Autumn Heating & Cooling

I had Autumn H&C install two new units in late summer 2010 after a lightning strike-they were recommended by a friend.  From the get-go, the upstairs unit failed.  each subsequent year, the summer would begin with me calling Autumn about the AC not cooling the upstairs--they told me they would have someone come out and take a look.  
One of their technicians would arrive and say they refilled the coolant and put dye in.  I don't know anything about HVAC units, so I depend on the pros to do it.  This went until this past April, when a new (and honest) technician told me there was a leaking coil and that it was going to cost me to repair it.  
I pushed back and the technician recommended I speak to office manager, Allison, who said that I was out of my labor warranty and would have to pay to have the part replaced (the hardware is under warranty).
I asked to speak to the owner, Chad, and was denied.  She said she would pass my info on to him and for him to call me back.  I never received any correspondence at all from him, phone or otherwise.
I began the following email chain:
Hi Chad,
I hope all?s well.  Allison gave me your email address after our conversation. I?m in a tough spot here?I?ve got a unit purchased in either August or September of 2010 that I am now being told needs a replacement coil. I called your service
team because the unit is not blowing cool air, though it is blowing.
 I don?t have the dates offhand (you can pull my file), but I?ve called quite a few times in the last two years about the
same exact problem?first in the initial year, November or so, when Noah came out when the unit did not heat properly.
Each time, one of your technicians comes out and tells me my coolant is low, and that he will inject dye and check for leaks.  There are no follow-up visits, and the unit, recharged with coolant, works well for the remainder of the summer.
 I can compare the performance of the Rheem unit to its twin, which supports the lower half of my house.  We have not had a single issue with that unit.
Allison informed me of the 2 year warranty on labor, and I understand the policy, but my issue is that each technician, until Eric today, saw the same symptoms and put a faulty band-aid to tide me over.  Eric identified a leak in the coil, so Allison told me, and that is why, she said, it wasn't changed before.
My issue is that I feel if the previous technicians had been more thorough, the problem would have been identified and remedied before the 2 year labor warranty expired.  Now, after Erik recognized the issue instead of simply juicing the unit back up and heading on his way, I?ve got a bill for $511.
If I had not called quite a few times about the same issue over the course of the last three summers, I would have no argument with the charge, but because of the situation, I certainly do.
Please call me when you can, at xxx-xxx-xxxx.
Best,
Jim Sepulveda
 
I replied to all requesting replies 5 times and never received anything.  When I called back, I was told that there was nothing that Autumn was going to do for me, and to go find the work done elsewhere.  No explanation, nothing.  
As you can see from other reviews, these people are unprofessional and do not have the customer top of mind. 
Do not use this company for any business.

I had scheduled the appoint with them and then went and read their reviews. After doing so I felt more comfortable not having out them out so I have cancelled the appointment and asked Angie's List for a refund.

(this is a REAL time review, as I am writing it the day it is happening)...How did it go?
TERRIBLE! Every time we have called for service (I think we have called their offices 6 times now?) the techs are late, the gals in the office are RUDE and hardly say "I am sorry" or show any kind of empathy. At one point during their last service, the secretaries admitted to be being new and NOT having a clue as to what they were doing!!! Now, we are having a heating issue, and were promised that a tech would be at our residence between the hours of 8am and 10 am. It is now AFTER 10 and we called 15 minutes ago only to be told that the tech would be paged...he was and told the dispatch person (she never said her name when we called), would be out at 10:30, BUT would give us a thirty minute notice BEFORE arrival. He is running late because he is installing a part at another residence. Well, that will put him well past his appointment time doesn't it? And instead of "I'm sorry" we got "We scheduled you between 8 and 10" well 10:30 is PAST 10....The only reason we are still calling for service is because the former home owners had the air system replaced and serviced by this company, and so it is warrantied. If we had a choice, we would be going with someone different entirely! I also tried to send some feedback  to them only to have it returned to my email box as a delivery failure. Obviously they don't want ANY feedback, and therefore I am leaving it here for all the world to see! I do not recommend calling these folks for any AC/heating needs you may have. They will charge you unfairly, and want their money now (no invoicing for service, thus if you have a 911 you better have money to pay right then or they will leave you with your issue until you can pay them), and further issues will just be ignored, or they will be LATE in dealing with them. When it comes to service or troubleshooting an issue, they throw spaghetti at the wall and hope a noodle or two sticks (i.e. NOT knowledgeable) or if you ask them a question they may or may not know the answer.
Update: Just heard from the tech (it is 10:12) and he will be here in 30 minutes...let's see, my math says that is 10:42...Still well past 10AM. I get that things happen, but someone should have called and told us the tech was going to be late; this in my opinion says there is a breakdown in communication between techs and the office that dispatches them. THAT is not being a client champion. Maybe there is a connection between them not invoicing and their bad customer service...who would want to pay for TERRIBLE service rendered?!
The Prognosis: 11:27 AM: He has now been in our attic for almost an hour. No word on what he thinks it might be other than it "sounds" like the breaker has gone bad from what I am telling him. Tech came down and looked at the thermostat, again, no word on prognosis. He has officially been on this job for an hour now (11:41).  FINALLY he said it was a thermostat sensor. He replaced it, and offered further assistance if needed.

