A#1 Air

Barry C.

Terrible customer service once they have your money for the initial installation.
I've had to reschedule my "free one year follow-up three times. Only when I threatened to take my business elsewhere was I guaranteed an exact time tomorrow. We will see...

Carlos B.

Update to my 7/12 post below...

7/12 was a bad day...not just for me because I waited almost 24 hours to finally get my A/C fixed but also for the first technician who came out and didn't thoroughly check everything out and probably for A# 1 and every other residential HVAC service out there because it was Very Hot.

On top of that both times a technician came out the fix was super simple. I'm sure I could not have done what the first technician did but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt I could have done what the second one did, take my programmable thermostat off the wall, pull the batteries out, wait a few seconds for the memory to clear then re-insert the old batteries, remount the thermostat and everything worked.

Frustrating? Yes. However, as I look at it from the whole experience and depersonalize it there is one thing that stands out. A# 1 Air did their best to provide good service to me and all their customers and I am sure every other HVAC service did the same without 100% satisfaction.

I think I could teach them a thing or two about triaging incoming calls that may save a ton of customer frustration and get technicians where they need to be and when they need to be there but that is a lesson learned that sometimes is not easily taught in an industry that has done the same thing the same way for as long as HVAC has been around.

In then end, I have a working A/C and I kept my Silver Club membership because ultimately I realized I wasn't the only one who had a bad day.


7/12 Very Hot!

My A/C (which I purchased 3 years ago from and was installed by A# 1Air) went out after a small storm passed through yesterday evening. When I called A# 1 they gave me a choice of waiting until 2AM for a technician (really? 2 AM?) or to get into the que in the morning. I choose sleep for me and my neighbors and called back first thing this morning to learn I was second in the que.

At 11 AM I was informed the technician was on the way and should be here by 11:30 or 11:45. The tech arrived at about 12:30, found the problem and replaced a fuse. Before she left, she sold me a Silver Club membership.

Before 2 PM my A/C had quit working again. I called A# 1 expecting to get an apology for my inconvenience (they are a customer service business, you know) and to be told someone was on the way but no, not so.

The person who took the call informed me she would have dispatch call me. When dispatch called I was told I was 3rd in que. Quick math tells me it is now going to be after 8PM before the technician arrives!

So, now I'm wondering the real value (to me) of this silver membership. I think I will get my money back, hold them to their advertised "Repairs - Fixed Right or It's Free" and not pay them anything and call someone else next time.

Mary O.

Called because of their 24/7 policy and our a/c was not working. They were friendly enough, but when they called dispatch to find available time for help, I was told that because I was not a "club" member they could not tell me when they would have an availability. Was shocked to hear from a company that one had to be a mmember to get service. I confirmed with person on the phone that she meant she could not put me on the schedule or give me an estimate of how long it would be. Hung up, called another company and they came out that afternoon. A#1 is not at all living up to that claim. For all their TV ads, they never mention that they only help club members. Will not call them again.

Linda W.

Well, interesting concept, no overtime and 24 hour service. But not true. I called at about 9:00 pm on a Wednesday night, got an operator who asked me a lot of questions, mainly to see how old my unit was and if I had any kind of service warranty. When she found out it was a fairly new unit, she placed me on hold to find a time slot for me. Her exact words, "There are no available technicians in your area, since you are not a club member." I responded, "never, ever, not in 1 week, not in 1 month, not in 1 year"? Then she started to back track and the best she could do is call me back, if anything opens. Definitely false advertising and should be reported to the better business bureau. I went ahead and calledl several other companies and got a nice young man, Carrollton company to return my call and I had service the next day at 10:00 am. Service call was reasonable and 1/4 hour rate was acceptable. His ad didn't make any promises, but he sure did exceed my expectations, especially in the summertime in Texas. When and if A #1 ever calls me back, I doubt they will, I won't need or use them.

Kelly L.

AC was blowing warm air. Scheduled an appt and the techs came on time and were quite friendly. They repaired the problem promptly and said the cost was $250, but for only $25 more I could get their "service club" membership, which would include two free tune ups in the next year. I said ok and paid them $276....but after considering it, I decided to cancel the membership. When I called to cancel, I found out that the cost of the repair was only $132 and the techs had misled me into spending $144 for the club membership, not the $25 they stated. I informed the company about what had happened and they did extend an apology and refunded my $144.

Christopher G.

"Had a significant duct issue preventing one of our bedrooms from cooling. My technician arrived at the set time was able to get it repaired quickly. Technician was very professional, not pushy, made good recommendations on things to address in the future. I will contact A#1 when in need of HVAC service.

Patrick T.

