It's not better at Anderson!
I live in a very hot area of the United States and about a month ago my air conditioner stopped working. So I picked up the phone book and called Andersen heating and air conditioning. They told me a service visit was going to be $190 plus any repair costs and parts. I was lucky and haven’t had a coupon that my wife kept in a drawer for a free service call from Andersen and it was still valid. So I told him that.
They sent a guy out and apparently it took quite some time for him to get out to fix the AC unit. Between the time they send him out in the time he got here was about five hours. There isn’t five hours worth of traffic in our town. There probably isn’t even an hour’s worth of traffic on a busy day. Anyway so he shows up and I give him the coupon and he looks at the AC unit and tells me that it needs to be cleaned and topped up with freon. I asked him how much this was going to cost.
He said the cleaning was $190 and top it off with Freon was probably going to run another $300-$400. Not to read that carefully he was just adding in the hundred $90 for the service call as a cleaning. The unit had just been cleaned a few months prior by Andersen as a part of the yearly maintenance program. So now they’re trying to get me with a false cleaning that was unwarranted to make back the free service call because I had a coupon. Plus I heavily doubt that the system needed $300-$400 worth of freon.
To boot the guy was a jerk. He was definitely not very professional at all. So I finally had enough and told him I no longer needed his services. He told me I needed to pay him regardless. I went into my office and made a copy of the coupon and then handed it to him and told him to leave. He finally left after making some snide comments and other words I will not repeat here. Then I proceeded to look up other heating and air conditioning service companies in the phone book when my wife told me to go look it up on Craigslist.
She told me her friends have been using Craigslist to find mechanics for their cars, handymen to work on their houses, heating and air-conditioning guys and more at steep discounts. So I figured what the heck and gave it a try. I went to my local craigslist here in South Carolina and found many people that are offering their services and some of them actually worked for the big-name heating and air-conditioning companies like Brothers, Andersen and others but were doing this work on the side to make extra cash.
What was most important for me here was to find someone that was well-qualified. After only two phone calls I got a guy who worked with Brothers heating and air and he told me that his service calls were $40 and that included the first hour of work and he sounded very knowledgeable. So I took him at his word and he said he would be at my house in one hour. He was right on time and even showed up in the Brothers heating and air truck – so there was no question to the fact that he did work for Brothers heating and air conditioning.
He took a look at my air-conditioning unit and told me it did not need to be cleaned at all. He told me the capacitor was bad and needed to replaced. He said it was about a $20-$30 part. He didn’t have one on him and so he had to go and get one and come back. He installed it and then got the AC turned back on and everything worked great. I asked him to see if it needed freon like the Andersen tech had said. He tested it and said there was nothing wrong with the freon and that it didn’t need any.
My total cost from him was $65! The other guy from Anderson heating and air conditioning wanted to charge me well over $500 for services that weren’t even needed. Now I am not telling you that you should use Brothers heating and air as I didn’t – I just used one of their techs kind of under the radar – but instead I’m telling you to go use your local craigslist and go find a reliable heating and air-conditioning technician and save a lot of money that way!
By the way, after this I kept getting calls from Andersen heating and air. They had me on some telemarketing program or something that just kept on calling me. I called to cancel all future maintenace with them and they called me a month later to tell me they were coming out to maintain my unit. I told them we were done with them. They still to this day call me assuming they are coming out. They are absolutely crazy at Andersen! If I were you I would find someone else for your a/c repair needs!
Yes, they charge too much, but so does every other Tom, Dick and Harry HVAC repair company.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
I used Andersen heating to fix my furnace and they charged so much money it made my head swell. They charge $180 just come out your house. Then they charge a ridiculous amount for labor and for parts. And then they trying to tell you to put it on a credit card as ts just a monthly payment – yeah, a very high and ridiculous one at that. I had never seen a heating and air company that charges as much money as Andersen. I definitely recommend you stay away from them!
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
heres the reason it was cheap; other peoples ingenuity,stock,vehicle,training, and reputation. its a crap shoot on skill and ability of technichian, but is that stealing from the hand that fed you? i even had a lap top stolen by a competitor and that was not as bad as an employee using time and material. most are incompitant of performing work half the time so good luck.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I just had an occasion with Brothers; they had a special one week; $54.95; I called them; she said it was 89.95 now; okay; I went with that; included a pound of freon, and cleaning coils outside; he told me I needed a starter motor and other items on a 16 year old unit; it would be $650 dollars; but no guarntee on it; so that said; special is all I need then; when he got through; he said that will be 249.95; a special gone bad ! I paid him and e-mailed the company; they gave me $50 dollars refund and a credit of $50 toward the next visit; which will never happen; I may need a complete unit; if I do, it won’t be with them; they want high dollar for theirs; a guy from Anderson installed a complete unit next door for $1800 last summer; I contacted him, he said he was not sure he could match that price or not; but right now I am waiting on him to call me; if he can do it for that or $2000; I may spring for it since it is 16 years old and leaks freon; somebody give me a clue whether or not to make this move; he will not get a dime until it is done that is for sure; turn key with guarntee for a year; this guy seems honest and a friend to my next door neighbor; he is hispanic; supposed to call today; haven’t heard from him yet. In limbo.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
You stole from Brothers Htg and Air. The guy should’ve gotten FIRED for showing up in a company truck for side work. These companies invest a lot of time and money to run these companies. Next time shop around for affordable pricing and leave those losers who show up in their company trucks alone!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0