Short Version: Called for leak search, service was not thorough. Guthrie and Sons' technician told me he found a small leak in the coil unit, then told me the coil unit needed to be replaced, and recommended to replace the whole AC unit since my system is old. Turns out there was a major leak in the refrigerant line in the attic, and a small leak in the TXV valve, which were not identified in the original leak search. Another company replaced the TXV valve and the broken refrigerant line for half the price compared to the coil unit replacement suggested by Guthrie and Sons. Detailed Version: My AC stopped pumping cold air when I first turned on the AC unit this year. Turns out the refrigerant was all leaked out. Called Guthrie and Sons for a leak search (cost $527). Technician came out, pumped the lines to 300PSI and said he found a small leak at the coil unit. He told me the coil unit needs to be replaced, and recommended a full AC system upgrade since my system is very old. Luckily, I asked for another quote from West Coast. West Coast technician was unable to locate the leak in the coil unit and noticed the pressure was dropping very quickly and suspected there was a big leak elsewhere. Then the technician took the coil unit back to his shop for diagnostic and found there was a leak in the TXV valve. West Coast technician returned with the coil unit and located the big leak in attic and the technician took care of it and our system is working again. Since Guthrie and Sons technician did not found the real problem of the leak and charged me $500+ for the leak search, I called them and requested a compensation. However, they refused. I believe in second chance, but it is unfortunate that Guthrie and Sons did not try to make things right and admit the failure of their leak detection. Not to mention they tried to sell me a whole unit replacement which would cost a lot more while leaving the real problem unfixed. My recommendation is to avoid Guthrie and Sons, as they are not willing to take up their own mistakes, and try to up sell customers unnecessary products. Since West Coast did a great job, I would recommend West Coast instead. read more

Guthrie and Sons - The major leak that was not found by Guthrie and Sons - Heating & Air Conditioning/HVAC Near Me - San Diego, California

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Other places told us that we needed to buy a new furnace and replace our old one. They said they couldn't locate a part and therefore need to spend 6-7K on a new furnace. It's a Good thing we let Guthrie and Sons look at our system. Vlad was our technician and he was awesome explaining what the problem was and what needed to be done. He also was able to locate the part that the other company said they couldn't find really easy. Vlad was also respectful putting on shoe covers before entering the house. I'll be loyal to Guthrie and Sons from now on and won't hesitate to refer them. Awesome service and they saved me a lot of money! Thanks to honest technicians like Vlad! read more

We have used Guthrie and sons for 2 years now and we love the service they provide and their reliability. Mario recently came to our home and he was professional, friendly, and took the time to explain what he was doing and why. Thanks Mario! read more

Here is the letter I sent to Guthrie & Sons: I will say that everyone at this company is very polite. They will take your money unnecessarily, but they will be very polite about it :-) Hi Courtney, I'm not quite sure where things went wrong, but I am feeling as though I came close to being defrauded, today. I called Guthrie and Sons because my heater was not working. Rich came out this morning and tested my heater. He concluded that the control panel was not working and that the heater needed to be replaced. When my daughter heard about the cost of a new heater, A/C unit, ductwork, etc., she insisted that I get two more quotes. I did exactly that. The first company quoted me almost half the cost proposed by Guthrie & Sons. The second company offered to send a technician out this afternoon between 5:00 and 6:30. He arrived and tested the heater's control panel. It fired right up. His test was simple. Attach a tool to two points on the control panel to simulate being the thermostat. So, he then took a look at the thermostat. One wire had been installed incorrectly by my contractor last summer. He moved the wire to the correct position and the furnace fired right up. He charged me zero dollars. I just have to wonder how it is possible for Guthrie & Son's technician to condemn the heater as broken when it was not. Thank goodness I have a daughter who looks out for me. You can be sure that when it really is time to replace the heater and A/C, I'll be calling the company that was able to resolve the issue at no cost. Best regards, Mary Donovan read more

Great experience! The whole team was responsive, friendly, punctual, punctual and they did excellent work. You will be very happy w Guthrie & Sons! read more

Additionally: And now during our heat wave, because of the attic insulation and resealing of the ductwork, it can be 90 degrees outside and in the 70's inside, with all windows and doors closed. Haven't run the a/c yet. read more

