CB Lucas Company

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We were somewhat surprised by a couple of the negative reviews that we read about this company. Our experience was exactly the opposite. After discovering a cracked heat exchanger in our furnace, we requested an estimate for a new furnace from Lowe's, which we found uses select local contractors for installations, including C.B. Lucas for HVAC in our area. Having been through the estimate scenario 5+ times in the last year with my mother-in-law's house and now our own, I was expecting the standard walk in, glance at the furnace, write an over-priced estimate, and depart. Again - exactly the opposite experience this time around. Mike from C.B. Lucas arrived promptly at the scheduled time and spent the next hour and a half measuring our home's dimensions, assessing our air flow requirements, and examining our current insulation values. (He even went up in the attic!) The whole experience was a pleasant change from what we were used to. We received very competitive estimates for a range of options, from a basic replacement of our current furnace up through several complete HVAC systems, with no high pressure sales tactics. Do not be surprised by the cost listed above: As our old system had 20+ years of use on it, we opted to replace both the furnace and air conditioner. We upgraded both units: furnace to a variable speed model, and A/C to a larger capacity higher-end 16 SEER system. (Had we chosen to just replace the old furnace with a new model of the same capacity, Mike's estimate was only $1800.) The installation went very well with a team of two installers who were professional, polite, and courteous. Before leaving, they showed us all the specifics on how to operate our new system which has been working great. Bottom line: Professional company with outstanding customer service. We will use them again.

The plumber made only one hole in the drywall in order to locate the leak. He instructed the homeowner about "bleeding" the faucet before turning off the water for the winter.

Effective, efficient, resolved problem quickly. Excellent experience from original call to completed job.

They come within a reasonable amount of time and do things accurately. They are fairly priced and know what they are doing. I like their services and will use the same in future.

I received three estimates to install a Generac 20Kw generator; C B Lucas was the lowest of the three at $1745. However, as indicated in the total cost field, it was $500 more expensive. Upon arrival, the electrician informed me I needed a separate transfer switch shut-off box ($300) and a battery for the generator ($200), neither of which were discussed in the estimate. Furthermore, the electrician told me I needed to separately purchase a battery charger ($115). After receiving it, I called the manufacturer (Generac) to inquire how to hook up the battery charger and was told a separate battery charger was not needed (return charger to vendor for shipping and handling fees and a restocking charge). Generac also told me the transfer switch shutoff box was unnecessary. The inspector confirmed that as well, had the transfer panel been wired as it was intended. The first electrician that performed installation work wired the circuits I identified to run on the generator in the event of a commercial power failure (which was another misrepresentation as the generator, if wired in accordance with the instruction manual performs load shedding so the entire house can be connected and it will shed load in a specified sequence). When the electrician left for the day several circuits (garage door opener, some lights, some outlets) did not work, requiring a return visit the following day to fix. The electrician, prior to leaving, told me they (CB Lucas) would call in the inspection. After waiting over a month (two, I think), I called Lucas about the inspection and was informed it was my responsibility to schedule. I called it in, the inspector came out, and 7 items failed inspection. I then called Lucas to report the failure and they said they would have someone come out to fix the items. While traveling for business, I learned that the electrician showed up unannounced to make the repairs but the cover was locked so they then scheduled a return visit. The second electrician then came out, theoretically made the repairs and I asked specifically if they could schedule the inspection and have an electrician there while the inspector went over everything and was told sure. Again, I wait and wait, no calls, no inspection so I called Lucas and was told by Mr Wayne Lucas that "there was no way they would have an electrician sit over here and wait for the inspector." So again I scheduled the inspection, it failed, many of the items being repeats. Lucas then subcontracted to another electrician, Underwood Electric, who came out to fix the items. Upon inspection, they had one minor write-up, came out promptly and remedied it, and it finally passed inspection on 1 Jul 2011.

