A-1 Services, Inc.

A1 spent 4 hours here, charged me 467 bucks and left me with a cold boiler. Several requests to call me went unheard. I think they are a shady ripoff company

Good afternoon,I called back [redacted] at approximately 4:30 PM on 2/25/2015 shortly after her call to me at 3:10 PM. No complaints were made to the technician after either repair or to my company until 2 days after the...

work was completed.  This was brought about after the insurance company’s refusal to pay the additional work deemed as maintenance neglect.    All conversations up to this point has been done with her husband [redacted] who has approved all work and potential charges prior to performing any work. She insisted that [redacted], her husband, would have never approved thousands of dollars of work, that and she would talk to him and call me back last night, which never happened.   She went on to tell me that she only had $11 in her check book and the check was going to bounce due to insufficient funds.  
 I explained it is company policy to explain to the customer the service fees prior to dispatching technicians, especially when it is on emergency overtime service.  Her husband [redacted] approved the rate and a technician was dispatched.  Upon arrival the technician found several areas of the home heating piping were frozen and burst not allowing water to flow through the piping.  After assessment the tech gave [redacted] an approximate estimate to make the repairs and also suggested that glycol be inserted in the system to help prevent this occurring again.  Apparently they have had the same frozen piping in the past and the previous company failed to give them the option to protect this situation by adding glycol.  By this time it was later in the day and all the supply houses were closed.  I had some glycol at my shop and sent another technician over to the house without any additional charges.  Unfortunately the glycol had expired and I would not risk putting it in her system, it also was not the right type for his system.  As far as the diverter valve, that was not available either and ultimately would have cost even more to install and was not part of the original assessment and rough estimate to make the repairs. Also, if he stopped repairing the frozen piping and installed the diverter valve he would have spent more time on overtime rates.  Regardless of all of these extenuating circumstances the technician was able to get there heat on and they did not have to go to a hotel for the weekend.  What most people don't realize, when your piping freezes due to poor installation practices, it is impossible to determine how much ice has formed in the piping and where it all is located.  This is what my tech was up against, as soon as he started repairing and soldering with a torch, more ice would melt and come through the piping.  It is the nature of the repair and every situation is different.  Suzanne thinks’ that this would be an easy repair and rerouting the piping was an easier fix.  If this was the case we would have done it immediately, this was definitely not the case.  It would also leave her with other piping running outside as well as piping in her garage that was frozen and would freeze again and again.  We have a "pipe de-thawing machine" which expedited the thawing of the areas we were able to get to.  It does have limitations as per the manufactures recommendation and in the essence of safety it only worked in some of her instances.
 [redacted] called today, 2/26/2015 @ 8:37 AM and he completely acknowledged the fact that he did agree to pay the amount given to him before we sent a technician to his home.  Even after the work was done on Monday [redacted] offered a piece of cake to the technician, which would purvey the sense of a happy customer.  In the end, after a minor accommodation to his last bill [redacted] paid me by credit card.  
Sincerely,
[redacted]
President
A-1 Services Incorporated%3

Good afternoon,I called back [redacted] at approximately 4:30 PM on 2/25/2015 shortly after her call to me at 3:10 PM. No complaints were made to the technician after either repair or to my company until 2 days after the work was completed.  This was brought about after the insurance...

company’s refusal to pay the additional work deemed as maintenance neglect.    All conversations up to this point has been done with her husband [redacted] who has approved all work and potential charges prior to performing any work. She insisted that [redacted], her husband, would have never approved thousands of dollars of work, that and she would talk to him and call me back last night, which never happened.   She went on to tell me that she only had $11 in her check book and the check was going to bounce due to insufficient funds.  
 I explained it is company policy to explain to the customer the service fees prior to dispatching technicians, especially when it is on emergency overtime service.  Her husband [redacted] approved the rate and a technician was dispatched.  Upon arrival the technician found several areas of the home heating piping were frozen and burst not allowing water to flow through the piping.  After assessment the tech gave [redacted] an approximate estimate to make the repairs and also suggested that glycol be inserted in the system to help prevent this occurring again.  Apparently they have had the same frozen piping in the past and the previous company failed to give them the option to protect this situation by adding glycol.  By this time it was later in the day and all the supply houses were closed.  I had some glycol at my shop and sent another technician over to the house without any additional charges.  Unfortunately the glycol had expired and I would not risk putting it in her system, it also was not the right type for his system.  As far as the diverter valve, that was not available either and ultimately would have cost even more to install and was not part of the original assessment and rough estimate to make the repairs. Also, if he stopped repairing the frozen piping and installed the diverter valve he would have spent more time on overtime rates.  Regardless of all of these extenuating circumstances the technician was able to get there heat on and they did not have to go to a hotel for the weekend.  What most people don't realize, when your piping freezes due to poor installation practices, it is impossible to determine how much ice has formed in the piping and where it all is located.  This is what my tech was up against, as soon as he started repairing and soldering with a torch, more ice would melt and come through the piping.  It is the nature of the repair and every situation is different.  Suzanne thinks’ that this would be an easy repair and rerouting the piping was an easier fix.  If this was the case we would have done it immediately, this was definitely not the case.  It would also leave her with other piping running outside as well as piping in her garage that was frozen and would freeze again and again.  We have a "pipe de-thawing machine" which expedited the thawing of the areas we were able to get to.  It does have limitations as per the manufactures recommendation and in the essence of safety it only worked in some of her instances.
 [redacted] called today, 2/26/2015 @ 8:37 AM and he completely acknowledged the fact that he did agree to pay the amount given to him before we sent a technician to his home.  Even after the work was done on Monday [redacted] offered a piece of cake to the technician, which would purvey the sense of a happy customer.  In the end, after a minor accommodation to his last bill [redacted] paid me by credit card.  
Sincerely,
[redacted]
President
A-1 Services Incorporated%3

