Preferred Heating & Cooling LLC

A technician showed up on time as scheduled and diagnosed sounds from compressor in ACunit. He was punctual, courteous, and professional. Next day, the replacement of condenser fan motor was completed and now the AC unit is working fine. His work met my expectation.

We contacted Preferred Heating & Cooling after the company associated with our home warranty company failed to show. We'd already been without A/C for several days and Preferred scheduled us very promptly. We had no idea what was wrong with the unit and had been warned that it was nearing the end of it's life. The tech actually showed up early - but called ahead to make sure this was okay with us. He was friendly, happily tolerated our friendly dog, put up with the hassle of working with our home warranty when he did not know the process, and concluded that we were simply out of freon. He stuck around measuring the temperature of the air coming out of the system to ensure that it was suitably cool and then declared us fixed. We've had no problems since then and could not have asked for a better experience.

It was fine, there was a scheduling problem, but it was okay. There were no extra charges. I would not use them again.

It was an Angie's List Big Deal that I purchased. I paid more than the Big Deal because I had to purchase the coolant that they added. The $49 was for the diagnosis and the service call. The price was reasonable. That coolant is expensive so when you add that stuff, that's obviously going to be extra. For their responsiveness, they were here right away.

I don't have anything to say and I can leave no comment. I would use them again.

I will give them an overall of a A.

I wasn’t at home but my husband was pretty happy with their service. They technician was very courteous and very clean. We were happy with them.

Diagnostic service call with Angie's List coupon.

Got a call back from Preferred Heating and within a few minutes they had a technician out to help. He was quickly able to diagnosis the issue -- a bad capacitor. He replaced it and then another diagnosis which he reviewed with me.

This was the best experience I have ever had with AC repair. Our AC went out and with a toddler in the house we needed it fixed ASAP. They were the only company willing to rework their schedule and squeeze us in at the end of a long day. The tech went above and beyond explaining every step and checking every possible problem. After refrigerant was added, every vent in our three story townhome was checked to be sure the temperature was dropping everywhere. We will definitely continue to use them.

Reliable, tech was very knowledgeable, trust worthy advice, he didn't try to sell me another service, kind and friendly to my kids

The first thing to mention is that the young lady who answered the phone, Mellissa, is hands down the best customer service person I've ever dealt with. Absolutely top-notch! I was initially concerned that using the Angie's List deal ($49 service call) would somehow put me at the bottom of the list, but she assured me this was not the case and in fact was able to schedule the service for the following day. She was also able to tentatively diagnose the problem over the phone (caveat: she was very clear about not being a technician); that was important in this case, as her advice to turn my system off to prevent further coolant leakage probably saved me money and may have prevented damage to the system. One nice touch was the confirmation email Mellissa sent, which included a photo of the technician and a short bio. The technician, David, arrived the following day, right before the beginning of the scheduled time period (I like that they gave a three-hour window). He was very personable, and quickly identified the problem, then thoroughly explained my options. Considering I have a 20-year-old system, it's getting close to the time when getting a new system will make more sense...but David's detailed explanation helped me decide to go ahead with the required service. David injected a product called Leak Freeze into the system, which finds any pinholes and seals them. It's kind of pricey ($225). but compared to the cost of a new system it's an excellent value. (Note that the Leak Freeze is guaranteed to work, or the cost is applied to the next service/replacement.) He then topped off the coolant, and I was good to go. Note: there was no charge for this, but David helped me figure out the correct summer position of the upstairs/downstairs vent baffle (the previous owner had removed the labelled lever, so I have never been sure it's in the right position for the time of year). He then placed markings on the housing for me. The entire process could not have been better. I will always use Preferred in the future!

They were also wonderful. They arrived when they said they were going to arrive. They diagnosed what was wrong. It was the hottest of all summers and my air conditioning broke. They gave me a discount for the last maintenance checkup because my contract has been cancelled. I would definitely recommend them. They showed me the parts that were broken. They won't just tell me that I need this and that. They were right up front with me and they won't cheat me. It is a family owned business. From the person who talks to me over the phone, Melissa to her dad who owns the business and had come out here a couple of times personally to make sure that my HVAC is up to his standard, provided personal attention. I really appreciate them. They understood that we were also working people like them.

