Alpine Aire has failed to live up to their reputation on multiple accounts over the past few years. We will not be working with them going forward.
1) While the systems they install are top of the line, their sellers are not thorough and fail to communicate to installers. Their own installers were baffled by the package/configuration we were sold and were unable to follow through on some of the promised items. Various elements (extra filters, scrubbers, specific thermostat that was specd) were left out. We had to settle for a lower model and two less elements of what we had discussed in detail with the seller when our system was installed in 2022. Totaling nearly $20,000.
2) A year later, after communicating with Alpine Aire continuously, the PUD was still having trouble issuing our approximately $4,000 rebate. After making weekly phone calls and emails between the PUD (incredibly helpful) and Alpine Aire, it was finally determined that the configuration we had been sold had incompatible components and needed to be changed. While Alpine replaced it free of charge, the hours spent convincing them this needed to be done and waiting for follow ups leading up to it was exhausting to say the least.
3) Last week, a part in our condensate line began to leak. We called dispatch and they sent someone out. This person was here for approximately 50 minutes, could not properly install the new air filter we purchased from them correctly (my husband had to redo it) and replaced the piece with a filthy piece of PVC (he proceeded to just sit in our furnace room doing nothing). The installer actually said "I have this old piece of pipe", he did not have plumbers glue. Predictably, it failed, leaked again (under our wall) and had to be rebuilt again the next day. Both installers (and all of the installers we've worked with) have been incredibly kind, however, the first one we had last week did very disappointing work.
4) We are less than 14 months past our systems being installed. When we called Alpine Aire to challenge the bill they'd sent, the Dispatch Coordinator was combative at the start of the call. Misrepresented what I was communicating to her, and, when I challenged the issue based on what had actually broken she sarcastically said "oh wow - you're an installer then huh?". She also argued - in response to our assertion that he did something incorrectly (that we watched him do incorrectly) that he has years of experience and is good at what he does. This, even though he clearly did it wrong as they had to send someone the next day after it had been leaking again. After much back and forth, and getting nowhere through many red herrings ("you wanted us to bring you a new filter so you would have been charged that anyway" - of course we would never ask to have a filter brought to us if they weren't coming anyway.
5) Lastly, when I spoke with the general manager and verified each element of the bill she said I would not be charged for parts (see above re: small dirty pipe) and yet it is a $68 line item on our $468 bill. She also asserted (as though they're doing me a favor) that we could have been charged a longer dispatch fee (incorrect as the initial worker sat and did nothing for much of the 51 minutes he was here) and when I countered that point she said "I don't need to argue with you" - odd, since she is who brought up the combative point.
The service call is representative of our experience with them overall - when presented with an issue, they deny culpability until we are either exhausted and give up or an entity with authority (i.e. the PUD) calls them out on it. They are not customer oriented and stand behind arbitrary policies regardless of customer relationship, spend or experience. They had no posture of desire to work with us or have this conversation effectively today. They use "this is what we charge everyone" a lot - just because it's what you do to every unwitting customer that reaches out for help - doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. read more