Ratterree Heat & Air

It went well and I was pleased with price and service.

I've used this provider in the past with mixed results, depending on the technician.  My first experience several years ago was stellar -- affordable, prompt, good in every way.   Each subsequent visit has been less satisfactory.  After the most recent visit, I won't use again except in an emergency when no other providers are available.

Meh.   While I understand the cost of Freon for my system, I did not view the service charge rate as competitive and in my view, the technician was only partially honest with me about additional work to be done.  

While he was accurate in describing what was wrong with the drain system, and pleasant while describing it, I discovered from other providers that the additional work could have been completed in 5-10 minutes very easily.  He made it sound like it was a big job that required a lot of work, but that was not the case.   He quoted me a price of over $200 for something that could have easily been completed in no more than 10 minutes with less than $10 of pvc pipe and fittings.   

The repair was incredibly simple.  All he had to do was cut off an easily accessible pvc drain pipe coming from the air handler and reinstall it correctly.  It was literally three cuts/snips to disconnect and putting a new pvc pipe drain on (it takes maybe 5 min to glue together if not premade),  There were no big cuts or other stuff was required.  

It was very disappointing that he chose to "upsell" an easy repair.  He told me it would involve a lot of rerouting, etc.   Actually, it only required two p traps to correct the pressure and make the handler drain properly.  I imagine he had them in the repair truck ready made.

In the past, I did not feel Ratterree was one of those places that upsell you, but after this last visit, I will lump them in with the group of repair folks that definitely know what they are doing, but they also know how to manage the repair in a way that increases the cost to the homeowner and maximizes profit. 

Given my initial good experiences, this was a major disappointment for me.   I would consider using in a pinch but they will not be my go to provider and I'll assume it will be on the more expensive end of repairs.

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We bought our HVAC unit from Ratterree in the spring of 2012, and I am very ambivalent about their services.   In the beginning, the technician thought that he could repair our unit and so we fiddled around with that (with no AC--thank goodness it was April) for a week or so.  Then the older technician, who is great, came out and said no, it was irreparable.  So $11,000 and ten days (with no AC) later, we had our new unit, a brand we weren't familiar with.  Somebody--the manufacturer or the installer--did something wrong and the line from the house to the compressor froze repeatedly--so no AC when that happened.  It took them most of the summer to get that fixed--which they finally did.  Since then, it's been okay, although I had to tell them that I would call them when we want our maintenance service and to quit calling my husband's cell phone repeatedly. 
 The unit, after all that hassle, does work well and has brought down our utility bills noticeably. 
Still, I feel like I'm in a bad marriage with Ratterree.  

quick response, lower and better bid than contractor I really liked and used a lot. Didn't add unnecessary work to the bid.

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They are very professional, very good. The price is okay. They had a really good crew; they paid good attention to detail and what they were doing. 

The person checking out our system and quoting the new one was very good. The install was scheduled and was done very quickly. The cost was high, but the unit works very well. We did have one issue with the new unit running loud but they came back out and adjusted the fan speed to fix the issue.

 I have used Ratterree for A/C maintenance and repairs for several years.  The repairman showed up on time, knew where everything was and went right to work.  Everything checked out OK, so I just payed for the testing.  Ratterree gives a discount for the second unit, so it is a better value for me than the advertised specials that charge the same amount per unit. 

They did professional job 

I like their customer service.  They were very efficient and knowledgable.

The heat pump will not start. The technician arrived at the specified time window. He quickly diagnosed the problem and figured out it was a bad transformer. He had a spare transformer in his truck so he replaced it and the heat pump started working. It took him about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Update: The transformer unit the technician replaced the first time burned out after 3 months. He replaced the transformer unit without charge. This second transformer unit burned out again after 2 months. This time the company charged me for labor and parts. In the course of replacing the second transformer unit, the technician burned out the thermostat. The company charged me for a new thermostat. I hope this third transformer unit will last more than 2 months!

This experience was phenomenal compared to some of my other AC horror stories.  I highly recommend this company. My AC suddenly stopped blowing cold air, even though I had a new air handler installed just a couple of months prior.   It took the technician about 3 seconds of looking at the outside condenser to realize the wire powering the condenser had broken.  He quickly replaced it and then verified the unit was properly charged. This was the simplest repair I've had done on my AC.  Other technicians had looked at the wire and just temporarily patched it, but Ratterree did the fix the right way.  

This is the way AC repair is supposed to work.    I really feel lucky to have found this company and i will definitely be using them again for routine maintenance and any repairs. They were quick, conscientious, knowledgeable, punctual and honest.  What more can you ask for?