Review: A1Services came out on Saturday Feb. 21st 2015 to fix frozen heating pipes which then burst. A1 showed up, but that's where the good ended. Bilked for almost $2800. Day 1 bill $1718.88. They were here on Saturday from 11am-8pm. Took 4 failed attempts to fix 1 area of burst pipe. Assistant that came w/supplies but forgot heat diverter valve so we could have heat in the rest of the house while the repairs were going on to the damage pipe in one of our 3 heating zones. The assistant that came out with supplies also brought expired glycol/heating antifreeze so we were at risk for the pipes refereeing. A1 had to come back Monday February 23rd and on Monday we were charged $1071.28 more for work that could have been done Saturday if the tech ever decided to call back anyone for the right items or show up with the right items and get it done on the first go round. On Monday the same tech was back and was due out between 10&11am....didn't show til 1, stayed til 4. According to our insurance agent we were overcharged due to the emergency and lack of time to get other quotes. Logically this job could have been done in one shot vs doubling the steps pushing it into 2 days for extended billing....We seriously got ripped off.Desired Settlement: We have stopped payment of the second check in the hopes they will offer a price break. They must have run to the bank with the first check as it has already been cashed. In calling to talk to the owner I got..."He's in a meeting and will have to call you back"

Business

Response:

Good afternoon,I called back [redacted] at approximately 4:30 PM on 2/25/2015 shortly after her call to me at 3:10 PM. No complaints were made to the technician after either repair or to my company until 2 days after the work was completed. This was brought about after the insurance company’s refusal to pay the additional work deemed as maintenance neglect. All conversations up to this point has been done with her husband [redacted] who has approved all work and potential charges prior to performing any work. She insisted that [redacted], her husband, would have never approved thousands of dollars of work, that and she would talk to him and call me back last night, which never happened. She went on to tell me that she only had $11 in her check book and the check was going to bounce due to insufficient funds.

I explained it is company policy to explain to the customer the service fees prior to dispatching technicians, especially when it is on emergency overtime service. Her husband [redacted] approved the rate and a technician was dispatched. Upon arrival the technician found several areas of the home heating piping were frozen and burst not allowing water to flow through the piping. After assessment the tech gave [redacted] an approximate estimate to make the repairs and also suggested that glycol be inserted in the system to help prevent this occurring again. Apparently they have had the same frozen piping in the past and the previous company failed to give them the option to protect this situation by adding glycol. By this time it was later in the day and all the supply houses were closed. I had some glycol at my shop and sent another technician over to the house without any additional charges. Unfortunately the glycol had expired and I would not risk putting it in her system, it also was not the right type for his system. As far as the diverter valve, that was not available either and ultimately would have cost even more to install and was not part of the original assessment and rough estimate to make the repairs. Also, if he stopped repairing the frozen piping and installed the diverter valve he would have spent more time on overtime rates. Regardless of all of these extenuating circumstances the technician was able to get there heat on and they did not have to go to a hotel for the weekend. What most people don't realize, when your piping freezes due to poor installation practices, it is impossible to determine how much ice has formed in the piping and where it all is located. This is what my tech was up against, as soon as he started repairing and soldering with a torch, more ice would melt and come through the piping. It is the nature of the repair and every situation is different. Suzanne thinks’ that this would be an easy repair and rerouting the piping was an easier fix. If this was the case we would have done it immediately, this was definitely not the case. It would also leave her with other piping running outside as well as piping in her garage that was frozen and would freeze again and again. We have a "pipe de-thawing machine" which expedited the thawing of the areas we were able to get to. It does have limitations as per the manufactures recommendation and in the essence of safety it only worked in some of her instances.

