River City Heating & Cooling

Our installation was punctual & experienced technicians. We were pleased with the customer service by both Jeff & the technicians we feel as though we bought a quality product at a good price. We also feel secure that we will be taken care if on the future.

Impeccable customer service. Our furnace went out during one of the colder weeks of the season and Jeff and team patched together a fix until we could get our new unit installed. We got an incredible system at a very reasonable price. Jeff was thorough and took excellent care of us. Highly recommend.

Jeff Ladwig is the reason we purchased our system from River City Heating & Cooling. I spoke to several other competitors in the Omaha metro area and experienced the typical sales pitch. After working in retail for over seven years, the selling techniques are blatant and annoying. Lets begin from the beginning though. 1. The original furnace broke Originally called another local company to come out and diagnose why our furnace was not producing any heat. The quote was about $2500 to repair a relay, blower motor, and a few other components that were in need of repair. The furnace is over 25 years old, however, so I had very little interest in pumping any money into it. The repairman from this company recommended that I get a quote for a new system which is what I was leaning towards. The sales person from the other company came in and spent over three hours going through the sales pitch and generating an estimate on site. They would start with a number at $20k and since I'm such a nice guy tell me they could do it for $12k - I decided then I wanted someone else out here immediately. 2. Angies List I began to dig around Angies List and look into the reviews some more. I realized I was going to spend in the neighborhood of $10k and wanted to work with someone that would be honest and straight forward. I found River City here and saw what appeared to be a trend of happy customers. 3. River City I called River City and they sent Jeff out the very next day. Jeff arrived exactly on time and even wore shoe covers before entering the house. We sat down at the table and went over the house requirements and what some of my complaints were before the existing furnace broke down. He provided me literature on all the systems that he recommended along with pictures of the completed project in other people's homes. We went over whether a heat-pump made economic sense, covered the cost/benefit of the different A/C units with 14, 15, 16+ SERE ratings. He backed up the systems he was installing with a 10 year warranty on parts and 5 years on labor (4 more years than the competitors). He provided all the information in a matter of fact way and once done presenting everything he thanked me for having him out and stated he would send me a quote before the end of the day. I received the quote from Jeff within a few hours which included everything we spoke about when he had been at my house. It outlined every piece of equipment and included a total at the bottom. I spoke again to Jeff to modify a few things and received another estimate to finalize what we had discussed. His crew was out the next morning at 0830 to begin the work. 4. The Install Jeff arrived prior to the crew and laid down floor coverings from the entryway to the furnace room in the basement. We went over what was going to happen that day and he introduced me to the crew as they arrived. The crew was polite, clean, and efficient. The old equipment was removed, the new equipment installed, and all the work Jeff and I had discussed accomplished completed as agreed to on the estimate. I ended up deciding to go with a new Z-Wave and Wifi Enabled thermostat and Jeff arranged to have it installed less than 48 hours later. Everything about the experience with River City has been pleasant. Although I went in with a different number in my head, I believe that the Trane system we had installed is the best option for my family and home. Spending the money to have a quality system installed by professionals is worth every penny. Jeff followed up with me today and even brought my wife some flowers. There are honest and trustworthy businesses out there - don't accept the sales pitch and go with a company that is really going to take care of you. I look forward to continuing to work with River City with the maintenance contract in place.

They do a great job. They make sure that everything is working to peak efficiency. They were here a little after New Years 2015. I think they're a fairly large company. Usually it's a different person that comes out every time to do service and I ask them questions like how long have you done this kind of work and stuff and you know just conversation with them and a lot of them are experienced and they've worked for them a long time so I think they're a very large company that, they're pretty dependable, if you need anything they'll take care of you. They were competitive with the pricing of everyone in town. It was an excellent unit that I bought and it worked the way it was suppose to. I've never had to call them to say I need this or I need that. They are always here when they call that they will be there. They are very professional.

It went well. They were very good. I had set up an appointment to check my air conditioning.

Jeff was on time, flowers & $20 gift card to local restaurant received a few day after installation. Jeff stopped by12-2 to verify that all was working as expected and that service was satisfactory.

