Horizon Services, Inc.

Horizon Services just performed another annual maintenance service on our heater, and as always, the technician was professional, on time, and helpful. He recommended several options for system improvement and took the time to discuss each one to help me pick the best for me.

My experiences over the last several years have all been very positive, except for your high price for heater replacement. The most recent call by Technician [redacted] was also a very favorable experience.

He was great and very professional and highly recommend

Review: My wife and I had a regularly scheduled service done to our heating unit on Friday, 28 Feb., 2014. The technician performed his standard checks on our unit and everything was in working order when he left. If fact, our heater was working fine before the man arrived. Sometime during the night our heater stopped working. We called Horizon Services today, 1 March, 2014, and they sent another technician out to check the system. He told us that we'll need a new blower motor which pushes the exhaust gases out of our house. Unfortunately for us, their supply warehouse is closed on weekends, they didn't have it readily available anyway and it probably won't be here until Tuesday at the earliest! Well, that will mean that my wife, our 2 cats & I will have to freeze for the next couple of days in our house until the problem can be corrected! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!Desired Settlement: I want the problem resolved with no additional cost than has already been paid! If fact, getting a partial refund will be justified.

Business

Response:

Summary of Business Activity:

YTD Transactions: 21,235

We would like to thank the homeowner for bringing their concern to our attention. We have spoken to the homeowner in detail via the phone and in person. On 3/3/14 a technician made a service visit to the residence and was able to identify the issue in question. He was able to make all repairs necessary for the homeowner’s system to operate properly and efficiently and as a courtesy, no further charges were incurred by the homeowner.

At this time we believe that the homeowner is happy with our actions, their system, and the outcome.

Thank you again for choosing Horizon Services and working with to allow us to resolve all of your issues, we appreciated your patients and business.

Consumer

Response:

Review: After having several companies out to examine my heat pump to find out why my utilities bill was sky high and my heater was unable to heat the house, they came to the conclusion that my heat pump was too small for my house and I would have to put in a gas furnace. After being reassured that my current system would not be difficult to switch over to gas and since I was under the assumption this was the only thing that could be done to fix my problem, I agreed. My boyfriend, who was assisting me with this matter, asked the salesman, [redacted], if Horizon's price would be a great deal, like a thousand or so more, or if it was comparable to other companies. [redacted] responded that Horizon would only be a couple 100 more, but that they are worth it due to their service. So unfortunately due to the worry of freezing pipes and my leaving town I trusted him without having time to shop around.

Now a job that was said to be six hours took a day and a half, which was said to be due to a kinked pipe that could've been the problem the whole time and due to the length of the time and quality of the work, I began to look further into exactly what I was getting and what I was paying for. I payed $7,634, which was discounted, ha I'm sure, from $9,975., so this couple hundred that [redacted] stated his company charges is actually a couple thousand for this so called "quality of work." After assessing the work following the installation I was left with scratches and cracks in my hardwood floor, my alarm system not plugged back in, a receptacle placed on the ductwork, a missing piece in my electrical panel, and rubble just left on the side of the house where they installed a vent. Following a day of calling the company and attempting to speak with someone, I was told their "managerial team" would return my call. Finally after a few days [redacted] returned my call and agreed to come to my house to assess the damage. The following day [redacted] and the training manager came and agreed this damage and quality of work was unacceptable, but stated they could NOT give me an itemized bill. This was the companies only saving grace that these two gentleman came and at least looked at things and [redacted] said he would talk to the owners to discuss some compensation once the damage was fixed, however it has now been two weeks and the work in the basement was fixed, but I am still waiting for the carpenter to fix the floor.

I admit I wish I knew more about heating systems, but this is my first home and as a consumer when you have no heat and the temperature is in the single digits I simply wanted to have the problem addressed properly and fixed. Unfortunately this company took advantage of that fact and overcharged me by thousands of dollars and I am still in the process of repairing the damage with no idea if there will actually be any compensation and if my boyfriend was not an electrician I would be unaware of half the damage they caused until I went to sell the house or had problems down the road, which is certainly not worth thousands of dollars more than what another company would charge me.Desired Settlement: My desired outcome would be for this company to finish the repairs to my house in a timely manner and for the price to be reduced to what I would pay if I used another company without this thousands of dollars extra for "quality of work" since the work that was done was obviously lacking in such.

