D & M Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.

We have used D&M Heating & Air Conditioning Inc. for at least the past 4 or more years to check our furnace and a/c. We are very pleased with the service we receive and the people in the office and the service tech, Tim. We are so pleased with Tim that we request that he is the person to come,
.I definitely would recommend D&M to anyone who is looking for that type of service.

excellent work. job done right. would call them again and again

I've contracted this company before and was happy with their service then and now. My furnace was making a weird sound and concerned me that a motor was on the brink of not working. Upon calling D&M their voice recording accepted my information and within 15 minutes I received a call back from the technician. He was on a different call/service appointment but arrived within an hour. He explained the problem and the different options available to correct it. Again his timeliness allowed me to not take too much time out of my day and he was finished in about 40 minutes, replacing a motor and inspecting the unit. This visit occurred on the day after Thanksgiving causing me to appreciate even more D&M's quick and efficient response to my concern.

My furnace went out and I contacted D&M Heating... they were out to my home the same day, and my furnace was replaced the following day. They had a very booked schedule (which speaks for itself), but were able to fit my install in, which meant a lot considering I have 3 children and the weather has turned cooler.
They worked within my budget, took plenty of time with me during both the consult and install, and gave me recommendations for the spring when I need to replace my AC unit.
Great experience, and competitive pricing.

I was very satisfied with the technician who checked my furnace and serviced my air conditioner. I would recommend D & M to friends

D&M has always been reliable and trustworthy. Their employees are knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. They work with you to make sure you are satisfied with their prices and their service.

I am very pleased with my business experience with D & M heating. Everyone has been helpful and cooperative. I feel like they are honest with me.

Review: Our home was purchased as new construction approximately eight years ago and had just recently been listed for sale. In preparation for a possible home inspection with any offer to purchase, we wanted to be sure that our furnace and air conditioner were in good condition. We had no heating or cooling issues at the time or any time during the past eight plus years that we have lived in our home. The air conditioning system was currently and had always blown cold air. Whenever asked by the D&M technicians or office staff prior to or during the following service calls, we explained that we had never had problems with either system and therefore this was the first service performed on either system. After checking with the Revdex.com and having a friend check [redacted], we contacted D & M Heating and Air Conditioning. We had high expectations for a routine experience since both of these rating/review services had top marks for this company.

July 12, 2013 - The preventive clean and check of our HVAC system was performed as scheduled. After performing the service, the technician provided us with a receipt that had a check list of the HVAC system points that had been checked and/or cleaned during the visit. This list included but was not limited to the air conditioner compressor and connections, the evaporator coil, refrigerant level, etc. When completed, I asked the technician if there were any areas of concern or issues with either system that I should be aware of or monitor. He said that everything was fine and nothing of concern or disrepair was noted on the receipt. Cost was as quoted – ($150) – paid in full.

August 20, 2013 - We had to call D&M back to our home for service when we found that, for the first time ever, the air conditioner was not working properly. It had stopped blowing cold air and the evaporator coil was completely frozen. Although five weeks had passed since our original service, living on [redacted], only five to six days during this time period had been in the temperature range requiring our air conditioner. A new technician arrived and as we suspected, he found a leak at the outside valve connection that was used to check the refrigerant level during the preventive maintenance. We voiced our concern to this technician that this issue was related to the original service since everything was in good working order at that time. We felt the valve might not have been properly seated when the original tech put things back together after checking the refrigerant level. This technician had later said he heard a “hiss” from the valve connection during this call. We incurred a charge of $122 for the valve replacement and the cost of recharging the refrigerant that had leaked since the original service call. ($122) – paid in full.