[redacted] called today, 2/26/2015 @ 8:37 AM and he completely acknowledged the fact that he did agree to pay the amount given to him before we sent a technician to his home. Even after the work was done on Monday [redacted] offered a piece of cake to the technician, which would purvey the sense of a happy customer. In the end, after a minor accommodation to his last bill [redacted] paid me by credit card.

Sincerely,

President

A-1 Services Incorporated%3

Review: On Friday, October 25, 2013, A1 Service of [redacted] was to come to my home between 10am and 2pm to clean my furnace and purge the air from my baseboard radiators. I received a call at 2pm saying the technician would be at my home "in about an hour". The technician arrived at 5pm, another three hours later (unannounced), and during the process of purging the system the block cracked in the furnace, water pouring onto the basement floor. He stated that he had never seen this happen before, that usually a customer will call saying there is already a problem with water around their furnace. Despite this, the company had the nerve to present me with an invoice (minutes later) for $159.53 (which I made the mistake of paying). No cleaning or other service was performed, and the technician left the home with no heat or hot water. The technician also took a pail from underneath my workbench and used it near the furnace, and was wandering around the living room "looking for the thermostats" when I came in from letting my dog out. The owner, [redacted], was tremendously arrogant and unprofessional on the phone ("yeah, these things happen") and was laughing at every comment I had to say, saying the furnace must have had a preexisting condition (my Dad had a preexisting condition too, but that doesn't give a hospital license to kill him). I further noticed through several phone conversations with Mr. [redacted] that he has a habit of laughing at everyone around him, believing, I suppose, that he himself is a genius.The only "offer" he made to address the situation was to say he could send someone to my home to inspect the furnace - as if I would let anyone from his company back into my home again, and as if I would expect an unbiased opinion from him.I cannot emphasize enough how arrogant, unprofessional, and untrustworthy this company was, and I would highly recommend against using their services or trusting them into your home.Desired Settlement: To warn other potential customers of my experience with this company, and to collect back the $159.53 I paid this company to essentially damage my property and leave. Further, and to acknowledge his past demeanor, I will not tolerate telephone, e-mail, or other forms of harassment from Mr. [redacted] with regard to this issue.

Business

Response:

B.B.B.,

I spoke to Mr. [redacted] on10/25/13 he told me that he had air in his system, no heat in his house, he said that he tried several times to bleed the system and could not seem to get the air out. I explained to Mr. [redacted] that the only way air gets into his boiler is there has to be a leak somewhere. It is impossible to have an air bound system when you have a sealed heating loop without having a leak somewhere for the air to get in. I said we would get there ASAP and that although I didn’t have an exact time, (because it’s hard to say how long the prior calls take as everyone is different), that would be there ASAP. Mr. [redacted] said that would be fine as he would be home anyway. When my technician, [redacted] arrived he proceeded to trouble shoot the system. [redacted] determined that the system was air bound and he would purge or bleed the air out of the boiler. [redacted] began the air purging process using the industry standard process as he has done countless times before. [redacted] is seasoned licensed Journeymen and has been working for A-1 Services since 4/14/1995. As soon as he removed the air from the boiler it started to show signs of water leaking from the sections. This is how the air got in the boiler in the first place. Mr. [redacted] also stated to [redacted] that he has seen water on the floor before. [redacted] explained to Mr. [redacted] that the boiler has a leak in it and further investigation would be necessary to determine the exact location of it. When I called Mr. [redacted] he was extremely rude and nasty to me saying that my technician broke his boiler and I was going to buy him a new one. I offered to have the Factory Representative from [redacted] come to inspect the boiler and perhaps there may be a warranty left on the sections. I also explained to Mr. [redacted] that most cast iron boiler manufactures carry a 20 year warranty and in some cases a lifetime warranty on manufacturer defects of cast iron boilers. He became very belligerent and started screaming at me that [redacted] ruined his boiler and that was it and I was going to pay. I explained again that there was a leak in his system before we arrived, as explained when I spoke to him prior to our arrival and that there is no way for air to get into a sealed system like his boiler unless there was a someway for the air to get in. I further explained that this was a very unfortunate problem and that [redacted] did not and could not cause his boiler to start leaking by purging the air out of his system, its impossible. At no point did I laugh or say anything about my Dad having a preexisting condition like he said on his report. I have been in business for 27 years and pride myself in professionalism, understanding, and solving customers heating and air conditioning needs at a fair price. I have no idea where Mr. [redacted] is coming up with this absurd, totally untrue statement of things I never said.

