Academy Air

Terrible experience. Scheduled an electrician and plumber for the same day. Plumber never showed. Company gave lame excuses as to why. Electrician charged over $1,100 for less than 1 hour of work. They won't quote the job until you already take time off to have them quote on site. Trying to resolve both issues all I got was passed from one "service" rep to the next. Couldn't ever get to anyone in charge. Avoid this company at all cost.

This business is scam. They charge The customer what ever they want. Do not trust this company. Always call other company before you hire Air Academy for any work. I had bad experience with this company. I have AC issues, I called this company and technician came and told me that Condenser motor and fan blades need to be replaced and he gave me estimate of $1000. told him to replace it. He told me this without even checking if motor is working or not. Then after opening, he says motor is good and only fan need to be replaced. He said it is money saving because motor is working. After replacing fan blades he gave me bill for $880 . I said blades can't be that expensive. He said fan blades are expensive than motor. I never heard about that before. I have to pay $880. Later I called Air Comfort company they told me the blade is only $150. With installation it will cost only $375. So be careful before you hire this company.

TO ALL HOMEOWNERS, ESPECIALLY LADIES - STOP! Turn back now! Do not use this company. Make sure the company provides the cost of the unit and all installation fees. Get an itemized quote and bill. Make sure you know the price of the AC unit, labor, ductwork, taxes, and disposal fees to get rid of your existing equipment. Companies like Academy Air utilize predatory packaging sales gimmicks that never fully disclose what you’re paying for. They will lull you with talk of free this and that, guarantees, no contractors, it’s all a distraction. Take it from me. The steal is in the deal. This predatory behavior by HVAC companies is prevalent and has to stop. On Thursday, May 12th, I had a representative from Academy Air, Brandyn, come to my condo to provide a quote for a new AC unit. I had recently been deceived by a different HVAC company, Budget Heating & Cooling, that took me for $969 to put freon in the system only for it to return to not cooling three days later. I reached out to Academy Air because my brother used them to replace his AC unit. The first red flag (in hindsight) was that he said I had to replace both the AC & furnace despite not reporting any issues with the existing furnace. I was told my existing 2-ton unit was 24 years old, uses the old, more expensive freon, and should be replaced. I later spoke with a different HVAC professional and was made aware that this is a terrible gimmick used by HVAC companies to force you into unnecessary AC unit upgrades. Brandyn presented four “packages,” or AC replacement options, the “basic”, “deluxe,” “premium,” and “supreme.” The “basic” AC replacement for a 1,304 sq. ft condo was $12,755 and the “deluxe” would turn out to be a 2.5-ton 15.5 SEER Lennox for a whopping $13,755! Per Google, the national average to replace an AC unit in 2022 is $7,000. I kept asking why it was so expensive for my unit. I could never get a straight answer. I was told I would be getting a 15.5 SEER Lennox unit for $13,755. This is where the bait and switch began. Because I mentioned that I had quotes from other HVAC companies for Lennox systems, he baited me with that and said that’s what I would get with his company. He said he would throw in a 2-year maintenance plan “for free,” and this and that guarantee, or moneyback feature, for free, but they charged $13,755! NOTHING WAS FREE!!! On the day of installation, Saturday, May 14th, three installers arrived with a 16 SEER Coleman unit. I obtained financing and signed a contract for a 15.5 SEER Lennox system only to have them arrive with a completely different system. This can’t possibly be legal. US News & World Report listed Lennox #4 for “Best HVAC Companies of 2022,” while Coleman was listed #10. Coleman touts that their equipment is durable, quieter than other systems, have long warranties, and have a unit for every budget. Coleman is supposed to be the affordable AC replacement option. Why wasn’t I presented with a budget friendly option? Why did I sign for a Lennox and get a Coleman? What didn’t my price go down with the down graded Coleman switch? I have so many questions from contract to final install. I may need a lawyer at this point to sort it all out. Ultimately, this company should NOT be trusted. I fully intend to utilize all my resources to stop predatory practices by HVAC companies like Academy Air. I don’t care if I have to contact the licensing/commissions, the attorney general, BBB, or the local news stations I will not stop until this situation is made right. To boot, I’m not sure that they obtained the required permit to even do the installation in my county. Academy Air salespeople utilize predatory practices. If you are not an HVAC professional be very cautious and avoid being duped into system changes and upgrades not necessary to meet your desired outcome, like I was duped. I am in for a huge fight with management at Academy Air, so spare yourself and avoid this company. They are a deceptive, greedy, and unethical company.

