We strongly suggest that you do not use Wilson Brothers HVAC (WB) for installation work if you want a company that is trustworthy and that puts a priority on customer satisfaction. Our dealings with WB to resolve an obvious installation deficiency revealed what we feel is a disturbing company culture of arrogance, complacency, minimal problem resolution skills and no genuine interest in customer satisfaction. At the beginning of the second day of installation work we raised a concern with the WB installation manager that the fiberglass insulation being installed on metal ducting, as required by building code, was being done incorrectly. Subsequently, we provided factual information to WB, supported by a letter from the insulation manufacturer, which clearly showed that the R-value of all of the insulation was substantially below building code requirements and the manufacturer’s specifications. WB never disputed the accuracy of the information we provided and never asked us what we would like to have done to alleviate our concern. (Pictures included with this review show insulation deficiency.) WB did nothing to address this deficiency until our town building department sent them a letter requesting them to “make the necessary corrections.” The WB corrective actions left over 60% of the insulation untouched and still substantially below building code requirements. After this limited insulation replacement our building department did not do a re-inspection; they simply issued an “opinion” that WB had met “the intent of the code and manufactures (sic) specs.” Following are the kinds of the things we heard from WB personnel which we believe are indicative of the company culture. Our comments follow in parentheses: > If you weren’t going to trust us maybe you should have done the work yourself. (We did trust them and the final result was a system with degraded efficiency.) > Let’s wait and see what the building department says. (A professional company would step up and work with their customer to agree on a way to resolve the problem.) > Its “impossible” to install the insulation using the manufacturer’s instructions. (Yet, the insulation they replaced is OK.) > We did your insulation the same as other jobs and it hasn’t been a problem before. (So, poor workmanship in the past makes it acceptable?) > Re: taking corrective action – Crew will be working all day and take off as much insulation as possible. (Sent smaller crew than usual - spent about 3 hours actually replacing insulation. Most of the untouched insulation is as easy to get at as what was replaced.) > I’ve been doing this for 8 years and I know what I’m doing. (Highly likely that he knew the insulation was being installed incorrectly since the simple instructions are on the packaging; Unable to adequately supervise his crew – among other lesser deficiencies, something as simple as installing the filters in the return grilles was done incorrectly and we had to point it out.) The WB response to our attempt to use a mediator reflected the same company culture, i.e., WB has been in business for 29 years and they are professionals. Because the customer has no experience with the work WB does, they don’t know enough to identify shortcomings in WB’s work and should accept what they get. In their response WB also implied that we were expecting perfection which is not possible in the real world. It is our opinion that the actual cause of this dispute is because it is very likely WB had been installing duct insulation incorrectly on a number of jobs in the past. When they encountered a customer knowledgeable enough to identify the deficiency they were unprepared to deal with it in a responsible way. Over the past several years we have had windows, siding, roofing, and garage doors replaced, a sprinkler system installed and our driveway re-paved. We found all of these contractors to be very professional and had no problems with any of them. Wilson Brothers HVAC stands out as the opposite in our minds. Our signed contract with WB includes the following sentence: “All work to be completed in a professional manner according to standard practices.” If the duct insulation had been installed in a professional manner using the manufacturer’s instructions there would have been no issue, and this was not a slight deficiency. As originally installed the insulation R-values were in the range of 2.5 - 4.9 (based on information from the manufacturer) when it should have been 8.0 (The labeled installed R-value). Over 60% of the insulation is still as originally installed with an average R-value of approximately 3.3, substantially below R-8.0. Furthermore, if the manufacturer’s instructions had been followed, WB would have used the “stretch-out dimension” procedure. The statement, “Stretch-Out dimensions must be followed to achieve labeled installed R-values.”, available on the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association website, clearly establishes this procedure as a standard practice accepted by numerous insulation manufacturers for installing fiberglass duct wrap insulation (Go to [*** Link removed ***] search on insulation facts 66, see bottom of Table 2). Based on this information, it is obvious to us that WB did not comply with either the “professional manner” or “standard practices” aspects of our signed contract. The PICTURES INCLUDED are representative of the duct insulation deficiencies in our central AC system. One picture shows a duct installed between roof rafters in our attic. The other shows the same duct looking up toward the underside of the roof. This section of ducting includes flexible duct and rigid metal duct, both 7” inches in diameter and with fiberglass insulation. The flexible ducting was pre-insulated by its manufacturer and has an actual R-value of 8. The metal ducting was insulated by WB and has an approximate R-value of 3. The difference between the diameters of the two sections of ducting is obvious. The metal duct insulation thickness is well below the 2.25 inches specified by its manufacturer because it was overly compressed, which explains its low R-value. If WB had installed the metal duct insulation correctly there would be very little to no discernible difference between it and the flexible ducting.