Owens Companies

As everyone knows, it is awfully difficult to identify the cause of an intermittent failure. Usually, by the time the service tech arrives, the unit is working again. That said, living as we do in Minnesota, one canny abide an unreliable furnace in the dead of winter. So, I was extremely happy with the effort put forth by "Jim" of Owens to track down what was in need of repair. He was dogged in his pursuit of the solution, and I am confident once again in the operation of my boiler. Although Jim is our favorite, our family has had outstanding service from a number of Owens technicians, and I think that that says good things about the culture, training and overall quality of personnel at that company. None better in the Twin Cities.

Excellent. Professional, reliable, and punctual.

Had a challenging install with a 60 year old boiler but with some ingenuity and extra parts got it all set up. Pleased with the work.

We're scheduled for an air conditioning and Fall check-up, so we're going to be taken care of for this year, till the end of this year.  We are very satisfied.  We had them at our other house.  We like them, so we're satisfied.  We will always put them at the top of our list.  I have one man that I have faith in, and I'd put him an A.  We're satisfied with the price.  For quality, that one I would give a B because sometimes the secretary does not always follow through, but generally speaking if you get the right person it's very good service.  Like I say, we've got them for the rest of the year.  They're going to come next week for the air conditioning and then it will tie into the Fall service, too.  The other address they installed, they changed out one heating system for another, and we were very satisfied. 

They were a great crew that had a real difficult time running the PEX piping from the boiler in the basement, and up along the sewer stack that goes to the roof. Also opening walls and floors, drilling through floor joist and running the PEX piping to the perimeter of baseboards proved difficult as well. I agreed to do all the floor and wall patchwork as I followed them around from room to room, keeping up with them. John, the senior lead came out several times afterwards to bleed the lines until all the air was out. The system works perfectly and having uniform heat throughout all rooms is a real plus and should have done it sooner.

Great. They came moved the thermostat. Installed the new one. Answered a bunch of my random questions. Could not have gone smoother. Highly recommend.

Owens inspected all mechanical components of the home. Some assessments were accurate, while other recommendations were deemed not necessary or incorrect by a different mechanical provider. For example, the report said the upstairs thermostat wasn't working and needed be replaced, but a different provider found it just needed a change of batteries. Huge loss of credibility with that basic oversight.

The most disappointing part of the service was that we had the inspection performed on a Tuesday and needed to submit our concessions to the seller by following Tuesday. At that time they still hadn't provided the report to us. We called and asked for the report but they failed to send it to us before we needed to submit our concessions to the seller with supporting information from the inspection and costs. We had to take a wild guess on how much to bring down our offer price without this cost information. After several calls by my husband and myself, they finally sent us the report, too late to be included in our negotiation process.

I will not be using Owens for any maintenance support in our new home.

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Went very well.  Technician, Will, ran diagnostics step by step and walked me through each function until he came to the issue. Circuit board was visibly  damaged from moisture from the summer.   Ordered part was sent by a delivery company and was waiting for the Will the next day.   Quote was for 2 hours of labor, but they were able to finish it in an hour.  I paid the full amount as the repair person could not adjust the quote.   He told me to call customer service and without hesitation immediately issued a refund once the check cleared..obviously.   While this was a major repair cost on a 20 year old furnace, I've used Owens for well over 10 years and they always fixed any issues we've had quickly and professionally with minimal cost.    I recall one AC issue where there was water all over the basement floor and the AC was not cooling at all.   Ice was building up on the system.   We were expecting to get a major repair bill, or thought this was the end of the AC unit as this had been going on year after year.   It turned out to be a plugged drain hose.   He removed the obstruction and the AC has worked perfectly the past two summers.  There are a lot of heating and cooling places to call, but I like Owens because they've never attempted unnecessary repairs.  A common nightmare with some heating and cooling services.

The residential scheduling person was fantastic with her follow-up and great to work with.  Thank you, Jill!!!