They blew me off on the first appointment. No technician showed up and I was not contacted, so I wasted a morning waiting for a service call that didn't happen.
I called after the Thanksgiving holiday and scheduled another appointment. The tech showed up on time and was very friendly, but essentially turned this service call into a sales call. I understand that coupon deals such as this are meant to help the company get a foot in the door, with the hope of leading to future business when trouble strikes or extra work now if repairs are needed that fall outside of the scope of the deal. However, on this visit it seemed that I got a cursory inspection with no cleaning and no tuneup. The tech asked about the age of the system and quickly went into sales mode, offering quotes on replacement systems.
Although he said that my refrigerant was a bit low, he refused to top it off -- according to him, it's against the law to add any if the system is leaking. So why would the deal offer to add refrigerant if needed if it's against the law? Unless I'm missing something obvious, any missing fluid must have leaked in some fashion. The tech did not conduct any tracing or locating to confirm a specific leak anywhere, so why was my missing fluid any different from the apparently typical loss?
In summation, I feel like I paid $59 to have someone come pitch a new heat pump. I can get a sales pitch for a new heat pump for free just by turning on my TV, so this wasn't a very good deal for me.

They are pretty reasonably priced, very quick in repair. Their only negative thing was that I asked them to fill out a W9 form, which they didn't' do, and I had to walk into the office to have them do it. That was the only negative thing, otherwise the AC that they fixed still works and everything was good. They answered their phone and they said they could schedule it right away.

Bad experience. First they change the brand of the ac at the last moment. When I called ten times for my paper work they never responded and till now I still didn't get it.The owner never replied any call.

Autumn H & C installed a new Lennox unit - the heater went out in two months.  The AC went out nine months later.  They claim they have 24 hour emergency service, but they couldn't repair it for 4 days - and it's 99 degrees out.  We were on contract with them - but had to call a company that could come out the same day.  They found MAJOR issues with the original installation:

1. The fan pipe was not attached to the furnace with anything but tape - so carbon monoxide was filling out attic all winter.  2. They used a flexible pipe rather than a hard pipe - so it was NOT UP TO CODE.  3. There were major air leaks on the return side that were never sealed properly.  4. I asked the other guy why they didn't put the AC on the outside slab straight - they set it all crooked.  It's because they would have had to use additional copper pipe to make it sit correctly - so they again cut corners.

If you have used this company - I would have get a second unbiased AC company to check to insure your unit was installed to code and is not causing you and your family risk.

Horrible

They were here on time and prepared to do what was necessary according to the infoemation given to them. They were neat and and removed all the used partds. Both men were very polite and explained what needed to be done in detail,. I would recommend this company to anyone who needed this type of service and would not hesitate to contact them again.

unknown

Horrible in the end....after being a long term customer!

well

I have used Autumn for several years now using their maintenance plan. They generally call to schedule a time to do the check and show up when scheduled. They perform diagnostics on system and make recommendations, which I think have all been spot on.

The gentleman who came out checked my heat pump both outside of the house and in the attic. He went over the check list with me thoroughly when he was finished. He was prompt, neat and courteous.

