Direct Heating & Cooling Inc

They start telling you that you need super expensive repairs on your a/c that is not even 4 years old. I called other companies and got a 2nd and 3rd FREE opinion of the entire unit and guess what? The unit had absolutely NOTHING wrong with it and did not need a $1900 new coil, etc.., like Direct Heating and Cooling's Jordan told me it needed immediately... That is how they make their money. Read the reviews people, go to the BBB website. Set your security cameras right over your a/c unit in both places. Get a FREE second and third opinion. They refunded my money, took a week but unless they wanted my attorney on them they had no choice. Still reporting them..

Compay responded the same day to a request for an estimate. They worked 10 straight hours to install the AC the next day.

I had to make a follow up call because they were an hour late or something like that.

The job was completed.

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We were very happy with their handling of our project. They replaced a unit that we got from another firm 4 years ago. Direct heating made sure that we got the correct unit and at a fair price. After getting an inferior product 4 years ago, with 5 years parts. The new unit has a 10 year parts and labor. The installation was done with fast lead time and professional installation. The unit was a much neater than the previous installation which took 4 visits from the Collier inspection department to pass inspection and they claimed to be the"best".

I will continue to use Direct Heating and Cooling for my air conditioning needs in the future.

Terrible! They installed my air conditioner 4 times and took out equipment in UV lighting telling me that I didn't need it. When they came back to do their inspection, they told me that I did need it and I had to pay 1600 dollars to put it back in. It took them days to get here and they overcharged me several times. Whenever they'd come out, I needed something new according to them. It was a very poor experience overall. They were never available whenever I'd call to try to get a hold of somebody down there. When I'd make a complaint, they would say it was my personal problem. They did make it right but they never replaced the equipment they said I wouldn't need.

The tech was a nice fella but I'm not to sure about his knowledge on A/Cs.  This was just a routine service call to check out my A/C iniside our condo. After a few minutes he indicated our A/C wasn't functioning well and he said ...look at all the frost on the coils.  Plus there was a leak in the back and a lot of rust in the pan.  He indicated we should not run the A/C till we fixed this one or got a new one.  I asked the price of fixing vs new.  He suggested new and called his office to see what they had in stock and get a price.  The office indicated they had one in the warehouse that they were about to ship back and was willing to give us a $1000 discount but we had to make the decision soon as they were being shipped back the next day. ($6000 cost )  My wife quickly ran to the computer to check Angies list for this co. and discovered overall score F.  We thanked the guy and said we would think about it and paid the $34.95.  We later called another A/C co.  Speedy and they arrived later in the day and examined the unit inside and out and said nothing wrong with our unit at all.  He said all coils have some rust and rust in the pan...This is S.W Florida!!  But nothing to be concerned about.  We asked about the frost on the coils..he said of course you will have frost on the coils if you leave the door off for awhile..they will frost over.  Before he left he said lets go back to the unit and I will take the door off and we will check the coils to be sure...and sure enough NO FROST!!  We are so glad we did not follow Direct Heating tech advise.  We will have Speedy do all service calls on our A/C.

HORRIBLE!  See above.

We used the contractor to install a replacement AC system in September 2012. 
Three months later our house would not warm despite the system running 24 hours straight.  I read the installation manual and discovered that a jumper needed to be installed.
When the technician arrived, he told us in under 5 minutes that he problem could be corrected for $375.  I told him that I paid for a system that worked as well or better than the system he removed and that he needed a better answer.  I suggested that he install the jumper - he told me that didn't have anything to do with the problem.
I called the office to complain and when there was no response I contacted Nordine (the current owner of the Frigidare name) to complain.  I called Direct again and told them I had contacted Nordine and that I was ready to take legal action if we didn't get a solution.
Direct reluctantly sent out Matt (service supervisor) who, after about 5 minutes, said the problem was a missing jumper, without the jumper, the unit only activated 1/2 its heating capacity.  He installed the jumper and the system worked fine.  I am convinced that the jumper was left disconnected as an attempt to increase revenue, if that isn't the case and it was an actual error by the installation person we can only assume either incompetence or fraud.
A week later we had the 6 month service performed and we were told we needed to install a UV light system to prevent mold growth.  I pointed out that the company had done the sanitization just 6 months prior and that I was using FPR10 filters (these trap mold spores and other very small items in the air) and that it was impossible to have a mold problem.  He left with the service completed and nothing else.
Today Direct came out to provide the six month service, within minutes we were informed that we had major mold growth and that we needed a UV light and sanitization. 
Now, logic says that a sanitized system operating with an FPR10 filter should have no mold growth unless the original sanitization didn't work or mold was planted in the system six months ago when we refused the UV light kit. 
I have asked Direct for a refund of the sanitization charges since it obviously didn't work - no matter what the cause.  I will look into a UV light system, but will not allow Direct to even bid on the job.

