Universe Home Services

Workers were courteous, careful and professional.

I like Universe's size. It's big enough that they can send an estimator or repairman days before smaller, more local companies can. Their hardware is well reviewed on the Internet, from companies that are big and old enough to offer online support. I called Universe and a couple of other companies for estimates when HomeServe (my regular service-only company) shut down my old unit at its fall checkup. It had become unsafe. The estimator came in a timely manner, and was well equipped with product glossies for the Slant/Fin Galaxy models (They're made on Long Island!) and had a tablet computer to help with the sizing and estimation. Unlike the estimator from the other bidder, Universe threw in a fire sprinkler head, a critical safery feature for me given the central location of the boiler room in my house (a closet off my kitchen under the stairs leading up to our bedrooms.) The next available time slot for an install was the following Monday. I would need a three man crew. I turned down the offer of a temporary electric hot water heater to carry me thru the weekend, because it was still warm and I had figured out how to survive Colonial-style after Hurricane Sandy. The install crew (three young men and a helper) arrived at 7:50 AM Monday morning, 10 minutes early. They spread tarps on my kitchen floor, and set to work emptying and removing the old boiler, pumps, and valves. I settled down at my kitchen table to watch, and to answer questions about the system. It was 30 years old, and the prior owner of the house had been in the heating/AC business, so he had time time to put in a six zone system. Every serviceman who has seen my old system has been surprised by its complexity. I offered the crew a few old pumps and parts left by the prior owner near the boiler, and they did me the favor of removing them too. The new boiler unit arrived promptly from the wholesaler, and the crew set to work installing the unit, hooking it up to the water and gas pipes, and to my radiator system. The helper sat on the kitchen floor tarps, preparing the cast iron pipes with teflon tape and plumber's putty, (with a word of correction from one of the plumbers about technique) , while the other three plumbers worked in the boiler room building up the system around the new boiler. The new system leaked at a few copper connections and at a critical cast iron connection into the boiler. The team lost an hour disassembing and reassembling the leaky joints, then proceeded to the wiring part. They worked their way through my 6 thermostats, verifying they triggered zone valves and marking the zone valves with their room names. Three thermostats were replaced along the way, at no extra charge. An extra master shutoff switch was added inside the boiler room, in addition to the master switch outside the boiler room. My "old work" electrical box inside the boiler room didn't quite fit the "new work" cover's screw holes, so the cover was held in place with only one screw. (It was on the back wall, out of the way.) They verified the hot water temperature at the kitchen sink, and showed me how the mixer valve could be adjusted for hotter or colder water. They swept the boiler room, rolled up the tarps, gave me my user manuals, and I went for my checkbook. It was 5 PM, and they had worked straight through from 8 AM. One of them noticed a copper piping leak, and (with the help of a second torch-holder, managed to re-solder it under pressure. After they left, I noticed I had no flow from my kitchen sink hot water tap. I phoned Universe, and asked for a callback. A quick look at the boiler gave me my answer - a valve had been left closed for the last minute repair. A return call from the install truck verified my diagnosis, and a simple flip of the valve got me my hot water back. Saturday night, after two loads of laundry, my Leak Frog in the boiler room sounded. I placed a pan under the boiler, to catch a leak. Sunday morning, the water level in the pan had risen, so I called Universe for the leak. I also noticed my master bedroom was warm, though the thermostat wasn't calling for heat. I didn't regard it as an emergency, but they showed up to look at it Sunday. The warm bedroom was due to a zone valve that was left latched into the "on" position, allowing heat from the laundry loads to flow upstairs. We double checked the zones, this time feeling radiators to see if the radiators would respond to heat calls from their thermostats. Two of the six zones were crossed. We scheduled work for Monday, to fix the leak and rewire the system. Monday's repairman re-did the cast iron connection that was leaking, adding lamp wick to insure it wouldn't leak. He had to re-wire the zone valves and the pumps , re-thinking the scheme because of its complexity. The first crew had assumed zones 1,2,3 would be on one pump, and zones 4,5,6 would be on the second pump. The radiator piping turned out to feed zones 1,2,3,5 into one pump and zones 4,6 into the second pump. The serviceman called in a supervisor to sit with him while he did the complex rewire. Every zone checked out okay this time. A few days later, I noticed one of the controls (a Taco Low Water Level sensor) was no longer showing power through its green light. Universe returned to rewire the control, which had lost its power connection during Monday's work. Having lived with the system for a couple of weeks, I noticed a pattern of late and inadequate hot water supply on warm days. The new boiler came with a Fuel Smart Hydrostat model 3200, with a detailed manual describing its settings. A little Internet education and a few days' reading and re-reading of the manual later, I checked the settings: the high limit was 181 degrees, and the Low limit was 113 degrees. This was a cheapskate setting. I reset the LO limit to 144 degrees myself, and enjoy adequate hot water now. I have a high quality system, with 6 zones, and Universe to back me up if there are any problems.