It is just a basic inspection, and they don’t inspect for carbon monoxide. The price was good, and they are very prompt.

Autumn Heating & Cooling was very professional, very detailed and very cooperative.

We was told the compressor needed replaced. Had another company look at it and they stated nothing was wrong with Compressor but unit was not installed correctly. Called Autumn heating & cooling back and they came back to fix issues.

They do wellness checks. They come out every 6 months for a check. I have been using them for a couple of years. Their responsiveness, promptness, and quality all stand out to me.

See above.

They were quick to assess the problems with no cooling. Got a crew to come out the next day and rehab the units.

They were on time and very professional when looking at my heater and when removing the old heater to put the new one in my attic. I'm very happy with the work that was done and the price I paid to get my house this weekend. I will contact them again if I need work done.

This is a multipart review.  The first interaction in July 2012 was excellent.  Spent about $200 less than a competitor's pricing for a new coil installation for an HVAC system.  Installation was prompt with no issues.  Almost 30 days to the day, the pump goes out on the same unit.  The Autumn technician said it was probably caused by junk in the lines from the coil replacement.  I don't know, but it was very suspicious, the pump going out so soon after the coil replacement.  I had them replace the pump, but was left with a healthy dose of scepticism about the quality of their work.  In October, they called to let me know it was time to do the free check up on the systems.  I should have followed my gut and moved on, but scheduled the inspection anyway.  The technician and spent 15 minutes on site which included him getting into two different parts of the attic and inspecting 3 units.  There is no way in the world he could have completed a quality inspection of the systems in that amount of time.  When I came home that night, I tried the heater out, but it did not work.  I called and talked to the tech.  He said maybe the electric switch turned itself off(he honestly told me that), but it was working when he left.  I got into the attic to look and not only was the switch off, but also the gas!  There is absolutely no way the heater could have been working when he left.  I turned everything back on and the heater still did not work.  I called Autumn's offices to talk to them, but I could get no follow up of any kind.  I asked to speak to their general manager and then asked to speak to the owners or to have either of them to call me on several occasions.  I got no follow up of any kind.  Called another company to correct the issue.  Their technician said the circuit board had been shorted out by whoever worked on the unit.  So after $600 to replace the circuit board the unit was working again.  From my experience, I will chalk this company up to being unreputable and a cheat.  I would never use them again or recommend them to anyone.

Called Autum Heating & Cooling yesterday. They claimed they couldn't find a record of my invoice, and nobody there remembered doing the job  (Note I have a cashed check from them, so I have a record of the work, even they claim not to.)
Nonetheless, they came out to check the same day. So, they are responsive
.
The repairman came in at 5pm, and asked at least 6 times who did the job, and what did he fix. I told him the thermocouple was replaced, and I didn't know who it was. I asked why didn't he come to do a job without first checking that information beforehand. He left after 15 minutes, and said he would have to return the following day. Punculaity is a bit iffy.
I called their office the following day after waiting from 8-12 for their return. Autum Heating & Cooling said they still can't find a record of the work, and that it would be $575 to replace a gas valve. I asked for a part number, and a breakdown of parts and labor cost. They responded they don't give out that information, and don't breakdown a job into parts and labor. Professional therefore is graded as low as possible.
I told them I can't do business with them if they can't provide the information.
Not at all happy with this company. They refused to take responsibility for a faulty repar job, and refuse to provide detailed information on why it costs a half a grand to fix the work they shoddily did before.

Follow up: another furnace company came and checked the installation of the thermocouple and found it had not been installed correctly. Additionally, four screws were found that were laying about, that were intended for connecting the front cover over the flame. So, after re-fitting the thermocouple correctly, the pilot light was re-lit, and the furnace seems to be working fine again. And, he also properly fitted the flame cover, using all the screws this time.

I called to ask if someone could check our duct work because there is no airflow to our upstairs. He explained that we should contact a larger company because they would have the necessary equipment.
Eric was super polite and helpful. I never felt rushed and was pleased with the information he shared. I would not hesitate to contact Eric if we had any a/c related issue.

Eric came out the morning I called. Courteous, professional. Advised us to use the original installer of our system to save on labor costs. We chose to stick with Autumn instead. Fixed that day. Will definitely use them again.