Horizon Services

We called Horizon to come check the heating in our newly purchased home because we were experiencing different temperatures on different levels. They could not solve that problem based on the equipment we had but talked me into a two visit furnace check up which I agreed to. The technician came up five minutes later saying that we had a huge crack in our heat exchange and he had to shut the system off immediately. He said we were in danger if a house fire or carbon monoxide poisoning. I have a one year old and am a first time homeowner so I trusted him and did not want to fool around. He told me a second technician was coming just to verify because they didn't want to charge me for anything I didn't need. The second technician said the exact same thing and they said that a new furnace was a must and would cost $7,000-10,000. My husband and I were in a panic about the cost and worried about not having heat in our new home with our small child. Luckily we called American Home Shield because we have a one year home warranty and wanted to see if a furnace would be covered. They said it would but we would need to use a different company. The company came out the next morning and nothing was wrong with the furnace and they would not sell us something we did not need. They said they keep getting called to homes for second opinions and keep hearing the same story. How is Horizon getting away with this. They are total scam artists. Please do not trust them. They come across as extremely professional and friendly, explain everything in laymens terms meanwhile the whole time they are taking advantage. I can't believe this is happening. I was furious that I wasted a whole day with them, panicked and went a night without heat for my family on a 23 degree night. CROOKS!

Sales person told me I was getting a great deal. About a month later, I had to buy a second ac/heater and I got it for about 5000.00 cheaper from another company with great reputation. I called and mentioned and it was as if no one cared. It was a shame because I trusted them. I suggest to get quotes from several dealers.

For some years, my husband and I had a service contract with them to verify each year our 2 units of heating / air conditioning. If this service was OK, that was not rare that a part, the technician said, had to be changed, and the prices were always pretty huge. Given you are not a specialist, you usually need to trust the technician... |Each time too, the technician was always trying to sell something to install, for example an electronic air filter, of course huge price. This is really annoying, although it's not forbidden to do that. |On April 3rd 2012, that was a regular service day. After it, one unit was not working anymore. The technician could not find the origin. Finally, another technician came and it was found that this was coming from a broken switch, the one outside of the unit which switches on and off the power. So it was a simple switch that you buy at Home Depot for, to be generous, $20. If we understand that there is a work to remove the previous switch and to install the new one (15 minutes are generous...), it's unbelievable to have to pay $251.45 for that (in fact $295.82 before the customer rebate). |So my husband and I decided that they will not continue to serve us at our home. |For information, the same day, my husband asked for an estimation of the installation, for one of the 2 units, of a thermostat with a wireless remote control, so you have the thermostat part (wireless remote control), at the place that you want, it sends the wireless order to the fixed unit. The written estimation was a total of $1059. |My husband ordered online such a type of thermostat (he decided for a Honeywell one) and paid $187 (including $14.50 of shipping cost). The very easy full installation, including the removal of the old thermostat, did not take him more than 10 minutes... |

Very pleased with Horizon Services.

Buyer Beware. They don't tell you that they will bring in a subcontractor with a several ton truck. They drilled 4-300 foot holes that were about 3 feet wide. They also drove the truck across my brand new blacktop, and it is now covered in cracks. They raked out the dirt, and created hills throughout the originally flat yard. They laid grass seed in November, which did not grow. The sub contractor sent a tub of blacktop repair and black caulk for the cracks in the driveway. It needs to be completely redone, and will cost around $10,000. They do not feel that it is their problem to fix the issues, and neither does Horizon. Nick Spina did not return my phone calls, so I went up the chain. I spoke to the office administrator, and she spoke to the president of the company. She came back and said that he was satisfied with what he had heard from inside the company, and would do nothing to help me. No one even came out to look at the damage. I encourage anyone who is thinking of switching to a geothermal system to do your research, get several estimates, and do not pay the full amount until you are completely happy. If you choose to go with Horizon, at least get several estimates, so that you can get a better price. The system does work great, though. The tech team seems to be very good. They

They showed up on time, had the parts and completed the job in under 20 minutes (I timed them on my phone). I had a leaking pin valve in my main line up to my refrigerator. They cut it out and replaced it with a new valve with a proper shut off. It wasn't a tough job and the new valve is a $20 dollar item at a plumbing supply company. Thus, I thought $280 "discounted" from $335 was an extremely high charge for simple part and simple job. I called the main office and they agreed that was high but "those are our rates" and offered no refund.

installed new central air/heating system and a new hot water heater.

