LITO was great about coming in on fairly short notice, and diagnosed the problem quite quickly - he gave me instructions so we could save money and do the repair ourselves. When the repair didn't work I called him back and even though we had bought the wrong part and it wasn't his diagnosis that was the problem, he didn't charge me for the second visit and was friendly and polite about it all. I would recommend and will be using Sarte to service the AC from now on.
My furnace started acting up the week before Christmas. Some basic troubleshooting and research, led me to believe that the Honeywell gas valve might be failing (common circuit board/harness connector issue) in the 19 yr old furnace. I contacted several HVAC companies to try to get an appointment for an upcoming day off work and to detail symptoms and suspected cause. Sarte was first to respond. The tech came out on Dec 22 and noted the gas valve and igniter were in need of replacement. He said he would order the parts and it would be 2 or 3 days to get them in. He gave me a verbal estimate of what the valve might cost and as it was just slightly higher then the parts prices I had seen it available locally for, I said do it, but time would be tight as I was leaving town to visit family. The furnace continued to work intermittently while I waited for parts. The furnace was not yet repaired when I had to leave for my trip on Dec 26, so the problem was left with the house sitter to finish up. On Dec 29, the furnace was repaired and has been working since.
Pros
- quick appointment to meet my scheduled day off work
- good email communication response from GM, Lito [redacted]
- techs (Ed & Amato) were in and out promptly during their service calls
- furnace is fixed
Cons
- some minor miscommunication between myself and the GM about when their parts supplier would reopen after Christmas
- some minor miscommunication between my house sitter and Sarte Admin staff, about the schedule, likely due to by both parties not knowing all the details
- high mark-up on replacement parts:
Sarte - Gas Valve $473 & Igniter $189
Local HVAC Parts Supplier Chain - Gas Valve $346 & Igniter $95
Ontario based On-line HVAC Parts - Gas Valve $173 & Igniter $49
Previous HVAC Contractor - Igniter $100
- not really sure if igniter replacement was required, cannot find anything wrong with it if checking resistance against factory specs ( I will save it for a back up, I guess)
Lessons Learned
- get written pricing on the parts, not just verbal from the tech on site
- get explanation of part failure cause that is requiring the parts replacement (igniter)
The timing of the furnace work contributes to some of the issues, as it was winter, I had little time to deal with it before leaving town and it was around the Christmas holidays which means many work places (suppliers, couriers) have reduced hours.
I have rated my experience 'Neutral' as it started off very positive, but the sticker shock when I got back from my trip left me with a negative feeling.
I would likely call Sarte, when I need a new furnace quote, but only 50/50 if it was for more service work.
LITO was great about coming in on fairly short notice, and diagnosed the problem quite quickly - he gave me instructions so we could save money and do the repair ourselves. When the repair didn't work I called him back and even though we had bought the wrong part and it wasn't his diagnosis that was the problem, he didn't charge me for the second visit and was friendly and polite about it all. I would recommend and will be using Sarte to service the AC from now on.
My furnace started acting up the week before Christmas. Some basic troubleshooting and research, led me to believe that the Honeywell gas valve might be failing (common circuit board/harness connector issue) in the 19 yr old furnace. I contacted several HVAC companies to try to get an appointment for an upcoming day off work and to detail symptoms and suspected cause. Sarte was first to respond. The tech came out on Dec 22 and noted the gas valve and igniter were in need of replacement. He said he would order the parts and it would be 2 or 3 days to get them in. He gave me a verbal estimate of what the valve might cost and as it was just slightly higher then the parts prices I had seen it available locally for, I said do it, but time would be tight as I was leaving town to visit family. The furnace continued to work intermittently while I waited for parts. The furnace was not yet repaired when I had to leave for my trip on Dec 26, so the problem was left with the house sitter to finish up. On Dec 29, the furnace was repaired and has been working since.
Pros
- quick appointment to meet my scheduled day off work
- good email communication response from GM, Lito [redacted]
- techs (Ed & Amato) were in and out promptly during their service calls
- furnace is fixed
Cons
- some minor miscommunication between myself and the GM about when their parts supplier would reopen after Christmas
- some minor miscommunication between my house sitter and Sarte Admin staff, about the schedule, likely due to by both parties not knowing all the details
- high mark-up on replacement parts:
Sarte - Gas Valve $473 & Igniter $189
Local HVAC Parts Supplier Chain - Gas Valve $346 & Igniter $95
Ontario based On-line HVAC Parts - Gas Valve $173 & Igniter $49
Previous HVAC Contractor - Igniter $100
- not really sure if igniter replacement was required, cannot find anything wrong with it if checking resistance against factory specs ( I will save it for a back up, I guess)
Lessons Learned
- get written pricing on the parts, not just verbal from the tech on site
- get explanation of part failure cause that is requiring the parts replacement (igniter)
The timing of the furnace work contributes to some of the issues, as it was winter, I had little time to deal with it before leaving town and it was around the Christmas holidays which means many work places (suppliers, couriers) have reduced hours.
I have rated my experience 'Neutral' as it started off very positive, but the sticker shock when I got back from my trip left me with a negative feeling.
I would likely call Sarte, when I need a new furnace quote, but only 50/50 if it was for more service work.