AAA Cooling & Heating Inc

We were on the east coast for the holidays when our furnace started smoking and then died; luckily, a wonderful pet sitter was at the house. AAA came to our house (on a Sunday two days after Christmas, meeting with the sitter), and diagnosed a dead blower motor, and very poor condition heat exchanger. The furnace was 30 years old, so they recommended replacement. We also called out one other company to get a bid. AAA was slightly cheaper, but the deciding factor was really that they delivered space heaters to the house that Sunday, even before we'd committed to buying from them. (They offered this; it was not something we asked for.) This made our sitter and pets more comfortable, and also, with single digit outdoor temperatures, helped prevent freezing pipes. The furnace was installed on Monday; our sitter felt the installation went smoothly. I was incredibly worried about making such a large purchase so quickly, from a distance and without meeting anyone, but it all went fine. When we returned several days later, all was in working order. A new standard thermostat had been installed, when we had discussed a programmable one. Because this was done by phone and there was no written contract, I wondered if there would be a problem switching to programmable. But, one call to Jay and he sent out a technician to install the right thermostat and explain its use. AAA sent us filled-out paperwork for various rebates for which we were eligible--they made it very easy. They also sent out a reminder for us to call to get our city inspection (they had already filled for the permit; we just needed to get the inspection). Overall, I was very pleased with their work. I just tried to hire them to also do a new tankless water heater, but unfortunately they don't do those.

Technicians showed up right on time and worked 10+ hours plus an extra hour the following day. Late in the day, we discovered some issues with the furnace & called the salesman, Steve Fisher, who came over within 15 minutes and stayed until he was able to get somebody to fix the problem immediately. Steve worked with the tech until everything was to their and our satisfaction.

My insurance company negotiated with AAA to replace my swamp cooler. The supports on the cooler had rusted through and it was lilting to one side. AAA was confident that they could install a new cooler and that my portion of the charge would be exactly $65. From the beginning they were very difficult to work with and schedule. I ended up taking a day off work to fit their scheduling requirements. The technicians who showed up were relatively friendly, but did not seem particularly competent. They installed the new cooler on the old supports (it's already lilting again). Additionally, there was a gap between some shingles and the new cooler -- they simply dumped a bucket of tar in the gap -- so much tar that it is still liquid (a year later) and made a huge mess that I had to clean up. Even worse. When their staff went to leave, they presented me with a bill for $130 -- double the amount we had previously agreed upon. They mentioned that it was for disposal of the previous cooler and if I didn't pay it, they would place the old cooler back on the roof. Needless to say, I would never recommend AAA. The dozens of calls it took to even get them to respond, lackluster staff, and exceptionally shoddy work make them a hazard to use.