Pitzer's One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating

I would use them if I needed them again. They are too eager to run at the bill, rather than do what should be done. I would recommend them to other people.

unknown

I think the price was on the high side but the quality of both the equipment and install seems to fit the work done.

I was in Illinois on business at the time and we had to do this over the phone w/the assistance of a woman in the park who is part time caretaker for me while I am not in residence. She assured me the workmen were courteous, punctual and professional and left the place neat and clean. The new units are much more efficient and cost effective as well as being reliable.

I had Pitzer's One Hour replace a capacitor on my air conditioner and a few weeks later return to fix a freon leak and replace 13 pounds of R22 freon.  Here is the good and the bad.

The Bad-

Speed-   I thought the company's name implied a promise that they would arrive within an hour.  It does not, and the name seemed deceptive to me.  They will offer an appointment for a relatively broad window of time and,  though they did arrive within the promised window of time, I don't know if they are any faster than their competion.

Cost- The repairs cost me about $2100.  After the second service visit, friends told me that Pitzer was one of the most expensive air conditioning companies in the area and recommended Got Air in Bullhead.  Too late, I called Got Air and did some comparison shopping.  They quoted a price of $50 per pound for the Freon which One Hour normally charges $129.  Pitzer does offer reduced pricing if you pay for a membership and I actually paid $103 per pound, but this is still double Got Air's price.  I suspect most of their parts are services carry a similar mark up but you'll have to do some comparison shopping.

To help, here is the standard pricing from their One Hour's  ?Straightforward Pricing? sheet-

Repair, replace, install: In warranty condenser coil, relocate condensing unit, reversing valve, electronic ignition and gas valve, install drain pan in attic. $1179

Repair, replace, install: Condenser fan motor, refrigerant leak search and repair, cap tub assembly with strainer, valve, ignition module/re-light assembly, gas valve, flame  sensor, electrical short, Zinsco breaker, defrost timer, 2-sp. Blower motor, special t-stat. $629

Repair, replace, install: Sight glass, process tube, program. 2-stage t-stat, pressure switch, defrost timer, super boost, pilot assembly, electrical short, condensate pump, circuit breaker, bearing, blower wheel, clean coil, blower assembly, or drain pan. $379

Repair, replace, install: Super tune up, comp. blanket, sight glass, contactor, relay, sequence, transformer, capacitor, start kit, rev. valve coil, fan blade, pulley, breaker, disconnect box, digital t-stat, leak ck and adddye, filter drier, igniter, pilot assembly, sensor, fusible link, fan limit. $249

Clean, adjust: Blower wheel, drain pan, drain line, condenser coil, gas pressure, burner, correct charge. $129

Repair, replace, install: Capacitor, fuse, breaker, timer wiring, Schrader  valve, thermocouple, relight pilot, motor mounts. $129

Again, please note these charges are likely to be stacked. Thirteen pounds of R22 under their standard, non- Club Rate is 13x $129 plus another $249 for the leak check.

The Good-

Professionalism-  Both of the repairmen who came to my home were polite and professional.  They quickly identified and fixed my problem.  I complained about the cost of the service and corresponded over several day with their general manager.  He too was polite and seemed genuinely interested in his company's reputation and my satisfaction.  He also  informed me that they were going to lower the cost of the R22 Freon to a more competitive rate and refund me $308 with no conditions attached to reflect the new price.  He did acknowledge that the company is more expensive than their competition and stated that the added cost helps them to retain skilled, professional staff and other benefits to the consumer.  I was largely appeased by our dialog but ultimately unsatisfied because I asked them to post the above price list on the website (rather than just on the invoice given to customers at the time of service) and they declined.

This company is expensive.  While the added expense may or may not be justified, it is impossible to make an informed decision if you are unable to comparison shop before the repairman arrives.  I hope this post helps others make a better decision than I did.

unknown

They are very good. They do a great job. The cost is a little more their competitors.

They are great. They do a wonderful job. Anytime you call them they will come out. They will even come on Sundays. They are friendly and very efficient. We had a part that had been recalled by the manufacturer as our freon was leaking and we live about an hour and a half from them and they came on a Sunday to make sure we still had freon. We have recommended them to other people in our neighborhood.

The service has been great.

The service has been pretty good. It does seem like when they come out there is always something more I have to buy.

unknown

We are satisfied. We have no problems. When he came to give us the estimate on the air duct cleaning it would have been nice if he would have mentioned that the city is giving a rebate on that service. We still have no problems with them at this time. They are still going to do the job.