Business

Response:

Summary of Business Activity:

YTD Transactions: 18,350

We would like to apologize for your recent experience. We understand that it was not something you expected, but we also would like to assure you that we are doing everything we can to make things right. You have since spoken multiple times with members of our Customer Relations team as well as with the responsible managers who have also made a visit to assess your claims. We also sent our Sr. Technical Manager to you home to review the system and our work. At this time, as you are aware, we have made arrangements for new flooring to be installed as soon as it was available and that all other minor repairs have been made.

Your new system is in excellent working conditions and is covered by our industry-leading warranties. As a homeowner you should feel confident with your purchasing decisions and know that we will stand behind our work. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any additional concerns or questions. Thank you again for your business.

[redacted] was very professional. He explained why he was checking certain parameters and also explained that if certain parts were not replaced it could cause future damage. All questions were answered in a very professional manner. There was absolutely no mess / damage after he was completed the maintenance check of my heater unit. The prices were a little high but knowing that the unit would be operating at peak performance was worth it.

Horizon technician [redacted]. was very polite and efficient. He explained what was wrong with our water heater and provided options. He went out of his way to fix the problem the same day.

I received prompt and courteous service when I called Horizon. The Tech. ([redacted]) was knowledgeable and was able to troubleshoot my a/c problems.

Review: My husband, [redacted], and I used Horizon back in the fall for a sewer line issue that we were having in our basementTo save us time, I will not rehash all the details, but moral of the story, due to Horizon's negligence, our basement flooded damaging all of our flooringTheir customer relations manager helped us rectify the issues, and ensured that Horizon paid for the entirety of our repairsAround the same time, we had paid $for the gold service contract, and to make use of the contract we paid for, we decided to give Horizon “one last chance” when we developed another issue within our home, but yet again we were left disgusted and disappointed by the service we received
On Thursday evening (March 27th, 2014), our kitchen sink became clogged; a minor clog I may addMy father-in-law, who is an outside service technician, was kind enough to stop over and help us with the issueOur house is 50+ years old; therefore, so are many of its partsSomewhere along the line, we obviously knocked something loose or damaged something, and over the course of the evening, we noticed that whenever we used the faucet, water began dripping from our kitchen into our basementUnfortunately, to make matters worse, the water was dripping near our electrical panelWe immediately called Horizon to request a service appointmentIt was around 7:30/8:pm when we placed the call, and despite being anxious about our issue, we understood that it was highly unlikely we would be able to have a technician come out the same nightNevertheless, we were given an appointment window of am – 12:pm for the next morning; however, we were reassured that were the first call because of our “gold service contract”I, like other customers, had to take time off from work to wait for the technician to arriveAs 8:approached, my husband called to check the status, and we were informed that the truck had broken down but that a second technician had been dispatchedForgive me, but given our prior history, I was a tad bit skeptical, although I continued to patiently waitBy 10:am, the technician still had not arrived, and again, we called to check the statusFinally, around 10:15-10:30, two technicians arrivedI explained the back story of our issue, and the technicians then spent less than two minutes looking under my kitchen sink, and less than that inspecting it from the basementOne of the technicians immediately said we had two options: #1) try to fix the leak, but he wasn't hopeful he would find it or be able to fix it, or #2) replace all of our old piping, since it would only cost ”slightly” moreNo problem I said, write me up a quoteAs you will see from the attachments, he quoted option #at $and #at $2753.50, and this was with our gold service contract discount (15%)I was beyond shockedNaturally, I called to discuss the options with my husbandI will say, I did not initially assume the pricing was deceitful, as I am not a plumber, and I do not know the ins and outs of pipingHowever, I am not naïve, and I am capable of understanding complex topicsSo while I understood that SOME (NOT all) of our pipes are old, I did not understand how less than feet of new PVC could possibly cost that muchMy husband requested to speak with the technicianHe began with the typical over the top friendly sales approach, and my husband asked him to justify the high pricesAgain, rather