McDonald Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Inc.

Very good service on water heater installation from Carlos with McDonald PHAC. He called and arrived early, worked steadily, and was very professional and courteous throughout the process. The workmanship looks excellent.

As before, prompt service, well done!

I have always had good service from McDonald Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning. I have used them for both plumbing and HVAC. They are professional and do a good job.

The scheduling and the work was done professionally and promptly. The scheduler even called to let us know that [redacted] was on his way.
When we noticed a related small leak, [redacted] came back to our home a few hours later and took care of the problem. The scheduler I talked with about the problem also worked to facilitate Eduardo's prompt return.

Review: Called McDonalds to have a tune up performed on roof top heating/air conditioning unit.

11-7-13, [redacted] from McDonalds came out to do a tune up on heat/air unit.Unit was working fine just wanted a tune up for winter. [redacted] said that the evap coils were dirty and they needed to be cleaned. He said he used 3 cans of cleaner.He never mentioned any other problems with the unit. He asked if we wanted to buy a sevice that would include this tune-up and also a tune-up in the spring and a plumbing inspection. We agreed so our final bill was $475.13 instead of the original tune up cost of $79.50. The next day when the heater came on it started to trip the breaker. It had never done this before. We thought it might have been a freak thing and watched it for a few days. The unit kept tripping the breaker and we called McDonalds again. [redacted] came out on 11-30-13 and said that your compressor is fried and we would need a new unit for around $10,000.00. He said that this had nothing to do with the work that [redacted] did on the coils. We did not receive an invoice from [redacted] on this day. He said that he would have [redacted] from the office come out and see what our options were. In the mean time we looked thru our paperwork and found that the compressor was under warranty until 12-19-13. [redacted] came out on 12-3-13 and said your warranty on the unit runs out today and he could make us a good deal on a new unit for around $6,700.00. We told him that we wanted a new compressor. I also asked him about the invoice that we did not receive from [redacted] and he said you were not charged for the visit so we did not need one. I told him that I wanted an invoice from 11-30-13 and also one from him for todays visit. He said that he would have [redacted] in the office write one up and send both out with the tech. We have never received them. On 12-5-13 [redacted] (with another worker to help him get the compressor on the roof and then the other worker left) came out and did not seem happy, he said that he did not know he was going to be changing a compressor today and he did not have the right tools. He said that we also needed a reversing vaule (that no one mentioned before) and said that if we did not get it he would be out in a week to replace within a week, because once the compressor goes the reversing value also goes. He left to go and purchase the value. Came back staing that he had gone to three places and could not find one and that it would have to be ordered and sent over night. He said he would be back the next day around 1:00. He spent more time going up and down the ladder and looking for the part than doing any work. The next day we did not hear anything from McDonalds and my Husband called them at 1:30 and was told the part had not arrived and he asked them to track the part since they had not done so yet. We heard back from them and they said the part was stuck in Tennesse due to the weather and should be hear on Monday. [redacted] comes out on Monday 12-9-13 and has the reversing value, my husband asked him if he could see the part and [redacted] asked "Why, have you ever done this work before" [redacted] also stated that he could change out a compressor in an hour because he has done it so many times. Total work time about 4 1/2 hours, this is $600.00 dollars an hour! We told [redacted] that we felt we were being taken advantage of. He said that he used to work for [redacted] and they were crooks and added that all in the business were crooks. I signed the invoice and noted that it was under protest and gave him a check for $3,568.88 ($2,700.00 for labor and $868.88 for the reversing value) and noted on the check it was being paid under protest. We were told by [redacted] that the new compressor would have a new 10 year warranty,when in fact it is only for a year. We both feel that we have been taken advantage of and were charged a labor charge of $2,700.00 is outrageous. I told [redacted] that I would be filing a complaint with the Revdex.com and to let his boss know. I feel that we are owed a refund, who makes $600.00 an hour! Thank you for your helpDesired Settlement: We are requesting a refund of labor charges, I agree that labor charges should be charged, although not for a product that is under warranty and not in the amount of $2,700.00 and that we were without heat for 9 days except for a small pellat stove in the livingroom that does not heat the whole house. We are requesting a refund of $1,700.00. Thank you for your help with this matter

