T F O Brien & Co Inc

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Provider sells a package as "preferred services". Our AC unit ended up with a freakish mechanical default. We paid for someone to come out and look at it. This was on June 18th. The tech was very nice and assured us we would get the part and we could get it fixed. I finally get a call on June 22nd to schedule it to be fixed on JULY 21st. This is absolutely insane. They are over booked then they put their preferred customers on a cancellation list because we are "preferred".
I'm sure they provide good quality but their availbility is ridiculous. A month for an emergency?

Now I'm in a precarious situation where they should have ordered the part, haven't and I'm scrambling to find another vendor. The woman on the phone was not nice wasn't providing any solution except sit on a wait list and they are probably wondering why I'm mad. She even made a comment that she also has dogs and no AC.  I have 2 bulldogs and it's 90degrees on the floor with no AC. I'm sorry this is complete BS.

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Great, fast process from quote to completion. Did a great job of discussing the aesthetic options with us, picked top quality equipment and explained why, installed rapidly. Bring on the summer!

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Burner works fine. Company is very professional

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the services tfobrien performed were over the course of several months. originally I contacted them to bid on overhauling our HVAC and hot water system. after a few meetings and conversations with chris O'Brien we decided to limit the scope of the project and focus on the essentials (saving me money and headache.) one thing led to another and we corrected a few issues in the systems in our house. the truly commendable thing of working with TFO is the level of engagement I found from them. beginning with brainstorming options to truly trying to find the right solution I felt like I could rely on chris and his team to get the job done. I'd consider myself a high maintenance homeowner - I like to research things on my own and then discuss the options with contractors. I have to say that dealing with TFO was refreshing, not only was chris and his team always willing to have a discussion (including meeting me at 730am to review options on site) but I felt they truly knew what they were doing. I've searched a long time for a reliable HVAC and plumbing company and I'm hoping I've found it in this firm and will continue to use them for years to come.

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It went very smoothly. I called and spoke to the secretary and asked that someone come look at our water heater that was leaking water. She said they would be here between 12-5. At about 11-12, I got a phone call from Anthony and he said he was going to come down. He arrived about 15 minutes later. He was very personable and easy to talk to, very professional. We discussed what kind of water to get and called up his boss to make sure we could get it. He gave me the price for it which I agreed to. He went down in the basement and started taking the old one down. In the meantime, he had other people going to pick up the new one and get everything that needed to go with it. They came back at an appropriate time and were able to bring the new one in easily. They finished the job and everything went well. The water started getting warm as soon as it was hooked up and we tested all of the faucets to make sure they work. They took pictures for the warranty and said they are going to email me all of the information. Everything went smoothly and without a hitch. It was a little on the expensive side, but I wanted to make sure I got one with features that will make it last a long time so I don't have to have it replaced again soon.

