Aquarius Home Services - Little Canada

Norman R.

Did not like the sales process and ultimately did not choose them for replacement of furnace and AC. Should have done more research before contacting them.

Kimberly K.

Review is regarding HVAC service. Responded to $49 Furnace Tune-Up special. What it actually was, in the words of tech was ""an introduction to their services"". Boy, was it ever. I was given a glimpse in to how this company does business, at least on the HVAC side of things. What I saw was not good (go to Angie's List for similar accounts to mine. This unfortunately was not a unique experience.)
Several red flags went off immediately & in hindsight I should have stopped the ""service"" right then, but perhaps my failure to do so will save someone else spending funds they don't have on repairs they don't need. Warning, this'll be a long read. If you don't want the long read, just trust me-that ""good deal"" is just to get them in the door to tell you your furnace or AC is completely unsafe and needs immediate, & VERY expensive repairs. I know they do financing for their Kinetico systems. I have a sneaky suspicion they'd be more than happy to finance their overpriced & unnecessary HVAC repairs too. Super convenient!
I have had multiple companies do these furnace tune-ups over the years, most recently a couple of years ago. All have provided check lists to show what they did & walked me through them, left service stickers on the furnace, & gone through the same service routine. Not Thomas of Aquarius. The only documentation I received were the photos of the inside of my hopelessly damaged & unsafe furnace & an invoice for the visit.
Red flag 1: Right away I was asked what I did for a living. It didn't feel conversational, that question & everything that followed felt more like the tech was sizing up a mark for the con. He spent lots of time explaining how he wants to provide a 5 star service experience & welcomes me watching him work on the furnace, ""even during COVID, it's ok for me to be hovering over his shoulder"" (might want to emphasize those safety protocols you trumpet, Aquarius, since your tech felt very free to move about my house uninvited and touch pretty much anything which made me super uncomfortable), & if at any time I felt the ""service experience"" falling off, to let him know b/c that ""5 star experience"" was so important.
Red flag 2: From the first I felt his ""5 star rating"" was more important to him than ensuring my furnace was working properly.
Red flag 3: He told me he was going to take my furnace apart to ""figure out what tools he'd need"". Odd, since he was just there to do a standard furnace tune up. Immediately he started talking about how other companies never check the heat exchanger & he often finds issues with them separating & that causes exhaust leakage. (I did find on all the previous checklists from the other companies, every one of them had checked said heat exchanger & found it A-okay). So right away before even checking it he had determined the ""problem"".
Red flag 4: He told me he'd check AC too. Didn't ask for this, it wasn't included in the service I'd ordered, & it's MN in winter. It's buried & inaccessible under several feet of snow. What could he possibly check? I've had preventative maintenance done on it before, but no one has offered to do it IN THE WINTER.
Red flag 5: He pulled it apart, but didn't start the cleaning the other companies had done. Did an inspection w/ his camera, took some photos, which he evidently sent to his coworkers at Aquarius, then came to me after he'd confirmed the ""bad news"". He had indeed found what was likely to be thousands of dollars of faulty parts that left alone would kill my family with deadly exhaust fumes. He was more than happy to show me the photos when I questioned him on it, & explained that he was so concerned he had his colleagues confirm the damage. He put the live camera in to the furnace, however ""unfortunately"" the bright light merely bounced off the very shiny metal making it impossible to see anything.
Red flag 6: When I kept pressing on what would happen if I did not immediately have him repair the ""problem"" he had identified, he said he did not have a crystal ball. He said he was not ""red tagging"" the furnace as Aquarius is not ""ambulance chasers"". He complied with my request to finish the furnace tune-up I'd requested & paid for (Aquarius did not charge me for this as they wanted that all-important 5 star experience). After he completed the work, he flipped off the furnace switch, told me to have a nice day, and left. This simply does not jive - if you've just found what could be a potentially lethal problem, you simply do not pack up your things, tell someone ""thanks"", and leave. I fully understand respecting the customer's opinion, but if he was truly ruled by the ethical standard he said he was, he would have urged me to seek another opinion & not left me to perish with this ""dangerous furnace"".
I did in fact seek another opinion. The issue he identified was in fact just fine. There was zero exhaust leakage & no problem at all.
None of it added up, except to unsavory business practices.