Business

Response:

Mr. & Mrs. [redacted],

I'm so sorry for the inconvenience that you experienced when your heat pump compressor went out. Older units commonly have problems and parts can malfunction on any given day. There was no way to predict failure of this particular part. Many times these types of parts (especially for older models) are not carried locally and have to be shipped from other areas. We were able to expedite your compressor and the valve when it was discovered that it was failing as well. It was unfortunate that the freezing weather we were experiencing locally was also a national problem and held up the delivery of your part. While it may not have appeared that we were working on solving you problems, there is much that goes on behind the scenes in locating, shipping, and follow-up of your parts, which contributes to the labor cost of replacing your equipment.

We have worked diligently to resolve your equipment problems and even came back to your home on 12/21/13 and installed a breaker for you at no charge. We would normally have charged the customer $473.83 for the diagnostic, labor, and part. Because of your concerns we have extended our labor warranty on these newly replaced parts from one year to two years and have also extended to you an annual MVP maintenance program valued at more than $400. While, having any type of equipment failure can be stressful we feel that we have done our best to expedite your repairs. We correctly priced your work, we performed additional work at no charge, and we are providing you with an increased warranty and maintenance program. Therefore, we do not feel that a reimbursement of $1700 is warranted.

Sincerely,

Office Manager

Consumer

Response:

Please help me understand how you are providing us with a annual MVP maintenance valued at more than $400.00 when we purchased that plan on 11-7-13 for the value rate of $336.13 (your standard rate is $399.63) It is correct that we were not charged for the tech to come out on 12-21-13. [redacted] purchased the new breaker at Home Depot for $10.00 and the invoice states that the standard charge is $335.15 and the value rate is (can't read the writing) looks like $250.15. Why wasn't the breaker checked in the first place? Talking with other techs that have been in the business a long time, they all recommend that with have another heating and air business come out and check the unit. Severe weather happens and cannot be predicted. I do not believe that you provided us with proper service as we had to call your business when you did not arrive when you said that you would to repair the unit, and we had to ask you to track the part because you had not done so. You also state that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes such as locating, shipping and follow-up of the parts. We had to ask you to follow-up on the parts because you had not done so. We do not accept your response and feel that we have been over charged an outrageous amount of money for the service that you state was provided and we are afraid every time we turn the unit on that something else is going to happen. The unit was working fine before you came out to do the tune-up and you keep referring to the unit as "older" is ten years really that old? and you are right this has been very stressful for myself and my disabled husband.

McDonalds provides excellent service with with well trained staff.

Darryl H[redacted] takes great care of our home HVAC!

McDonald Plumbing was on time and extremely pleasant to deal with. The service member provided what was required and fixed the issue as promised. I will use them again if needed and would recommend to anyone who needs plumbing work.

Review: I called McDonald Plumbing & Heating [redacted] to complain and asked for the owner, the receptionist [redacted] said she will have [redacted](supervisor) call me but instead she called the service tech directly [redacted], who was at my daughters home on [redacted] called me and said he was the service manager. [redacted] installed a $20 part in 10 minutes, plus show up fee of $79 and charged $265. (originally $369).... when [redacted] spoke with my husband he said he will give a discount of a return customer) My husband called to STOP the job.... [redacted] explained to my husband that he already did it. My husband asked how can you fix the unit if I called you back in less than 10 minutes. [redacted] said he had the part in his truck. [redacted] asked my daughter if there is a Carbon Monoxide unit in the house. Of course there is one, she just forgot. I explained to her where it is. [redacted] said If you use the heater at night there might be a leak, to change out the unit will cost 10K. My daughter called us crying and upset. I asked my daughter to call local CDF and send someone over to reassure her that the HVAC unit is fine, we will have another HVAC company come over to go over the unit $150. I am not comfortable with a company using these scare tactics on a young venerable female. In addition to over pricing.Desired Settlement: Requesting a billing adjustment $150 is reasonable instead of $265 is outrageous. $20 part and 79.50 show up fee with 10 minutes of work to change out a thermo coupler. Scare tactic is not justified

