Cyprus Air Heating, Cooling and Fireplaces

They arrived on time (a Saturday at no extra charge), were very thourough, in and out in a jiffy and did a remarkable job.

We hired Cyprus Air to replace our broken A/C system in the middle of July. We choose Cyprus Air because they were the only company who said they could fix the A/C within 2 days. It turns out, they were just like the other companies; they couldn't install it that quickly, it was an empty promise by the sales guy. After a 6-day installation ordeal, including a day off for July 4th which we were ensured they would work on but didn't (another lie by the sales guy), and a compressor their engineer's didn't know how to install, we finally had A/C. As compensation for our inconvenience, and only after I reported them to the Better Business Bureau, Cyprus Air agreed to provide us with 2-years of complimentary maintenance checks. Both years they charged my credit card and I had to spend a day each time re-sending them paperwork to get a refund. At the second and third year with our new A/C unit we had to recharge the system because of leaks undoubtedly caused by their faulty installation. We spent another $200 running a sealant through the system which has now held for 2 years. At the time of the A/C upgrade we also replaced our furnace which has been running flawlessly. There are many A/C companies in the Washington area to choose from. Based on mine and others reviews of Cyprus Air, I can't imagine anyone even bothering to call them. I wish I had Angie's List before we called Cyprus Air. I would have avoided them from the get-go.

Cyprus began work replacing the furnace, compressor, and condenser on day 1. During day 1, I was informed that a refrigerant line needed to be replaced and they were charging $150/ft. This was outrageous as they should have caught this in the original estimate. By the end of day 1, they informed us of the need to return a second day because they couldn't install the humidifier because it was already late in the day. They return later in the week to install the humidifier. After a couple days, a vibration developed in the humidifier causing a loud rumble through the duct work throughout the house. A third visit was needed to reinforce the mounting of the humidifier. Job done? No. They return again because the air return box that the furnace was mounted on was not cut correctly, causing the furnace housing to be distorted and preventing the furnace access panel from being installed smoothly (imagine a cube that is pushed to one side making it a parallelogram in shape, but the door is still square). Another crew returns another day to correct this problem. I later find out months later that a permit through Fairfax County was needed for the replacement system. One would think Cyprus would have mentioned this. The County inspector comes out 18 months later (requiring another day off by me) and fails the system because of an improperly routed water heater vent, which was originally rerouted by Cyprus during the installation of the new furnace. Yet another visit by Cyprus to correct the problems and then another day off from work for the County inspector to come out and finally pass the system. All told, over a week's worth of "vacation" taken by me to have a replacement system installed. If I could rate the regular service techs who came out to correct the problems, I'd rate them a B. They seemed understanding of my frustrations. The installation crews, I'd rate significantly lower. The lack of attention to detail led to the need for multiple return visits to correct various problems. With respect to the permitting and various corrections, I do appreciate that Cyprus rectified that problems without additional cost to us, and they did not argue with us when we uncovered problems. They simply scheduled new visits to correct problems, no questions asked.

We both felt uneasy when we left. Guy was curt, said they had NO literature or brand info on gas logs or any product, would not do a home visit. We were looking at ending upwards of $6,000 and they had nothing in the way of paperwork, warranty or other info? Really?.. Don't bother with this company.

I called Cyprus Air late Saturday evening and scheduled an appointment for the next day with an arrival between 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM. The next day I received a 11:15 AM call from a Cyprus Air representative, who stated he would arrive at my home in fifteen minutes. The salesman arrived sans uniform or any Cyprus Air identification in an Enterprise Rental van. Within seconds of arriving at my home, he walked into the home's lower level and announced he could smell mold emanating from the furnace. He examined the furnace for approximately two minutes and announced he could install a non Carrier air conditioning system for $4,350, which he assured me included a free air conditioner. I did not purchase a Cyprus Air system.

Our 30 year old AC died Tuesday night right before a heat wave with several 100 degree days. To say the least, we were pushing several companies to give us estimates and schedule a replacement date as soon as possible. Cyprus gave us a estimate $2,000 less than the other company that could get to us before the weekend. Cyprus even bumped a non-emergency appointment on Friday to make sure they could get to us. They replace our old equipment (AC and heat pump) with new, more energy efficient equipment within a few hours of arriving. The technicians did not stop working from the time they arrived (8:30 am) until they were done, even forgoing a lunch break, to get our system up and running. They removed all of the old system and cleaned up after themselves. I would recommend them for AC work and would call them again if we had a problem.