Linda S.

I asked Aquarius to inspect my furnace and clean/replace the flame sensor. Was told there was high temperature stress on the heat exchanger, high CO levels, and that it was not safe to run. We discussed replacement, and the technician gave me a quote, however I told him I needed time to do some research. Although I told him I did not want to feel pressured, he said they would be able to install a new furnace the very next day. He phoned a salesperson to introduce us, and I told them both that I did not want to feel pressured.
I got a second inspection, and was assured the furnace was operating properly, and the CO levels are in the safe range. They also said that the flame sensor had not been cleaned, which was the problem I contacted them about.
I do not feel Aquarius was being honest with me about my furnace's condition. My impression is that they were much more interested in selling me a new furnace, rather than addressing the problem I contacted them about. I asked for a refund of the $99 service charge. The salesperson told me he would see what he could do, and would call me back. He never called back.

Sigrid F.

I had Aquarius come out and tune up my old furnace. It was red-tagged and I was connected with their salesperson. I ordered a new furnace from them and they were very good at installing it. However, when installation was done, I was informed by the installers that their manager would need to come by and help widen the filter area, due to the unusual size. It was temporarily taped with shuntape, and I was told that the tape would not be a problem if the manager came by early the next week (this was Friday, November 8th) and installed a wider filter setting. As of today, November 17, I have not heard from any Aquarius manager. I have left two messages asking for responses. I am single parent with a child with special needs, and did not count on this several thousand dollar expense. Wondering where there customer service spirit went? Still sitting with shuntape over the filter area and no idea how dangerous this may be. Alarmed and disappointed by lack of follow through, after initial impressive service.

Mitch V.

This review is regarding the Service Technician Shawn Ross. Within the last 5 years of having a Kinetico Water System I've had a several Technician come out for service. Shawn Ross by far has been the best tech to work with. He is humble, knowledgeable, friendly, patient and very good at explaining the process and problem so that I can understand. Kinetico system are good, but very costly to maintain, and repair. Something to think about before getting one.

I would highly suggest asking for Shawn Ross when possible to be your tech if you have one already or is thinking of getting a system.

Thanks again Shawn!,
Lo

Paul Z.

After 21 years of faithful service our Kenetico water softener ceased ""resin-ating"". Service tech Brad W. arrived from Aquarius on time and after a quick, skillful analysis of the softener explained all our options of repair or replacement with no pressure. 2 hour later our home was ""soft"" again for another 20+ years. Thanks Brad and Aquarius!!

Jeff C.

After some initial miscommunication about the purchase of our house and the system we had, everyone here was awesome in getting us set up for our new house! The response time is great, phone support is timely, and having a live person answer the phone is awesome.
The service request was filled promptly. Enjoyed working with them and look forward to more great experiences!

Ian W.

We have been using Aquarius equipment and services for over six years. Our Kinetico water softening system and reverse osmosis water purification system have been stellar as have their service personnel. And now that they have added inexpensive furnace and air conditioning tuneups and water heater flushing to our services we have consolidated with a team we really trust.

Eric G.

I don't think there is a way to do negative stars, but I would do that if I could. I have had an Aquarius system for 10 years. The first time a technician showed up was today. I had no idea that they would come and look at things for free if you are renting a system. Over the phone, they always made it sound like they would charge you to walk in the door. Furthermore, because the original ""salesman"" or whatever he was was so excited to get the sale and leave, he never explained how to turn of the water the right way, so for 10 years, I have been going through extra work to change the filter. I actually followed the directions they gave me, but they are not correct for my house. It's hard for me to know that when their only ""service call"" in the last 10 years was to get the right credit card info when I changed cards or had an issue with security. When I originally signed up, I thought it would be like Culligan since we are paying around $50 a month, but it ended up being a rip off. I am going to look for another company as soon as I get a chance. They are a garbage company with garbage employees, except for two guys. My advice is to find another company as fast as you can. No amount of money you give them satisfies their greed!

Julie R.

Mike always does a great job and is so thorough in testing our water and making sure everything is working correctly. He is honest, gives us important tips on our system and goes above and beyond to give great service.