Schneider Heating & Air Conditioning - La Crosse

We requested emergency service from Schneider on our AC unit in August 2023. What was explained to us for the cost of the service was not what was billed to us. The person we spoke during the emergency call explained their fee would be a $115 flat fee (discounted for "Gold Star" members from $205) plus the price of any additional parts. As that sounded like a fair price, we agreed to have them out that night. The technician was great, we have worked with him before. He arrived, assessed the issue, repaired it, and left within 25 minutes. He explained that the issue was a bad capacitor, and while he did not have the part with him, he was able to make one out of two other parts he had. Fine by me-as we have children, our house was in the 80s at this point, we were just glad to get it fixed. I thanked him for his quick service and that was that. The next day we received our bill, which was $332. $115 for the fee that they explained, and $217 for the part, itemized as "BDP-914554 OHWP291-4554 45/5 MFD AT 370V DUAL CAPACITOR". I do work with capacitors in my field, albeit on a lower scale, and they are not nearly that price range so I was immediately skeptical, but hesitant as maybe commercial parts are a different ballgame. I looked into the part myself, online, and found that it ranged anywhere from $15 to $25 if I were to buy it myself. I then contacted a trusted local business owner, who formerly worked in the HVAC field and he confirmed the price he pays for the exact itemized line I forwarded him is $23.73 plus shipping. I talked with the HVAC department at my workplace which is quite a large business in this area and he also confirmed this part is less than $30. I called other local heating and AC businesses to ask how much they charge for this part, you guessed it, less than $30. I called Schneider and talked to Roxanne in billing. I explained our conversation during the emergency call, what was explained to us as far as billing, and my curiousity in why we were charged $217 for a part that I had spoken to other HVAC technicians about that runs anywhere from $15-$25. She explained that price factors in labor, taxes, and fees in addition to the part. I relayed back that it was not explained to us that labor was tied into this cost, nor is it displayed in the invoice, despite plenty of space for it to be added. She retorted with "you don't think our technicians should get paid for their time?" I replied with, "that is not what I said, I am just stating that is what was explained to us during the phone call". I absolutely believe the technician should be paid, I assumed that is what the $115/$205 charge was included for. Not once did she apologize for the mistake, take any responsibility, or even recgonize that there was a possibility that labor was never mentioned during that phonecall. I was instead made to feel like I was the idiot for even questioning the $217 itemized line of "BDP-914554 OHWP291-4554 45/5 MFD AT 370V DUAL CAPACITOR". I told Roxanne that I will pay the bill if that's what is going to be charged, but I will be cancelling my "Gold Star" plan as I do not feel that I am benefitting from this service. Our unit was just inspected on 6/30/23. I understand that capacitors can go bad (randomly at that), and I also know that they can leak prior to failing. I do not know if the part was beginning to fail in June 2023 and if that inspection point was missed at the time. Maybe it failed from the excessive heat wave that week. She continued to inform me that not only will our warranty on the part be voided without routine cleaning, but that we will forfeit "Gold Star" service moving forward. I understood what would happen by cancelling the service. We have been "Gold Star" customers for 7 years, through 2 different houses. We had Schneider install our last furnace and AC unit, and then continued to have them come out bi-anually for their "Gold Star" plan, where they inspect and clean each unit once per year. I'm a bit disheartened that, although I've purchased a furnce through them and also used their services for this duration of time, they didn't make any attempt to make the situation right or offer any sort of remedy. I'm a pretty patient person, maybe too nice for my own good, but having worked in customer service myself-this was an unnacceptable resolution. I don't believe we should pay for services that were oversold and understated. Perhaps 7 years as a customer is not seen as "essential customer", or maybe we are not seen as a loss "only" paying $200 a year for routine service, but I've still paid nearly $10,000 over the years to Schneider, an amount I do not consider small as an average income family. I'm only sharing this story for others to consider when shopping around. When I look for places to give my business to, honesty is near the top of my list of needs. Today they've shown me that's not one of theirs. I was mostly happy with them up until this point.