Cypress told us they did not need to get a permit for this work. We informed them that the City of Rockville said that a permit was needed. They responded that two permits were needed, one from Rockville and one from WSSC. The said that they would pick up the $250 cost for one permit and that we would need to pay for the other permit. They actually only obtained the Rockville permit, charging us for the full $250. They said at the time that they would send us a check for $125 but as of today, 18/jul/2012, we still don't have the refund. When the City of Rockville inspected the work they failed it because the breaker for the A/C unit was too large. The inspector said that Ctpress should not have connected the A/C unit to the power. We contacted Cypress and were told that this was our problem. We contacted Bentz electric who had done a Heavy Up in preperation for the A/C install. Bentz electric installed the right size breaker at cost and Rockville re-inspected. The inspection passed this time. The Cypress installation crew was very good but their office stasff and estimater were not. I feel that they should have known about the permit requirement and included that on the original estimate instead of trying to sneak through under the radar.

I bought the top of the line system from their competitor. What a waste of time. I wonder if they ever install the advertised deal. I doubt it. They lost 10,000 in business from me since they wouldn't write an estimate. Don't waste your time.

Jan 4, 2011 new bonfire gas logs installed replacing old gas logs, immediately complained that the flame size and height were dramatically smaller than flame size and height in showroom. Jan 18, service call, Rick re-arranged the logs, slightly improved flame & recommended a regulator be installed in the fireplace. Jan 21 received recommendation that the "gas meter needs to be split". March 5 Meter split by Washington gas subcontractor at no cost and with no meaningful impact in flame size. March 16 Service call, Mike installed gas pressure regulator in fireplace $175. Fireplace season over. Nov 10 called for service as thermocouple was overheating and shutting off automatically, was quoted service contract cost of $230 per year or $460 for one time visit. Refused this service option, contacted management. Nov 18 Complained to Peter and emailed video demonstrating that Cyprus Air showroom looked like a bonfire while I had a pile of logs in my fireplace with minimal flame. Nov 28-29 Service call Ray after re-arranging logs and adjusting fiberglass coals and still getting poor flame size & height, observes that gas line to logs and into house is low pressure; changes it to high pressure, installs regulators before other gas appliances.(this should have been done on installation day) Flame height dramatically improved, yet now noisy. $309 Dec 2 Service call Ray moves regulator inside fireplace to outside to add distance between regulator and flame, adjusts regulator pressure down til noise not a problem. Finally the gas logs are right.

The people that came out really worked hard. I thought that the people that did the work were superb. Their work was done as promised and done well. I did think their price was a little high.

I went in to report that I was having trouble starting up the fireplace, one I had bought there years ago (also at considerable expense for the set-up and installation), and might need a service visit. They said it would take a repair visit to deal with this. I could only get one for a huge price ( $400+), but was told that the price would cover two visits a year apart, payable half up front and half monthly over the next several months, and that annual checkups were really needed anyway. I wanted the thing to work and so agreed to this, stupidly. The service guy arrived in a timely manner, was perfectly pleasant, checked over the working parts, and asserted that one piece -- the signal box for the remote control -- likely would need to be replaced (for another $300) because it was corroded. He dusted things off, checked for a gas leak, and tested whether current was running through the remote box , which, after checking the batteries, he and I could see that it was. (Those batteries were new, put in by me while struggling to figure out why the thing would not work. The service guy claimed at first -- and this may have been an honest mistake or concern -- they were old and the reason why the box was "corroded." Not so. The box was not "new clean," but it had not been rendered useless by old batteries either.) The real service was simply to show me precisely how the overly complicated gas-flow, remote control box setting, and flame ignition system works. Once properly turned on, everything worked perfectly. Turns out, all I really needed was that very expensive lesson. This on a device I had bought from these same people several years ago ought to have been easy to tell or show me in the showroom without all this other stuff and attendant expense. But that's not how these people do things. Service on gas fireplaces, when needed, seems to be readily available at much lower cost and on a per visit basis from others. Not from Cyprus, though. Nor do they give away free advice on how to operate systems they have sold and installed.