Excellent experience and I would hire them again. Melissa was extremely polite and returned my calls and provided all the information I needed prior the appointment. The gentleman that came out, was on time, polite, showed me his ID, put on footies to protect our floors and asked me about our system and the problem that we were having. He was able to identify and solve the problem fairly quickly. He vacuumed out hundreds of stink bugs in our system and offered suggestions on how to prevent the problem in the future. We were fearing an expensive repair and this technician solved the problem for the price of a service call. This was a very positive experience and plan on using this company for our future servicing needs.

A different contractor before him said that it coulnd't be fixed. He did a great job and fixed it quickly.

Not only did Preferred (the owner!) check the circuit board and switch to make sure that I only needed a new board, they went to their warehouse and returned within the hour with the exact part I needed and had my HVAC working in the time another company would have taken to just make an inital assessment. Preferred gives me the straight story - no lines, no stories, and shows me exactly where the parts have failed and need to be replaced. I have reviewed other HVAC companies, and Preferred has better service and better prices. I wish all repair companies could be just like Preferred - or we've got to convince them to fix every mechanical item we can own!

They were prompt and on time. The gentleman that came did an excellent job. He was very nice. They were in and out in 20 min

I found Preferred Heating and Cooling here on Angie's list and wrote them an e-mail on August 11th after having been without A/C for 5 days after finding water leaking onto the basement floor underneath the HVAC as well as a gurgling sound coming from the compressor compartment. The unit is quite securely constructed, and I didn't feel confident about taking panels off myself, especially as it is 12 years old and beyond warranty. Preferred wrote me back within minutes and scheduled my repair for the next morning - this was a relief as another repair company I'd written didn't bother to contact me for two days! The clog in the HVAC drain was fixed promptly, and the technician not only replaced a bit of pipe that was part of the original installation work with a small elbow pipe through which I can pour hot water or bleach to prevent clogs in the future. He also told me that the rattling I had just begun to hear was the motor and blower units, both due for replacement after 12 years of use. I contacted Preferred, letting them know that I was signing up for their reasonably priced preventative maintenance plan as well as to give my permission to order the needed parts. The new motor and blower were available within days, and the same technician returned on August 17th to complete the repair and paperwork for the service agreement. Not only did he do a clean and professional job, checking every aspect of the A/C portion of my HVAC, but he showed me both old and new parts, confirming that I did, indeed, need the replacement. He told me that when he returns for the heating inspection, he will clean the burners in my HVAC. On both visits, he was not only on time, but caught me on the hop by being a few minutes early on the second visit! What a relief to know that I do not have to wait for someone who "will be there sometime between 8 and noon". I was impressed not only with the professionalism of the company (Mellissa on the other end of the e-mails), but also the technician, who treated me like a human being who knows enough about machinery to understand what is going on, even if I am not in a position for DIY. Preferred respected my schedule, understood the value of my time, and never treated me like an open wallet! They even applied the 10% discount on parts and labor for the service agreement I'd only just signed to my repairs! My A/C has operated beautifully since the repairs, and I look forward to having Preferred conduct the heating inspection and conduct all of my maintenance and repairs from now on. I only wish that every repair service/installation that I have had and will have done could be as easy and as good a value as Preferred has given me! Thank you so very much!!

Preferred knew they were in competiiton with other potential contractors, and bad-mouthed their competion (ostensibly, so I wouldn't make the "wrong" choice).That made me uncomfortable, so I looked at their rating on Angie's List, and noticed they had been flagged for violations. As a result, Preferred was crossed off of our list.

Overall I would not trust this company and would not recommend them. Update 1/11/11: We chose to have the HVAC system repaired by another company. (in reference to the client)

Guys were right on time. Did a great job. Couldn't tell they were even there afterward except for the new unit. Cleanup was perfect. Professionalism was the best. Had to change the initial install date due to unavailability of parts but kept me in the loop and was informed well ahead of time with no last minute surprises. The Mitsubishi mini-split is awesome. Keeps my computers happy and can't even hear it. Nice piece of equipment and great father and son team installed it. Thanks guys.

