CALFO

John L.

Avoid them at all costs.

Non-responsive and avoided my phone calls to discuss the work.

Sue B.

On 12/21/22 Needed a furnace repair and had a concerning experience. Tech quote a temporary repair for $1561.19 but wouldn't last more than a couple of weeks so I should just get a new furnace. Quote $7,000 and tried to up sell me and air conditioning unit. Obviously a second est was necessary.
Next company came out FULL system repaired for $1,363.00. The tech did some research. The air exchange was under a 25 yr warranty and honored despite me not being the original purchaser.
I contacted Calfo. They wanted copies of this invoice to send to management ""to see what they could do"". WHAT!!! No. Potential customers need to be aware of Calfo's poor training and or deceptive business practices. And know folks only get caught for less than 10% of criminal activity they engage in - if acceptable in my experience here.
Happy Holidays
Stay warm I know I am

John G.

Extremely overpriced and will attempt to refund you service fees etc to change your review to a good one. Do your home work and get several estimates.

D M.

Excellent honest plumbing company. Very reasonable prices. Especially when compared with the larger companies who offer $99 to clear sewer pipes the. Hit you with a $23,000 estimate saying your whole sewer lines need replaced. Calfo is an honest, dependable plumbing company. We had service done by Mike and Seth. Two enthusiastic and very professional plumbers. Thanks for the great work!

Tim B.

I decided to file this complaint because my elderly, handycapped mother was charged $1,850 for a water heater plus the install. I didn't know she was charged the $1,850 until the installation was completed. My brother, my sister and I, all purchased water heaters, and they were installed in the last year or so. We all paid under just under a thousand dollars, including installation. All three of the water heaters are from three different reputable businesses. I spoke with my friend, who owns a plumbing company, and he told me my mother was scammed and she was charged entirely too much a water heater. So, four different businesses are charging just under a thousand dollars. Calfo charged my mother eighteen hundred dollars.
January 15,2022 Calfo Home Services came out to install an AO Smith water heater in my mother's home. My mother's aid had covid, and she was unable to be there, so I was there for the installation. My mother has an aid because she is blind and hard of hearing. I watched as the water heater and flue pipe were uninstalled and taken out of the home. The first new water heater was too big for the opening, so I was told a new one was ordered, and it would be dropped off shortly. The two plumbers went out and sat in one of their work trucks, waiting for the replacement water heater.
While I was watching tv , I heard the furnace kick on, and I remembered seeing the flue y-pipe being carried out of the home by one of the plumbers thirty to forty minutes earlier. I walked into the furnace room, and there wasn't a flue pipe connected to the furnace. I was able to see heat waves or heat haze coming from the top furnace. Fumes from the furnace were venting into the structure.
I quickly walked outside and told the plumbers they forgot to turn off the furnace, and fumes were venting into the home. One minute later, one of the plumbers walked into my mothers' home and turned the furnace off. After switching it off, he walked back outside and got back in the work truck. If I wasn't there, my mother would have probably died in her home.
One hour later, the second water heater arrived, and the two men brought it in and installed it. After the installation, the men left. I cleaned and mopped the dining room , furnace room floors, and placed the furniture back in its original location.
On January 16 , 2022, my mother woke in the middle of the night because she was cold. My mother walked down the steps, and she turned the thermostat up, and the furnace didn't kick on. Several minutes later, she turned the thermostat up again, and the furnace didn't kick on.
My mother called my sister and she told her the furnace wasn't working. My sister and her husband came over and checked on my mother. My sister told me she walked in the house, and the metal dining room chairs were cold to the touch. My sister called Peoples Gas, and they sent out a service worker. The service worker came in and checked the furnace. The service worker told my sister and brother in-law that the flue pipe was not secured and the furnace. Because the flue wasn't secured, the fumes were leaking into the furnace room, and the furnace shut off and would not restart. The gas company service employee screwed in one screw on the water heater side of the flue pipe. He told my sister and my brother-in-law the connection was temporary, and my mother would have to get the plumbing company to come back out and screw in the remaining screws. On Saturday, January 22, I stopped at my mother home, and I checked the flue pipe, and I took photos and videos. I noticed the flue pipe was starting to separate on the furnace side of the pipe. I went to the Home Depot, and I purchased screws and foil tape. I already had my drill with me because I knew I would be making the repair. The screws didn't cut through the metal, so I wrapped the two seams with the foil tape.
January 23, 2022, I went to Lowes in the Waterfront, and I purchased self-drilling screws and a magnetic driver bit. I drilled the screws into the flue pipe and went home an hour later. I have receipts for all the purchases.
March 5, 2022, my mother still hasn't received a receipt or survey. Why? She was promised both.
Calls to Calfo
January 15, 2022, I called Calfo to file a complaint about my mother being charged $1,800 for a water heater. I didn't receive a response, so I called a minute later, and I left a message requesting a call back.
January 18,2022, I called Calfo, and I left a message with a call taker or dispatcher. I left a message, and I asked to speak with a supervisor, and the call taker said both managers were busy. I didn't receive a call back until January 22.
January 22,2022, I received a call from a supervisor at Calfo. I had an 18-minute conversation with the supervisor. I told her about the flue pipe and expressed to her that I was extremely upset about the unvented carbon monoxide fumes flowing into my mother's home. I have more to add, but I'm unable to fit the rest.