Our air-con stopped working one lunchtime, we had visitors at the time so needed a company who would come straight out. They did.
The unit was 14 years old and we knew it would need replacing soon. They gave us a quote for the model we had already decided we wanted and it was considerably less than a quote we had been give by other companies in the past. They came back first thing the next day and completed the work by mid-afternoon. Everyone in the company was very polite and seemed to know what they were doing.
Unfortunately when council came to check they hadn't completely sealed the pipes so we had been leaking cold air into the garage. We called and told them and they came the next day to fix it, Again very polite and apologised for the problem.
We had no complaints about them and would recommend them for price and punctuality.

They told us the one we had previously could not be repaired. Everytime they came out, there was something that new needed to be done for the new air conditioner. A new filter and needed to enlarge my ducts and each time it was a major. We had another company come out and they were amazed at the bad job done.

They tried to pull a bait-and-switch on me. After they had finished cleaning my air conditioners, they said my system was failing and that it would cost me an additional $2000. I chose to have Whaley's come take a look and they were able to take care of the problem for much less.

My wife and I were visiting my mother-in-law in P**** Gorda; my father-in-law recently passed away and we were helping get her house / affairs in order.  Air Conditioning went out on Good Friday (29 March) and my mother-in-law called Direct Air for service on Easter Sunday because, "that's who we always used."  Direct Air came out on Monday afternoon, performed their work on the Capacitor, cleaned the coils and gave my mother an estimate for a brand new AC unit ($5K).  Though the coils were under warranty, the technician recommended a brand-new system because he couldn't personally guarantee that replacing the coils would solve the problem.  My mother presented my wife and I with the estimate, and our first reaction was, why - if the parts are under warranty - are we replacing an entire system?  I then began digging for information on Direct Air.  Turns out that their BBB score is a C- and Angie's List is an F (both deserved in my opinion).  I then went to my father-in-laws filing cabinets looking for the other receipts and estimates from Direct Air.  Turns out he was increasingly suspicious of their tactics over the past two years as every trip out resulted in a bill for between $500-$1000 for repairs/service, and then an estimate for additional (not requested) work between $2000 and $5000.  I convinced my mother-in-law to get a second opinion on the projected services, to see if our 'only' course of action was an additional $5000 replacement. 
We contacted Boyd Brothers to get our second opinion and then contacted Direct Air to delay the new system installation, with no reason given. 
At this point the phone-calls started. 
First Direct Air's central office began calling, wanting to know why we were delaying the installation and demanding to talk to my mother-in-law directly.  Then the technician who performed the service - and was slated to do the installation - began calling, wanting to know if there was a problem and if he could speak to my mother-in-law.  Then it got really bizarre when, in the span of 10 minutes, we were contacted (again) by the technician insisting that my mother-in-law just called their central office, but failed to leave her cell-phone number, so if we could please give him her cell phone he would call her to see what he could do to help.  Uh, no, that's not going to happen.  While this conversation was taking place (and with a Boyd's truck in the driveway) someone from Direct Air shows up at the house and tapes a Building Permit to the front of the house to perform the system installation.  Ten minutes later Direct Air begins calling again, this time reminding us that my mother-in-law signed a 'contract' (which she didn't) and that they intended to move forward with the installation. 
Finally, we had had enough, and demanded to speak with an office manager or supervisor.  While courteous, the supervisor tried to sell us the installation one final time, but relented when we insisted that we wanted no additional services performed  and had already cancelled the $1000 down-payment check my mother-in-law gave them the day before.
The Boyd's technician finished up his assessment and suggested we replace the coils, especially since they are still under warranty, and do no additional work.  He indicated they could do the service that week at a cost of $500...SOLD. 
We shared our experience with Direct Air later that day with several friends at my father-in-laws memorial service; turns out we heard many similar stories.  Seems Direct Air pays their technicians terribly, but offers big commissions on any sales they bring in beyond the normal services they perform on any given call.  As such, they can become very belligerent when those services are cancelled.  What's worse, they appear to prey on many of their customers with their up-charges and high-pressure sales.
I'm glad we were there to finally push Direct Air out of my in-laws' house, and sincerely hope they never call back!