August 25, 2013 - We returned from out of town to find the air conditioner blowing warm air again – the cooling system was frozen badly as well. The same technician as the last call returned on an emergency call - this time finding that the a-coil had a leak and would need to be replaced. There was an audible hiss from the a-coil. He had us listen to the hiss at this time. He was very polite, professional and apologetic for the issues that had occurred – but could do nothing to help our cooling issue until another coil could be ordered the next day. Expected cost of this new repair could be approximately $900. Although completely exasperated, at this point we were too far into this issue with D&M to think about changing to another HVAC company. Our house was for sale and temperatures were in the 90’s - we had to have cool air. Therefore, we told him to go ahead and order the coil as soon as possible. We said that considering the circumstances, we expected installation the next day.

August 26, 2013 - I contacted [redacted] first thing the next morning to discuss our options. She said that the cost of replacing an evaporator coil is $900. However, D&M would apply the costs of the first two calls to this service charge and give us an additional $50 discount – therefore, it would ONLY cost us an additional $578 to settle up that day - ($900 – 50 - 150 - 122 = $578). She said that the cost of the a-coil replacement included not only the expense of the actual hardware (estimated to be approximately $200 - $300) but also the labor to install it and the cost to recharge the refrigerant again. We asked to talk to [redacted], but he was out of town. We needed the work to be done ASAP, so we told them to proceed. The a-coil was replaced successfully that afternoon . ($578 – paid in full).

So, as of this day – and hopefully - the final total out of pocket cost to us was $850 (578 + 120+122).

We have voiced our frustration and dissatisfaction with this experience to D & M many times during the last month. We have attempted to find a fair compromise and share the responsibility for this additional work but not profit from an unfortunate situation. [redacted] was very patient, professional and polite, as were all of the technicians that worked with us while trying to get our air conditioning back in service. However, when we asked to speak to [redacted] (Mr. [redacted]) regarding the financial implications of the leaky valve from the initial work, she said that he would be out of town until after Labor Day (8 days). We waited patiently for the first week and then tried to call again. However, after many additional attempts to contact him and hours waiting for a return call - he finally returned our calls Monday, September 9th.

During this call, Mr. [redacted] could not seem to understand our concerns . He tried to say that these things (valve and/or coil failure) can happen completely unrelated to any previous service work – things just happen! However, as I understood him, he also then explained that most HVAC companies do not really like to open the refrigerant lines to check the pressure levels because of the chance of a leak occurring (he said approximately 1 in 10) – especially if the valves are not opened routinely. He explained that they are in a tricky situation since customers don’t feel that they get their money’s worth if this part of the preventive service is not performed. Therefore, due to pressure from customers, they continue to include this questionable practice in their standard work order – even if the air conditioner is currently blowing cold air.

It seems that if the chance of causing an unexpected and potentially costly valve leak is really as high as 10% - it should be good business practice to inform their customers of the significant risk of causing unexpected issues and potentially costly repair. Also, if a careful technician knows that the chance is that high - wouldn’t they ensure that all valves are completely sealed before finishing the service call? At the very least – shouldn’t the customer be warned to monitor the valve for leaks for a while so they could act before more severe and/or expensive damage can be done? If these suggestions are not reasonable - it sounds more like a business model to increase return service calls – we were not given any options or any “heads up” after the fact.

We truly believe that if you follow the chain of events from the original service call for the preventive service on our fully functioning HVAC system - the damage to the a-coil is the clear result of the hard freeze during the first refrigerant valve failure. If the valve failed due to infrequent use as suggested by D&M – it was working fine prior to the PM service as noted on the tech’s checklist. We feel a thorough technician should have verified that the valve sealed properly before leaving the initial call and/or replace it if it was found to be faulty after opening. He did not voice or document any issues at the time and Mr. [redacted] said the he was a temporary employee and no longer employed with the company, therefore, he could not get any additional details after the fact. We feel that any of these options would have avoided the subsequent damage to the a-coil.

