I recently moved out of Amesbury, but Ebacher maintained my oil furnace for over 10 years. From a service perspective, they were always top notch, with relatively reasonable prices and good communication/timeliness whenever I needed them for an emergency. They got the job done without much fuss.
Why only 3 stars, then? Well, because with Ebacher I would always get one of two technicians. One fellow, who we will call "The Tall Skinny Guy" was fantastic. I swear, my house could be on fire and he would find a day to swing by with the best attitude you could ask for. Always cheery, always willing to discuss my options for repairs and/or replacement, and just an extremely pleasant, professional guy to deal with. Every time I called Ebacher, I would think "I hope they send the tall skinny guy, because he's great."
Unfortunately, more than half the time I got the fellow we will call "The Short Grouchy Guy". Again, another competent technician but this guy's attitude just sucks. I had an old oil furnace. It needed a few repairs here and there - a blower, a primary control, etc. All of these are about $200-250. My furnace was from 1981 - not new by any stretch, but it worked just fine and heated the house brilliantly and just required some upkeep. Every single time The Short Grouchy Guy would come to my house, he would tell me "your furnace needs a changeout". His recommendation on a $3000-5000 furnace swap when all I needed was a $200 part to get my heat up and running again got old quick, and he would say it every single time. Need a filter? Nah, due for a changeout. $100 ignition? Time for a changeout.
Oil heat is expensive. Nobody likes having to call the plumber/heating guy, and generally they are unexpected expenses. When a guy shows up in an already gloomy mood, and he arrives in a 1991 Ford Econoline van with the exhaust hanging off and tells me that instead of a $100 part I should consider a $4000 new furnace, it gets a little old. His car is probably "due for a changeout" as well, but I see it didn't stop him from driving it, ya know?
All in all a decent company to do business with, and while The Short Grouchy Guy will never be the bright spot of your day, the occasional times I would get The Tall Skinny Guy offset it. They get the job done and the prices are competitive. They just need to tell one of their techs to leave his gloomy, miserable attitude at home when he's dealing with customers, because if you're about to spend several hundred dollars on a heating repair, the last thing you want to deal with is The World's Most Unfriendly Technician.
If you go with them, I hope you all get The Tall Skinny Guy, because that dude is awesome. read more