Strand Brothers Service Experts

A foreign object was accidentally flushed down the toilet and it clogged. Had just recently gotten an Angies list deal for half off a service call and used it for this problem. First $142.00 for a manual auger of the toilet took all of maybe ten minutes. I also had two outside faucets replaced at $128.00. This was actually the price per faucet, but he did both for that price. This kind of made up for the toilet repair fee which I thought was way too much. The toilet clogged again two weeks later, no fault on their part. Called them back. He wanted to pull the toilet and use a sewer machine. This procedure costed $439.00. He took the original $142.00 off that price. Then he wanted to scope the sewer line to look for the foreign object. That was an additional charge of about $150.00. He did waive that fee. I watched the scoping and saw roots in the sewer line. A seven foot section of PVC needed to be dug up and replaced between the septic tank and the house. Also a new 2-way cut-off. I was given an estimate of $2760 minus $500 if we did the digging ourselves. I about fell over. We went ahead and dug up the area ourselves and I called another plumber I've used for twenty years and received an estimate for $1250-$1450. I paid $1219. They charge a set quote for each procedure from a book the plumber carries with him. They offer you the opportunity to join something like a preferred customer option for about $100, per year I think. You are then quoted lower charges. I wasn't able to use the Angie's coupon ($30). What I understood is that it could only be applied to the service charge when they came out to give a quote, then don't use their service. I don't remember reading this in the conditions of the coupon. Overall, I found the charges a little confusing and overpriced. The plumber was on time, polite, and professional.

Scheduled an appointment to have a technician come out to repair an A/C unit. I had semi-diagnosed the problem already with help from user forums as most likely the capacitor in the condensor unit or perhaps a relay, but preferred to have a professional come out and fix the problem in case there were other issues as well. As promised, I received a call about 30 minutes prior to the technician arriving. The technician, Leland, was courteous, quick, and friendly. After explaining the symptoms (I did not tell him I already had probably diagnosed the problem), he checked the unit out and indeed confirmed that the capacitor was shot. He quoted me the repair cost and I had him do the work. After replacing the capacitor, he did a full inspection, including checking the pressures and even cleaning the outside coils. He let me know about their annual inspection plan, but did not attempt to push the services on me. He also let me know that they do plumbing as well. I was grateful for the information. He fixed the problem and did not try to "oversell" extra unneeded parts and services. I am very pleased with the service and was even pleasantly surprised, as I have had A/C repair and inspection before and had quite a distaste for the A/C repairmen in general because of excessive "overselling" (Another company wanted to charge me $1400 for maintenance and repair on a perfectly working A/C unit). The price for this particular service was probably about $50 more than I expected, but I will definitely use Christian Brothers again for service in the future because of the professionalism and quality. 2016.01.25: UPDATE: Please be forewarned that this original review was for Christian Brothers which was later purchased and became Church Services. The year after this review I had Church come out again for a simple capacitor. Unfortunately I was not home and the service person talked my wife into an extra $700 worth of charges above and beyond the capacitor, not to mention he talked her into buying a "super" capacitor for an extra $200. Luckily she paid with a check and I was able to stop payment.

I don't usually use Christian Brothers but did so after buying a $29 service call off of Angie's List. The service call was scheduled in a timely manner and the serviceman showed up in the time window the dispatcher said he would. That's where the good news stops. I received a quote for $475 to hook-up a garbage disposal, a drain basket and a single tap faucet on my kitchen sink. The break down was $325 for the garbage disposal and drain basket and $150 to install the faucet. I thought the bid was high so I ask him to just do the garbage disposal and drain basket at which point he increase his price to $375. That was after an explanation about how all pricing is based on "the book." Well as it turns out there's two books, the "preferred pricing book" and "let's gouge you because I know you need it right now book." Now keep in mind this is a 30-45 minute job with $5-10 in PVC piping - and that's how long it would have taken me. That's $365/hr or $620, 500/year assuming a standard 1700 hour work year. Absolute highway robbery even taking into consideration travel time. Worst yet his work was leaking when I got home to inspect and he has a negative slope on the piping from the garbage disposal to the T into the drain. Two thing a real plumber would never do. In fact, if you've ever done PVC work you have to really try to create a leak between connections - it's almost impossible. So now I have a call into Ken, the plumbing Service Manager, for them to come fix this mess. I also ask this guy to install a vanity in my bathroom to which he gave me a list of reason why he couldn't do it. Having done a little plumbing in my day, I ask him to cut the sheetrock to verify his conclusions but he refused to so. When I got home last night, I opened up the wall and verified that what I was asking could be easily done. If fact, it's my plan to take care of it myself this weekend. My only explanation for his behavior is laziness.