I called my old plumbers' number (who I liked very much) and discovered that Academy Air bought them out. I figured I’d give AA a try. Here’s what you need to know: - Everyone I spoke with on the phone and in person was very professional and nice. So that’s a plus. - They won’t give you an estimate over the phone. Instead, they’ll charge you $89 to visit your house and diagnose the problem. So your already on the hook to pay them, whether or not you agree with the pricing. In this case, they charged about triple for the service my old plumber offered (sad trombone sound). I get it if I have a unique problem, but this was a routine maintenance call. - Everyone you talk to will push you to join their membership club for a monthly fee. - The gentleman who arrived at my house to handle a plumbing job took photos of my HVAC system and water heater because the management asks them to do this. In retrospect I found this irritating, since this had nothing to do with the job I hired them for. Gathering intel on my house. If money’s not an issue and you’d like a set-it-and-forget-it service provider, these guys will be great for you. But if you’re mindful of costs, I would avoid.

They did a great job.

We had a pre-paid service with Academy by our previous homeowner. I have had three interactions with them now. The first visit was great. The second two, not so much. They came out for heat repair, the guy was rude about the problem. He blamed it on the thermostat and said the only way to get the heat working again was to put in a $400 smart thermostat. They charged ~$100 and didn't offer to fix the problem (a $30 thermostat). The second was a pre-paid tune-up visit. We scheduled the service 10 weeks out. The day before, they called and said they overbooked and did not have any options for 3 months. They asked us to cancel the visit, we asked for it to continue. The day of, they called at 1:00 pm and said they would not be out until maybe 7 pm and that the visit could take at least 2 hours. Basically, they booked new customers and pushed off existing pre-paid customers. This is not how you treat someone. After this pre-paid service is expired, I will not be using them again.

The plumber, Zack McFallon arrived as noted and immediately, upon entering the basement, applied negative comments about our 11 year old hot water heater as well as the attached apparatus and the overall plumbing system. Note that we have not had any leakage or negative life experiences with these said systems. Zack chose to write up all such items for repair or replacements. He also, wrote-up same on his technician observations and on the way out, as we were in process of preparing to pay, he insisted that we pay an additional $69.00 . I called the company on our phone and he spoke with their management who verified that our original payment was full and final… Leakage was found running down the basement floor and onto some lower level boxes, which have now been moved. The companies Master Plumber called, after the technician left the premises and insisted that the hot water heater was a ticking time bomb, not his words specifically, but this, in essence was his response. The pipe leading from near the top of the hot water heater to the bottom is said to be the problem but no proof of a problem or signs of damage. I tried to work with this official but to no viable avail. As noted, our hot water heater is flushed on a normal basis, about one year to 1.5 years, no problems ever, until now. The leak started after work was completed… I would like for Academy Air to rectify this situation as no known problems, as noted above, thank you

Everything is good. Everything is a 10.

I received a quote as part of my maintenance package. A week later I scheduled the service. The technician, Philip, was on time and professional. He exceeded expectations by replacing the drywall he had to cut out to run the cable. Great experience!

Dry well. Competitive pricing, very professional employees, cleaned up everything perfectly. They will will now be taking care of all our plumbing, electrical and Hvhc needs!

They've been wonderful. We started out with just changing out the thermostat which led to us having them back to check the furnace, which they replaced as well as the A/C. They did fantastic work. It looks great and everything works great. They're just a wonderful company. The new thermostat was eligible for a rebate and they processed the rebate for us so we didn't have to deal with the documentation or sending anything out.

It went quite well. I would definitely recommend them.

