McCullough Heating & Air Conditioning

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 I  settled on 3 and had each do a quote.  One of the qutoes was about 10% higher, but I reviewed all of them to make sure they were all on the same page.  I did ask for a two stage compressor, high efficiency air filter system  to avoid the monthly change of filters.  I then selected McCullough HVAC partly because of Mr. Tony Majia's presentation. of the work he would provide.  He also was familiar with the more complex Austin Energy Option 3 loan which requires more coordination between the Solar Panel contractor and his HVAC team.  He submitted his quote to the Austin Energy portal and the performance audit and weatherization started.  After city inspections preliminary inspections, the HVAC work began.  I found Tony Majia and service manager  Russell efficient, quality  conscious and honorable.  McCullough resolved all issues completely to my satisfaction and I have no concerns as to using them in the future.  I will say that performance audit and weatherization team along with the HVAC installers were all professionals and had complete knowledge of the work performed.  Total amount was $7.9K less $1.7K in rebates.  Tony helped me through the maze of Austin Energy low interest financing through Velocity Credit union.  I appreciated the communications between Tony and his office to keep me advised of inspection dates whenever his techs were scheduled to perform work at my residence.  Again, I want to thank Mr. Tony Majia and the technicians that performed the work.  I will  say this, whenever there was a schedule change Mr. Majia  or his office staff would advise me of any changes.  Great communications skills.  Mr. Majia represented the best in class of knowledge and said if I ever have questions or concerns to contact him.  I certainly appreciate his handshake and commitment to satisfy  all my HVAC installaion concerns.

It went very well. The A/C went out, I called them and they were out and repaired it in about an hour.

They were professional. They showed up in a timely manner and did quality work. They weren't the most expensive or the cheapest---just average. They did what they said they would do and performed the work as they said they would. I was very pleased.

Another company was doing work in the attic and discovered the heating flue pipe had fallen from its hole in the roof and was laying in the attic.  We called McCullough immediately around mid-morning.  The appointment was made for the technician to arrive that afternoon between 1:00 and 2:00 pm.  He arrived promptly; explained what needed to be done and submitted a price.  We accepted the price and he went to work -- was even able to use the piece that had blown off the roof to finish the job.  Excellent communicaion; professional; efficient.  (Was even willing to help a 1st grader with a quick homework survey question.)  Will use this company again.

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This is a great team.  They worked well together and helped keep me informed of the details along the way.  I like that they do a Quality Control inspection when done.  Thanks to Christina, Denise, Russell, Derek, Jimmy, Jessie, and especially to David.

I selected four companies and they were the only ones that dealt with me.  I liked their professionalism and their promptness to respond.  They regularly made follow-up calls and delivered on time.  They usually were even a few minutes early.  One time they were half hour early and they just sat out in their truck and did paper work or something.  Their office manger was really on top of things.  The repair guys were really efficient.  I had five dogs to manage and the dogs didn't bother them.  They were an excellent company and I would recommend them to anybody.  I got back $1800 in rebate.  They were people who were amazing.  I went with their top of the line system and it seemed comparable with the other systems I looked at.  When it came back to the city inspectors they even installed a smoke alarm that I had.  Hopefully they all seem to have a system that's going to last 15 years.

Very pleasant and professional.

Got ripped off by this company.  They asked $ 75.00 for service call and told me if there is any part replacement, I need to pay the part.  It turned out that the company charged me $166.00 for a $20.00 worth of igniter.  They charged for just replacing a broken igniter for over $240.  Although I used the new costumer coupon, it still costs $ 200. The technician showed me the price of an igniter on their parts price list, which is $ 166. However, later on, they explained that the price of the igniter $ 166 includes labor.  If the part?s price includes labor fee, why doesn?t the company make it clear? When I called, I told the customer representative that the igniter was broken because our heater showed the code. The costumer representative confused me over the phone that $ 75 includes labor and travel and I only need to pay the part. I understand that the company needs to make money from the part, but it is 8 times more expensive than the online or local store price. This is ridiculous.

 Will never ever use this company again. 

they repaired our a/c unit and it is still working great.  We requested that someone contact us about getting another a/c unit stil have not heard from them..

Installed new heating and A/C system and duct work.