Required a new computer board.  Walked me through all the diagnostics from the point were the power came into the unit down to where the system was failing.   Technician was very prompt and courteous, as well as very knowledgeable in what needed to be done.  He asked a lot of up front questions to assist him in trouble-shooting.   This was during our recent cold blast.   Owens was swamped, of course, but held a slot for me even while I did some other repair vendor searches.   Did their best to get out here as soon as possible.   Here's where I give them high marks for integrity:   Once they determined the part needed, they quoted me what the final price would be including labor.   Understandably, I get that they had to make two trips here.  One to assess the problem and then the second to get parts.  The parts were dropped off that day by a delivery service and were waiting for the technician the next day.   The quote included finding the issue, and the repair including 2 hours of labor to make the repair.   The repair went well taking just one hour.   The technician acknowledged that, but could not make those changes on his own, so I paid the full amount of the quote and called their office as directed by him.  I explained the one less hour.  There was not a second of defending the quoted repair and they immediately followed up with accounting to issue me a refund once my check obviously cleared.    Check was mailed out to me and received within a week.  I've had an Owens sticker on the furnace system for a number of years and they've always been able to make quick repair maintenance whether AC or heating.   While this was a major unexpected expense, their others were very simple, low cost repairs which some other companies could easily turn into something bigger than it is.   I would recommend them to anyone.   We elected not to do the overtime, same day maintenance, thus the extra waiting days with a cold house.

We had used Owens Companies for our home based on the recommendation of our next door neighbor, and so when my daughter bought a house in Linden Hills needing a new HVAC system, we immediately turned to Owens for this job. Their previous service was A++, and we knew we could count of Owens to give us a terrific result this time too.
Don O'Brien, who is the technical service leader at Owens, came to the house to assess needs and make recommendations. He promised to lay out for our consideration an HVAC  package for our daughter which would be, as he termed it, "in the sweet spot" of suitability, price, efficiency and rebates. He offered us a well thought out menu of options, and we settled on just the right package, all things considered, for this house. This package, incidentally, carried with it almost $2,000  of rebates and tax breaks.
The installation was scheduled for one week after we chose the equipment we wanted. The installers came as promised on time to take out the old system and bring in the new, including some enhancements to the duct work. The workers were very neat and careful not to track in dirt (it was raining) and made sure carpeting was protected. They were careful to maneuver the equipment pieces in and out thru a narrow hallway without damaging any walls.
The installation took about a day and a half. We could not be more pleased. With the abrupt change in the weather in Minneapolis this weekend (48 degrees this morning) , the system was up and running perfectly. We are most grateful to Don and Jim, the lead installer, for specifying and installing the ideal system for my daughter's house. I know that she will be happy with it for many years to come.

I should make a preliminary point: I am not just a price shopper.  I am a price/value shopper. Both are vital. There have been far too many times in my life when the cheapest deal proved to be a very bad deal for me because what turned out to be sacrificed to justify the lower price was quality. Headache after headache in trying to turn a bad job into something better is not a good deal, especially when it relates to heating and cooling systems.  So, as ours is an atypical installation, I wanted high techinal quality at a fair price . Other firms considered were also likely to satisfy my insistence on quality and a fair price. Cheaper doesn't excite me when it come to HVAC. Quality is essentail.
Owens sent out Don O'Brien who is a technical manager and works both commercial and residential markets. Over the years,I have had other HVAC firms at other residences send out sales people, and too often I found that their technical grasp of our situation was paper thin. Don was way over to the other side of that equation. No hard sell, just brains, deep experience and know-how on how to evaluate our needs and identify the best solution. I was, in fact, so impressed with Don that I cancelled the visit of another candidate, knowing that if Don's price was in the ball park of what I knew was fair, Owens would get the job. It was, and they did.
The installation went very well. The Owens installer, Jim Dacus, was a seasoned professional, and he worked tirelessly from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. to complete the job so that we could have A/C during another hot night in Minneapolis. It has proven to be a perfect selection of equipment, design and installation. We could not be more pleased. Plus, we had excellent follow-up from Don who came back a few days later to make sure that all the readings on his test instruments were proper and that we were happy. We are - very!
I was so blown away by how good Owens is that I could not help but ask about one negative grade the firm has on it's Angie's List ratings for this business. My conviction is that that grade does not truly represent the performance that custiomers of Owens will receive. My experience and that of 3M strongly negate the "F" that a disgruntaled customer gave them and hurt their Angie's average and make me wonder if that customer was unreasonable as some surely can be. This is an A++ HVAC operation, and in my opinion, consumers would be wise to put them on the short list of candidates for any needed residential HVAC work.