I called them out to service the Fujitsu mini split-Guthrie installed 6 years ago - they wanted $450 per pound and $450 per hour to diagnose and find the leak and further said all of these Fujitsu's have a design problem that causes the air handler to corrode and then leak. New air handler not compatible with condenser...do a whole new system is the best solution!! it doesn't seem fair that 6 years is the normal life of a new A/C system!! but that was it. Their hourly rate is higher than my lawyer!! I'm thinking a class action suit against Fujitsu is appropriate for design defects and scamming the public!! read more

Wayne G. was our technician. He took out our 67-yr-old (!!!!) furnace and put in a new one along with a new thermostat. While in our home, he was very friendly, conscientious, and respectful. Everything was cleaned up perfectly after the completion of the work. Wayne explained all parts of the process ahead of time and then documented each step of his work with photos, which are copied to us. Very thorough paperwork and instructions were left for our reference. My husband had obtained several estimates and chose Guthrie & Sons as the best contractor for our job. read more

Great folks, know their business and very reasonable rates‼ Highly recommend this company to any and all. read more

Our HVAC system, which was installed by previous owners over a decade before we bought our house, burned out during a San Diego heat wave a few weeks ago. It could not be restarted or repaired. We were referred to Guthrie and Sons by a trusted, no-nonsense neighborhood HVAC contractor (Sam from Sam's Heating and Air, who is incredibly kind and knowledgeable) who could not help us until October. Zach from Guthrie came by the day after we called. He spent over five hours at our house, diagnosing the problems from incorrect condenser tonnage for the size of our home, a mismatched, inefficient furnace, lack of ceiling registers for proper air flow, plus metal, uninsulated ductwork that was never meant for a cooling system, etc. He basically validated everything Sam told us, without me mentioning a word. According to Zach, everything needed to be removed and replaced, and new registers be added to our ceiling to cool/heat parts of our home that received very little to no cooling/heating. So no BS from Guthrie. Plus they could do a total replacement install about a week later on July 12. A third trusted HVAC contractor, Leif from Viking Heating and Air who was referred by our realtor, came by later as a favor to us, and validated everything that Zach suggested we do. Since Viking was booked through August, he suggested we go with Guthrie as well. He even gave me some airflow and repair suggestions to bring up to Zach, who included them in his proposal for no extra charge. All three contractors gave us estimates in the same basic range, expensive yes, but necessary to bring us comfort, fix mistakes from the past, and add value to our home. Bottom line, Guthrie's crew, headed up by great guys Kareen, Mikey, and Eduardo, came by as planned, and got the entire project done IN ONE DAY as promised. They worked their butts off on a hot day, they left everything clean, vacuumed, and in great condition. Airflow is WAY increased, certain areas are no longer 10 degrees warmer than others, and we are extremely happy. Thank you to everyone at Guthrie - from friendly customer service reps to the skilled, trustworthy installation team. Highly recommend them. read more

Never ever use them . If you had work done by them in an attic unit replacement I'd advise you to immediately have it inspected by a licensed inspector. I know for a FACT if the unit is to big to fit in the attic the owner instructs there installers to cut and remove the trusses to get the unit in . This is ill advised and trusses are never to be cut notched or drilled. This is a structural hazard please by all means have it inspected !! read more

This is a review for our HVAC system installed in early 2021. The sales rep (Zac) was knowledgeable and very responsive. This company is the only one that carried the Bosch AC, which is why we decided to go with them (having a quiet AC unit is important for us). The installation process was smooth and clean; the crew was very courteous and professional. Installation was done in 3 days. We did have to clean our attic first before the installation could be done. They recommended a nice attic cleaning company. We have used both heater and AC and no issues so far (we have had 2 complementary service checks already.) Reasons for 4 stars instead of 5: 1) the new registers didn't quite fit the openings on the wall well, so they had to subcontract a drywall company to come and repair the edges around the new registers. It was done but just a bit of a hassle having to schedule more appointments. 2) a component from the furnace (a Rheem) was broken a few weeks or so after the installation, so a technician had to come back and replace it. Again, not a big deal since it was done, but just a minor hiccup. Overall, I would recommend Guthrie and Sons to anyone interested in HVAC installation. read more

