Schaal Plumbing, Heating and Cooling

Robert B.

We used Schaal because they were available for service the day our furnace stopped working. Upon inspection, the tech said we had a bad board. Cost to replace the board was quoted $1131 for the part and $55 to go pick up the part. Having had the same part replaced three years earlier, I checked my previous statement. It was about $550 at that time. (statement was for board and two inline surge protectors for $901). So I scheduled Metro Heating who had previously serviced it. They charged me $642 including tax and trip charge. The Schaal tech told me Schaal had a big parts increase that year due to the tariffs and said that Metro was selling me the board for $50 over their cost. That was a crock of BS that I verified with two other companies. I had scheduled Green Heating and Cooling to service my two furnaces today, a week after Schaal had been here. I asked Green to quote me the price to replace the same board. Their price was $551 for part, $89 for the service call, no charge to pick it up and no charge for the annual service if they would have been performing at the same time.

In my opinion, Schaal was attempting to rip me off. They may think that when a furnace is down in cold weather the homeowner is not likely to
let the tech leave without completing the repair. That is what have happened with me had I not recalled that the previous repair for the same problem was 50% cheaper. In this case, Schaal would have charged me $1364. Metro charged me $642. Green would have been $685.

You can be sure that I will let others know what I think of Schaal y'all.

Athena A.

Stay away from Schaal... and any other larger HVAC company.
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.
My advice if you have to deal with them - Ask a lot of questions to understand what service you're getting. They don't break out the cost of labor and parts like they should instead they label the service as a package so you don't fully understand what the service entails, as a consumer this limits your ability to compare prices and research for yourself. I will commend them on their techs, they are friendly that said don't fall into that trap of having your best interest because they don't they are in a business to make money. I first hand have seen a fear tactics, timing, and now something that is so expensive and its possible it won't work you should just buy a new one. Additionally, they have wiggle room to get the price lower as mentioned with my first experience. I have seen some comments on here from the owner indicating it's not a sales environment and they pride themselves on competitive pricing in the Des Moines area. This is misleading as yes it is competitive when rating yourself to similar HIGH overhead / highly advertised / sales HVAC companies.

Dan M.

Marshall and Benton arrived promptly this morning to install our new HVAC system. They were professional and thorough. Marshall took time to explain the new system and the technology related to our new thermostat and the wifi app for my phone. I highly recommend Schaal. We have been customers for over 20 years and have always been very satisfied with their work.

Caroline W.

We had a furnace and air conditioner installed today. The techs Dylan and Marshall were great. They were courteous and friendly. They made sure we understood how everything works and made sure if we had questions to answer them.
Thank you,
Ron Williams

Chris L.

Had a tenant call them for service before they called me.
Tech was there an hour and replaced a circuit board ($150).
Charges for diagnostic and repair totaled $993.
Multiple calls and voicemails over 10 days trying to get someone to explain the charges have not been returned.
DON'T CALL SCHAAL YALL!!!!

Diana W.

Our AC unit was damaged in a storm on May 17. We called to get an estimate on repairs on May 18, earliest appointment was May 24. Had to send out two different men (I'm not sure why, the first guy gave me a repair estimate, the second guy gave me a replacement estimate). I agreed to go ahead with the repair. It's now June 8th and our unit is still not repaired--in fact, we don't even have an appointment for repair scheduled because Schaal claims to not have the parts needed for the repair.

Manny P.

Honesty and workmanship is very important in a service company and the service we received lacked that from the technicians we got. Work that technician he did was not. Service and inspection of our water heater was not thorough. They said we needed to replace the unit for $1200 but all it needed was $12 part from Home Depot. Very disappointing.

Sandy S.

Dishonest wrote a quote in sept now will not honor stating it was an October special but no where written on the quote did it say. Now call their number a friendly operator answers and you never receive a call back have tried 4 days in a row. Also with the first service call was charged 3 times for same service this was corrected. Would not trust at all.

Dustin A.

I wouldn't even give one star if it were an option. Two years ago, my thermostat broke. Schaal installed the system for my grandfather 10 years previous. I purchased the house from my grandfather in 2014. When the thermostat broke, I was charged $1,200.00 to replace it! Seriously? I wrote that issue off until yesterday. I called again because my AC stopped working. I had a technician come to my house and tell me there was a leak in my freon line which I already knew because of the indicator light on the unit told me. He then proceeded to tell me it was going to cost me roughly $650 just to replace the freon. In order to locate the leak, it would cost me an additional $275.00. Flat rate? What if it takes 5 minutes? Still $275. Then I was told that the unit that was installed on this house is ""the Cadillac of systems,"" but they only last for 12 years so I should probably have them replace the whole thing... This company is blatantly screwing people. I still had to pay the $100.00 for accomplishing nothing, lying to me, and not even giving me any information I didn't already know. I called someone else and they repaired it for $150 and everything works just fine. Seriously? This is flat out wrong! I run a contracting company in another trade and we would NEVER take advantage of our customers like this. Too bad Roger isn't the owner anymore because it is now a dishonest crooked company. I will make sure EVERYONE I know and do business with knows how slimy this company is.

Update!

I still would NEVER recommend Schaal. I know for sure they are crooks. I found out the issue with my AC was obviously it was low on freon. The only way it would have been completely empty is (1) if there were a massive leak, or (2) Schaal emptied my lines when they can out to check them. I was charged $10 per pound to refill the system and what do you know? No leaks! Schaal obviously vacated my lines to try and charge me for more, and tried to tell me I needed to pay them an additional $275 to look for a leak that wasn't even there! Crooks! I didn't think companies this dishonest still existed. Guess I was wrong. Hopefully this means they won't be in business for much longer. I also find it interesting that I have gotten NO responses from Schaal. Obviously they are in the wrong and would rather just keep the money they stole from me than admit they were wrong and try to make it right. Sickening.

Sara Y.

My experience with this company in both winter and recently during a crazy-hot Iowa heatwave has been nothing less than excellent. Since the repair took place at the home of my elderly family member, it would have been very easy to take advantage of the situation & sell us a while new system, since, in all fairness, it is now 11 years old and will likely need replaced in the next few years. However, the technician couldn't have been more professional. I called for service around 10am, & was handled with courtesy by the representative who explained we would be put on the urgency list since we have a service agreement with Schaals. Even so, he couldn't promise our repair would be completed same day but at the latest would be dealt with no later than first thing next day. It's an Iowa heatwave. Seems reasonable to me! As the house heated up to 88 degrees, at 3pm I called again to see where we were on the list. I was told there would be a technician to the home today. Soon after, true to their word, I received a call from the tech as he was on his way. He shook my hand at the door, was eager to go outside to look at the unit & got right to work. Literally within minutes we were feeling cool air flow thru the house. And because of the service agreement there was no charge for trip fee, no charge for diagnostics and we received a discount on the parts. Whole thing couldn't have been more seemless. I would highly recommend this company & have already done so to family members. As a business owner myself, I am not easily impressed. But the service provided was exceptional and I have called the company to ensure management & owners are aware of the gem they have in their operation and Tech Jay. Thanks, Schaals, for making our day so much better. Five stars from me!