Initially I called them to schedule a diagnostic check and perform general maintenance on our furnace. The technician found small cracks in the furnace and advised us that due to carbon monoxide dangers that he could not, due to strict regulations, service our furnace. He contacted his regional sales person (Jeff) for a quick consult and we were informed that he would meet with us within the hour for a quote. He arrived shortly thereafter and provided my husband and I a very detailed explanation of our options moving forward. Because of the company's reputation and professionalism, we decided to schedule the replacement furnace through them. Overall, the service, salesmanship, and product were well worth the cost. We are very pleased with the end result and will highly recommend their company to our friends and neighbors!

Good. Timely, professional.

They installed temporary furnace immediately on this holiday and worked with us to find the right furnace to purchase. Appreciated their promptness and professional service and quality. Ended up purchasing an air conditioner and humidifier also. We had no time to shop around for pricing, but feel like this was a reasonable deal under the circumstances.

The guy was able to identify our leak and come back to the house within 20 minutes to fix the problem. He was super friendly and helpful. I appreciated them being willing and able to completely finish the job within one day.

Overall, my family was completely satisfied w/ the work, professionalism and responsiveness of River City Heating and Air. Just as the weather was beginning to get cold, our furnace began having issues. The thermostat would click the furnace on. Then, after 2-5 seconds, the furnace would go off without a sound from the thermostat. With two newborns, we naturally wanted this solved ASAP. We called River City and they came out the same day. I initially saw the $75.00 furnace maintenance coupon on line and asked my wife to have the tech apply that. I was pretty confident this service would solve our problem. However, we found out that this had to be purchased prior to the tech's arrival. I spoke to Mindy, their office manager. She agreed to charge us only for one hour of work vs. the maintenance AND the hour of tech's time that the tech initially charged us for (this is what discussed w/ her just as the tech arrived). Mindy was professional, responsive, understanding and thoughtful. In the end, it was a dirty flame sensor which the maintenance would have covered. I'll definitely call River City again should we have any heating or air issues.

It was a pleasant experience. The installers were punctual, professional and courteous. All trash was removed from the site at the end of the installation. A general explanation of how the new thermostat works was given. Within a week, a follow-up appointment was made by Jeff and he did a thorough examination of the installation of the new units, as well as the settings on the thermostat and made suggestions as to how best to use the settings.

On time delivery, quick bid, no price adjustments.

Every one was courteous, friendly, and prompt. Our replacement AC and furnace project was completed in one day. All work areas were left clean and orderly. As we stated before, we are very pleased with everything and everyone we had contact with.

The work was performed in a timely manner and to my complete satisfaction.

I was very pleased with the service from the company from the sales side to the service side. They were knowledgeable, took time to explain what their plans were for installation, etc. The price came in at what I was quoted, they were timely, very nice and thankfully did not call me ma'am ;) This review is a tad late as the work was done a couple of years ago but I felt I should write it anyway. Also I have kept them as the service contractor for spring/fall general maintenance.

