Schaal Heating & Cooling

Here are my few experiences with them.
1st - 12/27/16 - I had a routine servicing at which they found a small leak with the pvc exhaust pipe which was causing condensation to form and leak into the system - they called this "acid rain" and said its very dangerous. Although it is an issue I feel this avenue is a this fear tactic and a rush to sell you on something -this should be a huge red flag. After I agreed to the fix not fully knowing what it entailed due to the danger it posed they were going to charge me over $400 to "repair/replace/pvc intake". This entailed $20 worth of PVC and 20 minutes of effort. After the fact when I realized this I gave quite a bit of pushback on cost and the tech called his manager and they lowered it to $235 saying the reason for the billing was due to the operation of the business which I understand to a degree but not at a 400% increase - the 235 was still a ridiculous price but just goes to show the insane markup / sales they have and that either their overhead is way to high and they are passing that cost on to the consumer or their techs get commission. Either way I don't know how you can say you have been a trusted HVAC company in the area for 70 years when you are outright overcharging people who don't know better.
2nd - 7/1/19 - New estimate given on a replacing TXV valve / dryer (doesn't include refrigerant) which was causing issues with my AC unit cooling properly. The tech came back with a price tag of $1800 saying it would take approximately 4 hours to do the work. I was incredibly surprised at an estimate that would be nearly the cost of a brand new unit. This $1800 also was stated that it wasn't a guarantee on fixing the overall issue which they were only 60% confident that it would, they stated it would fix this "part" and if other issues arose costs could get higher, and as soon as they install the part I own it. Much like the first scenario this appears to be a fear tactic to upsell to a new unit all together making me think this fix is futile and a waste of money. The tech went out of their way to say if it's a long term solution he would consider buying a new system. My current system is 7 years old and because of my 1st experience I did a bit more research this go around to get comparable cost and what I could see online was 200 in parts and another 200 at most for labor. That puts Schaal at charging $400 / hr for their techs (which is what they were trying to charge on my last experience). I called a smaller ma and pop shop (one of those that don't need to market/advertise and they operate on word of mouth for being honest and trustworthy and asked them if they were to replace a txv valve and dryer.... They gave me a quote $325 - $375. They had looked at my system and determined is was just slightly low on Freon which they said was a $40 fix and if the TXV needed replace we can explore that more expensive $300 cost later. Needless to say the low Freon was causing issues and my AC is working well with no issues and cost a fraction of Schaal's quote.

purchased new system, including new thermostat to go with 2-stage furnacebut thermostat installed with only four wires
Late last year, I purchased a new furnace, air conditioner, and water heater from Schaals. My salesman, Dan, told me everything would be installed new (and new is circled across my quote). I specifically asked him if my existing thermostat would work with the system quoted. He said I'd need a new thermostat, and marked it on the quote. The installers cut several corners, and I had them redo work. (They said their work orders said to reuse existing equipmentI pointed out that my quote was marked new, so they redid several things without protest.) One thing I didn't think to check was the thermostat installation. Anyway, I'm not a wiring expert, that's why I had them install the thermostat to begin with. But recently I noticed that the thermostat was set for single stage, defeating the whole sales spiel about a 2-stage furnace being more comfortable and saving me money. So I contacted Customer Service on June 9 asking for instructions on how to use two-stage furnace with the current setup. I didn't hear back, but as I've done additional research, it appears that my thermostat, which only has 4 wires, is limited to single-stage use. (Again, I'm not a wiring expert, that's just what I'm reading while awaiting a response from Schaals.) On June 28, I contacted my salesman, Dan since I hadn't heard from Customer Service. I got his voicemail (identifying him by name, and saying he works for Schaals) so said I'd purchased in November, had a question, could he call me back? Left my phone number twicebut haven't heard back. Since I haven't received a response, I finally emailed the specific Customer Service agent I've dealt with in the past, Karla, on July 4. I *didget a response to that request, but unfortunately it was a "user unknown" email bounce so I assume she no longer works for them. I purchased a two-stage furnace for the benefits of having a two-stage furnace, and my quote says a new thermostat is included in the price. I expect it to be compatible with the HVAC equipment I purchased. Based on current settings and what I've read, it doesn't appear to be wired appropriately for two-stage use. Why install a single-stage thermostat with my two-stage furnace? There are only 4 wires: Y, G, W, and R.