Swamp Cooler Repair Contractors in Ashburn

Sprinkler pipe burst in utility closet. Swamped furnace. Tech came out, and repaired the furnace in a jiffy.

It went very well. I've used them twice. They did a good job. It was a pretty decent place. They seemed to be pretty honest. I will use them again.

Following some bumpy communications in the beginning, just fine. The company may have been swamped with calls with the onset of a heat wave. The estimator and installer delivered everything discussed in a timely manor.

All in all the company did an good job. They were able to go out, and repair the problem promptly. I would use their services again. My one frustration was that they made it difficult to get an estimate. The woman in the office indicated that it would probably be cheaper to just have them go out and fix it. I offered to agree to a price limit and asked if they would send me something in writing that said they would stop if it was going to be over $300 so we could re-evaluate. She stated they did not have email or a fax and could send me nothing in writing. I thought this was unprofessional and sort of ridiculous. The price turned out to be $220 and the service was good. However, I found the lack of email or fax frustrating because it was for a property that I own where I am not in the same town. If they had charged me an outrageous price I might have had no legal recourse. I think it is just sort of a small town shop. However, they were prompt, they fixed the problem, and I thought the price was reasonable. They just want you to trust them without any kind of formal agreement. I did that only because I had seen good recommendations on Angie's List. I would use their service again based on their last performance. They did follow through with what we verbally agreed to.

They did a good job. They are a local company. The price is kind of par for the course. We paid $274 in June when they did the pads. They are usually pretty easy to get hold of. He was here exactly when he said he would be.

The estimator (also installer) was early to the appt. (called first to OK it) Seemed very knowledgeable about what was required and options. Promised to have an estimate to me in two days. Two weeks pass and no estimate, no call back. Sorry, very unprofessional. A call to the 'office' automated system put me on hold indefinitely and I finally hung up. I docked professionalism from an A for the early call and arrival to a C for no followup on promise. Even a call or e-mail to say you were swamped with work and wouldn't be submitting a bid would be preferable to limbo.

Our air conditioner died in the middle of a heat wave. The company was swamped with requests, but the representative made time to come out to our home to do an estimate. They were able to install the new air conditioner within a week. They also upgraded the coil system to be in compliance with new standards. The job was done professionally and they cleaned up after they left (required a fair amount of work in our utility room to upgrade the system), if not for the newly installed components, we would have never known they were here. Now, a year later, we have continued to enjoy our new air conditioner and everything has functioned well without a single issue. We also use Davis and Davis for our regular heating and cooling system maintenance. Across the board, all of the technicians have been friendly and polite, always offering tips to keep the system running efficiently throughout the year.

Our house was very drafty, to the point that candles would flicker if held near the floor. Sino-American was able to fit us into their schedule, even though we are quite sure that they are swamped with all of the requests for energy efficiency improvements. They began on time and were in contact multiple times per day when there were changes to the plan or unforeseen events came up. The crew had to cut into the ceiling because cross-beams were blocking the best access to the attic crawlspace. While this ended up costing about 7% more that the original estimate, the price was discounted overall. The team finished at least a half-day early, which I think is generally unheard of. The crew was very clean and cleaned up extra when there was a small mess in 1 room. The effect of their work was immediately palpable as the house warmed up within hours.

Installation crew showed up on time, on the planned installation date with three or four people, and had the job done in a couple of hours, including installation of a new electronic thermostat, disassembly, and removal of the old, oversized air handler through the small attic access. Installation of a new heat pump pad and electrical breaker box. Resulting installation works perfectly, using about 50% less energy than the old unit. The installation was the best part of the job. Getting an estimate and getting an installation appointment took a couple of weeks, largely because my old unit failed on the first hot day of summer and all the contractors were swamped. However, some other contractors were more prompt in returning calls than Shanahan's office. We selected Shanahan's based on their prior "double checkmarks" for price and quality in the Washington Checkbook survey and a very competitive quote for an upper-mid level heat pump system. It was a great decision.

The representative arrived on time and was courteous and professional. He saw all the spaces in my home where the units would be installed and noted the vent return and duct work that would be used and changed. He promised an estimate by email. In ever received one. I called a week later and was told that they were swamped with A/C repairs. Be patient. Three weeks late, no estimate. Called the owner. Voice mail. He was away until the next month. Directed calls to a manager. Left voice mail for him. No reply. Called today and inquired through a service scheduler. She was courteous and professional. She investigated and called me back to say "we cannot provide a quote for this work at this time." A TOTAL WASTE OF MY TIME.