After inspection, they told her there was mold everywhere, and that she needed wear a mask while in the house and to move out immediately.  They did say they could fix the problem and they sprayed something in the furnace.  They told her it would kill germs and mold for her. They said they also changed the insulations from the furnace and put a UV light in the furnace to help the unit, which is supposedly to kill the germs.  They charged her a total of $3,000 for this and we thought this all was quite odd.  I think someone is scamming my mother.

They told us we needed a new A/C unit. We paid and it worked fine for awhile. They follow December we came back to town and noticed mold. We've never had mold before with our old system. When we called back they were rude and said I didn't clean well. In fact, they never connected the humid-stat so the humidty was being pumped back into the home. It cost us $35,000 to remove all of the mold. Our insurance company ended up paying the bulk of the cost but we lost the full season at this seasonal home. We would never do business with them again.

The A/C unit is in a seasonal unit for me and I was out of town. There is a man that maintains my condo for me while I'm not there and he was the one that was scheduled to meet up with the technician for Direct Heating and Cooling. I have been working with Fred for a year and a half and trust him. Fred, my maintenance man, emailed me after the experience to tell me that this was the technician worst technician he had ever met in all his years. The tech arrived with the check sheet already filled out and expected Fred to initial that the work was completed. Fred had been there the entire time and knew that very few of the items had actually been completed and he refused to sign. The technician's response to Fred's concerns that the items weren't completed was to basically say that thats too bad and walked out.
I called Direct Heating to voice concerns and the fact that the service was completed correctly. About three times I was referred to customer service and never had any messages returned. Finally, I was able to get a hold of the head of customer service. After discussing the issue, she basically questioned Fred's honesty and promised she would personally speak with the tech and get back to me. She was totally flippant to the point of letting me know that the company didn't care. Needless to say, I have not heard back from her in regards to the conversation with the tech.
I have since the had to call in another A/C company and pay for a tune up that should have been covered by that fantastic warranty from Van's.

We have been customers of Direct for a while and I hated them right along, but we got a service contract with them. Since we have paid for that, we got to have them keep coming back. Each time they charge you a bunch and you did not think they were actually doing the work. I do not now if it was necessary and it was expensive. We were not having really good cooling and heating. They set up a switch that was not working well, for them to get more service calls. I do not want to deal with them again.

They were an awful company. We had a contract with them. We thought they could come out and look at it. I felt like they were trying to immediately sell me things. Cell phones don't work in our house. He would come into the house and pretend to be on the phone to negotiate a lower price. I never told him that the cell phones wont get service in the house. They told me that the unit was gone, and I was confused because I service it every six months. I will not use them again. They tell you that they have a very inexpensive price, but rarely leave with that price. They tell you that they can't get the parts for cheaper. They were punctual.

I haven't worked with them for a while.  They have a terrible record.  They sent out a serviceman who was really scary and threatening almost, so that was the last time I had them out.  They called me numerous times.  Finally, I got very upset with them and I didn't want to hear from them again.  The man who came out was verbally abusive.  It was questionable whether or not the compressor had to be replaced.

They always find something wrong with my central heat and air conditioning unit. I'd say that they are very good. They are starting to get expensive.