Customers Beware!!!!- We live in a 2 year old home with a brand new Goodman A/C unit. CB Lucus installed the unit when the home was built in 2008. After we move in the home in Jan 2009, it wasn't until we started using the A/C in the summer did we have to call CB Lucus to come out to service the unit, because it was not blowing cool air. They came out and said the freon ran out, couldn't explain why, but filled it up and went on their way. The next time the A/C went bad was 2 months later and they came out said that the previous tech must have left the cap off the valve and the freon leaked out. Was irritated to say the least, but we went ahead and paid them to refill it and they put a new cap on the valve. So you would think why would would we call them out again for a 3rd time after knowing that they were obviously incompetent. Well we had a good relationship with the builder and trusted that he was using reputable contractors for his business. They came out for the 3rd time, filled the unit with freon, said that they couldn't find anything wrong except the valve cap being loose. They also said that the parts for our brand new system would not be made anymore by the Goodman company, so they wouldn't be able to service the unit in the future. The unit has a 5-year basic warranty, what do you mean you can't service the unit again??? That was a bold face lie! I called Goodman and they said that the unit just came into production 3 years ago and that they definitely made parts and refrigerant for the unit. The tech also jokingly mentioned, wow, I bet you're paying at least an extra $200-$400 on the electricity bill because of this leaking freon. We then proceeded to contact the owner of CB Lucus, who had an attitude and couldn't explain or offer any explanation for the lack of competency. I went ahead and called another AC service to come out and provide a second opinion 4 days after CB Lucus serviced the unit. WOULD YOU BELIEVE......the valve cap was missing again, and another cap was very loose. The exact problem which was causing the freon to leak. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY FOR ANYTHING! I am reporting them to the BBB. My husband and I have proudly served in the Marine Corps for the past 20 years, and we believe in Honor, Courage, and Commitment; we wouldn't lie to you. I joined Angie's List to warn others. We don't want anyone else to waste their time or money with CB Lucus.

The only thing that I don’t like about them is that they do not work after fifteen. Whenever you have any annual check up for your heating unit or A/c unit then you will have to take off them sometime for work. Other than that their prices are reasonable and they worked out for me. I have been using them from very long time. They are pretty good. They always come when they said they would come. I rate them high overall. I would definitely use them again.

This is possibly the worst, most unhelpful, unprofessional company I've had the displeasure of dealing with. I did not hire them to perform service on my condo - my upstairs neighbor hired them to install her new HVAC system. The genius technicians shut off power in her condo unit, but did not properly check the outside lines, and plugged into my condo, which was powered on - and blew out my fuses while I was at work. They heard the pop, saw the smoke, yet did nothing about it but tell the grounds keeper who happens to have his work shed nearby. I came home to zero power, but luckily had a note from the grounds keeper who gave me a heads up on the issue. I spoke to my neighbor who gave me C.B.'s contact info. Well, apparently my blown fuses were either my fault, since I wasn't home when it happened, or the grounds keeper's fault, since he should have fixed their mistake. They reluctantly sent the technician back to my condo, who of course saw that I needed new master fuses. These people are not electricians, so didn't realize they couldn't buy these at Home Depot. The owner of the company made no additional attempt to find these fuses, and would not call another company or electrician. He offered to put me up at a hotel, but I have a dog, and he doesn't realize that Arlington prices are almost as bad as downtown prices - especially when throwing in a pet. He, of course, thought I should just leave my dog at home after her being home alone all day. His price cap was unreasonable, and based on their demonstrated incompetence, how could I believe they would actually reimburse me? Plus, I would have to arrange yet another time for them to come and install the fuses after they tracked them down. I began calling other companies who were extremely helpful (try Frosty's for HVAC), after basically being told to suck it up by C.B.. Finally a real professional came over at 9pm, wrote down the needed parts, called a supply company owner who opened up shop so he could get the fuses. After my losing the entire night, I now have power - unfortunately, the food in my fridge and freezer are a total loss (so this happened very early this morning, giving them plenty of time to call an electrician, call our condo office who could in turn call me, etc). There were many things C.B. could have done to fix their mistake, but just didn't bother to. The technician at one point thought he could run an extension cord from the maintenance shed to my fridge, leaving my ground floor window wide open in an urban area until they could return in 24 hours. Not an acceptable solution. When I told him the tech I was going to have the problem fixed myself, he took his extension cord, but left the window screen he had popped out laying on my bed. I still can't get it back in. He also left the fridge in the middle of the kitchen (not on wheels), after he had attempted to plug it in. He couldn't leave me alone in the dark fast enough. I would never recommend this company to anyone. I lost about $400 in food and over $1000 in hours I was supposed to be working at home. I will be pursuing some form of compensation for my losses, as well as reimbursement for the emergency repairs made by the proper electrician. After doing a non-Angie's List search on this company, I have found many negative reviews that demonstrate what they actually deliver - rude, arrogant behavior, and placing blame on the customer. Proceed at your own risk!!!