R L.

I am super grateful for the fast services provided by Calfo, especially Christian R. We needed emergency heating services during one of the coldest days and the height of a recent snow burst blanketing the city. But that didn't stop Calfo. They answered my call on the first ring, took down my name, phone number and address. Within minutes, I received a text alert that Christian R. was on his way and estimated an exact 54 minute window! :D I'm so glad I called Calfo, even after attempting a call to a few other heating companies, with one providing an estimated 12 hour window. Christian R. traveled from the South Hills to the East End in treacherous winter conditions, crossing bridges/tunnels to provide excellent service and value. We were back in operation in short order and Christian R. checked off all the boxes before he left. I felt confident and grateful for the reliable, responsive and quick service that Calfo provided at a time when waiting overnight, as quoted by a competitor, was an unfortunately disappointing alternative.

Fuzz S.

Even 1 star is too much for these guys.I had a new furnace installed. Before the warranty ran out it kept running and would never shut off unless I turned it off. Called to see if they could come out and fix the problem and wanted to charge me 200. Owner is ignorant and rude

Ron S.

Calfo offered to do a free inspection of my home plumbing. The plumber, Ryan Kyle, was very professional and courteous. They found the wax seal needed replaced in guest bath. Job was done well. However, it cost $336. I was told I would also get a 10% discount. An online search revealed that this should not cost more than $200. I guess this is what I get for ""trusting"" something free and not getting a second price. Very disappointed!

Matt S.

In June of 2020, I wanted to have a new furnace with a humidifier and central air installed. To start my research on HVAC companies, I used google search. Calfo came up number one with 4.8 stars. Now, I wonder how did they achieve 4.8 stars. My experience cannot be the first.

I remember going to the website and seeing a deal ""Up to $1,500 off a new HVAC system"". I clicked the coupon and made the appointment. After the sales guy and met and received quote, i mentioned no discount was appled. He told me that that is only for units $10,000 and up. I was spending around $7,500. The web coupon had no contingency. I forced the issue and comprised with a $300 off. But, really I could not have been the only one to see the coupon, but I did help them realize their website needed fixed!! I went thru with the installation.

All the technicians were nice and courteous. I just wonder now how much experience they have with installation and pivoting when unexpected items happen. More training is needed.

Next, there were items just not correct. Here are a few that made this a poor installation.
* Whistling sound (which means air leakage). They did come out and sealed a leaking area around the humidifier.

* The basement was colder than the first floor. I felt around the installation to find all the seams from furnace to ductwork were leaking large amounts of air. This should have been sealed during initial installation. Not only poor installation but made the units efficiency very poor during the 90 degree weather. Dylan did come out to fix the former installers poor installation by adding HVAC tape and sealant caulk. But, even after he so called fixed it, I ended up adding more aluminum foil tape to get ALL the seams.

If you did not read any further I wanted you to know the above account. Here are other Items during installation

I had to coach the installer on the aesthetic part of the job. Such as:

* When asked if they were going to drill the hole from the air conditioner into the basement, the assistant pointed up to the brick part of my house, 8 feet high, instead of drilling down at the foundation where the air conditioner would be sitting. I told them I did not want the pipe going up the outside of my house and to drill 1 foot off the ground. But, if I was not there, they would they have run the pipe 8 feet up the outside of my house and then into the basement.