So after going through an expensive investigative process, I was told by another provider that there was a leak in the AC system. To find the leak would would have required going through the walls to find the leak in the pipe which relays the Freon from the compressor to the interior blower. I called Jimmy for a second opinion. After taking a look, he told me that for a number of reasons, it was unlikely that there was a leak in the pipe as described, and that in any case, he could insert a fluid quite easily to repair any microscopic leaks that existed, and that this would be much cheaper and easier than going through the walls. So I followed his advice, had him do the work he recommended (which involved fixing some work the other company messed up), and have had the AC working for the past month at a much lower cost than the service recommended by the other company. So while he cannot get rid of the DC summer swamp outside, I wholeheartedly recommend him if you need your HVAC fixed.

I've used these guys a couple times and I've been really pleased. My unit wouldn't come on at all and I called them at night after I got home from work. He was swamped with other clients, but came out anyway. Turns out my kids had gotten into the tool room and turned the unit power switch off. He fixed it and didn't charge me a dime. They installed an AC unit outside for half of what their competitors were charging. It was fast, easy and I didn't have to mess with anything. Other than the AC working, I wouldn't even have been able to tell they were here. Thermostat went dead and he came over again, at night, on short notice. Figured out pretty fast that a tube was clogged and the pump had shut the system down instead of flooding my basement. He fixed it, blew out the g*** in the tube, showed me how to put bleach in there from time to time to keep the bacteria from building up and clogging it again. Again, short notice, came out at night, got system working in 15 minutes, cost me $85.

I don't often write reviews. My experience was so positive I am compelled to acknowledge. I called at 1pm on Sat 1/6 (I was out of town and my family was without heat). The operator was kind, thorough and very attentive. She could not get me in until the Sunday (it was 5 degrees outside and Im sure they were swamped) and assured me if they had any cancellations she would call. Excellent experience. Wish I remembered her name. Sunday, I got a call at 8am from Steven, he would be at my house in 20 mins, and he was. STEVEN, STEVEN, STEVEN...absolutely phenomenal. He was professional, took time to explain everything and was just a great young man to me and my family. The heat had begun to work that am, of course, which made it difficult to find the issue. He was patient and thorough. Steven never seem put out to try and find my issue and worked endlessly til he found at least one issue. I signed up for a service contract based on Steven. Steven called me the next day to check on our system. Steven is a huge asset to your company.

We put down a deposit of $5,200 with the agreement that he would provide the information required for the county permit. The first time he provided the forms, the county rejected the forms indicating that the data did not meet code (Manual J) plus the number of occupants for the addition/house (2) was written as 7. We provided him the rejection info via email on 8/23/2010. We have not received revised forms as of 10/1/2010. We called him twice in the past 3 weeks, asking when the forms would be provided and indicating we want to get the ball rolling due to the coming winter. On 9/27/2010 we informed him (via email) that if he did not provide the completed forms by COB 10/1/2010 that we would like our deposit returned. We have received neither. Jamie has been polite but is not customer service oriented. He has not been responsive to our requests to "get the ball rolling". His response has regularly been that his sub-contractor (who does the ductwork design) is swamped.

The service technician, Shaun, did a great job diagnosing the problem. The office fell down on the job. "Dean" was supposed to get back to me with a price and availability no later than 5PM that same day - he never called. The problem was diagnosed around 12:30 PM on the 20th and I never received a repair price until after 1PM the following day. The service technician who was probably swamped with service calls had to make the call. "Dean" never called. The girl answering the phones in the office was nice enough and she tried her best to help me, however everything hinged on "Dean" and he was never available. This was not a few dollar repair, it was going to be into the hundreds -- I needed to know what this was going to cost me. By the time the technician from Bowman's called me back with a price, I already had another company scheduled to take care of the repair and they ended up giving me a better price. By June 22 (which was my choice -- the other company would have come to my home the day I called them) my HVAC unit was up-and-running. I will be using the other company from this point forward.