I am very pleased with the service performed by Ron C. He was very thorough and professional. He was on time and I feel he went above and beyond expectations. He made sure I understood what he was doing and when the new humidifier pad did not stop the leak, he found that the hose connection had dry-rotted. A new hose was not available, but one was ordered. The company will call when the hose comes in. He also cleaned out the humidifier fan and the pad frame. Ron also checked our air filter and notified us that it needed to be changed. He removed the old, dirty filter. Based on this experience, I will use them again.

Called in the morning and left a message, they promptly returned my called and set a sasme day appointment. By Noon, Ron was in my driveway. He was professional and kind. Ron cleaned out my A/C on the exterior of the house, checked my vents, checked overall condtion of the interior unit as well as filters and made a recommendation to change new filters. Ron also gave me the measurements so I could go on line and order them today. After the inspection and cleaning and giving it a good bill of health he proceeded to give me a quote for the maintenance plan and left it at that. We will be back if we need service. Angie's List also got me a $20 discount!

Our salesman Dan was very knowledgeable and helpful. He worked with us as we did want to bypass some of the existing duct work to prepare for future renovation projects. He tried to help us find any discounts possible to make the work more affordable. He was willing to get the work done promptly during a very hot summer, which other companies would not do. The equipment we got is working well and we have no complaints with it. When our water heater disintegrated during the HVAC installation, Dan was able to get us a new one delivered and installed within two hours, which brought the price up to $10,800 from the original quote (for just furnace, A/C and ductwork) of $9,467. However, he used subcontractors to do the duct work, which really soured the entire process. The subs were messy. They put the boxes for the equipment on our carpet to try and prevent stains and only one drop cloth on the floor with nothing covering furniture or anywhere else. They used our vacuum and broom and our trashbags to do the limited cleanup they did. As soon as they were done we spent a day scrubbing drywall dust off of every surface in the house, though we still find it. We also had to rent a carpet cleaner, and it took hours to get shoe prints and grime out of our carpet, and we were not completely able to do so in some places. The duct work was installed quickly and without much thought. We have a small house, so space is at a premium, and 6-8 inches here and there really add up. We did talk to the sub about the duct work while it was being installed. The contractor said that he couldn't make the duct work flush with the ceiling joists in one spot in the basement and could not run another section through the ceiling to save us valuable closet space, even though that was the plan we discussed with the foreman. A section he ran to the bathroom didn't follow our instructions on how we wanted it to go. Well, we took a look at it and decided we couldn't close it up and live with the space that way, so we ended up calling a few friends the following weekend to pull almost all of it out and re-run it in a more efficient configuration. That has left us with holes to patch in our walls and flooring to repair. However, our reworked ducting passed inspection and works just as well in addition to saving space and allowing us to do finishing drywall more neatly. Of course the extra work means our plans for finishing the job have fallen far behind. Preferred has said that they are phasing out this subcontractor as a result of our experience. They offered to send the same crew back to fix the ducts to our standards, but insofar as they made excuses for the issues that we brought to their attention during installation and their workmanship was so careless, we elected to cut our losses and do it ourselves. I would hire/recommend Preferred to repair or replace the heating or cooling unit but would not use them for duct work.

After we had one company come out and tell us nothing was wrong with our air conditioning (and not very nicely), I called Preferred Heating & Cooling for a second opinion. The coordinator I spoke with was very friendly and said she could send someone out toward the end of the day, with a promise that she would call once he was on his way. Sure enough, I got a call in advance and Roland arrived about ten minutes later. Roland was very polite and put on foot coverings before entering the house. He checked the units outside and inside and after about 10 minutes spotted the problem--the condensation drain pipe had become clogged, tripping the automatic shutoff. He showed me how to make sure it doesn't become clogged in the future and told me about the maintenance contracts that they offer but in a way that I felt no pressure to sign on. I also was given a great rate for the service call as an Angie's List member. It was cheaper for me to have Preferred fix my problem than it was for me to pay the prior company who told me everything was fine and didn't fix it. I've kept Preferred's contact information so I can contact them again for any cooling or heating issues we might have.