Heat pump tuneup, this year and next

I used Horizon services for my heat pump bi-annual maintenance for 2nd half of 2011, 2012, and 1st half of 2013. Since the beginning, I never had a good feeling about these guys. They appear very nice and professional at first but once they found out that my system was over 10 years old, all they wanted to do was replace my system. I feel they often would use "scare tactics" to try to get me to bite. Below is how my service calls went. Service 8/2/11 - Heat pump system working great! Service 1/31/12 - I was told the contactor needs to be replaced because it is burned and pitted (quoted $301.58) and the system is leaking Freon. The contactor was replaced two years prior by a different contractor and it only cost me $89 to replace. The tech also told me that he added 2 lbs. Freon. I asked him if he could put dye in the system to help spot the leak. He said it would cost me $510.54 to look for the leak using UV. He (Brian) recommended replacing the system inside and out. I told them not to do any work on the system because I just didn't have a good feeling in my gut about this guy. August 2012 - Horizon called and said I was due for my free service check-up, so I agreed to have them look at my system again. Service 9/11/12 - I was told (by Brandon) the outside fan motor was leaking oil(quoted $824.61 to replace) and he said my system was low and I needed 2.5 lbs of Freon. I told him that I wanted a second opinion and would let him know. He said if I resigned an annual agreement he could add the 2.5 lbs of Freon for free but if he had to come back it would cost me $454.21 to charge the system. I renewed the contract and did not replace the motor. He strongly recommended that I replace the entire system. Service 1/21/13 - I was told that the condenser fan was leaking oil (quoted $855 to replace) and the contactor needed to be replaced ($312). No mention of any Freon leak this visit but was told since my system is 13 yrs old, it should be replaced. August 2013 - After two years with Horizon I decided to contact a local HVAC contactor and told him that Horizon said I need to replace my system and could he give me a quote. This contractor found it hard to believe that my system was in that bad of shape because he said I had a very good system. He came out and spent 45 minutes searching for a Freon leak with a hand held digital Freon detector and could not find a leak anywhere. He did not charge me for this service call because he said that he is tired of hearing the same complaints about Horizon ripping people off. I signed a service agreement with this contractor. I also contacted three HVAC contractors and asked for pricing to replace the contactors and the condenser fan motor and found the average price to replace the contactors was $129 and the condenser fan was $440. I contacted Horizon on 9/26/13 to tell them that the service technicians lied to me about freon leaks, a leaky condenser fan (electric fans do not have oil in them) and that they are grossly overcharging people for the items that I mentioned above. Their response; the reason we charge so much is because every truck is fully stocked and they can fix any system at any time. I told them that this was wrong and they refunded half of my last annual service contract price. Be careful!

They always try to sell some add on item instead of just doing a service cleaning

Rip off City . Price quoted was 8600.00 for PVC replacement sewer line of 35 ft. Minimal excavation and trench. These guys are total ripoffs. Ended up pay 3500 for the same job. You are paying for Horizon national advertising. Acted indigigent when I went with a local plumber.

I use them every year to check my unit and they were just here yesterday. Their service charge was $91 to repair my hot water heater. I've been using them since June 2008. They're very professional, they wear booties when they come in my house and they do great work.

