Key Heating

Just as bad as everyone else. Do not use this firm under any circumstances. So many excuses including "we fired that person who wasn't communicating with you." "We can't come back until the concrete pad is poured." "He did come to get the ton of extra supplies we left at your house filling an entire room. His Honda Civic just wasn't big enough to get it all." "Oh, we can't come back to finish the duct work until the gas tanks are installed outside." "We are in a meeting. We will call you back." (This was a regular favorite.) They never did. I am at my wits end with an almost finished new furnace and AC condenser (currently sitting in the driveway with rotting cardboard still lashed to it). Half day of work left according to the tech. Today's excuse: "We can't get you in for another month." Months of misery so far. Hello Angi! Why would you affiliate yourself with this company?

One exception, Bob the original installer is very good but is pulled in way to many directions. He knows what he is doing, but beyond that it is all a mess service, warranty and beyond. Our original project was supposed to be 5-7 days, and took a month plus to complete. Since that time we experienced heat days in the winter where our room could not maintain even 60 degrees. There were always excuses of oh we're busy, but constantly pulling Bob to other jobs. They would make excuses of oh we didn't measure that for the system, but they did for the HVAC. I've put in 20+ service emails with little to no response, or when they actually respond they come out and oh nothing's wrong and leave. We're 9 months in and regretting every $ we spent with them. OH and the last service call today, the tech just walked right into our house without any notice or calling (while we were not home)

The guy showed up and told us that it wasn't dangerous, that it was just the pressure regulating valve. He didn't have a replacement on his truck, but he could cover the hole with silicone to fix the leak and we would need to call the office on Monday to get it replaced. Being completely new to this system, we agreed. He disabled the pressure regulating valve, told us not to open the valve that allows domestic water to enter the system and charged us $530 ($280 for his work and $250 surcharge). Later the same day we noticed that while the boiler was working, there was not heat in the house. Fortunately, it was a mild day. We called them again and the technician told us that since this was a different issue, he needed to charge us the $250 again. We felt it was related, since he was the only one that had worked on the boiler, but decided to keep our money and wait for Monday to get it repaired. On Monday the office called us, wanting $485 to replace the valve. We called other plumber and got it replaced for $220. As for the heat not working, it was because the original "genius" didn't purge the boiler after doing his Mickey Mouse fix, so not only did they ripped us off on the original call, they also wanted to keep robbing us blind and they were the direct cause behind the heat not reaching the house. Come to find out that those pressure regulating valves are pretty common and available even in Home Improvement Stores. Since it was around 10 in the morning, even in the unlikely case that a heating technician didn't have one in their truck, he should have been able to go get one easily (there are 2 plumbing supply stores, open on Saturdays, less than 15 min. away, a HD and a Lowes) or even told us to get it and really fix the problem, instead of disabling it with silicone. So we don't recommend them at all. They are just trying to rip off unsuspecting customers, not providing a service.

I had a problem with my heat, and I had a problem for three years, and he solved it in less than an hour, so that's why I love them.

Let me simply say, of all the companies I have ever hired and/or worked with as a homeowner, this company stands out as the least professional and most frustrating. I would never recommend them to anyone else. If my husband didn't have some background in HVAC, we would have absolutely had the wool pulled over our eyes by this company.
Called mid-June, and was told work would be done in July...when explained that I was 8 months pregnant, they did bump me up to June. That was the ONLY plus. It gave me hope this was a decent and helpful company looking to please their customers.
Promised a one day job, "no matter what" because they had other jobs to get to. Showed up on time the first day, left hours early with job not even close to done.
Showed up three hours late the second day, two hours late the third day. Both days no call to say they'd be late until I called them several times.
Sent a total of 5 different workers from different departments in the business over a 5 day span who all then had to guess at what the others before them had or had not done. My husband spent many hours assisting them because they only sent one man when told they would send two. I can't understand why you wouldn't just finish one job and move on to the next rather than continuing to split men up and cover everywhere/leave commitments unfulfilled.
It took them over seven weeks to fully complete the job, as other issues arose as they worked. We had to hound them to come back and fix issues.
The communication between departments, employees and customers leaves much to be desired.
On top of all this, the people who work in the office are rude and snarky.
I cannot express my disappointment enough.