I had no problems with the install.  My old furnace was disgusting.  But Owens kept the basement clean during the whole job. I wish I would have taken before pictures.  The only thing I would suggest to anyone reading this is to take pictures.  This will give you perspective on how well your installation has been done.  I would recommend Owens Companies.  -Jill

They initially seemed professional. They had two different guys coming in and out. One for sales and one for installation. I didn't notice there was a problem until a few days later when we weren't getting any heat in the house. We noticed that the heat was pouring into our basement but not the rest of the house. I tried to bring it to their attention and they said it wasn't their responsibility. It was due to something that they damaged in the installation process though. I felt that they should come out and fix it but they refused. I noticed there was another problem when I saw that the duct work was shoved upwards and dislodged, allowing all the warm air to pour out of the duct. When I made them aware of it they refused again to come fix it. As a result of them dislodging the ductwork the a/c coil became tilted and began leaking condensation. Now the entire furnace is covered in rust because the a/c has been leaking all over it. They finally sent someone out to sand off the rust after I sent them pictures. I would have been happy if they would have simply put some rustoleum on it and given me some guarantee in writing as to good future service. I have had several other companies come out to look at it, including city inspectors, and each one has said that they cannot believe someone left my furnace like this.

He was great. He came out at 8:00 in the evening and did the job. I had another guy out earlier in the day and he couldn’t fix the furnace. So, I called this company. The service technician was Tony and he was great. I spent about $650 on the job. I really liked the work he did. He was a good guy. He had the parts and he fixed the furnace up. I will hire this company again in the future.

We contacted Owens to perform a boiler tune-up and regular maintenance. Owens technician, Richard, seemed very knowledgable and competant. We appreciated his timeliness and professionalism. We will hire Owens again.

Initially called Apollo and was transferred to Owens because Apollo is out of business. Owens sent someone out the next day. He was prompt, polite, and very professional. Did a thorough check of the system and was able to find the problem quickly.

I spent a lot of time on the front end of this project since it was going to be expensive and there were a lot of details to it. I wanted to fully understand the options available for installing central air conditioning in a house with no vent system. I received proposals from five contractors and asked all of them a lot of questions. I selected Owens for several reasons. Al Waschke, the salesman, responded to my questions quickly, thoroughly and was not pushy. I preferred one of the equipment options Al proposed, Unico High Velocity system (the quieter option since it is in the attic above my bedroom) and Lennox XC15 condenser (also a quieter option since it is on my deck. The warranties on labor and equipment, their price was competitive and they could do the work the week I wanted to have it done. The same two workers, Jesse and Bruce, installed the system over the course of four days in mid June. The electrical work was done by an electrician that Owens subcontracted. The workers were thorough and consulted with me on decisions that needed to be made. The Unico system was installed in the attic. They did a great job putting the vent system around the perimeter of the attic so that as much floor space could remain open as possible. They were able to install air conditioning supply openings in all the places I wanted them. They worked with the joists in the kitchen and dining room to get openings in those rooms, which was tricky. They made the vent tubes running from the attic to the 1st floor as unobtrusive as possible in the 2nd floor closets they ran through. They did a good job cleaning up the areas where they worked. They enclosed the tubes and wires running down the back of the house to the condenser in a slim duct that blends right in - it looks like another downspout. There were a couple of small things that Owens needed to come back and fix/finish. The office staff was very responsive and was able to quickly schedule one of the original workers to come back and do this work. Everyone that I spoke with at Owens was helpful and returned calls quickly. The only complaint I had was that I had to call and schedule the final inspection with the Minneapolis inspector. I would have preferred having Owens schedule this inspection while they were still here since the inspector found something that Owens had to come back and modify. I was extremely pleased with my air conditioning system as I used it during the summer. I would highly recommend the Owens and this system.