Cyprus installed our gas logs in 2004. They have serviced our system a couple times sense then so we are "repeat customers". We scheduled them to come out and service the system yesterday. The technicians were professional and knowledgable however,when it came time to pay for the service, I presented a Cyprus Gas Fireplace Service coupon that I had received in a mailer a couple weeks ago. According to the coupon, Cyprus was offering a single 24 point inspection for $230. The technician said that the coupon was printed by mistake...to get the price offered, we had to enter into an annual maintenance agreement and ultimately pay $464. The coupon did not say anything about an annual maintenance agreement. I called the company financial office and they said the same thing - they would not honor the coupon. After discussing the matter further, they finally agreed to honor their coupon but with the caveat that "they will never service our system again." I'm thankful Angie's List has several A rated gas fireplace service providers that we can contact when we need future service...we prefer companies that offer better customer service.

Tech was fine and worked quickly. Total time was less than 30 minutes. Complaint is with office staff and particularly phone answering people. Bill was not only incorrect but added wrong which I failed to notice when signing off... who checks addition. Signifigant trouble getting them to correct.

They showed up but could not reach my tenants, and they never contacted me to let me know they had to trouble accessing the unit. I had to call them back to get a status, but when I called, no one seemed to have a record of my initial call or request. They did not appear interested in selling me an upgraded unit and just kept telling me I had to go to the showroom, even though I specifically told them what I wanted to upgrade to.

I can not complain about their responsiveness, in fact I was quite pleased. The a/c went out the day before and I called another company at 1030 at night and the best they could do is to give me an appointment window 1.5 days later. Due to having pets in the house while at work and not wanting to leave the windows open, I asked a friend who they used for a/c and heat maintenance and repair and she referred me to Cypress Air. I called and got put on their standby list and ended up getting an appointment to get the problem fixed the same day I called, an absolute necessary given the heat the past several days. They showed up on time and stayed for 2 hours to get the system up and running, properly.

The company took far longer to complete the job than promised, but that was not surprising. What made their service so bad was the extremely poor installation quality coupled with a mistake that they have not fixed in more than a year despite repeated visits to the house and commitments to complete the job. Do yourself a favor and avoid doing business with this company if the scope of your project involves them doing any installation.

Installation was done on time and works well so far. What we did not like about our experience with this business : 1. The very high pressure sales tactics in the showroom. We signed up in the showroom to buy a proprietary system from Cypress, which would have permanently locked us into a very expensive yearly maintenance contract. After thinking about it, we opted out the next day for another system. 2. It was very difficult to get information about items on the final bill for the system that was installed.. We had to contact them multiple times. 3. We believe the final bill was padded . In the showroom, based on photos of our home, we were told that 10 feet of gas line would easily suffice for the job, and that was free of charge. The final invoice charged us $38/ft x 5 or $190 for 5 extra feet. By the way, $38/ft for extra gas line is completely out of line. We have paid the bill but would not recommend this business to others.

Responded to a promotional coupon for a system maintenance check. The technician did nothing except take voltage readings and tell me all the things that were on the verge of going bad and needed replacement. On one unit I feel that the technician knocked a wire loose from the harness either by accident or on purpose because the unit stopped running the next day. The technician estimated that all the repairs would cost $1400. I called another company who fixed the unit for an $85 service call, and told me all that was wrong was a wire was not in the harness properly. Additionally, they told me there was no need to do the other work recommended by Cyprus.

Horrific experience with Cyprus air. Bought new HVAC system for 9:00 install, but tech didn't show up until after 4:00 ("Went to the wrong job first by mistake"). Constant attempts to contact office resulted in dishonesty/laziness from the staff and a lack of interest/accountability from the service manager. I've never spent so much money with a company that tried so hard to make a customer mad. I cannot recommend strongly enough that you AVOID Cyprus Air at all costs.

We followed up on a coupon deal with the provider to fix our son's central AC in Reston VA. The tech swept in, fixed the problem in less than 30 minutes, charged us $650 and left. I allowed my DIL to use my CC to pay them. Two hours later it was not working again, and they refused to return, saying we need a new AC unit and that they would deduct the $650 off the new unit. We contacted other HVAC companies for quotes, and two told us the Cyprus fix was a temporary one, used by techs to get the system up and running for testing only. We disputed the Cyprus charge. It was not until we disputed it with our CC company that it was taken care of and we were refunded.

