In 2004, I met George Eastergard, Sr. in Greenville, SC at Home Depot. He impressed me very favorably as an honest and fair businessman, as well as a caring and warm individual.
I really trusted George, therefore, when our HVAC system went down in our 40 year old home, he was the one I called to replace and revamp the entire system. For the 2004 price of $10,000, we were to have all new ductwork, properly designed for the layout of the house, including an additional closed-in carport and laundry room which formerly did not have heat and air. Also to be included was proper insulation and sealing of the ductwork, and a whole house air filtration system.
The project was overseen by George and Mary's son, Joel Eastergard. What we actually received was a new HVAC unit with Aprilaire filtration system that was attached to the old ductwork system, which was not revamped to properly accommodate the new location of the unit. The ductwork was not properly sealed and insulated, which subsequently caused mild and dampness issues in the summer from sweating ducts. There was NO ducting added to the addition at all.
Over the past 13 years, we have used supplemental heaters and AC in several areas of the house due to the ineffectiveness of the new system.
When I called in for a warranty repair a couple of years later, George came back to the house, he last time I saw him, and assessed what was needed. This was a free, warranty repair which was well done and quickly so. While George was here, he looked under the house and was quite visibly disappointed, making verbal testament that there was no service to the carport/laundry addition, and that the ductwork wasn't upgraded properly. He did not offer to remedy the deficit at that point.
In spite of the deficits above, because of my devotion to what I perceived as George's honor and kind consideration, I again called Eastergard for a simple repair. This time, they charged a fee for the service call, and a trip fee, and an hourly fee. I understand a basic fee for any service call and n hourly fee, but not so much an added trip fee.
Now, 13 years later, the $10,000 HAVC unit not only will not heat, but we have had two other experts working on the unit for 4 weeks now, who have consulted frequently with Rheem on diagnostics to no avail. We have a quote to replace our 2004, $10,000 purchase with a more efficient unit for $4,000.
If George wee still running the company and overseeing the work, and if he had overseen our original $10,000 job, I would so call my old friend.
All I can say is, I feel taken advantage of by Eastergard. Hope you fare better if you decide to use them. read more
