the Carrier Coil back on & the rest of his crew started taking the other coil off, of the correct A/C unit, the upstairs. They went ahead & labelled both units.

Overall the technician was punctual and professional. He replaced the capacitor which he recommended doing and also advised me on other things that should be considered in the future. For example, add floats switches to the secondary drain outlets on evaporator coils and to keep the outdoor condenser clean. The service that was performed that day was of good quality, quick, and reasonably priced. What really put me off from using AAA in the future was his comment about how the attic units seemed to be working just fine but they were getting old and he would recommend considering replacing them if the cost of repair was over a certain dollar amount. This seems completely reasonable as I take the same approach with cars if the cost of repair is more than the value of the car it is time for a new one. However his recommended threshold for repair cost before replacing the attic units was $400. If the unit is working just fine $400 of repairs seems extremely low to consider replacing the entire unit.

Let me start off by saying ?TURN AROUND AND RUN, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!? AAA Air Service is a pathetic example of a service provider. I thought since it was on Angie?s List that meant it was a quality company to deal with?I thought wrong. I purchased a deal on Angie?s List to get my air conditioning tuned by AAA Air Service. I took off of work in order to make it home in time for the technician and then while I was waiting the technician called to say that he needed to cancel due to the impending storm. He assured me that they would be here the following Wednesday at 5pm, which was already a week later than my original schedule! By 5:33pm on the day of my appointment, the technician was still nowhere to be seen. My wife called (214) 544-8555 and a field technician answered, she explained to him that I had taken off of work AGAIN and had been waiting around since 5pm for the technician. The man on the phone told my wife that he needed to check the schedule and would call her back when he knew more. After a few minutes passed, she received a call back. The man stated that we were on the owner?s schedule; however, he would not be coming to our appointment because his father-in-law passed away on Sunday and he was out in the country dealing with that. He said that the owner was certainly at fault because he should have let us know that he would not be coming, but the man on the phone offered no solution other than that he could reschedule our appointment AGAIN and that it would have to be a day where the temperature was at least 80 degrees! AAA Air Service you can thank your poor service on this review!

I realized I still have a home warranty on my air conditioner and I'm going to use that.

We called several times to schedule an appointment, but they never got back. Email and Phone Messages left. We know it went to the right location, because on 1 occasion they asked us what day, but never showed, nor answered our inquiry !!!

He went upstairs and asked me to come up into the attic to show me some major potential issues with the setup of the draining system of each unit. He then went on to tell me that the co who installed the HVAC system had done it wrong. He pointed out some very minute area in each drain pain that showed some rust. It couldn't have been even the size of a couple of inches in diameter of the entire drain pan. He then went on to tell me that the installation was wrong with two drain lines for each unit. He then pulled out his iPhone to show me a picture of another AC unit just down the street that had stopped up and rusted out the equipment he was showing me. Then told me that if this happened it would cost me thousands of dollars in repairs because I would have water leaking through my ceilings and equipment would be ruined. He said he could repair this correctly at a cost of only $360.00 for each AC unit for a total of $720.00. Then, once outside, he pulled the side off one AC unit and asked me if I could hear a humming noise. I honestly couldn't hear a thing. He then told me that the capacitor was going bad and one day it would burn out costing me again a lot of money. He then checked the other AC unit and mentioned again that "see there is no humming noise here." I didn't hear any noise on either unit. He then checked the coolant on both and said they were both fine and didn't need any additional coolant. He also suggested that they could clean the units with a specific chemical that is not sold to the public but only to professionals and that I should not use a hose and water on the unit as it wouldn't be good for it and could cause more trouble. And if I had to replace a unit or both units it would be in the tens of thousands of dollars. He then suggested I consider buying a yearly maintenance contract for $320.00 and I'd get discounts on any parts in the future. But he commented that if t Now we are at a potential overall amount of $1080.00. I said I'd think about it. Note that my home is only six years old and is a full custom home. So being concerned about the repair work he was suggesting I decided to contact the "major" AC contracting co that installed the AC Trane units for another point of view. Here's what I learned. First, when I mentioned the suggestion of redoing the drain lines in the attic on each unit the representative said that it made no sense. Then mentioned to me how many inspections from the city they would have went through when building the home to get it approved. The information that was given to me was completely false. Second, when I mentioned about the suggested chemical wash to clean both units the rep emphatically said that was a totally incorrect procedure to do on the Trane units and explained why. He said all I had to do was take a hose and spray water up and down in a vertical manner on each side of the unit. He told me that the chemical wash suggestion would possibly ruin my system. Third, I asked him the cost of a yearly maintenance contract and he said $250.00 a year for both units. Let me finish by saying to any other Angie's member considering this company, "Buyer Beware." In my opinion this deal is not worth $49.00 x 2 = $98.00. I hesitated on writing this review but after speaking with a representative at Angie's List it became clear I needed to do this before others buy this "Big Deal."