This review will be in four parts. 1) The Problem In mid-July, our existing AC system died. I was away, and my wife contacted a prominent local firm to assess the problem. The tech found that the system was "out of gas" (refrigerant R-22, a later version of the once-ubiquitious "Freon"). We quickly realized that even though the old system probably could be repaired, after 16 years it clearly was tired. It made more economic sense to replace it with a new, more efficient system, and we knew from the start that it would cost in the $4000-$5000 range. As background, the house was built in 1939, has forced-air heating and cooling, and we recently upgraded all the windows and re-insulated the attic and roof. We put the present Trane two-stage gas furnace in 10 years ago and it seemed healthy and perfectly adequate. Our heating and cooling bills are modest in comparison with comparable houses I am familiar with. The original tech who came out correctly diagnosed the problem, but then went into sales mode. Either because of pressure from the company to "sell-sell-sell," poor training, or simple ignorance, he made statements that were real howlers. The most outrageous was the warning that residual refrigerant gas might leak out and in the hot, humid air form hydrofluoric acid--which would be a very bad thing. Hydrofluoric acid is one of the most dangerous reactants we have--it dissolves glass. My wife is a university professor in history, and not a chemist. But even she had to hide a snort and keep from laughing out loud. We both know that in certain extreme circumstances (as in hot fires involving larger quantities of traditional refrigerants), chlorofluorocarbon gasses can react with the fire and atmosphere and produce the equivalent of mustard gas. Firefighters have to be aware of this hazard. In highly specific situations, it is possible for certain chlorofluorocarbon gasses to resolve to hydrofluoric acid. But the chances of that happening on a warm Omaha day with a tired AC system are pretty close to nil. To use that kind of scare tactic to try to sell repairs or a new system wasn't just silly--it should be criminal. 2. The Selection I returned home the following Monday, and we set up a series of estimates/interviews with ten reputable local firms, most selected from Angie's list on the basis of reviews. We also used the BBB site and called around for referrals. We both know how to do research and have been around the block more times than we care to admit. I have a technical background and know how AC works. We both can smell BS a mile away. And we both feel sorry for anyone in our situation--trying to deal with AC problems in the middle of July with company coming the following weekend. We got a real education in the current business models and sales techniques of heating-cooling contractors. In our experience, a substantial proportion ought to be either indicted, exiled, or sent to a re-education camp somewhere. We could only imagine how their spiels must play out with elderly folks or people unfamiliar with the wiles of modern sales people. It is a cutthroat business, and they will use any argument and make any plausible claim to get the job. That said, there clearly were ethical, honest, hard-working and qualified firms ready to fix our problem. After a day and a half of interviews with almost a dozen firms, we narrowed the list to three. I am sure any would have done just fine, and we probably would have been OK with another four or five. There were a few that we felt were just untrustworthy. If you care to listen, you can learn a great deal about current AC technology and how the industry operates overall. In general, brand names don't mean much anymore. The components are made by a handful of big companies and assembled to meet certain price points. The same is true for most appliances. Do not be overly concerned by the rated efficiency of the systems offered. In general, the difference between a "regular" system (say a 12 or 14-"SEER" system) and an allegedly more efficient system (16 SEER) amounts to a few dollars in savings each year--versus an additional $500-$1000 for the more efficient system. Except in highly specific applications, the entire SEER/efficiency rating game seems designed to sucker people into buying more expensive systems than they really need. Omaha is not the tropics. And most importantly, the outcome--how well the system will work, how reliable it will be, and how long it will last--is hugely dependent on the quality of installation. That was a major take away. If it is installed correctly (and this is craft, not rocket science) even a modestly-priced system from a second-tier manufacturer can be a good value. A top-of-the-line brand installed in a sloppy manner will fail and be a nightmare. You have to assess and trust the firm you hire to do the work. If they do a good job and are willing to stand behind the work, you will be OK and get a fair value. Otherwise, it is totally a crap shoot. 3. Our experience We chose River City largely because of Jeff Ladwig. He was the point-of-contact who came out, looked over our situation, and then got down to brass tacks. We saw him late in the process, and we had already gotten jaded and cynical. Our session with him was a bit of fresh air. There was no BS. He didn't try to "sell" us on anything, but instead tried to find a solution to our problem--and there is a difference. He knew at that point that we had talked with at least nine other representatives, and he was matter-of-fact and highly professional--basically saying that "here is what we can do, please feel free to make an informed decision based on what you have heard." We worked through the issues (system size, whether it made sense to match a Trane AC system with the existing Trane furnace, Trane's technology vs. others', how it would be installed). Again, no BS, and Ladwig had been in the business for so long and understood it so clearly that we felt comfortable with his explanations and reasoning. And I am a pretty skeptical and questioning consumer. River City's price was in the middle--neither the cheapest nor the most expensive. But we felt that we got the best value for a number of reasons: -- Trane seems to be a reliable brand, and the fact that they manufacture all of their own components seems to me A Good Thing. -- River City has been around for a while and seems big enough to continue to be around. That is important--AC firms come and go, and you want an outfit that will be around in ten years when the warranty expires. -- Jeff saw two potential issues and basically tried to solve them up front--we needed a totally fresh and clean install (not using the existing refrigerant line), and we needed a pump to get the condensate from the furnace to a drain instead of relying on a gravity-fed hose lying on the basement floor. Those are seemingly minor details that no one else picked up--and in hindsight, I believe Jeff was 100% correct. -- River City offered, and we bought, a full 10-year parts and labor warranty. This is where competitors differentiate themselves. It was not much more money, and in our opinion is one of the few extended warranties it is worthwhile getting. No one else offered this option. I have read of many, many nightmare scenarios involving homeowners basically getting screwed by AC contractors manipulating their warranty obligations. River City's seems reasonable and comprehensive. -- Basically, we felt that Jeff Ladwig understood the situation, figured things out, offered us a good solution at a fair price, and didn't try to spin us in any way. He pretty quickly established that we didn't need a fancy, high-SEER system: it would never pay for itself. He didn't waste our time and had the kind of "take it or leave it--we are an honest and ethical outfit" attitude that I found really, really refreshing. 4. The Results The new AC system is functioning perfectly well after a month of use--and some very hot days. The new compressor/condenser unit is astonishingly quiet. It is right outside our bedroom window and we were concerned, because the old unit was loud. I am glad--on Jeff's advice--that we didn't go for the more expensive "quieter" unit. It would have been a waste of money. This one is very, very quiet. The crew who installed the new system arrived around 9 AM, and we were cooling the house (on a very hot Friday), by 1 PM. They were easygoing, skilled, professional, and didn't have any problem at all with me hanging around asking all sorts of questions. I wasn't suspicious, just genuinely curious. They explained everything they were doing, and changed things around when I had suggestions. I was seriously impressed and genuinely pleased by how they did things. They knew what they were doing and were perfectly OK in working with whatever questions or concerns I had. That is not always the case in situations like this. I formed the sense--and this is just a sense--that River City would do a professional and correct install whether someone was watching or not--they just had that aspect about them. Based on what I saw, I would trust them to do similar work for my 88 year old Mother without supervision. We will see how things work out over the long run. But every indication is that these are responsible folks who clearly understand that installing and maintaining an AC system is a process and a relationship, and not a case of "stick it in and move on to the next sale." My wife and I highly recommend River City. We put a lot of effort into finding what we felt would be the best solution. They came out head-and-shoulders above the other firms we interviewed. And we never felt spun, sold-to, or treated like prey.