[redacted] is a very meticulous technician who would never leave a mess let alone a flood of water, Mr. [redacted] used some old rags around the base of the boiler and said that was fine. I have pictures showing the boiler and the rags around the boiler that I can email to you if you would like. Please see the attached photos. This boiler is 26 years old and was not eligible for any kind of warranty from [redacted].

Sincerely,

President

A-1 Services Inc

###-###-####

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

This is regarding the response letter from [redacted] of A1 Services. First of all, I find it interesting that someone who is allegedly so professional has taken nearly two months to respond to this complaint. Second, there are numerous claims in Mr. [redacted]’s response that shows he is either creating his own reality, or otherwise distorting the facts of the case to suit his needs:

You say “I didn’t have an exact time”. Well, you did, that was between 10am and 2pm October 25, 2013. You arrived at 5pm. You claim there was “no heat in the house”. There was heat, just “noisy” baseboards. You claim the technician “determined that the system was air bound”. He didn’t “determine” anything, the call was to purge and clean the furnace. You claim that “as soon as he removed air from the boiler it started to show signs of water leaking from the sections”. Also a fabrication, the technician was surprised to see water pouring from around the boiler during the process of purging the SECOND of two zones. He, in fact, said, "I've never seen this happen before".

I have gone through the expense of replacing my entire furnace system, no thanks to A1 Service. I have had several other furnace companies tell me that they have never, in the course of 20, 30 years, and more, NEVER seen the block of a furnace crack during the process of purging the system. WAY too coincidental that it should happen right at that moment, destroying the furnace.

If Mr. [redacted] sends photos of the bath towels (not “rags”) that I had to put around the furnace because of all the water that poured out of the system, be sure to check the photo for the red pail behind the furnace that the technician took from under my workbench to catch any water during the purging process.

Despite all the hell I went through, Mr. [redacted] had the nerve to present me with a bill for $159.53 for damaging my property. It is THIS that I have a problem with. Don’t come into my home, damage my property, and leave me without heat and hot water, and THEN present me with a bill for $159.53. Mr. [redacted] doesn’t seem to want to address this issue. A1 Services did not (successfully) purge my furnace system, nor did they even reach the point of attempting to clean my furnace, and I expect to be refunded for these charges. Mr. [redacted] claims that he “prides himself in professionalism, understanding, and solving customers heating and air conditioning needs at a fair price”. Have you seen professionalism, understanding, or need-solving in this story?

A1 Service, along with Mr. [redacted]’s arrogance and irresponsibility, has caused a great deal of stress for this family. If he WAS professional, he could have been the one to replace my furnace system for me. But because of his attitude, I took my business elsewhere, leaving him responsible for nothing. But don’t have the audacity to bill me $159.53 for your “services” knowing what happened. This, Mr. [redacted], is not “professionalism”.

Sincerely,

On Friday, October 25, 2013, A1 Service of [redacted] was to come to my home between 10am and 2pm to clean my furnace and purge the air from my baseboard radiators. I received a call at 2pm saying the technician would be at my home "in about an hour". The technician arrived at 5pm, another three hours later (unannounced), and during the process of purging the system the block cracked in the furnace, water pouring onto the basement floor. He stated that he had never seen this happen before, that usually a customer will call saying there is already a problem with water around their furnace. Despite this, the company had the nerve to present me with an invoice (minutes later) for $159.53 (which I made the mistake of paying). No cleaning or other service was performed, and the technician left the home with no heat or hot water. The technician also took a pail from underneath my workbench and used it near the furnace, and was wandering around the living room "looking for the thermostats" when I came in from letting my dog out. The owner, [redacted], was tremendously arrogant and unprofessional on the phone ("yeah, these things happen") and was laughing at every comment I had to say, saying the furnace must have had a preexisting condition (my Dad had a preexisting condition too, but that doesn't give a hospital license to kill him). I further noticed through several phone conversations with Mr. [redacted] that he has a habit of laughing at everyone around him, believing, I suppose, that he himself is a genius.The only "offer" he made to address the situation was to say he could send someone to my home to inspect the furnace - as if I would let anyone from his company back into my home again, and as if I would expect an unbiased opinion from him.I cannot emphasize enough how arrogant, unprofessional, and untrustworthy this company was, and I would highly recommend against using their services or trusting them into your home.