Sales person told me the work would be done in one day, they would take care of everything including permits, it would be a one-for one exchange of system with no issues, and I would not have a problem putting a humidifier in (they would just hook it into the existing condensate line). Installation was relatively smooth, however the duct cleaning was not scheduled for the same day of installation. I had to schedule another day for the duct cleaning. No permit was obtained - the installers told me I did not need one (Fairfax County usually requires one for gas and plumbing work). The installers told me that they would have to add a pump in order to make the humidifier work (this was not on my original estimate). I left messages to the salesperson to discuss this (to this day - he never returned my calls!) When the system was up and running, the system check was showing a larger than normal static pressure reading. The installer told me that I may have blockage. He removed my air filter and the static pressure went down slightly, but was still high. He told me that it was better without the filter. I asked isn't a filter necessary? He told me yes, but the system wouldn't run as efficiently with a high static pressure. They told me the company would get back to me with a more sufficient solution (to this day, I have not heard from them on the subject). Poor customer service after money is received! And most unbelievably, one of the installers or duct cleaners stole $2 from a "tip jar" I had on my bar. After paying $8000, someone felt that they had to take $2? I just wanted to report this because who knows what else has been taken by these people in other households.

Walked in to Cyprus Air on Friday, Feb 19 2010.. I spoke to Peter Efytychiow (sales) and asked about non-vented gas logs/inserts. He quickly took me to the non-vented gas logs and when I asked about the non-vented gas log inserts he told me that they would cost twice as much as the gas logs and he didn't want me to have to spend so much money. So, he qouted me a price of $3,203.00 for the non-vented gas logs I liked and told me that it was good I came in that day because if I had come in the day (s) before, it would have cost me $900.00 more dollars. He told me on that Friday, Feb 19 that the gas logs were on sale. When he wrote up my invoice he put a notation that if within 30 days, I changed my mind, he would replace the non-vented gas logs with an insert. I pointed out that on the invoice the dates were wrong, so he corrected them, but when I got home he had put the date as being Feb 18 instead of Feb 19. Logs were installed Tuesday, Feb 23. They passed inspection. I was alerted to the fact by another contractor that I was overcharged by $1,800 and I did research which verified this fact. I took Peter a letter to ask that the overcharge be creditied to my account and Peter wouldn't do it so I told him I was not going to deal with Cyprus again. Also, in the users manual for the logs it said I was required to have a fireplace screen when the logs were in operation. I checked with the Fairfax County Inspector's office and this was true. Peter failed to tell me this. He did offer me a free screen, but I didn't accept this offer because the bigger issue was the overcharge. Also, I noticed that I couldn't get the remote to control the flames. So I told Cyprus and they sent me a users manual for a different remote. After several more conversations, they sent a technician over and he said that the wrong burner was installed. The tech said Cyprus was sent a lot of these burners in a mismarked box. So, on March 10, 2010, a Cyprus Technician removed the "on and off G-10 Burner and replaced it with G-10 variable remote operated burners and checked for leaks".

I have been using Cyprus Air for some time now. They called me for the prescheduled maintenance for my heater. They scheduled with me, they called to confirm the apointment the night before, they gave me a courtesy call to let me know they were on the way, the technician did a very thourough evalution and inspection of my system, i also recieved a call the day after to see how everything went.....Overall I was very happy with the services.

I called to make an appointment to have our ducts cleaned. We arranged for a price and a time. On the day of the appointment, I called to confirm their arrival time (a polite way of saying they were late). I was told that their appointment with me was not for another three hours! Thinking, if I'd mis-heard the time had I also mis-heard the price? I called again. The price had changed, too. When the technicians arrived, I spoke to them regarding the change in price. One technician informed me that the worksheet's price would be what he'd use; it was the original per duct amount. They completed their work in a timely, neat and efficient manner. However, we found, after they'd left, that the heater would not go on for more than a minute at a time. Cyprus Air returned to make adjustments, but their solution did not last. We called our plumber and he solved the problem.

A year ago we had two fireplaces converted to gas by this company. The guys who did the work seemed competent, although they did, in retrospect, pick the best way to connect to the gas line. The problem is the company itself. They claimed they did not need to come out and provide an estimate, instead giving us an estimate at their premises, based on a detailed discussion of location of existing fireplaces and gas connection. After the work was completed, they got back to us with a grossly exaggerated bill, including a highly inflated cost per foot of gas line (I checked prices to make sure) and we measured and found the feet of line installed were nearly half of what they claimed. This led to a week or so of very upsetting calls. In the end, we agreed to a bill adjustment that was not enough but we could not stand it any longer. We just felt - and still do - completely shaken down.