BRIGGS AIR SYSTEMS

I moved to this area in 2012. Briggs Air Systems were hired by the company from whom I purchased my house to install a new Carrier heat pump before closing on my house -- because of a delay in their schedule installing the heat pump I had to postpone the closing on my house. The heat pump was installed and "Mark" recommended that I have a cage installed over the unit, since I was not going to be moving in right away. I was quoted a price of around $500 to $600 dollars verbally via phone. Ultimately, I was charged $840. One of their installers asked if I needed any help with other maintenance items around the house as he had a business on the side. I had a friend that had also moved here with our company and she needed some help moving -- so I called him to set that up. This person called me or texted me almost every day for over 6 months trying to come to my house until I finally blocked his number. In December 2014, my 2 year old heat pump stopped working. I went to the information that was left by the contractor (Briggs) however could not locate any card, stamp or otherwise information as to the installer. Called another Heat and Air company to diagnose -- $90 -- they phoned with a verbal estimate -- I requested something in writing. At this point, I called several other heat/ac people to try to get estimates -- of course, ALL of the companies would not even consider giving an estimate unless they came out and charged the $90 fee to make their own diagnosis. Remembering the invoice I received AFTER I paid for the cage -- I pulled this out of my files -- and phoned Briggs. I spoke with Mark initially -- he sent a technician out to confirm the diagnosis -- he called back the next day with a quote of $550 and explained while the "part" was under warranty -- the labor was quite expensive as well as replacing all of the freon that had leaked. I agreed to pay $525. Ed, the technician, came back out and repaired the unit -- which took around 2 hours to repair -- that would be about $137.50/hour. Approx. two weeks to a month later in January 2015 I switched the heat pump to EM heat, as it was around 12 degrees, and the system would not heat the house -- it finally started to heat after about 3 hours-- this was on a Thursday morning. I sent an e-mail to Mark at Briggs just to let them know I might need to call again. I wanted to wait to see if it was just a matter of the unit needed to reset. I received a call from "Nancy" around 4:30 PM Thursday afternoon asking about the e-mail. I said I could just wait to see if I really needed anyone to come out. She insisted that I should really have them go ahead and come out since it was so cold. Since I could not be home on Friday -- I left keys so the technician could get access. Nancy phoned me back to say the only problem was a dirty filter -- I had just changed the filter right before the prior service -- (the filter was not even close to being full). The phone was handed off to Mark to "explain to me how the heat pump worked" -- and I reiterated that the unit was on EM heat -- I explained that I knew how a heat pump worked and my usual routine during the day. It was suggested that I install a programmable thermostat -- I agreed that would be a good investment for me and he was to get back with me Monday with an estimate. The phone was again handed back to Nancy to tell me that "you know I have to charge you, right?" I was thinking maybe $50 or $60 to cover gas, time to pull out my filter and leave it in my hallway. Oh no -- another $135. I was not provided an invoice -- however after 4 days-- Miss Nancy called and left a message with regard to getting her $135 -- However, as of today's date 2/10/15 -- I have yet to receive my quote on the programmable thermostat, finally received an actual invoice last week -- but Miss Nancy called every 4 days to find out where her $135 was. Oh, did I mention, the tech asked me out on a date after he repaired the heat pump -- I graciously declined.