AComfortZone Heating & Air LLC

So called A comfort zone to ask for pricing. Initial quote was a little high so I moved on. They called back and said they were running a fall special for $75 for full diagnosis fee. If anything needed to be done labor would be $37.50 for each 15 minutes. It seemed fair so I asked them to come out. Pretty good response time of 2 hrs from my call. I happened to be at work and my wife was home. After the service, i got a call from my wife that the AC was fixed. I asked her what was wrong and she said it was a bad capacitor. Having had the same issue just 4 weeks before at my rental residence, I asked her how much the total charge was? The other residence cost me $146.50 to change the capacitor out with the capacitor being $62 with the service call. She told me the total came out to be $541.93!!! I called A Comfort Zone to ask why it was so expensive. They told me their rates were very competitive. I asked them why the Capacitor was so expensive at over $350?? They said their rates were very competitive. I called 3 other local AC companies and the capacitor ranged from $45-$65. There rates are NOT COMPETITIVE, and they were trying to overcharge me for a part! I asked them to come back by and take the capacitor back. They luckily did come out and took the capacitor back, but my final charge was $151.43 for a $75 service call and $75 + labor costs. I bought the same capacitor on Amazon, being delivered next day, for $31.50! Basically, I ended up having a $151 diagnostic service call with no fixed AC at the end of it. I would be very wary about this company and there practices.

After being cancelled on for the second time in 2 weeks by an and quot;Aand quot;-rated provider on the day before leaving the kids with Grandma, I was forced to look for same-day service to get our A/C charged and cooling again. I began calling local companies and the third call was a charm (or so I thought). This provider had an appointment available that day between 12 and 2 pm, so I booked it.
Provider didn't show within the window given, but called at 2:02 to let me know he was on his way and then showed up a few minutes later. Omari was polite and very professional. I explained that I had to have the system charged less than a year ago just after we bought the house and that I was experiencing the same symptoms now that I was then, so I believed I was again low on freon and therefore obviously had a significant leak somewhere in the system.
Omari laid out the options clearly and I consented to the short-term solution (charge the system now) and the longer-term solution (leak check the system in order determine the fix). He called in to verify the warranty on the Goodman heat pump system (which had expired as I was already aware). Omari set about leak checking the system in the crawlspace, let me know he found a leak from and quot;indoorand quot; coil, which was repairable, and then added 5 lbs of R-22 to get me up and running again for the time being. He was very thorough in his explanations and answered all my questions. He assured me they would be able to capture the freon we just added when they replaced the indoor coil.
Then came the shock. I know we went over prices, but apparently I didn't listen very well. Based on what I thought I heard, I had added up around $400 in my head. That was already much higher than I had originally anticipated based on my previous experience and I relayed that to Omari. He graciously pointed me to a 5% off coupon he had online (which I used), and then he handed me the bill for $813.91. My jaw dropped. Here's the itemized:
- Charge system with R-22: $235.75 (this one I didn't remember hearing beforehand)
- 5 lbs R-22 @ $85/lb: $425.00
- Leak check: $196
- 5% discount: ($42.84)
Price is the primary contributor to the overall grade, based on other recent experiences:
- In July 2013, Evans Heating and Air charged me a $69 service call (Angie's List Big Deal) and $84.80 (inc. tax) for 1 lb of R-22. (Again, I paid over $650 for 5 lbs with this provider!)
- In Sep 2011, I replaced a blown compressor (part under warranty) on a Goodman at my last house (CA) for $750 (inc R-22)
- This summer, Moon Air Inc. offered $49 for A/C service including leak check (Angie's List Big Deal). I just couldn't get them to show up in a reasonable enough time.
Here's the best part (my stupid tax) ... I later realized I still had a home warranty active from the purchase of the home just under a year before this service call. While over $1000 was gone in the last 2 service calls, I wasn't going to spend any more to repair a covered item. So, the following week, Vic's Heating and Cooling came out, could NOT find a leak (and said he wouldn't have enough space to replace the indoor coil even if he did find it leaking), and added a sealant that he said he as have very good results with. Time will tell. Vic also mentioned that he charges $40/lb for R-22. Ouch.

Bear in mind that all of this work was done when our attic temperatures far exceeded 100 degrees, necessitating an abbreviated work day of 6 am-noon for work the attic needed.
Omari Belt, the company owner, told us what he would do, how he would do it, how long it would take, and what it would cost. Then he proceeded to do what he said he would do, how he said he would do it, in the time he said it would take, for the price he said it would be. Omari took to heart that the target date for the work's completion was based on my daughter's impending visit, and she is 4 months pregnant.
This level of service and communication are virtually unheard of in our 2013 gimme-mine society, where customer service is dead, merchants don't even consider lowering themselves to thank the customer for their patronage (and quot;have a nice dayand quot; has taken the place of and quot;thank youand quot;), and paying attention to the things which need attention is a lost art.
Above and beyond, Omari and his crew didn't step into our house without either taking off their shoes or putting booties on, respecting that no shoe has ever walked on our carpet or hardwood floors. Lastly, the jobsite was cleaned up at the end of every workday beyond the level necessary, but to the only level Omari would allow before leaving for the day. OOPs- I forgot to mention that Omari cleaned up after the electrician as well, who had treated our yard, garage, and attic as if he mommy was going to clean up after him.
The man has restored my faith in the entrepreneurial spirit of bright young business owners and the and quot;American Wayand quot;.
Now if we could just get our county's irresponsible and unresponsive slipshod at best/insufficient at worst inspection system overhauled..............

Mr. Belt arrived as planned on the 27th to check out our HVAC system. He did a thorough job of inspecting the system, explained the reasons why we were not getting heat to all parts of the house, then explained his recommendations. He came back the next day to make all necessary repairs/changes/improvements. Mr. Belt was on time, friendly, and conducted himself in a professional manner.

GREAT! This man really cares about his customers, his business and his reputation!