AREA HEATING & COOLING INC

I contacted Area Heating and Cooling after our AC stopped functioning on 6/22/21 Due to the hot weather and high demand, they were unable to schedule an appointment until 6/28/21. The technician confirmed that the blower motor and capacitor were shorted out and needed to be replaced. He also provided a verbal estimate of $1,100 to complete the work which seemed somewhat steep to me not knowing what the repairs entitled. I was charged $160.20 for that first Service call and was left without AC on that day when the outside temperature went up to a blistering 114° which was the hottest day ever recorded in Vancouver, WA. Another Technician came to perform the repairs on 7/2/21. Replacing the blower motor and capacitor involved removing 6 screws of the blower cabinet cover, 4 screws of the blower motor assembly, 3 screws from the motor bracket, 1 nut on the blower motor collar to remove the motor from the blower housing; another screw on the strap to remove the capacitor, removing the wires from the capacitor and motor and putting everything back together in reverse order with the new motor and capacitor. The verbal estimate ended up being $1184.70 with tax for which I paid and received the invoice 2 days later. Since Area Heating and Cooling never provided me with a written estimate of the repair, I was not able to look up the parts beforehand and left only to accept the verbal estimate, but what can you do when you can’t find someone else to make the repairs. High heat, high demand so..? High prices? Hoping to find some justification on the invoice for the high cost but the invoice only listed: Non stock blower motor repair $800.00 and non stock capacitor repair $300.00. First of all, it’s not a repair but a replacement. Second, The first Technician on 6/28/21 replaced the capacitor which he had in his truck but since the motor was dead, he removed it. How could this be “Non Stock” if it’s in the truck? I looked up the manufacturer website on line and was able to find reference numbers for the parts that had been replaced and found a motor between $150.00 and $264.00, the capacitor is available from $15.00 to $30.00. Apparently there is a markup for labor but a 300% to 530% for the motor and between 1,000% and 2,000% markup for the capacitor. This is robbery! I am not planning on contesting the cost with Area Heating and Cooling but the least I can do is post this review to warn potential customers of how this company conducts business.

Overall went pretty smoothly. Area Heating and Cooling replaced our 21 year old Trane air handler and AC unit with a new Trane higher efficiency unit. They also created a zoned system to split the upstairs and downstairs controls. Out of three bids, they were in the middle. All in all, they did a good job installing. They really took time to make sure the air handler and AC unit install looked good. However, the employee who bid the job was not really involved during the installation, which made communication a little more difficult (i.e., it was often indirect). Also, I would highly recommend either having a home inspector take before and after pictures of your attic and crawl space or do so yourself. It seems like the installers were much more interested in doing quality work in the spaces we could easily see, but did not take pride in the "unseen" work. I ended up spending quite a bit of time myself under our home fixing insulation problems which I'm fairly confident was a result of shoddy workmanship. With that said, I assume that it's pretty much par for the course for most contractors. I would not hesitate to use Area Heating and Cooling again. Would just be a little more careful and make sure they understand that my expectations regarding quality are the same regardless of location.

They are very good and responsive during emergencies. They give good advice and are very knowledgeable. We would highly recommend them and will use them again.

The tech was on time, seemed very knowledgeable and professional. No problems.

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They diagnosed the problem quickly and were able to replace the capacitor. We were up and running in 20minutes.

It didn't cost me anything because it's still under warranty. I'll give them, well it's kind of hard to say because I've had more service than I thought I should have. They're always real punctual I'll probably give them probably a high grade for their service and then a little lower for the reliability of equipment but you know it was just that dealer. Like I said it didn't cost me anything it was still under warranty. Well, two people came out because they had to come back, they came out then they had to order the part, a different guy came and put that in.

See above!

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It was just a thermostat issue, which he fixed in no time.

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They do an excellent job of keeping track of when my furnace needs to be cleaned an maintained. They call me and schedule appointments. Then, they come out and do the work. I don't have to worry about it unless something happens. This way, things don't happen, because they are on top of it all. I really appreciate that type of service. They just take care of letting me know when it's time to have the service done. The price is quite reasonable. They always call before they come, so I know that they are on their way. I have never had them not come when they are supposed to come.

They come out to do initial installation and then they come back to do the final installation. The area looked real good after they were finished.

The technician did warn me that my system was getting older, and I should be thinking about replacing it. So he was just giving me a fair warning. I would give them an A all the way down. 

I do remember that he advised me that my system was getting older, because that system is 19 years old at this point, and your expected to get 15-20 years out of them. I just think they are an excellent company. 

They have taken care of my equipment for the past 16 years. 

They are very reliable. They come when they say they are going to come. They are doing what they say they are going to do. They are very responsive. My heat went out with it was 31 degrees here, and they brought me a heater to try and keep my house above 50 degrees. They are doing a really good job. We are not finished yet because there are some thing going on, but they have been very responsive. 

They are just excellent. I don't think you could ask for anything more. I wanted a trained system, because that's a quality system, and they are a trained dealer. They are a good company, but I went another direction to verify that. I talked to a number of different customers of theirs that had the same experience I had. I knew the product that I wanted. So that limited me in what I could use, because I wanted a trained system, and needed a trained provider. 

One night I got home and my furnace wouldn't come home. I think I saw icicle's hanging from our kitchen. I called them at 7am in the morning and left a voicemail, and they were out here at 9am with a heater in hand to help with that, and we started making a plan. They diagnosed what the problem was. 

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They do a really good job! They’re just all around excellent work.

They always do really good; they're really good.

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I haven't had any trouble and it seems sized very well for my home. They've been really good about helping me get all my vents adjusted correctly for maximum efficiency.

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