Modern Mechanical

I have been a customer for a very long time and this scheduled maintenance and dryer vent cleaning was done by Cesar. I have to say he is one very thorough technician and I was very pleased with his inspection and vent cleaning. His service was so different than some of the ones I've had before. I even had one inspector tell me he didn't need to check in my attic which houses one of our two units. Let me tell you about Cesar, he even cleaned up behind my dryer for me. This is something that is rare in customer service. I have my HVAC seasonally maintenanced and never had a inspector be as thorough as him. The pictures he took and explained to me and the one problem he found that no other inspector had found in all this time. I tried to spare him from the attic heat for the repair and have him return on another day in the morning but he didn't mind going back in there to fix the problem for us although it was in the dead heat of the day. I just hope the company sees this review and knows what a good technician they have in Cesar.

I want to thank our plumbing technician, Josh M. He showed up right on time for each appointment, was personable and detail oriented, and explained things clearly. One of the water filter kits I ordered directly from the manufacturer arrived incomplete, and I appreciate that Josh came back out to finish the job for no extra charge once the missing parts arrived. The front office staff was very helpful, too.

Excellent!!! They made the appointment right away, came out and it need replace. A soon a they got approve, they installed within two days after approval. They send a text with a picture on who is the tech. With a paragraph about them.

Excellent. Warranty repair. They work with the company to get the claim approved. They stay on top of it. Very professional.

Dishonest. Overcharging. If the repair costs are not cost effective, shouldn't have touched it. Walked away with $750 after less than 2 hours with still broken water heater. F.H. Furr and John Nugent told me to replace after look at the unit without charge. We were also told that if we replace, they would deduct that $750 from $2200 install fee but their office told me install is $2580. Nonsense. We will never use them.

It was a costly and disheartening episode. Two days ago, during the annual service of the AC unit in a Lennox system, which Modern Mechanical installed 5 years ago, the technician claimed that he needed to change the "voltage absorption device", otherwise the AC unit could explode and damage other parts in the system. I gave him permission to do the change. He charged me $289 for the part, an expense not included in the payment of my annual service we have with the company. Later I found out that the part is a "motor run capacitor" which cost less than $7 dollars in any supply store. It took the technician 1 minute to change the part. I called the company to complain and spoke with a manager called George. He was completely unapologetic and told me straight-out that they needed the $280 markup to pay for staff salaries and their business overhead. He dismissed my observation that we were already paying $199 a year for the maintenance contract, and that it took the technician little time to change the part. Clearly they consider their behavior (scaring the customers into replacing parts and subjecting them to price gouging) as part of their business model. When I told him I considered their practices unreasonable and unethical, he told me cynically that I was entitled to my opinion. After this experience we are not renewing our maintenance contract with them, or recommend this company.

It went fine.

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Modern Mechanical was very professional and thorough in explaining my options. On day of installation, job was done just as describe, no mess left behind, and installers were both professional and courteous.

Today (7/18/2016) I had an appointment with a tech to do a routine check of my attic HVAC unit. The tech was very young (20 to 24) but seemed to know what he was talking about. I think he did a decent job inspecting and providing information about the system. His finding were that the system (installed in 2004) was not operating at peak levels because of a 11 degree split. He check the AC coils in the interior unit. Seemed clean and no visible leaks. He also let me see this for myself. Blower fan, which I did not get to see, was supposedly rotating at a normal rate and was pretty clean. Filter were new and I change them every 3 months. He checked the outside condenser and found it reasonably clean with some fins bent but didn't seem overly concerned with that. When he checked the charge for the refrigerant is when things went downhill. He claimed the system was low and called his supervisor with his findings and when he finished the call he told me the system was low by 2 pounds and explained how that could have happened, loose caps and checking the system every season will possibly release a little here and there over the course of 12 years. Okay, sure anything is possible. I ask him if his findings suggest a possible leak. He shakes his head and says not likely. But then he goes on to try and up-sell me on some "Super seal stop" (Sounds like a scam) that goes into the coil and plugs any small leaks for the ridiculous sum of $218. I say NO THANKS! Now for the best part. Since my system is an older system it works on R22 refrigerant which is no longer used on new systems and is more expensive. I know this, I dealt with this before, but I was not ready for his companies ridiculous price. Modern Mechanical charged me $421 for 2 pounds of refrigerant. That's $210.50 per pound and is an absolute ripoff! I knew it was high but I also knew I was already paying for the check-up ($139.00) normally 218.00 according to the invoice. And If I called someone else out I would be paying again for the visit plus the refrigerant charge. So I let him go ahead and do it even though I was seriously annoyed. I called around anyway and found that (Prices change periodically) M.E.Flow charges $140 per pound, K.D Mechanical was $95.00 per pound and Climate heating and Cooling was $117.00 per pound. When I called Moderns office up to complain about the charge and let them know what the competitors charge, they said that my charge was the rate for a first time customer and first time charging the system with 2 pounds. And if I wanted a 20% discount I had to sign up for their yearly contract. WOW! What a way to win over new business! I don't know if it is of any coincidence but Modern mechanical just merged with One hour heating and cooling and when I last dealt with One hour Heating and cooling it was in central VA and they ripped me off by charging me almost $400.00 to install a new run capacitor for the outdoor condenser. The part costs $12.00 and the install is about 5 minutes tops. That time I only gave in because my wife was 8 months pregnant and it was going to be a hot week and I could not acquire the part fast enough. SO to sum things up a total of $556.00 for a routine inspection and 2 pounds of refrigerant, sounds like a fair deal to you? I am taking my business elsewhere and would suggest others do also.

unknown

Everything went well!  They did accidentally bring the wrong equipment at first because of a paperwork mixup at the home office, but they corrected it quickly and even upgraded my outdoor heat pump unit as compensation for the mistake.  That did cause them to have to drive to the Lennox distribution center and back, setting the install completion back a couple of hours.  I guess for that I have to knock them on "quality".
But other than that, everything went smoothly.  They were professional and courteous.  They also called back the next day to check on everything and make sure that everything was satisfactory and to apologize for the mixup.
Thanks, Modern Mech!

unknown

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They were very prompt and professional in identifying and resolving an issue with our heat pump.  They were very accommodating in answering all of our questions.

