Kester Heating And Plumbing

ChristIne A.

Received a prompt return call from Kester Heating. He was out the following workday, on time, as scheduled. He explained all parts of the furnace and where the problem was. He put in a new transformer and explained its function. Appt. took less than 1 hour. Cost was $160 inclusive of labor and part ($40.)

Mr. Kester is the owner of the company and a pleasure to deal with. I would call him again if I had a furnace or A/C problem. I would recommend him to friends.

Leah S.

We called Kester Heating & Air to come out and give us a quote to replace our furnace and install a central air conditioning system in our condo. We asked for a Saturday appointment, which he balked at but ultimately agreed to (said we were ""ruining"" his Saturday).

Saturday comes, but Kester doesn't. No show, no call, no nothing. Totally unprofessional.

AAA Furnace and Air Conditioning was wonderful, showed up on time and installed our system last week. I guess our measly job wasn't important enough to Kester.

Mike R.

We needed to upgrade our 40 yr old furnace and decided it was time to install central AC. We shopped around and received five different bids, company profiles were varied. We took our time reviewing the contracts/hardware/warranties and of course our experiences during the consults. While Kester didn't have the lowest or the highest $ bid, we felt most comfortable with Dave and decided to go with him.

Obviously the majority of the reviews here give Kester glowing feedback and praise for his knowledge, workmanship, and overall human touch to satisfying his customers. Our experience was no different, we couldn't be happier with the process and the end product, especially the extra little touches which were either included in the package or came w/ a minimal mark-up. The outdoor temp sensor integrated into the LCD touch thermostat is a pretty cool feature. The Trane hardware he recommended for our home was superior to the other models we were quoted, and they had it for less.

While it wasn't a completely seamless process (we did have a minor hiccup which was caused by our indecisiveness) Kester and his crew were very patient and understanding of our decision to move the AC unit after they had completed more than half of the install process. Lastly, I learned from Dave that Trane made a premium AC cover (I'm a brand snob so instead of opting for a generic AC unit cover at Home Depot) I asked him to order me one and send me a bill. Well, a few days after we had paid him in full for the job, a brand new premium Trane AC cover was on my doorstep accompanied with an invoice that was ""Taken Care Of.""

Thank you and your crew Dave! We're loving the furnace (and the money we've saved so far on our PG&E bills) and look forward to running that glorious AC in a few weeks!

Mike

Jan P.

We called for a general estimate for our condo regarding air vent cleaning. Dave called back within fifteen minutes to say that air vent cleaning is not a provided service, but rather that they service heating and air systems. He was cordial and professional and we really appreciated his prompt reply. Hopefully we won't have any system problems in the future, but plan on calling Kester if we do.

Lloyd T.

We called Kester after reading all the glowing reviews here on Yelp. He came to our house to estimate a new heating/cooling system and spent almost an hour with us discussing our needs and assessing our current system. He left, promising an estimate within three days. Frankly, at that point, the business was his to lose - Dave is everything you've read here: knowlegeable, courteous, professional - overall extremely impressive. We had three different companies visit us that day, and my wife and I agreed that we'd go with Kester even given a reasonable cost premium - that was how comfortable we felt with him at that point.

Three days came and went. We had the estimates from the other two companies promptly. But absolutely nothing from Kester. My wife called to make sure he had the correct email address (and received no response to her voicemail). I called - twice over a period of several weeks - and again our messages failed to prompt a return call. Not even the courtesy of letting us know - for whatever reason - that he wouldn't or couldn't take on the project.

So, our project has been stalled for almost a month as we waited for what was our preferred vendor to deliver the promised estimate - and we still have absolutely no idea why we didn't receive it. That said, it's only fair to acknowledge that this post-visit behavior was completely inconsistent with the Kester we met in person, but - given the lack of follow-up and communication - we have no option but to rate our overall experience as frustrating and disappointing.

Tim E.

0 Stars, i called them, left a message, said they would call back within the hour, 4 days later, still waiting.

Obviously they are too busy or not interested in a several thousand dollar project. Would worry that the same problem would occur if i try and get them to fix what they installed.

Randy O.

We just had our furnace reparied by Kester Heating. I give them my highest recommendation. Dave Kester came out to do the repairs himself; he is courteous and professional. He had to replace a control board in the furnace; we had a similar board replaced in our larger unit 5 years ago, and the cost then (using a different company) was almost double of what Dave charged me today.

Keep in mind that Dave runs a small shop - so he may not be able to immediately get to you - I had to wait a few days for him to come out - however - it's worth the wait. I can tell you that other shops would have rescheduled a week later to return with the control board, Dave said he would return within a few hours, which he did.

Michael L.

Of course, the furnace fails in December! How does it know to wait until the coldest time of year?

I am happy to report I received a courteous, fast and competent response from Kester Heating. (I called a big, brand-name company first but was left on hold.) Although slightly more expensive than another service I spoke with, I really appreciated how the crew patiently explained everything that was involved in rehabilitating my tired furnace.

Dave, the owner, followed-up a few days later to make sure the heat was still running fine. I would definitely call Kester again.

Update to the above review:
2 years later, in May 2012, I needed a minor repair to my heating ducts in different home. I did not shop around, I called only Kester. Again, I was very satisfied with the prompt service.

In my experience, it has often difficult to get fast service at reasonable costs for a small project. And, while Kester would probably prefer to not to do a bunch of small projects--their service on this one guarantees they will get my business for the next big heating project at another of my properties.

Bob R.

Other reviews talked about how good Dave and his company is, so I had him bid along with 2 others. Dave's price was very fair, and the great things people said about him proved to be true. During the initial walk through, Dave was very thorough in explaining the tax credit and my options for gaining the credit while getting the right furnace, ducts, and A/C unit for my home.
Dave's 3 installers are all great guys and VERY hard workers. While they were installing at my house, my tenant from my rental house called to say his furnace had stopped working. I called Dave late in the afternoon, and within a couple of hours, the tenant had heat again. I strongly recommend this company.
Bob Rosenberg,
San Jose, CA

TheRV I.

I found these guys thru Yelp and I was impressed with their service, we had a vent/duct added to our family room. Jaime actually came out on a Saturday to do our work after a hiccup with a wrong schedule and missed appt. Quick and efficient , nice guy and great cleanup. Dave the owner was very nice too and kept in touch although it is hard to reach him easily and one ends up leaving messages which I hate to do ie nag the contractor. Hope their contact system works better, otehrwise great to work with.