We are stuck with a sub-standard unit compared to the unit that they removed.  After 3 weeks, we find out from our insurance company that Direct gave them a quote to repair the unit .  The new installation was September 20th and the quote to our insurance company was dated October 10, 2011. We were never made that offer.  Were told that the unit was irreparable and that an entire new split system would have to be installed.  We were also told that our unit would be held for our insurance adjuster.  An illegal "Affidavit" (notarized, but never signed) was filed with our insurance company stating that "all units are disposed of immediately", and did not state that our unit was struck by lightning as we were told.  We are now unable to get reimbursement from our insurance company due to this "so called" disposal.  We would like proof of the disposal. In 2009 The EPA's Clean Air Act was amended to include specific regulations.........Anyone who is in contact with systems that have 50 pounds or more of refrigerant gas - either through ownership or service profession will now be require to keep through service records, regularly monitor systems for leaks, log all refrigerant purchases, and present yearly reports of use and DISPOSAL OF GASES".   Where is the proof that they disposed of our York unit as opposed to repairing it and re-selling it? Charlie Costa, General Manager of Direct, informed our insurance company that we opted to upgrade.  When I sent in the paperwork on the York unit that Direct  replaced, everyone was able to see that we had been severely DOWNGRADED.  After running the serial number of the old system, Charlie offered to replace the 14 SEER with a 16 SEER Frigidaire. He also offered to try to send in another affidavit to the insurance company, however that would also be fraud and we did not allow him to to so.  We contacted our insurance company with this information. We have sought legal counsel and have filed complaints will all applicable state and local authorities.  We have also filed a dispute with our Credit Card Company.  To date, Direct refuses to answer to our credit card company.  They have been back charged for $7,291.00 and are not going to do anything further?  Also, the conversations with Charlie Costa were vulgar and abusive. There is not enough room for the entire story, but Direct knew the exact date we would be arriving as we had contacted them to service the unit since the gentleman that installed the York 16 SEER has since passed away. We had already been scheduled for service for October 3, 2011.  A little coincidental, don't you think?  Our care taker said the unit was working perfectly fine when he was here on September 16, 2011. DO NOT HIRE DIRECT HEATING AND COOLING, INC.  Had we been here longer and had internet access, we would have never called them.  They are not accredited with the BBB and rated a D.  60 complaints in 3 years, 19 of them being closed out in the last 12 months.  DO HOWEVER, ALWAYS PLACE MAJOR PURCHASES ON A GOOD CREDIT CARD FOR EXTRA PROTECTION.  ALSO, DO NOT HESITATE TO REPORT FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION TO THE PROPER AUTHORITIES.  The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations is always interested in your reports of this or any other type of behavior against a State Licensed Contractor.  You should also contact the BBB and the local County Licensing Authority.  This company knew that my wife and I were both disabled and retired.  They found a way to make some quick easy cash that backfired on them.  I guess they did not think that we would actually be able to produce the information on the unit removed.  The technician "Kevin" that sold/scammed us even went so far as to pull down his shirt and show us the name of his daughter tattooed on his chest and commented "This is who I really work for".  In this consumers opinion......this company should be forced out of business.  They should also be forced to contract a York dealer and have a 16 SEER York system replaced in my home at a price reflective of the insurance reimbursement that we will not receive.  PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE DUPED AS WE DID.  WE WENT ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF A RESPECTFUL/RESPECTED DECEASED CONTRACTOR'S WIFE.  NEVER AGAIN.  OUR ORIGINAL INSTALLER IS MOST LIKELY TOSSING IN HIS GRAVE.

I have real bad allergies. When they cleaned out the ducts, they left the attic light on and it got so hot that an electrician had to rewire the wires. They constantly call about coming back for a free checkup to try to push extra products on you and I have to tell them no every time. I will not hire them again.

I wanted a price for a split system full replacement.  My sister told me about this company.  I got a price on an energy efficient unit.  The price was right around the same as the home depot.  I didn't like that I wasn't told it was GE moneybank.  I gave them a $2000 deposit.  After he left I started reading the contract.  He sold me some add ons afterwards.  The contract that they gave me said that if I cancel I would have to pay for the equipment ordered. 

He told me that I didn't need a new thermostat, but on the contract it was on there for $150!  The thermostat is in the box and I don't want it.  The contract is not clear.  They also charged me for a surge protector for $180. 

As soon as I qualified for credit they seemed to want to sell me everything that they could!  I don't like the way this happened.  I think they have a bad sales process.  It all felt very shady to me. 

They were late on the initial appointment.  They said they would come over between 9 am and 12 pm.  They didn't call until after 12 pm.

They were rude, did things that didn't need to be done, and they took advantage of us. They tried to get us to have them do things that were not needed.