My next door neighbor recommended another service company. They couldn't come out for five more days. The technician worked for a very long time but said he had no idea what was wrong. At least he didn't charge me anything. So, I was back where I started the previous week. I "Googled" the symptoms and the text said to look at the outside unit, which neither company had done. I noticed the pipe leading from the house to the unit was covered in ice and that the insulation needed to be replaced. I went to Home Depot and asked for the supervisor. I told him my problem and he led me to the air conditioning insulation and showed me the proper type of tape to use (NOT duct tape). It cost less than $10. After that, I had no more problems; the air conditioning worked fine the rest of the summer. So, I paid $1555 for repairs that were not needed. Algonkian must have had some personnel turnover. To be fair, I knew next to nothing about air conditioning systems and was unable to precisely describe the problem other than the air conditioning didn't work. At least Algonkian answered their phone and actually showed up when they said they would. In addition, every company was swamped with service requests and maybe Algonkian just didn't have the time to thoroughly examine the entire system since I didn't have a service contract. If Roger came back; however, I would use Algonkian again. Lesson learned: GET A SERVICE CONTRACT FOR YOUR AIR CONDITIONING/HEATING UNIT. I looked at Angie's List and now have a service contract with a top rated company.

So, this was a difficult service to rate, because in the end the service I called for wasn't actually done. But I had to give them an all around conditional positive because they owned up to it and refunded the charge without a big fight. I have a geothermal furnace; one night it had a trouble light. My regular guy - who had installed and serviced it for the past 10 years or so - wasn't answering his phone, so I called Nugent the next day (Friday). Their website said they handled geothermals, the lady on the phone said they 'do them all the time' and she would send her 'best geothermal guy.' It was freezing and February, so I said yes please. The guy was late -- he showed up around 7 pm (but remember, it was freezing, February, and he said they were swamped with calls) - and very polite. Unfortunately, within about ten minutes it was clear that he wasn't a geothermal guy. He said he hadn't worked on a geo in several years, and he didn't even have the right tools. He was in fact surprised to learn that the company worked on geos (he was even surprised when I pointed out that the back of his shirt included the work 'geothermal'). So there wasn't much he could do except fiddle with wires for half an hour until I said I'd wait for my guy to call. I'll give him props, he was willing to try, but it made me nervous. He said he had to have a check before he left, so I wrote him one. I felt really bad for him, it was a Friday night and a late call and he really was nice and this was not his fault -- he said he didn't even know he'd been sent out on a geothermal. I called the company Monday and told them what happened. They were apologetic and offered to send out another guy Tuesday - but I was a little leary of accepting (remember, this was supposed to be their 'best geo guy'). Eventually my guy called - he was out of town on a family emergency - and fixed the geo in, like, ten minutes. It was a bad fuse. Bottom line: although it took some phone tag over a period of days, I reached their service manager Walt and told him the problem. They refunded my money within 6 weeks. Everyone seemed really professional (if you overlook the fact that the best geo guy couldn't see that the fuse had melted to the board). So I'd recommend them conditionally, just not for geos.

I had a 20 year old Rheem unit that I knew was coming to the end of its life. There were a few hot days in the Spring when the AC unit seemed to be working fine so I gave little thought to actively replacing the AC unit. So at the end of May we were experiencing a series of 90 degree days and the AC unit was cycling on but shutting off after a couple of minutes, then coming back on. We were getting some cooling but clearly we were dealing with an electrical malfunction of some kind. This started on Thursday. So we called our contractor of 20 years who is clearly swamped with calls because of the heat wave and says that he can not get to us until the following Tuesday!!! So I get on Angies list Friday morning and start calling AC contractors who are located in my immediate area with the hopes that I can find someone to look at our unit ASAP. One contractor came by but did not fix our unit and quoted a price for a new system. Because I was still hoping to get my AC fixed immediately I kept calling and eventually called Gus at Cosmos. I could tell that Gus was very busy with multiple calls because of the hot weather, understandably! I was upfront with Gus saying I knew I needed a new system but Gus said he could not install one until the following Wednesday. But understanding that we were desperate to get our old AC running in the mean time Gus came by late Friday afternoon and after an hour fixed my unit enough to keep us cool until our new unit could be installed. NOW THAT IS SERVICE!! So Gus installs only Carrier units (which is one of the top three best AC units) , and he suggested that I keep with a 3.5 ton unit and go for the 16 SEER(our old unit was 8 SEER). I will confess that I research (listen and verify) a LOT before making a big purchase . I spoke with other contractors to hear what they recommendend and in the end I was certain that Gus was not over selling me anything and that he was the best choice (best price and quality of equipement). So on Wednesday Douglas came initially to start to break down my old system and he patiently answered all of my many questions. A number of hours (installation is a big job) later Gus came with the second component of the unit. Likewise, Gus answered all of my questions about AC units, and my installation. I learned that he works hard to build peoples trust, he understands, as a small business owner, the importance of costomer loyalty. He is a great guy! And yes, I supervised the entire installation. I am VERY please that I connected with Gus, that he was kind enough to fix my old AC unit so that we would not be hot and uncomfortable waiting for our new system to be installed.