The service has been okay.

In mid September I hired Pitzer's One Hour Air Conditioning and Heating to replace the wet system of my Mastercool swamp cooler,    when repairman was finished I told him only a small amount of water was dripping out of the return hose. He stated to me that adjusted it so I wouldn't use so much water. I only used it for a couple more weeks before I shut it down for the season. In the latter part of April I called to have system cleaned and re-started for the the summer which was included in price I paid. The repairman who came was much more professional, I could tell he was not pleased with the job the previous repairman had done. The pump and the float had not been replaced and the water hoses were clogged. He spent almost as much time correcting the prior work than the first repairman did installing it.

I called Pitzer's late in the morning to check on a pre-Summer inspection and tune up of our upstairs and downstairs air conditioning units. I was advised that they could have a technician at our home that afternoon, between 1:00 and 4:00 PM. I received a call just before 1:00 to let me know that the service representative was on the way, and Andy arrived at our home about 10 minutes later. Andy started out at the air conditioning units themselves, and the first thing he did was to remove the safety disconnects from the AC supply to each unit (Safety first!). He then went with me inside our house where he did a thorough inspection of the thermostats, the ducting and the filters. He then went back outside and removed the covers from the air conditioning units and did a full inspection and testing of each system. During his inspection, Andy noted that there were no start assist devices on the motors, which are recommended for longer service life. Since he had the start kits in his van, we asked him to add these to the order, and he installed them as part of the service visit. Andy also gave us details on Pitzer's "Comfort Club", which provides members with one precision tune-up, cleaning and rejuvenation of the cooling system plus one annual safety check, and a tune-up, cleaning, rejuvenation, plus safety check of the heating system. The membership also provides discounts on service and parts. We signed up, and immediately got discounts on the start kits and the work that Andy did. We look forward to having him do the heating system inspection and tune-up late this Fall.Andy was very knowledgeable, helpful and extremely personable and friendly. The whole experience with Pitzer's was excellent.

First off this property is a rental in Havasu for snowbirds that are currently renting and I am in CA.  I mention this as the communication was terrible and I am not sure the company has thought about how to give good service when your customer is not staring at you. 

I called on 3/7 and spoke with a call center rep in Phoenix who took a long time to get my information, etc., mostly because she over verified everything (3-4 times on phone, address, etc.).  She was pleasant, so I didn't say anything and being accurate is far better than the alternative.  The service tech actually ended up being early.  He spoke with the renter about what he had found and told them that he would contact me for the next steps.  This was about 3:30pm that day.  I called the office about an hour later to look for an update and according to the call center (which I guess the phones get transerfered to when nobody is around at the local branch) nobody was left in the office for the day, but they would relay a message to their dispatch. 

Well about 10am the next morning (my time, so about 11am) I called to find out what is going on - after all I had a renter that got to sleep without heat that night) to speak with a woman at the local branch.  She was the reason I gave the company a B on professionalism as everyone was fine, but she took a tone with me when I asked why nobody had spoken with me?  Afterall I am the customer, the one that is paying the bill, not my tenant.  She made a sassy remark to the effect of "he has to order the part anyways" when I said that I was expecting a call after the service as my renter is without heat.  She said that she would find out how much the part was and call back.  I beleive another woman called me back and gave me the pricing opitons and availability.  The part was due in to them the next day by 11am.  I never got a call on Friday, and again had to call in the late afternoon to see if the repair was done and to see if they felt the problem was solved.

I was quoted $721 for the part, 1st trip @59, 2nd trip to repair and enrollement in some $159 membership package that made the total cost differ by $3 if I didn't take it.   Today I see on my credit card a charge for $752 and have not seen an invoivce still.  Unless someone can show me the supplier invoice for $375 or more for the part I think this was too much to pay for this repair.  I say 375 because I am allowing for a 15% mark up on the part and $289 for labor, which I think is more than fair for <3 hours of onsite time.  Not even sure what the extra $30 is all about, but unless I call, based on my exeperience, they aren't going to let me know. 

The job got done, but the communication was terrible from my perspective.  The pricing is questionable and wouldn't have brought it up if there wasn't the $30 mystery difference or the follow-ups that I had to initiate.

Very good job.

Call them to set up an appointment, they showed up the next day on time.  They serviced my a/c unit and they have excellent customer service.