The plumber called to confirm the appointment the night before and called 15 minutes before the scheduled arrival time to confirm that he would arrive as scheduled. He was professional, answered all of my questions and very pleasant to talk to. He had all of the required equipment, explained what the problem was and fixed the problems quickly. I will call him back for any future services required.

The two men arrived on time. Introduced themselves and asked me to show them the location of the furnace and ac compressor. They went right to work and did not stop until the work was complete. About 4pm. I offered them to please go take a lunch break...they declined and even passed on homemade pumpkin muffins. When the job was complete they went over the instructions for the new thermostat put in as well as all the warrenty info we needed. Got a call back a few days later to check to see how things were going. I did call them back as we were hearing a high pitched noise. They came out the next day and gave us a few suggestions what it might be and how to fix it(changing the air filter to a different brand worked!)

They did an excellent job of it and it was very nice to have them working here. They took great care with it. I don't know a lot about gas lines, but I think that the quality of work was good. They came out right away when I called for an estimate and worked with us and our general contractor to come out the right day when we needed them to be here. I chose them for their price - it was better than anybody else's. I would use them again in the future if necessary.

CB Lucas had the best price of all the quotes we got, they beat one of the quotes some by half! They worked over Memorial day weekend to complete the install and did a great job They were extremely knowledgeable and worked with me on placement of vents and the unit, etc... to make sure it was as asthetically pleaseing as possible. They added new vents in all the upstairs bathrooms and our walk in closet to help eliviate the dead air/trapped air spots that we had in those areas. Mike Lucas was great help in the planning and Paul the installer knew his stuff executing Mike's master plan. Only complaint is that they washed their tools in my kids bathtub when I much would have prefered they go outside and use the hose.

I bought a home generator from this company. The installation and test went fine. EXCEPT that after the installation the upstairs AC did not work right. It would come on and then shut off after about 45 minutes. The circuit breaker for the AC kept tripping. The installation of the home generator required work in the breaker box to install. I called the company and explained that the AC that never had problems was now tripping off the line after the home generatior installation. The company sent out an AC technician that checked the AC and found nothing wrong. Charged me $96.00 for the service call. AC continued to trip. Used Angies list to get a good electrician. He found the probelm in 5 minutes loose terminals in the breaker box exzctly where the installation had occured earler that Spring. There is no question that CB Lucas caused a problem then charged me more money to have a service call in which they missed an easy fix (tightening screws). Poor service and arrogance (We do not do make mistakes) is no way to run a business.

I think it went well. The technician asked me about the problem. He immediately checked the resistance of our igniter, and found the part to be out of broken. Additionally, when he removed the part, he showed the spot where it had broken. The new part was installed, and the technician stayed to ensure everything cycled correctly two or three times. Approximate price breakdown for service call. Technician's site visit cost: $80. Part cost: $170

I thought they should not have charged me for the problem since it was virtually a new unit.

They installed a new heat pump and air handling unit in my townhome before I took ownership in Jan 2007. Everything had been running well. The unit stopped working on a Saturday (of course). I called them because I didn't know if it was a warranty item or not. The on-call technician (Eric) called me back within 15 minutes and he was at my home within 3 hours. Eric made frequent calls to me keeping me up to date. It turned out that Eric was one of the original installers (the installers names were written on a label on the unit). Eric quickly zeroed in to the problem by removing and adding systems (it was the unreplaced electrostatic air filter) and got my heating system working again. I was very pleased with the service.