My son called on a Saturday afternoon and a technician was out in less than 30 minutes. Friendly and upfront. Found the problem of a weak capacitor and replaced it. Talked about a service plan, which he was needing to do anyway, and River City gave a discount on the new part and deducted the $80 service call. Looking forward to working with a River City for the foreseeable future!

Went very well. They called when they were on way over (very helpful). Technician John arrived and was very friendly and professional. he took a look at unit and had problem figured out and fixed in minutes. He also answered all my questions and concerns and was very helpful. Will use them again for sure!

Very good! We will be using them again for yearly maintenance and any issues.

Workers were professional and prompt and did a great job.

It was awesome. They figured it out in a few minutes. He called around to get the parts. He went to get the parts and had the guy from his shop meet him halfway so he could get here quicker. It was great. They were super prompt. A+ professionalism.

The service representative, Jeff, was professional and knowledgable. No pressure sale, just factly. Installation was easy. Staff left no mess behind. Highly recommend them.

With father's passing make necessary upgrades was put at ease w/sales rep Jeff from the start. Everyone on time, very informed. All went as instructed. Best part River City works w/D.C. electric exclusively and upon city inspector visit. Very nice work.

These guys were great! Initially they came out for a furnace inspection and to determine why our blower was so noisy. They determined that the bearings were starting to go on our 14 yr old unit. They didn't have that motor in stock and in the interim several fins from the 'squirrel cage' sheared off shutting the furnace off completely. It was about 15 degrees that day so it was getting cold in the house when we called them back. We decided that spending approx. $800 on a new motor and squirrel cage for a 14 yr old furnace may not be money well spent. The heat pump was costing us money at this point rather than saving plus it had already outlived it's normal life expectancy AND it was noisy and located just off the patio. Took the plunge for new units. Upgraded to a 2-speed motor, electronic ionic air cleaner/filter and A/C unit. Jeff ordered the furnace at 2:15 PM and by 4:30 we had heat. Really fast and very efficient crew. Everyone (approx. 6 of them during the whole process) were friendly and professional. The new unit is sooooo much quieter than the old builders grade model (different brand) that had been installed (by a different company) and they re-located the air conditioner to the side of the house at no charge. We have an unfinished basement so that makes it easier for them. When Jeff came back a week later to do a final inspection he brought a bouquet of flowers and a restaurant gift card for $20. He also left some referral coupons so if someone uses their services and mentions that we referred them we get some cash back...up to $100. The units have 10 yr guarantees and it is completely transferable if we sell the house. What more can I say...River City made the painful process of purchasing a new furnace and A/C about as painless as it could be.