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We had a 20+ degree temperature difference between the finished basement and the upper level in our recently purchased home.  We had been using modern mechanical for a few years for annual hvac inspections in our previous home but that system never really required much service.  They have always been professional, punctual, and have a problem solving attitude.  We had them come out to provide recommendations and pricing for installing a new zone.  They provided the following three options: manual dampers, electronic zoning board with digital dampers, or install a completely separate system for the upper level.  The second choice is relatively new technology and they highly recommended it because it cost 50% - 75% less than installing a completely separate system and would have the same effect.  They followed up with a written proposal in 24 hours and had the system installed only a week after signing the proposal.  When the crew came to install it they were professional and polite.  The system has now been up and running for several weeks and works perfectly.  We highly recommend this company and the system/technology that they used.

They were great!

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Modern Mechanical was assigned to us by our home warranty company.  The technician was prompt, professional and very helpful.  While we are still in the process of assessing the problem, his advice and guidance was very useful, and we plan to have them conduct the full repairs and be our maintenance provider.  A+  so far!

Went great. Showed up on time. Did the work. No hassles. No surprises. Cleaned up. System works perfectly. Couldn't be happier.

The unit was serviced twice and then later replaced. Other than the inconvenience of having them come three times (due to the home warranty company) , they final product works and was installed professionally.

Excellent experience overall. I was referred to Modern Mechanical through my home warranty company. I called on Monday and had a service appointment scheduled for Wednesday. Gary, the technician, called to let me know when he was on his way. He quickly got to work and identified the issue. He was very professional and personable and was able to explain the issue to me in a way I could understand. Although this was a service done through my home warranty company (meaning I didn't have a choice of provider), I would happily call Modern Mechanical for other issues in the future. Can't comment on price as I paid my home warranty deductible.

I had a service contract with this company and had them come out last February (2013) to look at my HVAC because it wasn't cooling/heating properly.  The technician who came out told me I just needed an air handler adjustment.  On 8/26/13, I had them come back out because my upstairs AC unit was not cooling properly, and the technician inspected the units and told me I needed to replace both units at a cost of between roughly $11-16K depending on which replacement units I purchased from them, etc.  I was surprised that 6 months earlier the technician didn't mention that anything was wrong with the AC units, and then was told I needed to replace them both. He told me that an alternative solution that would fix the AC unit for about a year was a "Super Seal Stop Leak", which would cost under $1000.  I opted for that solution, and so he claimed to have pumped my HVAC full of R-22, and the cost was $753.  As I was writing him a check for $753, the technician told me for the first time that sometimes the Stop Leak "doesn't take" or fix it, in which case I would just need to replace the units.  Shocked, I explained to him that if he had told me there was a chance it wouldn't have worked, I would have just put the $753 toward a new unit instead of throwing it away on a temporary solution that may or may not work.  About 5 weeks later, the upstairs unit stopped working completely.  Because I had completely lost faith in Modern Mechanical and believe they scammed me, I called ME Flow to replace the upstairs unit at a cost of $8132.   I contacted Modern Mechanical to obtain a pro rated refund and they explained that because I didn't call them to come back out and inspect the unit and have them give me a quote to replace the unit, they would not provide any sort of refund.  The manager who called me back claimed that they warranty their work and that they should have been given the chance to come out and see the unit, but because I already had it replaced and they couldn't inspect it, they wouldn't give me any sort of refund.  However, the Work Order for the $753 Stop Leak has a warranty section on the form that wasn't completed by the technician who scammed me, so I had no idea that there was any sort of supposed warranty.  I really believe that only because I didn't buy a replacement unit from Modern Mechanical, they arbitrarily fabricated some "warranty" and are using that as an excuse to keep my money after ripping me off with a supposed "fix" that never had a chance of working for a year.  In fact, 2 HVAC companies that gave me estimates after it went out told me that given the condition of the unit, a Stop Leak would never have fixed it and that Modern Mechanical shouldn't have even suggested it as a solution.


IN RESPONSE TO THE PROVIDER'S RESPONSE:
I am rejecting this response because: The paperwork they provided me
specifically had the warranty section left blank, leaving me to think there was
no warranty. The technician who talked me into the "stop leak" repair never told
me there was a chance it wouldn't work until after they had performed this
non-fix.  It would be unreasonable for me to contact this company again after
their solution didn't work to give them a chance to try to scam me again,  in
light of the gross incompetence displayed by the last 2 people they sent to
diagnose my issues.  This manager's expectation that it  would be reasonable
to require me to wait to give them a chance see if the fact that their repair
didn't work (which it obviously didn't), while my upstairs level with all of the
bedrooms is 87 degrees, is absolute nonsense.  They misrepresented the
effectiveness of this fix until after they performed it and scammed me out of my
money and they never indicated there was any warranty until now--and in fact
specifically left that off the work order.  I think that their reasoning for not
giving me a refund demonstrates why no one should give this company their
business.