It was easy to book the appointment, customer service was great and the technician took the time to explain what he was doing and why.

They did a professional estimate. He showed up on time and performed the work efficiently. The sales rep stopped by and I was able to clarify some changes/upgrades. Installers were very good and knowledgeable. Follow up after the install was fair - We were supposed to have a follow up visit to fine tune the air distribution, but that never happened. Still the product is very good and the service was overall solid.

I called Owens on a Tuesday about the problem. I scheduled an appointment for around 10:00a.m Thursday. I could have had an appointment on Tuesday after 4:00 p.m. but would have had to pay for overtime. I decided to wait for Thursday because the A/C was still cooling the house. Owens called around 10:30 to say the technician was on his way. He arrived around 11:20. The technician was very polite and took his shoes off when he saw the shoes sitting by our front door. I told him he could wear his shoes because the basement was kind of a mess. He carried his shoes down to the basement and put them on down there. The technician found the problem in a short time and showed me how to fix it myself if it happens again. The price was what Owens explained it would be in the scheduling phone call.

I was replacing a 23 year-old furnace with a cracked heat exchanger so that I could sell my house. Since I was looking for the base model that would exactly replace the furnace I owned, I was able to get several bids by phone. Owens was the second lowest based on price, but gave me a much higher comfort level regarding their work. They pulled the necessary permits for me and arranged for the certifications, which some other bids weren't willing to do. They also warrantied their work, which I was told was extra by two other bidders. Don was very responsive to my calls about details on the system that I needed to better compare between bidders. The work was performed two days after I called them back to approve the work. Everything was completed professionally and cleanly. I appreciated their excellent work especially given that I was purchasing their cheapest model.

We just bought our home and the seller had told us that she had just filled the oil tank. When our furnace stopped working, Kasey Kindle from Owens came out for an emergency call. After replacing the nozzle and cleaning the assembly of the furnace, he determined that our oil tank was empty. He waited until they had come to fill our tank to make sure everything was going to work correctly, and didn't charge us for the extra time. Although this "emergency" was a bit expensive, it was well worth it.

It turned out it was a simple repair. The value was not turning on and all the repair man did was turn it on. He then called tech support to, make sure there was nothing else he needed to know. The service price had two components: $95 for diagnosis (which I think is fair), but then he charged me $95 for a 10 minute repair because he called tech support. I called and complained about the bill and they then lowered it and will take off $40. They installed my furnace in my old home and were good for that but I think they charge excessively for their repair calls.

Salesperson Al Waschke was a gem to work with--well-informed, responsive, honest and interested in meeting our needs rather than selling us unnecessary stuff. We did have to ask him to add missing details to his written bid--and then the installers, Kyle and Jesse, installed a different (supposedly better) humidifier than specified without checking with us ahead of time. No one seemed to know how to program the humidifier correctly--Al finally had to call the manufacturer and do it himself--and tech Bruce had to return twice to fix a few relatively minor problems with the installation. It took quite awhile to get the scheduler to send him out. Nonetheless, the furnace itself seems to be well installed and working well, and everyone at the company was pleasant to talk to. We chose Owens because of Al, because they have NATE-certified techs, because of unsettling experiences with salespeople from other companies, and because Owens seems to have old-fashioned integrity.