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1. After a lightning strike, we called a technician because our hot water heater wasn't working. I explained to the electrician that we weren't certain what else had been impacted. The GFCI outlet for the hot water heater is also the outlet for our A/C system. Key had installed our new furnace and hot water heater back in January 2013, so they had installed the GFCI in the first place as well as connected our A/C to the setup (we have forced hot air).

The technician, John, commented on water on the floor and said the condensation pump for the A/C must be broken as well. He said the outlet was fried. He didn't have any outlets with him. He used one of our regular outlets we had as a spare. He didn't fasten it in, didn't put a cover on it and didn't offer to come back with the correct one to fix it. He charged us $140 ($98 diagnostic fee and $42 fee for replacing the outlet). He was at our house for 20mins. I later received a call from Debbie in their office stating she could send the technician, John, back out to our house to properly replace the GFCI outlet for an additional $98.



My husband came home and saw neither the A/C or furnace were working. I told him about the condensation pump. He called and spoke to Debbie while I was standing right next to him. She said she'd send John back out for another $98 diagnostic fee. My husband said he felt this should've been diagnosed with the first inspection and we shouldn't have to pay an additional diagnostic fee, especially considering we'd be paying them for additional work. She immediately cut him off saying they were only out to fix the water pump. He reiterated what I had told them...we'd had a lightning strike, the whole system (AC, furnace, hot water) was connected, John saw the condensation pump not working, etc. She cut him off each time he tried to speak. I was trying to get the phone from my husband as I wanted to tell her to stop interrupting and listen to what he was saying. She told us they aren't electricians (yet they originally installed the outlet and electrical when setting up our new system and John didn't say a word when removing the GFCI outlet to replace with a regular outlet), they couldn't know the system wasn't working (he noticed the condensation pump, they installed the system) and we couldn't expect him to work on anything but the water heater (yet this is an HVAC company...who installed the whole system just 8 months ago). Finally my husband, after repeatedly trying to state his case, said "we call someone who wants to take care of us." They both said goodbye. Fifteen minutes later she called back and started loudly saying "what did you expect? what is it you want from us?", this is immediately after he said hello! He reiterated we were calling someone else. They both said goodbye again. Ten minutes later, she called again! Again, she tried to tell him he was wrong to expect anything different, they aren't electricians, they can't trouble shoot the whole system (mind you, our whole system wasn't working). My husband told her to have Jon call him. My husband was referring to Jon the owner, not knowing John was also the technician's name. John the technician called back and was immediately defensive, saying when he left the condensation pump was repaired. My husband said again that he'd like to have Jon Sherrill, the owner, call him. John the technician actually replied with a laugh, "He's not going to call you." My husband replied that it was fine as we would call someone else.



Needless to say, standing next to my husband through all four of those calls, I was incredibly disappointed and rather shocked. They seemed so defensive from the start of the call, even when Debbie had first called to say she'd send John the technician back out for another $98 to finish the job he'd already half-finished. Bizarre!



I emailed Jon Sherrill to express my concern and to let him know what we experienced. I always try to make a point to businesses know when I receive good or bad service. I told him the original technician, Mike, that installed our system was great, but John and Debbie were unprofessional and how shocked I was that someone would even act that way. Jon Sherrill emailed back to his team (cc'ing everyone in the office including Debbie) and cc'd me stating he'd like them to pull the file so he could better understand what was going one. It is a week later and I've heard nothing else...not even an email or call to say he felt his employees were in the right. Nothing at all.



It is such a bizarre situation! I've never experienced an interaction from a small, local company that was so abrasive. It goes to show that you learn a person and a company's true character when issues arise, not when they're first taking your business. It is just so disappointing.

Cost me money for nothing.  I would grade them a D.