* When drilling the hole on the outside of my house for the exhaust, he made a mess of it, breaking and pushing brick back, then adding a lot of cement to cover the damage of the crack brick underneath. Very sloppy work. I would think that if someone had experience, then the extent of the damage drilling the hole would not have occurred. Furthermore, you could see light from my basement to the outside. Found out that no sealant was used around the exhaust pipes to make sure it was air tight.

* When installing the thermostat, Furthermore, the assistant put tools on my credenza. Did not even ask if there was anything to cover it so it would not get scratched. I got up and put a towel underneath the tools. They did not even attempt to clean up the floor of the debris from pulling a new electrical wire.

Dealing with the brick on outside of my house, I did talk to Tim Calfo but did not know if i should trust his installer to do masonry work but agreed to give them another chance. The final brickwork is Ok, since Dylan was open to talking it out and taking feedback to the corrective work. I also kept checking in to see the progress.

In conclusion, seems they are willing to come back and fix the mistakes but really all this should not have happened. Such a bad experience. I was told by Tim Calfo (owner) that nothing would make me happy.

What would make me happen is that the work done correct with only very minor incidence. I'm sure they will ignore this or come back at me for just expecting way to much. Good quality is not too much to ask.

Now, in January 2021 only for months of using a condensation pump, it started to sound loud and grinding. I thought that i had to go back to them because of a warranty. Glad to hear I did not have to have them service the issue and that any Heating and Cooling can service the furnace.

So, take your chances or go elsewhere.

Chris B.

Never again.

TL;DR;
Calfo did an incomplete / incorrect diagnosis, costing me $2400 in repairs that fixed nothing. Wanted another $2000 on top of that to do additional repairs. Owner not empathetic to the position I was in; Wouldn't budge on cost. Weird MVP program you must join to get basic things you'd get included anywhere else. I ended up needing a whole new system and had it done by someone else for less.

The Diagnosis and Estimate:
I have electric heat at my house with a heat pump. I called Calfo because my heat pump was not warming my house up whatsoever, despite running constantly. The tech (Dylan) who was polite enough, did lots of testing and determined in his view that the root cause was a bad reversing valve. He told me it would be $2400 to fix the reversing valve (which I learned is a 100-200 part). I was stunned, but begrudgingly agreed to the repair as it seemed to be the only known issue and I would avoid needing a new system, which Calfo charges in the range of $10-11k to do.

The ""Fix"":
Two techs came to repair the reverse valve. It took them roughly 4 hours. They fired up the heat pump and, after about 20-30 minutes, gave me grim news. The heat pump was still not operating well. They had ""now"" determined that the TXV expansion valve was also bad and needed replaced. The cost? $2000 extra.

I was very upset, both that the issue with the TXV was not spotted in the first diagnostic, and that I was not warned in the first place that there could be potential for further issues. I would have NEVER agreed to a $2400 repair if I was told there was even a slight chance that this would not fix my problem and I'd have to pay another $2000 to again 'maybe' fix things.

Conversation with Owner:
I figured I'd talk to the owner and get a discount on the second repair, considering they were at least somewhat responsible for this misdiagnosis and failure to provide me the right information to make a decision. It took several days to get a call back, and I got nowhere with him. He would not budge on the $2000 price tag to put in a $100-200 part. He insisted that the ""computer"" tells him what the job costs and their is no wiggle room. I find it odd that the owner of a business can't cut any margin to help out a customer that has already given them a substantial amount of money. All I wanted was 50% off the new repair and he wouldn't do it. All he would do is give me a small discount on a new install (which they charge around $11,000 for). I asked to send me an estimate for the lowest SEER rated system they install. I never received one. He also insisted that I could use the heat pump, it just wouldn't work as well as it could. This turned out to not be true, as I ran it for hours and hours after the repair and my house would not heat up.

In the end:
I ultimately decided to eat the $2400 and call someone else. Not only did they confirm the TXV was bad, they also suggested that the reverse valve installed by Calfo was already showing signs of malfunction. They highly insisted on a complete replacement at just $7000 for a 14 SEER system. No gimmicks. No silly MVP program. 10 year warranty.

I cannot recommend Calfo. They screwed up and have to know it. Mistakes happen, but as long as you own up to your part in it and rectify the situation, you are okay in my book and I'll write you a great review. After giving them the chance to make things right, they simply wouldn't.

The right thing to do would be to give me a full or partial refund since the repair didn't really resolve anything.