Beware of hidden costs! I had a furnace that quit working on the weekend. When the service tech call he said he had to inform me up front that the service fee was $185 on the weekends. This was higher than normal but I figured, it's a weekend. The service tech arrived, did a minimal but experienced diagnosis and said I needed a new pressure sensor. Not having one with him, he went back to town and returned with a universal part shortly. One screw in and out, new pressure sensor installed and he was done. Now, upstairs the tech figures up the bill, now saying there is an upcharge on the parts and his labor for a weekend call? I was good with the increased service fee considering it was the weekend but these newly announced parts and labor fees were a shock. In addition, this needed to be payed now. If this information was provided up front I would have fixed it myself or at least waited until Monday. When I asked the owner about these excess charges, he apologized stating he had to pay these new service techs extra or they wouldn't take call on weekends. So once again the customer is screwed. At least at fast food joints where they have equally overpaid employees, you can at least see what you're going to pay up front. So one $66 part and maybe 10 minutes actual labor, I am $479 poorer. If I smoked, I guess I should light one up after such a good screwing.

Guys were fast, efficient and knowledgeable and I never went without heat (was done in Nov). They explained things clearly and kept me in the loop on what was happening. Couldn't be happier, an easy 5 stars.

There were a few obstacles to overcome, as new intake & exhaust vents had to be drilled. They did a great job!

It been good. AAAAA

Products and service exceeded all of our expectations.

Wonderful job!

I called two other HVAC businesses for estimates. One was Schneider Heating and Air Conditioning in Winona (101 Harvester Ave, 507-454-3001; they also have an office in La Crosse, WI). I spoke to Joe in particular. When I told him I needed an estimate for replacing the outside unit, he asked for the model and why it needed to be replaced. I explained the diagnosis by the other business. Joe asked if the tech who'd done the diagnosis had checked to be sure it wasn't the outside unit's crankcase heater rather than the compressor. I knew the answer was no, because I'd been with the tech the entire time he was on our property, asked questions, and discussed what he was doing. I like to learn about equipment in my house. Joe said the crankcase heater often fails on models like ours, and trips the breaker just as a failed compressor does. He then explained that the crankcase heater is important if your AC is turned on when the outside temp is below 65 degrees F, but irrelevant if that won't happen. When I told him that has never happened given our use of AC, he said we could disconnect the crankcase heater and see if the AC works properly. If it does, we could leave the crankcase heater disconnected. Most important, we wouldn't have to replace our compressor, because it would not the problem. Joe had already been generous with his time and knowledge, without receiving a penny for it. But he then went above and beyond. I asked him if he could explain to me how to check the crankcase heater myself, so I didn't have to pay for another service call. Because I had observed the tech from the other business, I knew how to turn off power to the outside unit so I would not get shocked while handling its wiring, I knew how to access the outside unit's wiring, and I had its wiring diagram. Joe explained what to do, what to expect, and said I could call him back. And I did call back the next morning, because while I did it correctly, the results left me confused. He explained why and 15 minutes later our AC was running. Joe had been correct: the crankcase heater had failed but the compressor was fine. Had I not called Schneider Heating and Air Conditioning in Winona, it’s likely we would have paid $2,200 to $3,000 to replace our outside unit. Because of their expertise, honesty, and generosity in sharing their expertise, we paid only for a service call—and that money went to the business that misdiagnosed the problem in the first place. In the future, when we need work done on our heating or air conditioning, we will call Schneider. They are the kind of business you hope to find and feel fortunate when you do.

. They come when they say they are going to come.

.

unknown

They come twice a year to check the equipment - once for heating and once for air conditioning. They haven't been here for air conditioning yet this season. They came last Fall for the heating. It's a twice a year thing, so they choose when to come, not me. They come when they say they're gonna come. They took the panel off and vacuumed, cleaned and check the ignition, and all. Very good.  They call to schedule, I don't arrange the work with them. They are very professional, clean up after themselves, very friendly people.

unknown

Couldn't be happier. Owner and technicians were friendly and professional from start to finish and job was done right.

Went very well.  The serviceman was very professional in his service and took care to make sure that all components of the furnace were checked and cleaned throughly.  Also took care of a couple additional things like my hot water system filter and also answered a couple of questions regarding my WI-FI thermostat.

.

PROMPT AND COUTEOUS

a/c not cooling, called, came out next day, leak in condenser, repair was $800 or so, but hard to asay how long it would last given the corrosion so replace outside condenser same day.

.

They're good. They showed up on time and the price were reasonable. I would use them again in the future.

First guy that came out just found an issue and called it good. Once the same issue we originally called about came back a second tech came out and did a fantastic job and found the source of th Web issue. He actually spent a couple hours figuring it out.

unknown

Went well ! ... Polite ,professional  technician

unknown

unknown