If you are looking for the best heating and cooling company in town then call ACADEMY AIR! We have been relying on them for over 25 years and they have kept us cool, comfortable and SAFE! From time to time we check out others but always call Academy Air. They are the most honest, reliable and knowledgeable company and provide excellent service. Their pricing is not the most expensive but they are not the cheapest. They use state of the are equipment to service our furnace and air conditioner (and hot water heater) through their yearly maintenance agreement (which is reasonably priced) and they work on all types of systems. Their technicians are well-trained and are very thorough, great at explaining what they find, they will discuss all the possible options if they find a problem and are very professional, polite and friendly. And when we need a new system, they sell us the best and most appropriate units for our house with no pressure to buy the most expensive. This summer, we had a technician come to service our AC per our maintenance agreement. He was on time, friendly, polite and always put on shoe covers when coming into our home. He was very knowledgeable and knew right away an issue which needed attention. He explained everything very well and explained all the possible options. He answered all our questions and we made a decision with no pressure from him to buy a new unit. We look forward to our upcoming service appointment for our furnace per our maintenance agreement. It helps to pinpoint any issues and allows time for minor repairs before any major failure happens. This is important to catch any carbon monoxide issues and we wake up SAFELY every morning. We truly put our lives in the hands of ACADEMY AIR! Who do you trust?

I called Academy Air and they were able to come out quickly and take a look at it. A nice man, Ben, came over and found that there was nothing seriously wrong. We were up and running in no time. They were very knowledgeable and professional. Thanks!

Our furnace went down on New Year's day, the coldest day of the year. Kevin the technician attempted the 'heat exchanger has a hole in it' scam to try to get us to order a new system, using a fancy snake camera to make it look legit. I was immediately suspicious. Since it was a holiday, I paid him the $89 and sent him on his way. He refused to start the furnace lest his scam would be revealed. Starting the furnace would have been a simple matter of resetting the roll out switch (which I had tried to do myself but it's a bit hidden on this model of furnace and I couldn't find a technical spec online). My wife and I spent a night in a freezing cold house because we refused to fall for the scam. Our thermostat got down to 33 degrees. I was worried about the pipes freezing. The next day Dunn heating and cooling sent a technician to save the day. He charged only $75 for the visit. He found no safety issues with the furnace. We also tested our CO detector and there is no evidence that Kevin was telling the truth. Please, for your own sake, avoid this unethical company that apparently preys upon people in distress.

Efficient and timely

Recently we had a humidifier installed with a new thermostat. The thermostat is nice because we can control it with our iPhone too through wifi. House is much more comfortable now. The installer was friendly and helpful. Educated us on how it worked and showed us how to make adjustments through the thermostat to fine tune our comfort. Oh, and the technician cleaned up too. Update: This is the second time we hired Academy Air to do work at our house and again and we are extremely impressed. Our heating and cooling system was approaching 20 years old and we noticed the past couple months the air-conditioner had not been keeping up so we had it checked and found out we were low on Freon and had a leak in our system. We considered repairing and buying some time but we’re happy we decided to review their recommendations. Positives: our new system is extremely quiet and much more comfortable. Without too many technical details it is because of the type of system we upgraded to. Also, we’re looking forward to lower utility bills too (we haven’t had It long enough to get a bill yet)! There were some financing promotions we were able to take advantage of too which made it much easier to do now. My wife loves the Wi-Fi thermostat (Nest) and the fact that they were able to move the air-conditioner to the corner of the house so that we have more room to entertain at the back of the house. I was up there during the installation much but she also said they were very clean, nice, and kept her updated about what was going on during the process. I was impressed by how neat every thing was from the wires, to the metal, and even the way they sealed up the ducts.

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They come every 6 months.  They're professional and communicate well. I have maintenance with them for the next five years.

They always do excellent or I wouldn't have them come back.

They finished on time.

We are on a seasonal maintenance program. It was very good.

The tech was great - he gave the A/C the once-over and advised that it was just low on Freon. The tech did look over everything as well to make sure there were no other issues. He then recharged the A/C with Freon and it's nice and cold. We were even more impressed that they were able to get someone out the next day to review/resolve the issue.