A man by the name of Randy showed up and I showed him the areas of interest that I needed work on. He assessed the situation and worked with me to get the best deal by combining the work. He was fast and courteous and I appreciated the suggestions he gave me for some work I will do myself. All in all I was pleased both with the work and the professionalism of Randy.

I purchased a $29 service call from Christian Brothers for the installation of a garbage disposal. Their disposal would cost over $550 so I bought one at Home Depot. The technician said he could not install it, but for $120 he would TRY to fix mine. He told me the $120 included a $69 service call fee. Since I had already paid for a service call, I expected the $69 to be subtracted but, no, only $29 (which I had already paid!) would be subtracted so I would be paying the full $69 service call!! When I told him that would not work, he decided he COULD install my disposal?for over $350. I refused any service. I am out my $29. KICKER: A neighbor came by. I was telling him my story. He came in, and with an allen wrench he started my old disposal! I spoke to someone at their office who tried to tell me I had misunderstood the $29 offer. Please beware of this company.

The house got warm overnight and I thought the AC was running constantly, so in the morning I checked and sure enough the compressor was no longer running only the blower. So I checked Angie's List and selected Service Experts based on # of reports and grade. I called and SE was able to set up an appt for the same day (12pm - 2pm window). I Stated at that time that I had an appt to meet someone and must leave at 2:15. About 12:45pm I called to check on the status and they said a tech was now free and would come over straight away. He arrived shortly (1:15pm) and had the problem diagnosed within 20 minutes. They had the part on the truck so he was able to fix it straight away. We finished up right at 2:15pm. I arrived back a bit later to a nicely cooled house. The tech (Kim) was a friendly, knowledgeable person.

We have used Strand Brothers pretty much exclusively over the last 20 years-but this was the final contact I will ever have with them. AND I will do all in my power to spread the word of their deplorable service.

Quick response and they got the job done right away. The price is always within reason.

Didn't go at all. Nobody showed up or called. No show. No call.Lost a whole Saturday waiting - couldn't leave the house - couldn't even go outside to the yard - waiting for the call.A/C is out on a 3-day weekend.Called them at 9:00 AM.They were supposed to show up between 12:00 and 5:00. "Maybe earlier if we have a cancellation or something".No call. No show.

The Big Deal was $29.00, compared to their normal service call rate of $69.00, but they only credited $29.00 towards the final service fee instead of $69.00. That should have been made clearer in the coupon.

They were quick. He came to look at it and knew exactly what was wrong. He was very polite and professional.

The equipment could not make some turns, so they could not do all the pipes. I thought they were very professional. There was a little problem with the equipment. Their price was very fair.

They seem to be timely and knowledgeable.

The $100 service call was overpriced for the 15 minutes spent diagnosing a bad AC compressor, given that we received second and third opinions from companies with free service calls. Then, we were quoted $2,300 to replace the compressor, though the service man was sure it would be FAR less than that. Other companies agreed that a whole new AC unit would likely be a better buy. But, another company (Texas Air Conditioning Specialist) replaced the compressor for $1648, $650 less. The service was fast and courteous, however. Still, those prices are appalling, given how much more affordable another reputable company could make it.

Tech showed up on time but it quickly became appearant that he was looking to bid new work rather than check system. He didn't check the filters, which was listed as part of the service. Instead, he found over $2,000 of retrofitting that needed to be done on a 5 year old new construction system. One of the issues I was glad he found, as I was able to get the original installer to repair. But while Chistianson said it was a $1,000 job, it only took 1.5 hours for other company to remedy (all labor, no parts). So that works out to Christianson's quote running at $333 per man hour. Kind of steep! The other $1,000 in work they said needed to be done was questionable at best. All in all, I wouldn't use Christianson for annual service since I think they only use those calls to drum up business. And based on the quotes I received, I think their prices are very unreasonable. I am glad they found the issue, so technically, they appear to be competant.

We've used them for 12 years. Always great, honest service.

