UPDATE:
I'll strive to be as fair and honest in this review as I possibly can about the pros and cons of Clay's Climate Control.
C3 is certainly not the a perfect company, nor are they the cheapest, but they do strive for customer satisfaction and long-term reputation. It's easy for contractors to underbid each other to win contracts, but the quality of the product you are getting can vary greatly. More than any brand HVAC equipment you choose (Trane, Carrier, etc) the contractor you choose to install your equipment matters far more. And the difference between a low bidder without the qualifications/experience and a well-qualified bidder with high-level skills and experience may not be apparent for 3-5 years or even longer. You want this stuff to last 15-20 years or at least 10 at the bare minimum.
I reached out to Clay's to provide a quote for 2 HVACs (upstairs/downstairs). Their bid was by far the most expensive and we negotiated somewhere in the middle, however, Clay's bid to remove the old R22 lineset (line that carries refrigerant from outside to inside) and replace it with a true R410A lineset. Many contractors will simply evacuate your R-22 lineset, do a triple flush, and then use it with the new 410A. This works in some cases, but not in others and is less than ideal. My experience in the military has taught me to be wary of the lowest bidder and seek to compares apples to apples when looking at quotes. They also agreed to install a whole house humidifier in our upstairs).
As this review is an update of the original review of Clay's, there were a few things that we weren't too happy with, but the one thing quite frankly enraged me was well after the job was finished and the bill was closed out, a Clay's salesman nonchalantly texted me that they were going to charge me an extra $500 for having to cut a hole in my wall to remove the old lineset. I was livid that this charge was never discussed prior to that point and we had no say in the matter. Clay's later said they would drop the charge, but the damage was already done and I was still angry about the whole thing. They reached out via phone, text, and email several times trying to make things right. What brought me back around was that they acknowledged they had an internal communications issue and informed me that they've changed their policy to always inform customers before performing any work that would require additional charges. This is the right thing to do. They also hired a painter to fix an issue we had with our wall as after the hole was cut they promised we wouldn't notice, but it was VERY noticeable. It's in a corner, but still, my wife wasn't happy about it. They're truly going the extra mile to fix it.
In my initial review, I had left out some things that are very strong reasons for Clay's. First, they have NATE certified technicians. There's lots of various HVAC certifications out there, but this one is important. Second, they install Trane with a 2-year parts and labor warranty. It's not necessarily that Trane or Carrier are better (replacement parts are usually much more expensive) than other brands like Goodman, it's just that these companies are much pickier about which HVAC contractors they allow to install their equipment and in the long run this is a good strategy to build their brand. I'm not saying contractors that install Goodman and similar brands are going to do a hack job, but anyone can install a Goodman so of course there's going to be more Goodman hack jobs out there. Also, the standard is 1-year parts and labor warranty. A contractor that bids a 2-year parts and labor warranty is confident their install will last. Lastly, the install team was very friendly and a pleasure to interact with and have in our house. Finally, had I gone with a different contractor and kept the original lineset, I may have wound up with an upstairs just as hot as the with our old system (80 deg in summer) . This is because the lineset going upstairs had a kink in it and was inefficient, hence why they had to cut a hole in my wall to remove it. At best, a different contractor would've identified the problem after adding the refrigerant and testing it and would've had to replace that lineset anyway.
As a summary:
Pro's:
-Focus on customer satisfaction
-Great Certifications
-Solid Installation
Con's
-More expensive than competitors (but you're paying for experience/certifications and possibly extras, look closely when comparing contracts)
-Somewhat pushy tactics to up-sell customers
-Lack of communication with customer regarding additional charges - hopefully fixed for the future
I'll keep this review updated if anything changes regarding Clay's or the equipment, but I'm confident it will last. read more