I was given a window between 12:00 -2:00 PM .. Technician arrived at ~2:30 PM .. There was no call from them to inform they are running late .. I end up calling to see if they are still going to do it today. The advertisement have a lot of things listed as part of 20 point inspection .. I doubt he technician did 10 out of those 20 .. including checking for difference in in and out air temperature difference. All the time the impression I got was the technician was looking for what more could he sale .a starter kit .. compressor or whole unit ... I am taking a second opinion about whatever the tech said .. as I was not impressed with him at all. I think these deals are mainly for so that they came out and find way to bill you more. I won't use them again.

Things went very well. I'm very picky when it comes to contractors and Jason did an outstanding job. Very informative and made suggestions without pressing me to buy. Highly recommend.

There was a glitch up front. After 3 days from purchasing my coupon and past two of the three appointment date preferences, I realized AAA Air had not called to set an appointment time. So I called them. The fellow there (Jason) said they had not seen anything from Angie's List. He said that sometimes happens when a coupon is purchased on the weekend. That doesn't sound so good. But he made an appointment on my third preference choice. I appreciated that and he was professional and friendly. A few days later, evidently the process finally kicked in and I got an email from AAA Air confirming the AL coupon and appointment. The same day, AL emailed asking if I was successful in setting an appointment. Sounds like the delay was probably at AL and not AAA Air, but I can't be sure. On my appointment date and time, the tech (Danny) showed up exactly at the beginning of the 2 hour appointment window. When was the last time that happened? He got right to work and from what I could tell, did a complete check of my heating system. He had modern and quality tools. He checked the ignition system, burners, tested for carbon monoxide, checked temp in and out of unit, changed the air filter which I provided, and checked correct operation of the thermostat and general operation. He probably checked other things I didn't notice or have forgotten about, but I listed as much as I could remember to point out the service was thorough. He asked me why I had left my previous service provider. I told him they had raised prices significantly each year and had padded the bill with extras like drain valve and blowout one time and surge protector another. I had always gone along with their recommendations. Last summer, they said my freon was a little low, but still within spec. They recommended freon to be added. I said to go ahead. They said it would be $190 per pound rounded up to the next pound! Freon had always been added as part of the service (no additional charge) in the past. They said the price had skyrocketed and they were having to charge now. I felt like they were being greedy and taking advantage of me. I had purchased the unit from them and they offered a 10 year warranty tied to them doing twice a year maintenance. They raised their rates to $199 for this service this year. It was $169 last year. While this is not way above what I have seen advertised, I just didn't think they should treat a loyal customer this way. I felt they thought they had me trapped by the warranty. Danny said he hoped I wouldn't think he was trying to pad the bill, but he noticed an old gas valve in the heater closet. He could tell by the style that it was quite old and it appeared that rubber residue was coming out of the gaskets. That indicated the gaskets were deteriorating. He had a much better valve and could replace it for $108. He said it wouldn't be good for a gas leak in the heater closet. I agreed. When he pulled the old valve off, he showed me the interior and it was indeed deteriorating. Little pieces of the rubber gasket were in the line. He said those could clog the burners. Good thing we replaced it. He had turned off the gas. After turning it back on and checking the heater, he re-lit my water heater for me. Danny told me that they don't charge extra for freon and he would be happy to service my outside A/C unit next spring and get it working optimally. He said they would be running another $49 coupon on AL and I should watch for it. He also told me that my unit's manufacturer (Trane) was excellent and he had a few situations where a Trane unit around 10 years old would have a problem. It could be an expensive repair and they would go back to Trane and tell them the unit had been regularly maintained (like mine) and Trane would cover it under warranty. He said he couldn't remember a time when they didn't take care of the customer. So basically, he was telling me not to worry about walking away from my previous service provider and the warranty they said was exclusively though them. I think joining Angie's List and finding this excellent service provider was a real smart move.

That service was excellent. The technician was extremely knowledgeable and recommended future purchases about carbon monoxide alarms and stuff like that. I found him very professional and high quality.

We had purchased a big deal for the service, and it went excellent. They came out the very next day after I purchased the big deal. They charged me extra to fill freon. They went above and beyond. He was a very nice guy, and suggested some safety measures that I could go and purchase from Home Depot.

Jason was at the house a maximum of 15 minutes. He said the unit did not need freon, but needed to be replaced. I got an invoice from that charged me for a check-up at the same price I had paid for the tune-up. I called Jason and asked why he didn't do a tune-up when I had paid for one. He said it was because the unit needed to be replaced. The house has had the A/C on at 76 all summer with no problem. The only reason I ordered a tune-up was because a home inspector said there was a temperature differential of 10 degrees and needed servicing. Jason did not provide any servicing.

AAA Air arrived on time Friday afternoon, same day I contracted with them to perform the work. The tech team installed York manufacture recommended equipment which is not what we agreed to in writing. AAA Air returned on Monday morning and removed their York manufacture recommended equipment. No money was exchanged. If you prefer a contractor that will do as the manufacture states for replacement parts and will give a competitive price for the work, AAA Air can provide the service. Besides the inability to meet my request for specific equipment to be installed, for the overall experience, I think I was treated fairly by AAA Air Service.