than focusing on fixing the issue, he continued to try to sell the more expensive option; replace everythingObviously, you are unable to see the area in which we are speaking of, but the technician advised that the pipe in question ran horizontal behind the entire length of our kitchen cabinets, which is a quite a distance, and in turn was how he was justifying the priceMy husband told him we would need to seek a second opinion before moving forwardAs soon as my husband informed him we would not be using Horizon services, he became quite flusteredAfter the call ended, he asked me if I would consider the second option if he could get a manager on the phone to lower the priceHere is part of my problem – Since when are prices are negotiable, and if so why start on the high end? Are the technicians car salesmen who stand to make a commission? If I remember the commercial correctly, Horizon prides itself on fair and honest pricing? I reiterated that would be seeking a second opinion and apologized for wasting the technicians’ timeThe technician then abruptly changed his tune to say it was no big deal because honestly they would never have agreed to do the job since it was next to an electrical panel; way too dangerous he said
As you will see from the attachments, the technician advised that it would cost $for him to take out the drywall behind out cabinets to view the pipesI should point out, that after they left, I peeked in the cabinet myself, and low and behold, right before my eyes was a removable panel of dry wallSo little me crawled in and removed this panel myselfTo my amazement, ALL of the pipes were visible, none of which ran the distance that the technician said it wouldOnce the technicians had left, we scheduled another service request with Joseph Frederick and SonsTheir technician was here within one hour of us making the call, and that was WITHOUT a priority service contractAs soon as he arrived, I explained our issue, and within seconds, he clear as day saw where our leak was coming fromHe actually said, “This is it?” meaning our issue was not nearly as catastrophic as [redacted] said it wasThe technician quickly gave us a quote for fixing the leak AND replacing all of the piping, a combination of Horizon’s Option #& #The grand total for this was $Once he gave me the quote, I then showed him the Horizon quotesHe said this is why his company does not have to pay a million dollars for commercials; Horizon does a good enough job on their own making themselves look terrible
So yet again, I am sure you can see where our frustration comes fromTherefore, I am kindly requesting a FULL refund of the $that we paid towards the service contract that we have never been able to benefit from.Desired Settlement: Refund of $Service Contract Fee
Business
Response:
Summary of Business Activity:
MTD Transactions: 9,
YTD Transactions: 44,
As requested we have closed the customer’s Service Plan and refunded the associated cost of the plan
We have taken steps to review this situation as a case study within our in-house training facilityThe feedback the customer provided will be vital in analyzing the situation in more detail and possibly utilizing it as a training tool
In any instance such as this, we also must suggest that homeowners try to refrain from comparing certain contractors to one anotherIn some cases this may be fine, but more times than not, the companies being compared, the services offered, and most importantly the value delivered by each are not the same
Consumer
Response:
We have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me

[redacted] with Horizon did a very good job diagnosing a minor problem with our heating system. He was thorough and explained things well to me. I would not hesitate to use Horizon again.

Professional, courteous, efficient.

[redacted] was very knowledgeable and helpful. He was very pleasant and answered all my questions. Every time he came into my house he put the covers on his feet to not dirty my floor. Showed in in the scheduled time.

[redacted] was great! I would ask for him again, very prompt.

I would recommend horizon. They were on time...professional....and curteous. They were very knowledgable and clean!

[redacted]. was a great service technician to have from Horizon. His professional demeanor and knowledge allowed him to quickly determine what the issue was in my home. I am so thankful he solved my drain issues and I can get back to "normal" in my home.

Today's visit was fast and professionally conducted, and expensive! Your tech was terrific!

The tech, [redacted] was extremely knowledgeable, courteous and personable.

[redacted]. Came to my house for a small service problem and quickly fixed it while explaining what happened. He also took the time to look at and explain some of the other features of unit and thermostat to me in terms even I could understand ! Like all horizon technicians I've met, professional, friendly, and and very happy to help answer any questions you have !

[redacted] very honest and did not charge for a service I did not need; while explaining exactly how the heating system worked.

Good review of plumbing needs. Identified items needing action