Conversion went very well. Technicians installed new piping for gas conversion on one day, and another set of technicians came the next day and installed the actual burner after removing the oil burner. Conversion went exceptionally smoothly. All the workers were extremely respectful. knowledgable and took pains to clean up after themselves. Universe also arranged for the avobe graound oil tank to be drained and removed on the same day.

I had an oil to gas conversion. They did the chimney line on the 11th. The following day on the 12th, I had about 4 or 5 technicians and they came at 8 am and finished at around 2 in the afternoon. After the job I had paid them in full. On the 13th I noticed that I had no hot water. They had forgotten to turn on the pilot. When we tried to use the boiler for heat, the two zones were switch: zone 2 in my living room was warming zone 3 in my bedroom. They called me on the 15th to make an appointment for the boiler inspection to get a permit. The technician showed up at 8am and he was doing a pretest for the inspection. He said everything was fine. The inspector then showed up and said I had a gas leak. I failed the inspection. My wife then had to take a day off to watch the same technician from 11am-2pm fix the leak. He said there was no leak and the problem was resolved. I waited four days expecting to get a courtesy call from Universe to reschedule. When I called Universe on the 23rd they didn't even know if I was a new install . After they finally find my information they had said the problem was resolved, and I asked to have them reschedule me on the October 31st. Universe never confirmed the time and a Universe technician showed up unannounced at 7:43 AM, we only knew he was here because we saw the van in front of the house. He was preparing for the inspection and running a pre-test. An hour into the pre-test he said that I did have a gas leak. So he cancelled the inspection with the inspector because I would have failed the inspection again. The technicians are very professional, however the gentleman actually had to change the gas line and go to a different job site to get the materials because he was not prepared to change a line. After he got the material he then changed the gas line. The technician was scrambling and rushing to get the work done to accommodate me because I had to go to work. It put me and him in a bad spot. Every technician that has come to my house since have had to re-do something on the original work. That tells me the workers were not knowledgeable and rushed through my job. The gentleman said he fixed the problem and said they would call to set another inspection. I waited, once again, for a courtesy call. They never called so after three days I called to reschedule for another inspection. They rescheduled me for November 7th but never gave me a time, they never confirmed and they showed up unannounced again, without us knowing. This technician was preparing for a pre-test. Before he puts his tools down, Universe called to tell him that the inspector was called out sick, and they told the technician to ask me when to reschedule. I have no confidence and am so aggravated. I wish I could get a full refund for the inconvenience and stress that this company caused me. They are very unprofessional, all of this inconvenience had made me and my wife miss a day of work. When all was said and done, I never once got a courtesy call about the issues and the inconvenience; it's the worst customer service. They put me and my family in danger with gas leaks. It got so scary that we have to turn the boiler off at night and when we leave the house.

It went very well. From the start to the finish we were very pleased. Pete Cintorino, the sales man who came to discuss the project was very accommodating and answered all our questions. He was punctual and any time we called to speak to him he made himself available. We believe him to be a man of integrity and he went out of his way to fit our budget. He also came the day of the installation to make sure we were happy with the workers, the air conditioners and how/where they were being installed. The workmen were also just as accommodating and well mannered and polite. They also cleaned up after themselves. We are now using the units for an entire year and feel it was well worth the investment.