Update:  I've now used them for AC on a different house and they were just as great the second time around.

Last spring, our air conditioning was not cooling. This is an old house (1917) built on pier and beam with insufficient insulation. Previously, we'd been pretty cool since the unit was put in at the end of 2005, but it was not keeping up with the high temperatures at all. I called the company out that had installed it and the tech copped an attitude when the cleaning took longer than I think he had expected, told me I'd killed it ... and he wanted to send out a salesman. Obviously, I wasn't doing anything without another opinion, but then I got laid off and I just couldn't cope with even the thought of it. We still had window units in the bedrooms from before the unit was installed, so we limped along for months just cooling those rooms ... not sufficiently, but we survived. Barely. One day, I got brave and tried turning on the allegedly dead system. There was actually some cool air, but not much. Looking down the registers with a flashlight, I could see at least one duct had fallen to the ground (the system is under the house). I knew we could not do another summer like last year. I had a mailed brochure from Ratterree, so I checked them out on Angie's List. I called and the office staff was wonderful. I always feel I have to explain this is an old place with lots of issues that doesn't look anything like in the commercials or brochures. They set me up with an appointment for a couple of days later. They also called ahead to let me know when the techs would be here and each time I spoke with them, they were efficient and friendly, and the techs were right on time. I was apprehensive when Huston arrived but he wasn't fazed at all by having to crawl under the house or anything he saw. He was very reassuring when he detected how freaked out I was. He told me the system was fine and just needed the duct reattached and everything pulled up as air was getting trapped where things were crimping. He cleaned things up, reattached the one duct, and made an appointment for a crew to come in a couple of days to resupport the other ductwork. Already things were so much better ... we had cold air blowing more forcefully over the weekend. I was practically giddy with joy! Today, Cal and James showed up right on time and spent several hours working under the house. A couple of the ducts (which had not been replaced when the system was put in) were not in good shape, so they replaced those and reworked the other ductwork so that the air has a straighter shot getting up into the house. A new filter was added and we're good to go. Both Cal and James were every bit as friendly, knowledgeable, and respectful as Huston. Of course, the proof will come as we get into the really hot weather months ahead, but I'm confident now that I can call Ratterree and they'll take care of me. The price was right in the ballpark that Huston quoted and was, in my opinion, right on for what needed to be done. Would YOU like to duck walk and crawl around under my house? I wouldn't. There was no attempt to upsell. I really appreciate what I felt was honest understanding of my situation and a plan for fixing the problem. I hope to sell this house in the next few months and leave the remodeling job to a new owner. But, regardless of whether I stay here longer or find another home in the DFW area, I've got a new HVAC company. I couldn't be more pleased about my experience with Ratterree.

Overall, the job went pretty well. The person was very helpful. They came on a Sunday and it ended up being that the programming was not quite right; so they got it all redone. I would use them again if needed. The price was very good.

I came to know of them through Angie's List. They were very responsive and did the work. They did not try to sell me anything that I did not need. They were incredible.

The service technician was prompt, did the work and got out of here. I was satisfied with the service. They are reliable and the personnel are all pleasant and very helpful. They will come out for emergencies on short notice.

We recently moved into a house and wanted an HVAC company to do yearly maintenance on the heat and A/C units. Called a few places and decided Ratterree was competitive and really liked their office staff. They are very helpful and proactive. Not only do they call you back, they'll call you if they have a question or just want to let you know about something. On the first visit, Bryant did both a heat and A/C checkup. The agreement includes 12 months of poly filters for two units, which he dropped off during this visit. We later discovered a third return. The extra 12 months of filters cost $44.17. There was no charge for delivering them separately because Bryant delivered them when he was out on a nearby job.

Excellent company. Very prompt and very thorough. WIll certainly use again!

I called them to see if they could do a stand service call. They said they understood exactly what I wanted done and didn't try to talk me into a program or any additional expenses. Debbie was very sweet and knowledgeable. She set up an appointment for me and gave me the prices for the services I asked for. They were much more reasonable then any of the other companies. They came out exactly when they said they would. They did call to confirm before heading to my home. The technician that came to my home, Cal, was very nice and professional. He listened to all my concerns and explained everything as he was going along. My system was running fine and didn't need any service. So I was not charged for any work done except for them to look it over. He had some suggestion about I could run my system better and didn't try to sell me anything. Some of the things he mentioned he even said I could do on my own. He explained how to do them. Overall, it was a great experience. They even called a few weeks later to check up on my service and to make sure everything was working properly. I plan on using them again in the future for ALL my ac/heating needs. I also recommend them to everyone I know and meet.