On Thursday evening, July 11, 2024, our heat pump, which had been installed by CB Lukas 9 years ago, stopped working. Since it was after hours, we called the emergency number and a technician agree to come out that evening for a $250 after hours premium, plus regular charges. Since it was so hot without A/C, we agreed. He told us the "EV" had gone bad but he had no idea what it would cost or how long it would take to get it to make the repairs. The charge was over $500 for this news. He said he would have someone from CB Lukas call us the next day, Friday, with info on the cost and schedule for getting the part and installing it. No one called us Friday though we called the office three times throughout the day and the receptionist each time told us the Parts Guy was "in a meeting". "away from his desk" or "I don't know".
By Saturday, the house was boiling with the heat, we put our pets in boarding to cool off, and told our neighbor our distress, and he suggested another HVAC company that had done work for him.
Unlike CB Lukas, this company had a person answering the phone on Saturday, who made an appointment for us first thing Monday morning. The young man who arrived is a part owner. He gave us a price for the part and affirmed it would be difficult to get in the near future. Due to the age of the HVAC unit and our inability to deal with any further days of extreme heat without AC, we agreed to replace the system and selected one of the three units he suggested at different price points. On Tuesday, July 16, his two man team arrived with the new unit and worked diligently all day to get it installed. At 8pm, they turned on our new HVAC and over the next few hours, the extreme heat in our house began to dissipate. Today, Wednesday, it is wonderfully cool in the house.
Meanwhile, late Monday afternoon, someone from CB Lukas finally called to "Talk about installing a new HVAC unit." My husband informed him that since no one from CB Lukas would talk to us on Friday, despite our spending $500 on an emergency call Thursday night, we found another company able and willing to do the job in a timely manner. Bottom line is we wasted $500 and spent an additional day roasting in our house without A/C because we made the mistake of calling CB Lukas. They may have been competent in the past, but their current customer service and competence is very poor. Don't waste your money on CB Lukas!!!! read more