About us
Al Walter's Heating and Air Conditioning has been family owned and operated since our inception in 1952. We have happily serviced eastern Washtenaw County with Lennox products for over 50 years.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Furnace, air-conditioner, heat pumps, packaged units, indoor air quality systems, air handlers, comfort controls, boilers & garage heaters.
Amenities
Eco Friendly Accreditations
Yes
Free Estimates
Yes
Warranties
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- Check
- Visa
- Discover
- MasterCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 84% | ||
| 10% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 6% | ||
| 0% |
Filter reviews by service
The crew performing the initial installation arrived as scheduled on Wednesday the 10th. Upon arrival, however, they indicated that they did not have the permit but were aware that they were to do it and that someone in the office would be taking care of it. The removal of the old lines and installation of the new lines in preparation for the pressure test went great, the installers were professional, and the work was completed as expected. In fact, at my request the installers ran a temporary line to my old dryer location (using the old material they had removed) so that I would not be without a dryer for an extended period of time. When they left the house the installers indicated I would be contacted by the office to schedule the inspection after which they would return to final the installation.
On Thursday the 11th I received an invoice for the project in the mail...the work was not yet complete.
As of Friday the 12th I had not yet heard from the AWH office as to when the inspection was scheduled to occur and I called the office. The representative I spoke with indicated the person that deals with the permits is out on Fridays but that it appeared they had mailed in the permit application but had not received the permit yet. Giving them the benefit of the doubt I gave them until Tuesday the 16th to contact me with a schedule before contacting them again. On Tuesday I contacted the City of Ann Arbor and learned that ALH typically faxes over their applications and that the permits are faxed back to them, sometimes they pick them up in person. Regardless, the City had seen no permit application for my house and the and quot;application/permit is in the mailand quot; statement from the previous week was incorrect. I subsequently contacted ALH and their representative looked into the issue and called me back within approximately one hour to let me know they now had the permit and the inspection was scheduled for the following day. Given the piping had now been sitting for over a week ALH indicated they would send a crew out first thing in the morning on the 17th to pressurize the system and make sure it was ready for inspection.
On the 17th the ALH crew failed to arrive as planned and when the City Inspector arrived the system was not pressurized as required for the inspection. To facilitate the inspection I took it upon myself to pressurize the system under the direction of the inspector who then kindly waited 10 minutes while the pressure test was completed and approved the installation. After passing the inspection I contacted ALH once more to let them know the inspection had been passed and to find out when a crew would be by to finalize the installation. ALH called me back shortly thereafter to indicate their crews were all busy and the only person they had available was their service technician but that he was capable of completing the work and would be by shortly; he arrived approximately 30 minutes later.
Upon arrival it become apparent that the service technician, through no fault of his own, was not prepared to do the work and did not have the proper fittings or flex lines necessary to complete the installation. Through a combination of parts I had in my own collection and pieces he found in his truck we were able to come up with the necessary parts to complete the installation at which time he said all was good and left. Upon his leaving it became apparent that he did not perform a soap test for leaks on the final connections and I completed those tests myself so as to be done with this project.
In summary, the work was completed one week after it was begun. Base don't he amount of time it actually took to obtain the permit and schedule the inspection once ALH actually tried to do so (1 hour) the delay was entirely due to poor planning on their part. In hindsight the permit should have been pulled before any work commenced (in accordance with city regulations) and the inspection would therefore have been able to be schedule for the same day as the installation or at worst the following day such that the project would have been completed in one to two days. Instead this project carried on for one week and the only reason it got completed is that I continued to contact ALH to push for them to pull the permit and complete the work.
In following to completion of the work I contact ALH to discuss how the project had progressed, to request a discount to accommodate the delay and the pressure and soap tests I had to performed, and to alert them to the fact that I would be leaving a true and honest review on Angie's List of the work performed. Specifically, I stated that the resolution of this matter (my unhappiness to the project) would be included in the review. The representative I talked to on Thursday the 18th indicated that he understood my concerns but that he was not authorized to act on them but that the owner would be back from lunch shortly and he would have him call me. I received no call from ALH Thursday or Friday and on Monday morning I followed up with a second call.
Upon speaking with the owner he voiced his concerns regarding the fact that his installers had completed extra work (the temporary line to the dryer) and continually indicated that they have been doing this a long time and that stuff happens and the lack of the permit in no way decreases the quality of the work they performed and was not a big deal. I acknowledged the extra work and reiterated my concerns regarding the lack of permit, delay, and inspection issues. While I acknowledge that stuff happens and things rarely go to plan (I work in the construction industry as well...design, subcontractor contracting and scheduling, inspections, etc.) I expect that when things do not go to plan due to an obvious error of one party that party make an effort to make up for those errors. In this case I requested a discount to the work to reflect the delay that I experienced. ALH was unwilling to discuss providing a discount and specifically stated they and quot;want to see a check.and quot; I indicated I would pay the full contract price and that I would leave a full and true review of the work performed.
Though Al Walters Heating has been around for a long time, has a good reputation, and the crew performed quality work, I will not be using them on future work and cannot recommend them to anyone else based on my experience.
Cleaned up job site each day. Left broom clean.
Installation is very neat and buttoned-up--that is, angles and bends are good, fabrication of duct adapter and exhaust ports are neat and tight, lines are secured.
Installation was in a third floor condo with space restrictions.
All was handled very efficiently and professional. No fuss, no muss.
I have used Al Walters in the past for maintenance on my old HVAC and they are prompt and professional.
The two guys who came out to do the install were very professional and completed the job quickly (2 hours or so). They were minimally invasive.
We were given a choice of several different central a/c units (some less efficient and therefore cheaper), but we were never pressured into choosing the more expensive option. On the day the units were installed, all of the guys were exceptionally friendly and professional, if not a pleasure to be around. The work went smoothly and we have no complaints (and we're thrilled with both units).
The one potential downside compared to another company we considered is that the units are installed on one day and the electrician shows up the next day. But, in our minds, waiting a day is not a big deal, especially considering the amount of money we saved.
We highly recommend Al Walters to others.
Do call right away and be available for an appointment and inspection. These folks don't make you wait!
After the estimate from Al Walters Heating we learned we could get sizeable rebates from a Lennox dealer, so we purchased a Lennox furnace. Without the Lennox rebates we probably would have purchased from Al Walters Heating.
Upon giving them the go, they set up the appointment and two wonderful men with great personalities came out and started the work. It would've only taken less than a day to do it all, but I have an old house and some beams are in odd places and unfortunately they forgot their masonry drill bit (for the fireplace). This wasn't an issue though as they were a pleasure to deal with and I had no problem with them coming back to finish the next day.. Once the job was done, I had a question about the way the pipes were sealed. They answered what was probably an obvious question with no attitude (actually saying and quot;we're not upset that you asked it more than we're happy to say we did that already!and quot;). On the way out they even offered to change my thermostat from the old mercury dial to the new electronic one I had just purchased (no additional cost).
The lines run perfectly and I am very happy with the work and attitudes of the people I've dealt with.
I even went back to them for a winter check up on my furnace even though they weren't the people who the former homeowner had a contract with (that went very well too)!
I will continue to work with them for my heating/AC needs!
The guys that came to the house were great. They arrived promptly, got right to work and worked hard all day to finish up the job. In addition to removing the old furnace and putting in a new furnace, they did all the prep work for a new air conditioner in the spring. Mr. Ed Walters even came out during the day to check on progress. We were very happy and loved the warmth the next morning.
Licensing
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