They are wonderful. They were so nice. There was a piece that needed to be ordered, but he found a distributor, and ran out and got it the same day. They are absolutely amazing, and they do everything.

I received same day service. The serviceman came within the time frame I was given. Told us what the problem was. Was able t fix it on the spot as well as vaccuum out the dryer. The serviceman was courteous and completed his job in a timely manner. The appiance was guaranteed for a year.

Roland came to the house and determined how the gas lines would be run through the basement and then to the outside to hook up with the generator. His price was fair and he was very patient with our questions. We had several plumbers estimates already and we hired him on the spot. They arrived on time, worked efficiently and neatly. When National Grid came to upgrade the gas meter, they let us know the plumber still had additional work to do. Roland came over promptly and did what he had to do. The upgraded gas meter was installed and the generator works like a charm. We would recommend Universe and plan to use them in the future.

Never responded to the call I left with the women at the service.

A tech arrived and reviewed my claim. He said that the type of mechanism this refridgerator uses is very sophisticated and when set it must be left alone for at least 24 hours for the cycle to adjust to the new setting, and that a variation of 2to 3 degrees was normal. He did not charge me anything for the service call and told me to reset the temperature waite 24 hours and call the company after that period of time and let them know how it worked. I did as he suggested and 24 hrs later the temperature held and I have been happy with the performance of the refridgerator since then.

Workers show up on time. Very careful and professional, but the cost, including an Angie discount was $1,900. A bit steep. I should have bought over several sales people for estimate, but it's all water under the bridge now..

He fully explained what was wrong and gave me options. No pressure.

We had noticed water around the area of the water heater. We called Universe and the technician came about two hours later. He said the water came from pressure that was not being relieved automatically. We recently had a sprinkler system installed and they put in a back flow valve. This was causing the inability of the water heater to relieve the pressure as it had in the past. We were happy to hear that the water heater did not have to be replaced. The technician did the work in a little over an hour. We were very happy with the courteous and professional way our problem was handled. As a breast cancer survivor, I also appreciated that our technician, Frank, was wearing a tee shirt with the breast cancer logo and that Universe contributes to the breast cancer fund.

The service man came on time and was pleasant and professional. He provided an explanation of what he was going to do and provided additional information on the condition and installation of the burner and hot water heater. He was extremely informative and professional. In the past I have used them for appliance repair and they provided excellent service. Would highly recommend Universe.

the project went very well considering that I have an old house and the gas piping I already had needed a lot or repairing for leaks. All the workers were extremely nice and professional. Also, I was happy with the estimate of the work to be done and the price charged.

Really fast service but some I nconsistences with the village regulations. I've called them more than3 times, spoke with their service manager about the issue and nothing have bed fix yet

Again I hit the jackpot via Angie's list! Without question I would recommend this company. In fact, I already have. The only part of the required review that I really just assumed was an A rating was the price. Let me explain. For years my extended family and I have only used PC Richards for appliances and their repairs-and that goes back to my grand father and the original PC Richard! But when I called I was told it would cost $159 to diagnosis the problem and that was in addition to the labor and parts charges. That is a big departure from my past experience with their service dept. So I went to Angie's, selected a company nearby with a lot of reviews and loved what I read about Universe. The reviews were so positive and top it off with $89 for a diagnosis to be applied to any repair needed. They are all the reviews said they were, but since I haven't any way to compare prices I said excellent because by subtracting the $159 from the appromately $300 bill, I consider it an excellent deal!! Make that a VERY excellent deal! Love it when I can spout off about finding a professional and reliable company, so thanks for the opportunity to do so.e