Business

Response:

I personally talked with the person that wrote this complaint today on the phone. She admits that she was not at the home, so the exact conversation on site is not known for certain. We do know that my certified Journeyman technician checked out the system and even though it is 41 years old he felt it was safe to repair and operated. He took the time to not only make the repair but to also confirm the operation was safe after the repair and advise the customer as per his findings. Because we have GPS units on all our trucks, we were able to confirm that he was at the home for a total of twenty nine minutes.

National third party independent data tells us that the average life of a gas furnace is 18 years. Older furnaces have a much higher frequency of heat exchanger failures than newer units. When they fail they can send carbon monoxide gas into the home. We would not have done our job correctly if we did not provide valuable and relevant information to our customers. The most importantly safety concerns. That is why we suggested that if the home currently did not have a CO2 detector in place, then installing one would be a good idea and also required by law.

We never know how the information we provide is going to be taken. In this case it was not taken very well. There is no way anyone can confirm the exact conversation. I can say however, that in the over seven years of employment with our company and literally hundreds of similar repair calls, this is the first time I have received a call from a customer claiming we used "scare tactics". I suggested that if they wanted a third party independent assessment of the safety of the furnace that they should call PG&E. They agreed to do so. This customer says she is going to also call another HVAC company to check out the unit and pay them $150.00 to do so but she only want to pay us the same amount to do the same job as well as for the repair?

I feel we provided a great service at a reasonable price. In an effort to put this issue behind us we are willing to provide a refund so the total cost of our services would be reduced to $150.00. The only condition is that the customer sign our "Compromise and Release form". Please let me know if the customer wants to proceed with the refund and I will forward the form.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my concern, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

I would like to review the compromise and release form McDonald is requesting.

Glen ** from your shop is a super guy. Very knowledgeable technician. He installed a new toilet for us, explaining everything that he was doing as he went along. We are planning to do some updating in our other bathroom and plan to use Glen for the upgrading efforts.

I've used this business on several statement occasions, and had positive experiences. I will definitely use them again.

Our 25 year old heater wouldn't start this year and it was getting very cold. I was afraid that we needed a new one or the repair would be very costly. I called McDonald heating, they sent Nick out the same day, our heater was fixed within 30 minutes! It was not a serious problem and now it runs better than every. Thank you for you service.

Cindy C

we have experienced excellent service for many years for our heating, plumbing and cooling needs---keep up the great work!

McDonald's PHAC is the only company I call for plumbing work at my home. [redacted] is the technician I request to do the work. He's always on time, friendly, professional. Work is done promptly, and the work area cleaned up. I believe the fees for service are good. I trust his work

Darryl has wonderful people and technical skills. He is honest, forthright and quite thorough in his diagnoses.

Same day service after calling with a problem with our pump. [redacted] was efficient and friendly! Great customer service!

Wow, same day service and they had the part. Good work out of Darryl.

[redacted] arrived promptly. He was courteous, professional, answered all my questions and solved the problem. I have heat again! Thank you, [redacted].

McDonald PHAC provided service to my furnace and my air conditioner on 11/13/2015. The Service Pro Nick M was a very personable young man, and I would welcome him in my home again. As he worked, we discussed his history, his Wife's profession, and his daughters, the youngest Michala (2). I have had continuing service from McDonald PHAC since they installed the units in about 2008. I have always been pleased with their work.

My wife and I woke the morning of the 13th, January with no heat coming from our furnace. We called McDonald Plumbing and a router by the name of [redacted] sent a
technician by the name [redacted] to our house by 10:00 and got our furnace working again by replacing a bad pressure switch. We are very thankful for the speed and concern for us.
Al Banducci