Our 17-year-old heat pump was failing, so we needed a new one. We requested a quote from the company that had been repairing and maintaining the old heat pump. For the sake of comparison, we called McCullough as well.
The two companies' quotes were different in several ways. Company X sent a technician who showed us a spreadsheet of specifications and prices for three Carrier systems, leaving the choice up to us. When we asked for some more information, his response was that he wasn't a salesman, and that his company doesn't employ any sales people.
     McCullough sent Tony Mejia, who not only explained in far greater detail the pluses and minuses of three Carrier systems, but included details of various Austin Energy and manufacturer rebates and Federal tax credits, along with the nature and cost of the weatherization measures that would be necessary to qualify for the AE rebates. 
     Another difference showed up in the companies' warranties. Company X's warranty covers the system for 10 years for parts, one year for labor. McCullough's warranty covers both parts and labor for 10 years. 
     The third difference was that the McCullough quote was less expensive than Company X's quote for the exact same Carrier system. Even if it hadn't been cheaper, we would have chosen McCullough for their obviously higher level of professionalism and commitment to customer service.
Tony Mejia was not a mere salesman, but a full-bore project manager. He arranged for the installation and weatherization to take place before the end of 2013, when one of the rebates was due to expire. He arranged, and was present for, the Austin Energy inspections before and after the installation, and arranged McCullough's post-installation quality control inspection. Throughout the whole process, he kept us informed of what would be happening and when, but required very little effort on our part. He took care of all of the paperwork necessary for the rebates and tax credit.
The technician who installed the new system, Jenson Sexton, worked at the same high level of professionalism as Tony Mejia. He and his assistant (whose name I didn't catch) wrestled the old indoor unit out of our attic, and the new one in, through some very tight spaces.  We had to leave the house well before the job was done, but when we returned home, the installation of both indoor and outdoor units was complete (the outdoor unit's beautifully insulated and angled tubing could illustrate a Carrier brochure), the new thermostat and wireless router had been set up, the system was running smoothly and silently, and there was not a speck of debris to be seen.
McCullough's only shortcoming--and it was minor--was in weatherization. The weatherstripping they added around the front entry door crowded the doorknob so that only someone with small hands could avoid hitting it with their knuckles, and the weatherstripping around the garage entry door was less than airtight. The best solution for the front door was to replace the round doorknob with a lever-style one; McCullough offered to install one if I purchased it, but I managed to do the job myself. They also offered to fix the garage-door problem, but they had been so helpful overall that I did that one myself also.
Summing up, we are happy to have found McCullough, and intend to keep them as the outfit we'll call for all of our heating and a/c maintenance and repairs.

It went very well.  The estimator did a professional and timely estimate.  Everyone I dealt with was always on time.  The installation crew were all very pleasant.  The head of the installation crew did a  good job of keeping me updated on where they were, what they were doing, and why they were doing it.  Both the work and the clean up was well done.

I write long reviews.  We came home Sunday night to a cold, cold house.  I discovered that the coils on our outdoor condenser unit were nearly frozen solid.  My attempts to thaw failed, as it just froze over each time the heater was on (and it needed to be on).  I was afraid of the electric bill implications of relying solely on Emergency heat indefinitely, so we bundled up for the night.  Monday morning, I called McCullough, expecting a long wait for service since all of Austin was probably experiencing heating problems.  The rep who answered the phone seemed concerned about my situation, made sure I had some warmth in the house, and said she could get a service call out that afternoon.  Great.
Late in the day, Russell showed up.  He was a good guy.  Said he was the service manager and doesn't usually do work in the field like this.  But the low 30s in Austin clearly calls for all hands on deck.  I could tell he had been working many hours and he was in a bit of a hurry to move on to the next desperately cold household (or his own home for a warm, relaxing rest).  Can't blame him there.  He quickly made sure my indoor thermostat was working, gave me a quick lesson in thermodynamics and heat pumps, explaining that I should just use secondary or "emergency" heat anytime below about 34 degrees, and confirmed my diagnosis as a bad defroster board (thanks, Internet).  He said he knew the guy who runs the distributor for the parts I needed, and that he would call when he had them.  "Unfortunately, it probably won't be until tomorrow.  And unfortunately, I have to charge you for the $75 diagnostic."  No problem, man.  My home feels warmer already.
Next day, no call.  Weather warmed up a bit, and we were going out of town, so I didn't think much of it.  After Thanksgiving, I still hadn't heard from them.  I knew another blast of cold weather was coming, so I called McCullough.  The person who could handle my case was gone for the day.  Would call first thing in the morning.  Morning comes, no call.  Thursday afternoon, I call again.  I spoke with Lisa, I think.  She had my case in front of her, told me she had a repairman near the parts warehouse, and assured me that he would visit that afternoon.
Well, that repairman called me not long after to confirm he was on his way.  Adan was polite and to-the-point.  He had my parts installed and got everything tested in a matter of minutes.  He was flexible with payment (I wrote a check, but offered to let me settle later with the office), told me a joke, and went on his merry way.
The cold returned, my house stayed warm, all is well on the home front.  I'll call McCullough again, but my main gripe from this first experience is the missed commitments (saying they'll call and then not calling) and the price, which I felt was a little high.  They were upfront about the pricing before service was scheduled, my warranty covered the price of the parts, and they gave me an Angies List discount.  But I still think I will shop around next time.  I paid $75 for a diagnostic that could have been done over the phone, then a $50 trip fee on top of $150 for about 30 minutes of outdoor, easy-access labor.  Nevertheless, I'm happy, and McCullough did a great job with the repairs.