I had been hearing a noise from my a/c unit. I had just moved into this place in August and that summer was really hot. They came out and told me about the vents. We went into the attic which I’m normally afraid to do. The tech that came out. I have 2 units and I purchased 1 big deal but they honored it for the 2nd unit. One of my units needed a part, which they ordered. They had to come back. A few days later, I hadnt’ heard from them. I called on a Monday to ask about the part. They said they would call when they got the part. I asked for Chris. She said he had passed away. This was very, very upsetting to me. Chris was a very nice man. I had offered to tip him or buy him lunch and he declined. He was just a very sweet man. The other guy that came out was very nice. He was a little quiet, but he was great. I offered a tip, but he also declined. He was really a nice man. We wen tover the unit and he assured me on the quality of the unit. They came back out and installed the part, but I haven’t had to use it.

The technician was on-time, courteous, thorough, and, most importantly, knowledgeable. He explained the problem to me (a cracked pan that is part of the evaporator coil) and SHOWED me where the crack was. He suggested a potential do-it-yourself solution that may or may not work and explained why a reputable company would undertake a more extensive solution, such as replacing the evaporator coil and/or replacing the system. In addition, the technician identified a couple other issues that could be easily resolved (such as sealing one of the ducts). Two days later, a project manager came out and looked at my system. He looked over not just the system but the attic and the entire house. He asked additional questions about my system usage and provided me with several options that were lower priced compared to a competitor. He clearly explained to me the pros and cons of the several options, including the potential do-it-yourself solution; he was clearly a knowledgeable project manager and not a (typical) salesman. I felt confident that I could follow up with questions. For now, I have decided to try the do-it-yourself solution suggested by the technician. If it does not work, I am very likely to go with Christian Brothers for the evaporator coil replacement.

I was very impressed with the service, both with the scheduling office and the technician who came out (Eric). Eric arrived within the service window and I received a call before he came over. He did a wonderful job walking me through our A/C unit and showing me the important parts and what everything was, and happily answered all my questions about how it worked and what we might do to make it more efficient. He showed me that the bearings on the blower motor weren't working well and the motor would eventually need replacing, but didn't recommend taking any action until it actually died, though he did give me the replacement cost. He also cleaned dust off the interior of the unit. On the external unit, he inspected the unit and washed the condenser coils with my hose, neatly returning the hose to our garden. I was very pleased and will definitely use them again, for regular maintenance and when that motor finally goes.

I called and set up an appointment to have my heat pump serviced for summer. the young fellow who came to preform the service was very laid back. He did not seem to be in any hurry and seemed to be very thorough in his analysis of my unit. My unit is seventeen years old and it has been looked at many times by many different technicians. I have been told many things (most untrue) from many technicians so I am always cautious about any additional needs of my unit. I was at ease with the technician and felt good when he left. All in all this was a very good experience.

Purchased deal on Angie's List and was given a call within 30 minutes to get my physical address and schedule an apptment. Appointment made for 8-12a and no one showed up and no one called. When I called in at 2p to inquire, I was disconnected by the answering service. Very dissapointed as we had scheduled our day around this appointment. I will need to reschedule and we will see how responsiveness and professionalism is on second try.

Chris arrived approximately 15 minutes after I got a phone call from the main office saying he was on his way. Right away he asked me what prompted the need for service for which I explained my issue last summer with the A/C not keeping the house cool and the outside condensor not turning on and I wanted to make sure for the upcoming dog days of summer season we would get preventative maintenance done. Everything is good to go and I now have peace of mind. I have used other companies and their coupons with competitive pricing but I feel that Christian Brothers really has superior customer service from placing the order to dispatch to the technician and knowledgeble experienced techicians. Chris suggested I look into getting attic insulation done to help lower my electric bills. That's next on my list for Angie's List. Thank you Chris. Job well done!

They had to remove our attic stair and had a handy man come back and fix it. At the start, they covered all flooring and cleared the walls so nothing would get damaged. They consulted me the whole way. They were professional and very polite.

They scheduled an appointment with me, and called me back later to tell me that they did not service my area.

I love them. They came out twice now, once in the winter and now spring check. We have an annual contract where they come out twice a year. If we have an emergency, they don’t charge us exorbitant price, they treat it as a regular call. They have a specialty group within their office; they can come out and work with us on your air flow. We have an issue with one room being freezing and rest of the house still hot. They are sending out this group to help us to get that solved. I would use them again in the future.