My AC unit went out the week of June 16th which was going to be a very hot week for my area. My AC / Heating system is over 25 years old and we were planning on replacing this year but the system went belly up before I was ready to buy. Looking at Angie's List I went first with one of the top providers in my area (ARS). I called and set up an appointment for an estimate. I then called other companies as well and had a different company inform me they could send out a service technician to see if I could get back up and running. The ARS representative showed up at the scheduled time and was the first company I had come to my home. I showed him my furnace and AC units. I also explained I had another company scheduled to come out and look at servicing my unit to get me back up and running as well as an replacement estimate. The representative then stated (paraphrase) that if the other company was going to fix it that he did not want to waste his time giving me an estimate. I explained again about how old the system was and we wanted it replaced... whatever fix was applied was only a band-aid an I needed a new system. We had the same discussion a couple of times during the entire time he was here. I informed him that if the cost to fix the system was going to be expensive that I would not have it done and needed an estimate ASAP so I can choose somebody to do the work. The ARS representative left asking me to call if I decided to get service done or not... I don't know why he asked for this... I wanted a quote regardless. The other company came to do the service and the cost was too expensive... so I asked them for a replacement quote. Then I called the ARS Rep and informed him that I was NOT getting the service done and that I needed a quote. The next day the Rep tried to call me but I was out of the house. I returned his call (9 am) and he informed me that he would get me a quote by 9-10pm. (As a side note, the last company I had come out had my quote to me with option in 1.5 hours after leaving). I informed the Rep that would be fine and that I needed it by Friday as we would make our decision Friday evening. I heard nothing. We got no quote when promised nor did we get a quote the next day... I even gave an extra 24 hours. The following day we picked a company. I informed all the other vendors of our decision, including ARS and I didn't even get an apology or explanation why I never recieved a quote. I guess they must be swamped and didn't want to waste their time with my job. Oh well... that was my experience with ARS...not very professional. The last two companies I got quotes from exceeded my expectations and I now have two companies I can go with. Good luck in the future ARS.

I have used ME Flow over the years because they have a contract with my condo association for twice yearly inspections of our HVAC units. Their responsiveness, professionalism and quality of service has gone from mediocre to terrible over the years. The first job ME Flow performed for me was replacement of my HVAC unit and roof heat pump in 2005. The cost of the unit plus installation was $4000. They put a mass of unnecessary pipes under the unit which were not installed in the previous identical unit and they also failed to shore up the mangle of pipes. A few months later the pipes started sagging because there was no support and they flooded my hardwood floors. It took two years of complaining for ME Flow to finally put blocks under the pipes and in the meantime I had my humidifier turned off to make sure there would be no more leaks. ME Flow refused to pay for the repair of my floors. In addition, they installed an Aprilaire thermostat that never functioned correctly. I complained several times and they never did anything about the problem. In 2006 I used them for something much simpler, to unclog a drain in the kitchen. They pulled the pipe completely out of the wall, tried to tell me it was my fault., and wanted to charge me some huge amount of money to repair their own mistake. I called the maintenance manager for the condo who made them fix the mistake at no charge to me. I did pay them $175 for snaking the drain. I planned to never use ME Flow again after these fiascos, but my air conditioning started malfunctioning this week and I called them to fix it after calling several other companies that were swamped. Nice man on the phone told me that they would be here in the early afternoon. Told him that I'd replaced their piece of crap thermostat with a Nest Thermostat to make sure that the company would service it. When no one showed up by 2 pm I called them to find out why and they told me they never planned to be here before 5. When I complained, they told me not only wouldn't they be there until after 5, but that they would pull out my Nest thermostat charge me $214 to replace it, and then for any repairs that were needed after that! If they weren't going to show up, if they wouldn't service my thermostat, they should have told me so at the start. I am NEVER letting ME Flow into my unit again even though they have the service contract with my condo. I a Nest certified technician/air conditioning and heat contractor coming here to repair my system tomorrow, and if it all works out well I will have them come to do my twice yearly maintenance checks. They have an A rating from Angie's List so I'm crossing my fingers. I'll be reporting on that experience after the service is completed.