There was too much ice on the heat exchanges to do anything.  So the technician provided a thorough analysis of the situation and had a recommend course of action.  The heat exchange for the upstairs had a defective defrost board and/or defective defrost thermostat.  this lead to a solid wall of ice on the heat exchange.
By turning the inside thermostat (the regular one for the house) to emergency heat we could go back to feeling warm without concern of damaging heat pump.  When the temperature thaws and the ice melts, the work of replacing the defrost board and defrost thermostat can be scheduled.
The technician also recommended an annual inspection for our house for $250.  Twice a year, they would come to the house to check the heating and AC.  We had been thinking about this, so his recommendation seemed timely.
What made the service call unique was that the technician did not try to upsell us.  When we asked if we could delay the work, he agreed that it was a prudent course of action.  The heat pump is not useful in 30 degree weather anyway, so we'd be spending money we would not have to. At least in this time frame.
Same was true for the service contract.  Since he was just out to inspect the heat, not a whole lot more would be done with a winter inspection.  So, again, waiting to the Spring was a better choice.
This act of honesty encourages me to return to McCullough.  When people say what they are going to do, do it and there's a fair price, then why not return?

.I called another service (not on Angie's List) before 7am on a Friday and they said that could come on Saturday between 8am and 8pm.   Right now an especially cold snap in Austin.  Saturday morning I got on Angie's List  and found McCullouch;s with so many good ratings.  As it was Saturday morning I left voice mail.  I was called back within a short while.  The technician arrived promptly when scheduled and got right to work.  He had to trace wires, checked the thermostat, checked the outside unit and determined the root cause of the outage.  He replaced the part, tested, and made sure the unit was working properly.  
McCullough's returned my call quickly and I was informed of the situation and a technician could arrive at my home in a reasonable amount of time. The technician called and gave me an arrival time and arrived promptly.  McCullough's treated me like a customer they valued.  I appreciate this.

Diagnosed the problem with the old thermostat unit.  Removed the custom thermostat and connected colored wires to standard HVAC units.  Unfortunately the Nest was not usable after the re-wiring, but the technician demonstrated that the A/C was not fully operational and gave me simple instructions about how to add a new Nest thermostat the following morning.  Nest also assisted via telephone support and provided a replacement thermostat at no extra cost.
Technician did an excellent job of diagnosing the problems and fixing them, giving me  clear explanations throughout the process.  I made a choice to hold-out for the replacement Nest unit the following morning, even though that brand was not available via McCullough.  After the preparation done by the technician the night before, installing the Nest was trivial and took 5 minutes.

The sales guy, Tony was knowledgeable and friendly and patient while I went about 7 weeks between quote to purchase. The install team les by Jensen did a thorough job an the system looks great. There was no mess left when they were finished. Would use again.

Arrived promptly. Experienced staff. Referred to sales staff because tech suggested a/c was getting towards the end of its life.  They promptly called and scheduled a time.  We are waiting to spring to replace but will definitely use them.  They installed it many years ago.  We also signed up for preferred customer service the includes regular check ups and discounts.  Good for peace of mind. 
The a/c never goes out during spring, right?

The person on the phone was efficient and courteous, and called me back as promised when the technician was heading to my house. He arrived shortly thereafter and diagnosed my problem right away. He was very knowledgeable and personable and the A/C was back on and cooling in no time. Thanks to Angie's List, I was able to use a coupon to get $50 off :-)



I will definitely use them again--the technician told me the manager (with 30 yrs experience with A/Cs) reviews all of the diagnostic values and talks to the technicians each week about what they saw and what they did on site. I love that technical oversight, an excellent quality assurance practice for an industry not exactly known for QA!

Tech was very timely and professional.  He explained what he was doing every step of the way.  Tech cleaned contacts in old thermostat but would not turn on after cleaning.  He replaced the thermostat with a new one and connected common wire to thermostat so batteries are not required for operation.

The blower motor was going out on our old system, for the second time, so we decided it was time to replace it. We contacted McCullough, and because we were having issues with our existing system, they arranged to have someone come by the same day ... MUCH appreciated. 
After looking at the options presented by Tony we selected the system we wanted to buy, and to take advantage of the rebates etc from Austin Energy, Texas Gas. Tony took care of getting everything started, including a prompt inspection by Austin Energy. And again, because we were having issues with the old system they were able to work us into the installation schedule quickly. It's great being taken care of in a timely manner when the situation warrants it. And throughout the process we received phone calls confirming visits, which were all precisely on time.
Special thanks to Jensen and his associate for doing an excellent job of installing the new system. We appreciate the courtesy and professionalism, as well as taking the time to answer questions and explain things as they went along.
Also special thanks to Bobby (and Vinny). These guys came out to make the house "air tight". They went through all the duct work making sure that everything was sealed as it should be, added new insulation, sealed around all plumbing fixtures, replaced door seals and more. They even took time to replace a broken attic drop panel. They definitely know how to take care of their customers.
I would not hesitate to recommend McCullough to friends and family.