I had a great experience with Universe. We converted an ancient oil system to gas. As promised, Universe coordinated gas line installation and all other major facets of the conversion. All I had to do was submit the rebate form. I should start by saying that this was not an easy conversion. They did it in the middle of an awful July heat wave. There was trouble removing the original burner. And, we had a steam return line that was routed through the legs of our oil tank. The return line was cut and re-routed so that it would hug the wall and remain out of sight. They did have to return a second time to complete the installation due to the return line and also due to poor placement of the burner. After being asked to tuck the burner into the back corner, the first crew did the opposite and placed the burner and water heater so that they effectively cut off a 3 x 3 corner of my basement, rendering it inaccessible and useless. The burner also blocked a wall where i intended to place a door to a storage area. I called and explained the situation. They sent a manager named Tim right away. Tim looked at the work and explained that it would be a tight fit to arrange the systems as I wanted. He then arranged to have a second crew come in and do the work at no extra charge. The second crew came and did an excellent job. The unit was tucked away right where i envisioned it and I can now put in the door I wanted.

repair person came on time did the work, did not make a mess and did repair mtjis is the second time i have used Universe Appliance

Our experience with Universe has been great! From our first contact in their office, to the knowledgeable and thorough salesperson to the three professional and experienced technicians that installed our system....the entire experience has been very positive. Their price was very competitive. Their salesperson came up with a much better way to run the system and was much more to our liking than any other company we had interviewed. He was very detailed and very thorough in his presentation. After we contacted the company to set up a date for the work, he returned and again went over the project in detail. The day of the installation three guys came to do the work. It was obvious they had done many installations and knew exactly what needed to be done. They discussed placement of each piece of equipment inside and outside of the house with us. They were very thorough and cleaned up after the installation. I would highly recommend them!

Called universe on phone cause of there reviews on Angie. nicer on phone than couple of others I called. Told person my refrig wasn't getting cold enough for days now. Set up appt for w/e just asked that I be called b4 coming that day cause had a lot to do that day. She said no problem. Well, no call ever came . I called them halfway thru window frame time and was told finishing up somewhere else and serviceman has notation to call prior. Never did. Showed up within window time lucky I was here. Serviceman looked, told me what probably happened and needed to shut down refrig for 24 hrs. He actually started to help me move food out of refrig but his attitude needed some refinement. My wife felt like he spoke to us like we were ignorant. He was a little sarcastic. Other than that, he was right on what was wrong and needed to be done. Took him less than 3 minutes to diagnose, but was there 15 minutes with mostly needless conversation. Charged the visit charge which I understood . One thing weird was he was told I had a dead refrigerator and this was urgent situation. He had special part ordered special for me. Never told anyone that. Must of got misinformed somewhere.

I called on Monday morning and got a very friendly person on the line. She explained the service charge upfront ($89) and said it would be included in any service performed. There was an opening for that afternoon so we scheduled an appointment. The technician arrived within the scheduled window (2-5pm) and was very professional. He diagnosed the problem as a broken temperature gauge. He fixed that and also cleaned out the lint and replaced the lint screen. He was clear about the costs and got it all done within 40 minutes. I am very happy that my dryer works again! The only reason I gave the rating as B for price was because it was higher than I was expecting, but I admit I have no idea how much parts cost so it's really an "ugh, I didn't expect this to cost $300" thing rather than because I think I got ripped off or something! Everyone I dealt with was very nice and professional and my dryer works, so no complaints!

It worked out fine. He came and evaluated the problem. He came back when it was scheduled and took care of it right away. We haven't had a problem since.

He was punctual, he called before he came, he was very pleasant, he explained things to me and he did the job very well and very quickly.

Our central A/C was not cooling enough and I suspected we needed more coolant. I called on a very hot Monday and expected a long wait for an appointment since I am not a contact client. The girl who monitors the phone offered me an appointment that day and although I couldn't accept it flue to work schedule, I was able to get one a few days later at my request. The same girl called me a few more times during that week whenever they had an unexpected opening - i really value that kind of personalized service and would definitely use Universe again. When our serviceman arrived and added the coolant, he reset and gave us helpful advice on how to control our thermostat . We have a split level home and uneven cooling is still a problem, but that is more a function of the venting system that was installed 35 years ago ..... Universe repairman was knowledgeable and performed the job effiiciently and professionally!