THIS PLACE IS A SCAM!!!
Summary
Full details below, but here's the summary:
1. Fought with us over them changing appointments last minute, took no accountability
2. Billed us for looking at the unit, but not doing anything, they didn't even provide a repair estimate.
3. Were inept at responding to basic emails and phone calls.
4. Did not ever send a repair estimate and did not fix anything.
5. After two months, and I demanded a refund, was told by Tom O'Brien (the owner) that the work was "too hard" and he didn't want to do it. Refused to give me a refund. And told me it's all my fault, because I didn't try to contact them enough times and if I really wanted to speak to him I'd have called more.
Details
June 1, 2015 - Sent OBRIEN a message on Angie's List that said: " We have five HVAC units, three of the smaller type and two of the larger. All are Trane, semi-custom units for my condo building. This job would be to do a service and repair on one of the smaller units, which is no longer blowing cold air."
June 2, 2015 - OBRIEN responded saying to call to schedule "...a service appointment with one of our technicians."  We called and scheduled an appointment, it was three weeks out. (not great, but fine).
June 22, 2015 - OBRIEN calls to say they can't keep the appointment on June 24 and said they need to move it to June 26. We said that date wasn't available, because my wife had surgery scheduled. They then got in a fight with my wife saying we were unflexible. So my wife said she wouldn't be yelled at, and said to cancel the whole thing. They called back a few minutes later and said they would come on the original time, June 24.
June 24, 2015 - OBRIEN technician Anthony arrived. He was a nice guy and even called ahead to say he was on his way. He spent a long time (several hours) in our apartment messing with the HVAC unit. In the end he told us it was broken and he recommended replacing either the board or the whole thing. We already knew it was broken and told them that on the phone. He said they needed to send us a sales estimate and that we had to pay $151.34 for the appointment and the money went to the full repair. We paid.  He said their sales people would get back to me with the full repair estimate.
June 25, 2015 - Lisa O'Brien emailed saying the credit card charge failed and asked for me to give her the number again. Which I did. She also sent an invoice, within which it says, "My office will follow you up with a price to replace system." When I called Lisa I reminded her that I needed the estimate and this was urgent because the unit was in my 4 year old's room and the summer was coming.
July 6, 2015 - I called OBRIEN and reminded them that I hadn't heard back. Later that day Tom O'Brien left me a message. Saying he didn't know we were waiting and he needed to come visit the unit to give a price. I asked why he couldn't just speak to his technician who had visited. He said they don't know enough to get a sales estimate and that he needed to look. I asked if I could just send pics. He said yes.
July 7, 2015 - I emailed Tom O'Brien four high res images of the unit, installation, room, etc. And one of the model number, etc. And included the notes from Anthony (technician) because Tom said he didn't have them. I also re-included my phone number twice.
July 8, 2015 - Tom O'Brien emailed back saying "Please   take pic from in the room looking at it". I responded a few minutes later with, "I did. I sent four pics did that not show what you needed?"
July 20, 2015 - I emailed again and wrote, "It's been 12 days, haven't heard anything back?"
August 17, 2015 -
   1. I emailed Tom & Lisa O'Brien, i reminded them of the situation and demanded a refund because they failed to service the HVAC.
   2. Tom responded a few minutes later saying, "I was never informed you need an estimate / If you would like and estimate we have 4 sales people / Would are able to provide you on"
   3. I forwarded Tom & Lisa the full exchange of our emails and then replied a second time telling Tom I had sent the emails and we had spoken by phone a few times. All of my emails have my phone number in them.
   4. Tom replied back with, "Call me" and included his phone number.
   5. When I called Tom, he went on a rant about how "this work is too hard" because of drywall and working with Trane units. I told him he never said that. He said it was my fault because I should've called him more to ask him so he could tell me that. (W**??!?!). Then he told me that the summer is their busy season and I should have taken that into account -- again I told him he never said that.  I told him he could just have told me up front they don't want to do this type of work and we could go our separate ways, but they can't bill me and tell me they're going to do the work and then simply not. He started yelling. I told him that he clearly doesn't care about customers because he's saying this is entirely my fault for not knowing when their busy, or that he doesn't like to do HVAC repair jobs like this, or that he doesn't call people back. He claimed I should've called more again. I told him if he doesn't want to refund the money, I'll simply dispute the credit card charge. He started yelling again, I hung up the phone.
WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER. AVOID THIS "BUSINESS"

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They were prompt and professional. Explained all my options.  I have to wait to go through with the work but will be using them.

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Quick and very helpful, answered all my questions, even stuff unrelated to the service

A couple of days after the initial visit, my unit stopped working. They came back and said it could not be fixed and I needed a new unit soup to nuts. My staff was stuck in a hot office. The technician said that the sales guy would have to come back to give me a quote on the new system. Nobody ever called or came by. So I basically paid $1200 bucks to be told my system was no good. It would have been nice to have the professionalism to tell me what I needed to get up and running. Waste of money and time. They did not seem to care about the customer.