TriState Home Services

Carol S.

If I could give them 0 stars I would, I was googling products to unclog my kitchen sink when I saw an ad for $49 to unclog drain in Eldersburg, I was in Eldersburg at the time. I called to make an appointment, when I gave the young lady my address, she said I don't see the special in your area, but I'll honor the coupon. I asked if there were any hidden fees? she said NO, I said unclog for $49 that's great! She nor the ad indicated the $49 was just a diagnostic fee. The plumber came out and says that'll be $412. My kitchen is being renovated so there is no sink, just the pipe for the snake. I called Tristate and spoke to Diane who listened to my rant and was very apologetic. I should have read the reviews first extremely OVER priced!

James E.

A TriState technician came to our home twice (12/13 and 12/16/2022). The first visit involved a (problem analysis) fee of $99.00, to which a further $110.00 had to be added because additional electronic analysis was needed (total cost: $209.00). Determination: Replacement part needed. The second visit involved installing the replacement part which, still being under warranty, did not itself cost anything. However, the ""labor"" charge for this second visit was $375.00.

On 12/26/2022 I wrote TriState to ask why a subsequent installation fee was more than three times the $99 initial fee. As Tri State never responded, I submitted a complaint to Montgomery County's Office of Consumer Protection, which contacted TriState 3/3/2023. As TriState ignored this initial letter, Consumer Protection sent a second letter 3/24. Consumer Protection sent me TriState's response 4/18, in which General Manager Shaun Norwood disingenuously claimed I was informed beforehand that TriState has a ""standard flat-rate approach to service pricing"" which would add $375 to install the still-under-warranty replacement part. Mr. Norwood described this as an ""industry best practice.""

From my consumer standpoint, I consider this the equivalent of ""bait and switch"" (i.e., $99 for initial work performed, with follow-up charge more than three times the initial price). Given TriState's disinclination to respond to an ordinary consumer complaint (or, for that matter, respond promptly to a Consumer Protection inquiry), TriState may also consider ignoring such complaints an ""industry best practice.""

Marian C.

We got terrible service from this company. We signed on for a maintenance contract with them for 1 year. At first it seemed promising but after the first 2 visits the technician we liked and trusted was no longer available. Subsequent technicians seemed to be not know very much about our HVAC system. Our unit is in a closet behind a couple items (e.g. vacuum cleaner) that have to be moved every time the unit is serviced. On the most recent ""maintenance"" visit I forgot to move the stuff out for the technician. He was here about 10 minutes. He obviously never moved any of the stuff out of the closet and as I found out later didn't do the most basic maintenance, that is he didn't clean the filter.

We asked them for estimates for a couple of things (a mini-split and duct cleaning) and their estimates were always much higher than others. The mini-split estimate was almost 3x the cost of the company we went with.

Bob L.

Tristate, specifically the owner Burt, did the original HVAC on my new home. The installed their own vanity plate on the cheap thermostats and did a very poor job installing our Bryant units. We have had to have several calls by competitors to replace parts and go back and tighten up the system. I would steer clear!

Julie P.

Beware of this company. They like to price gouge. I was told they would quote me how much the work would be when they showed up. Once there their iPad ""wasn't working"" and they couldn't provide a quote. All they needed to do was switch out 2 wall outlets. How bad could that be? Well they needed up charging me $150 per outlet! They sat in their truck for quite some time ""talking to the office, trying to get a quote for additional work"" because of the broken iPad. Charged me for that time as well. The technician tried telling my husband my hair dryer was ""faulty"" I had to teach him that it's normal for a hair dryer to run a minimum of 15amps. He argued with me until I told him to Google it. Then he came up with a bunch of other excuses. Bottom line, he was not very knowledgeable about electricity. It's too bad, I had good experiences with this company in the past with both of my companies and with rental properties but I won't use them again.

John S.

Daikin: long warranty but you have to be very aware of maintenance. Tristate Home Services really lacks in this area.

I had an HVAC installed in 2018 with relatively no issues. I went to replace my second zone's AC and discovered that they've never called me to schedule maintenance or even offer me a maintenance contract 1 year after the install. I called them back, they needed to research why. After a week, I called back again, they don't know why either event occurred. Without that maintenance contract, the warranty is significantly limited. It's a shame, really, and perhaps business as usual for Daikin AC units: offer a long warranty, but ensure that if the customer isn't paying attention, void that warranty because of the lack of maintenance.

Nick H.

I was quite happy with Tristate at this time. I have had them come to the house in the past for a plumbing issue and the plumber came in, gave an honest assessment of my issues, fixed what he could and gave a good representation of the company.

Most recently, my AC died (in the heat of July of course). I called to see if it could be repaired although I knew it was nearing end of life for the unit. After speaking with the techs, I determined that we needed to replace the unit. I arranged to have this done as well as adding an updated furnace and a air quality package added to the system.They also arranged for some small temporary units that helped cool the house to a reasonable temp until the new unit could be sourced. I had previously had another company come by and give me a quote on a similar system and they came in over $2000 higher. Although the project is still expensive, I don't feel as if I was ripped off.

Today was installation day - they guys (Garret, Percy, Bobby, & Jay) were neat and efficient. They explained what they were doing along the way and answered all the questions that I had. At the end of the day, they have really improved the condition of the house.

Thank you for your service and I look forward to working with them in the future for other home renovation projects.

T M.

Company was happy to install multiple expensive systems in our custom home project; little interest in servicing them. Learned this from a supervisor after the fact.

Lon T.

I needed to replace a 19 year old a/c system and got prices from 3 dealers. I was very specific about replacing the same system. The lowest price I received was from Holzople in Emmitsburg MD, $4936 after rebates. The highest price was from Tristate Home Services, $6975 after rebates, a difference of $2039. THE SAME SYSTEM!!! I am very happy with Holzople and recommend them very highly. Do your homework and get several prices, save your $$$.

l m.

From my experience Tristate Home services is extremely unprofessional and unorganized. I called to schedule and appointment for Wednesday for an active water leak in the basement. When I had the tenant call to confirm the time (as a courtesy) Tristate said there was no appointment scheduled. The tenant made an appointment for Friday. TRISTATE WAS A NO SHOW ON FRIDAY. I called Tristate to see what happened, and they said that they would not service my home because I said that I would not be able to give them a positive review due to them cancelling appointments and their unprofessional actions. It appears If they do something wrong they refuse to take responsibility and try to silence you. I would call this unprofessional.