We have tried to be respectful and patient during this process. However, we also expect this well respected service company to stand behind the quality of their service and an expected diligence of their technician. We waited over two weeks to finally talk to [redacted] (Mr. [redacted]) regarding this issue and he would take no responsibility for our damage when we finally spoke. We have not been looking to be better off than before we started. We did not ask full a full refund. Because of the age of our unit, we asked them to share the cost of the a-coil service. We agreed to pay for our initial preventive call and the cost of the actual a-coil hardware ($150 + $275 = $425) so that they did not have to eat any of the “hard” costs of this work. We asked him to refund the labor cost as well as the refrigerant recharge (about $425 total) since it was obviously fully charged before this all began. During our discussion, Mr. [redacted] did not believe they held any responsibility but agreed to try to locate our a-coil, check out the leak and get back to us with a decision. However, surprisingly he did not call us back. We waited two more days and then my last call was again answered by the office manager. [redacted] said they did not have the a-coil, they are routinely destroyed immediately when returned to the shop. She said that her father was not available to talk to us anymore and that they had no plans to compensate us for this avoidable expense.Desired Settlement: Sharing the cost of the evaporator coil repair - refunding half of the cost = $425 refund.

Business

Response:

Re: Complaint of [redacted], ID# [redacted]

To Whom it May Concern;

I have read the entire complaint referenced above. I do not find anything incorrect regarding the

situation described by Ms. [redacted].

We were called to perform a routine maintenance check on a system that was manufactured in 2003. To

our knowledge, and by statements from the homeowner, there had been no previous maintenance or service

performed on this 10 year old system. The technician that was sent to the home has over 20 years of field

experience and he performed a routine maintenance check of the furnace and air conditioner as requested by the

homeowner. As part of this service, he attached a pressure gauge to the refrigerant line ports of the condensing

(outside) unit to verify the refrigerant charge in the system. This is not, as Ms. [redacted] indicated, a

"questionable practice", it is a standard industry practice. The activation of this valve after approximately 10

years of being sealed and not moved to provide routine service, led to a condition where the valve did not seal

properly. This condition was repaired by replacing the valves and recharging the system.

Subsequent to that visit, the system was low on refrigerant again and our technician diagnosed a leaking

evaporator (indoor) coil. There are numerous articles and papers regarding formicary corrosion of copper and

aluminum evaporator coils in our industry. I have included some with this response. It is an industry-wide

issue and not specific to Carrier. It is our opinion and determination that this is the cause of the failure of the

coil, not an act or omission on our part.

We attempted to satisfy this customer by reducing the cost of the replacement coil, an item not covered

by any manufacturer warranty, but, as you can determine from her complaint, our effort was not satisfactory to

her.

I did speak with Ms. [redacted] a few days after my return to work from vacation. She is incorrect in her

assessment of my understanding regarding her concerns in this matter. I was sympathetic to her situation and

attempted to explain that there was not necessarily a cause and effect for her coil failure, contrary to her

[redacted] son's assessment of the situation. These things do happen as documented by the attached articles. Her

coil was dismantled and prepared for recycling, so I was not able to do a complete assessment of the unit.

She is correct in her statement that we have no plans to compensate her any further in this matter.

Business

Response:

To Whom It May Concern,

I have again review this matter and had continuing conversations with the employees at our company that were involved in this situation.

I will again state that the indoor coil at the [redacted] house failed due to formicary corrosion, a very common condition, especially in newer "tight" houses.

As such, we do not feel any obligation to refund or share the cost of this repair with then any further than we have already discounted the services and repairs.

Consumer

Response:

The technicians were on time and started the work right away. They were friendly but yet very professional.

The serviceman (Tim) was prompt and friendly (he answered all my questions). He diagnosed the problem in a couple minutes, installed the new module, and thanked me for moving the litter box, sweeping the floor and putting towels down for him. Our house is warm now and I am looking forward to sub-zero temperatures tomorrow. At least until I have to start the car.

We would recommend D&M Heating for their excellent communication with Mr. D[redacted] and the excellent installation workmanship by Justin and Craig. It gives us great pleasure to see these two young men take so much pride and diligence in their installation. Communication with us was excellent and it doesn't get any better. They thoroughly explained everything and welcomed questions.