Hometown Heating and Air Conditioning

This was the most expensive and worse experience with a home contractor we have ever had. The process was so bad I didn't even have the energy to submit a review before, but after living through this past summer with a system that doesn't even work I felt I needed to do it, so that hopefully someone else is saved from being ripped off as we were. We initially chose them from several quotes because while the costing we received was pretty close they presented themselves as a family owned business (something we look for) that had the size and skills to do our job. We were looking to replace the ancient central heating unit and install a new HVAC unit. The new unit was to be relocated to a different part of the garage. We plan on converting the garage at some point in the future, and they promised that the additional HVAC requirements for needed square footage were included in the system they sold us. The initial planning went well, and they were able to schedule our job relatively quickly. I scheduled time off work in order to be there for the job -- which they promised would take 3 days at the most. Things began going wrong almost immediately. The crew that showed up the first day were very nice, however it seems they had not been given very detailed instructions -- despite both my husband and I taking time off several times in the lead up to discuss the job with the salesperson and lead installer -- and I had to go over everything with them. The first major mistake came the second day, and the trouble basically snowballed from that point on. One of the crew decided to start ripping out all of our existing perfectly good, rodent proof rigid duct work. Not only was this NOT part of the job, it was a disaster. They apologized for the mistake, and said they were going to replace the ductwork. They did, but it was with the standard flexible ducts (fiberglass covered in foil) NOT with what we had -- rigid rodent proof ducts. We argued with them several times, but we were just told that they don't do those types of ducts, and that these were so much more efficient. The need to replace the duct work pushed the job out and they weren't able to finish when they planned. They were also unable to schedule the next crew for a week -- despite the fact that THEY caused the delay, and that this would require additional time for us to be away from our jobs. In the end it took almost 3 months to complete the job as far as it went. So much went wrong it would take forever to list it all here -- including the ductwork leaking so bad at one point that it was colder in the crawlspace than our refrigerator, and the main duct line being crushed so bad that the back of the house didn't even get air at all. We had to call them back out to install a damper (which WE PURCHASED OURSELVES) that they had claimed was already installed. In the course of that time, due to sloppy workmanship and other factors the following was some of the worse damage that was done: 1. We had just payed to have the crawlspace cleaned, sanitized and have a vapor barrier installed. In addition to tons of garbage left behind during the work, they damaged the vapor barrier in numerous places essentially negating it's effectiveness and turning our clean crawlspace into a muddy mess. This will have to be completely redone. 2. We had payed for rodent proofing prior to the work being done, and at the time the job started there was no evidence of any rodents under the house. Numerous locations were left open despite us reminding them of the danger -- in particular the area outside where the lines leading to the condenser entered the house. This enabled rats to gain entry to our garage and crawlspace. These rodents proceeded to nest underneath the damaged vapor barrier, and chewed through the new flexible ducts. It took several months and thousands of dollars to mitigate this problem. Despite many calls to the company, they refused to even fix the damaged ductwork. What is even more frustrating about this is that the system they installed doesn't even work as it is supposed to. Our house isn't huge, but parts of the house never even get cold. The air coming out of the vent is cold, but the force is negligible and just doesn't enable it to be very effective. During the summer, we had to leave the unit running almost constantly -- if we didn't and the temp rose too high it would take hours for it to become livable. This is with keeping all the blinds closed during the day. And this is a system which we were assured would be powerful enough to support additional living space in the future. We do not have the option of opening our windows -- we have family members with severe asthma and allergies -- which is why we sought to purchase an efficient and top of the line HVAC system with air scrubber. We tried calling and working with the company for months, until we actually stopped having our calls returned and gave up. What was even more frustrating was that every time we called we had to go through the entire story over and over again -- as if it was the first they had ever heard of any issues. They never offered any form of compensation at all, even when agreeing to be at fault. All this company cares about is their bottom line, and the fact that they swindled us out of our savings means nothing to them. Don't believe them. When you call them and they say "How can we make you smile" -- I just wish I had never called them in the first place.

They explained the problems with the old furnace as to why replacement was needed rather than a repair. Price was a little high I thought. But since we have done business with them for several years, we decided to go with them. They are always very responsive and show up up right away when needed. Work was done professionally.

they showed up on the agreed date and time, performed the services without drama and were personable.