Several weeks and a couple of followup messages later, I sill had no quote. Then I got a call from a "quality manager" who was supposed to be following up on the quoting visit. He started interviewing me about how much I know about HVAC, whether I had any other quotes etc. I asked him where he was going with all this, and why I still had no quote. He said "you know, this can all be very confusing sometimes" I told him the only confusing thing was why I still had no quote. I finally had to terminate the call since I was getting nowhere. And I NEVER got the quote!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Later the contractor who actually did the job said this was pretty common with Horizon, they refuse to quote a job unless they think they are the only ones bidding. WT???

I had them in the spring for my AC and liked them The 2 different men that came were very polite and very efficient

We've had both plumbing and heating/cooling work done by Horizon. I'm glad we finally found plumbers who are reliable, reasonably priced and nice to work with. I would highly recommend Horizon to anyone looking for HVAC or plumbing services.

I have dealt with Horizon for many years. They are always prompt and efficient, but I frequently wind up spending much more than anticipated. Last visit was for routine maintenance service as part of contract, but I was informed I needed a hydrostatic filter, so it cost me. Yet they are very reliable.

They did a great job, there were a couple of problems with the manufacture equipment, but they took care of it.

They came out quickly but they gave an extremely high price for the work which was triple the cost I got from other contractors to get it fixed.

New heater and air conditioner. The most professional home service outfit we have ever experienced.

excellent experience.. not the cheapest, but worth it

Took out old heater and replaced with a new one, and updated our duct work. They put in zones

They performed regular maintenance on my 10 year old Trane gas heater. Of course, since the heater is just off warranty, they found issues, that may need to be addressed. I was skeptical, because they said the problem was with the Heat Exchanger, which was replaced, since the original unit was installed 10 years ago - only three years ago. The three year old heat exchanger has significant rust and looks old. I was shocked. Apparently the "top of the line" unit I bought 10 years ago is already almost ready to be replaced again. Disappointing.

The Service Technician is always on time, with a professional appearance, and got to work. I asked about a refresher lesson on some questions about the thermostat and he was very knowledgeable and patient. I feel that the service is a great value and everyone from the scheduling to the service is friendly and experienced.

I moved to New Castle county in 2011. I signed up with Horizon for a 1 year HVAC contract. This gave me a seasonal heating and air-conditioning inspection and discounts on plumbing. First Air-Conditioning inspection was great, excellent technician, no hassle, professional. After the first contact things went down hill. Every HVAC inspection subsequent to this one it was recommended that I receive questionable repairs at inflated prices. Plumbing. 3 calls over a one year period. First call I had a burst sediment filter attached to the main water line in the basement. After listening to my options I decided to cap the supply and return lines. I refused to pay the first price offered. A phone call was made and a less painful price was offered. Still overpriced. Second call was for a problem with my basement toilet system. Cost quoted was outrageous. Did the job myself for less than a third of estimate. Just an idea, Horizon charges $200+ dollars, I believe it is actually closer to $300 to change out a wax donut on a toilet. Job is cut off water line, remove water line, loosen and remove two bolts, remove toilet, remove old donut, place new donut, replace toilet etc. Material cost <$10, time <30 minutes for 2 competent people. Third job was the straw that broke the camel's back. Upon installing new W/D, Sears found that the cold water side of H/C water valve would not shut off. Called Horizon. The plumber came out and told me he would have to cut through tile, cut both pipes and put a whole new valve on. Cost was nearly $800. Told them to get lost. Went to Lowes, got a valve, had a real plumber install for $165. Total cost approx. $200. All that had to be done was to R&R valve. Horizon has what I call the "Rolodex of Pain". It is a ring binder with laminate pages that assigns a cost to arbitrary plumbing jobs by difficulty etc. The plumber said that this book has to be approved by the Attorney General of Delaware to ensure that Horizon doesn't rip people off. I said that if the Attorney General has time to do that we are in serious trouble. Also if those prices are acceptable then 95% of the American people can not afford plumbing repairs.

Regular fall and spring checks of heating and AC worked out great. Highly recommend.