Requested service on a Friday and was told it would be next day. Technician showed up at 9:30PM on Saturday. He took about 2.5 minutes to diagnose my system and told me I needed a new coil at $3300 or a new system at $8400. I asked the tech how sure he was of his diagnosis and he said 100%. I called another company the next day. Their tech thoroughly checked the unit and fixed it for $250.

Cory W.

I bought a new A/C for my condo last summer (2012). They offered a one-year-later free check-up. I took them up on their offer recently.
Long story short, I missed three days of work for an appointment that should have taken no more than an hour of one day.
Their dispatch department and communication between dispatch and the techs is pathetic and non-existent and needs immediate attention.
The first time, the tech showed up without a sufficient ladder to access my unit. She called their dispatch department who did in fact have in their notes that my condo would require the big ladder, so dispatch failed to find a tech with a sufficient ladder. No one could come that day with the ladder, so I rescheduled for the following Friday between noon-4pm.
The day before the second appointment, I phoned dispatch to ask if they could switch me to the 10-2 window. They did so and confirmed it with me. A few hours later, I got an automated call to confirm a noon-4pm window. I called their dispatch back, and Terry confirmed that I was in fact 10-2 and to ignore the automated call. When the day came, I finally got a call at 4:30pm that it would be at least another hour. When I inquired about my 10-2 window, the dispatcher said he showed I was a noon-2pm. So, TWO live people I spoke to the day prior confirmed it was 10-2, and the work order was never changed. By 6pm, I called them back and canceled the appointment. I had missed another day of work and wasted the entire day waiting around.
We rescheduled for today between 10-2. Around 1pm today, the tech showed up WITHOUT A SUFFICIENT LADDER. The tech even remarked that dispatch asked him if he had the tall ladder, and he said NO, and they let him proceed to the appointment anyway. This was the 3rd attempt just to get a check-up and the third day I took off work. I was offered nothing but an apology, and I had to wait around another 90 minutes for another tech to show up with a sufficient ladder.
This is the height of bad customer service, and I will see to it that no one I know uses this monkey-operation. I'm in the customer service industry, and if my company jerked people around this way, we would have to compensate them somehow. I got three days of lost wages and an apology.

Kimberly S.

Similar experience as Rowlett review from today. Contacted this weekend to set appointment. Scheduled for Wednesday (thought, "Wow, that was quick!"). Received a call Tuesday requesting a call back to confirm Wednesday appointment (between 12 & 4). Called back and confirmed. Received another call this morning, again requesting a call back to confirm. Called back and confirmed (again). Received a call around 1:00 telling me the technician had one stop to make and then on to us. After 4:00 - no call/no show. Called and was told "Oh, he just left about 10 minutes ago...let me call and see if he needs a break or anything." Then told me he was stopping in Carrollton at the office then headed to me. With traffic, he wouldn't have arrived until 5:30/6:00. We ended up calling back and canceling. Felt we were being lied to and have no need to work with a company that claims to be so much better than the others but can't hold up to their commitments. Stay away!

James B.

Please do not use A #1 Air. They might be friendly but I am seriously doubting their competence with regards to proper AC repair that doesn't end up costing you way more than needed.

I have had them out twice in the last 6 months. During the winter they replaced a panel board for $750 to get my furnace up and running. They also informed me that my damper unit was broken and would cost $1,300 to repair. I passed on the damper unit at the time.

This past Monday they came out to look at my malfunctioning AC. They diagnosed a faulty capacitor (cost $300 to repair) and that my condenser was not "triangulating" properly. They said they could do a quick fix and just replace the capacitor but were confident the compressor would fail this summer. Their solution was to replace the entire condenser unit. And highly suggested replacing the entire HVAC system. Including the repair of the "broken" damper, total cost would run anywhere from $5,500 to $9,800.

Deciding to get a second opinion, the other service company instantly spotted a freon leak on the condenser unit (the freon cap was not on but rather sitting to the side of the unit). Something A#1 Air either didn't notice, didn't think to alert me of, or caused themselves. The 2nd opinion also diagnosed an issue with the capacitor but said the compressor was running close to the manufacturer range. He also took a look at the "broken" damper and noticed that the dampers were working fine and there was just a massive hole in my duct work that was fairly obvious to anyone looking. His fix was a booster for the capacitor ($90), some new freon ($40), and some tape for the duct work. Total cost with labor: $227.

A#1 Air might do great actual work when it comes to repairing AC units. Everybody I dealt with was friendly and professional. They showed up on time and even had availability on the day I called. But when they send out their "closer" for the high dollar items, it just feels like a pressure job to go with the most expensive solution. Their replacement cost for the condenser was easily way over $1,000 alone based on my 2nd opinion quote.

Bottom line: Be very wary about their recommended solutions. Expect their costs to heavily inflated. And take any issue they find with a grain of salt.