Price for tune-up was on the high side. It included the price of a new filter, but they didn't have my size. Instead they put MY filter in and still charged me for theirs. With additional Freon, the cost went from high to very high. The service man was nice, explained things, and seemed to be honest. Other than the filter issue, I was satisfied with Guthrie. I trust them until I can't. read more

I had a great experience with Guthrie and sons. I had 3 companies provide bids and Guthrie was the best. Wayne did a great job with replacing my 42 year old furnace. They have now replaced 4 units in my townhouse complex and highly recommend. read more

Over delivered for an amazing price! These guys were professional the whole way through. They said exactly what they were going to do and knew the right people to upgrade my electrical breaker boxes that I couldnt be more happier. I worked with Zack from Guthrie and sons and he even called me back a few weeks to see how the installation and units were working in the rentals. I used this yelp app to request a quote and I definitely wouldn't hesistate to recommend these guys for their services. Thanks G & S (Zack)!!! (Pics to follow) read more

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Update 2/26/24: Following my experience I wrote about below, Guthrie and Sons really stepped up to the plate and made right on this situation. My heat pump works as it should, my house is warm, and they are even taking care of the scratches. They also went a step above and provided other compensations that I will not disclose here, but was very much appreciated. I had really lost hope with this company, but they showed me that deep down they cared enough to make it more than right. For this, I will be doing business with Guthrie and Sons again in the future. Original One Star Review: Simply the worst experience I've ever had with a company. First off let me say everyone I have interacted with has been very nice and friendly. That's the good out of the way. I paid 14k+ for a new 2 stage heat pump and air handler. I went from a nice warm house in the winter to me and my pregnant wife consistently waking up freezing cold after this unit was installed. It has been nothing short of an absolute calamity, and it is all on Guthrie and Sons. The heat pump itself refuses to heat my house. It will run consistently at 100 percent for 12-14 hours a day and blow nothing but cold to mildly warm air. I have had 7 different technicians come out to my house over the months since install and it took until the 6th (6TH!!!) technician to figure out that the original installation team had missed a whole step in the install process to enable the 2nd stage on my 2 stage heating pump. Let me say that again, a team of HVAC professional installers, missed setting up a whole stage (50 percent of the stages) in a two stage heat pump and 5 other technicians missed this whoopsie as well. The 6th technician figured out and fixed the issue and I figured, finally, it's all over, I can finally have a nice warm house. Sure the install now looks kinda wonky since he had to pass another wire outside of the original install, but whatever, it works. That lasted for around a month until once again my unit would run near consistently and blow nothing but cold to mildly warm air. So the 7th technician came out and said that the freon level is low, so once again, something that all the other techs must have missed. At this point I suspect with the near non-stop running maxed out and low fluid levels I'm sure my unit has suffered some damage and excessive wear which will probably present itself right after the warranty expires. My power bill has also taken a huge upswing as running heat-pump that does nothing all the time costs quite a bit extra a month! Now at first I was thinking this must be a fluke, look at all these 5 star rave reviews, but this is no fluke. A fluke is the install team missing something but then the next tech catching the mistake and going the extra mile and really ensuring that everything will be golden going forward. With everything that is happened so far I have zero confidence in this company from top to bottom and I hope anyone who reads this review stays far, far away. Oh and they also slightly scratched up my heat-pump and air handler working on it a bunch, not a big deal really but it was a nice paint job on the Rheem and just kinda sucks when people bang up your investment, toss metal panels around and scrape them across concrete. I get it, its hard work and heavy machines but at least try to care about someone else's (quite expensive) property. Edit: I will continue to update this review for better or for worse as I suspect this saga is far from being concluded. read more

Well they charged me 550 and did not fix the problem I called them for. Next day air still didn't work. Came back out - They said the units were connected wrong and they don't work on other contractors work. They wanted me to buy a unit from them. 550 for nothing and they didn't solve my problem. Story changed 5 times. I highly do not recommend them. read more

Needed replacement of bad controls on several years old very large humidifer, which owner Ben Guthrie informed me about--recalled. Tech Rich Cureton fixed the problem in an unfamiliar complex device, and it has been working well ever since at no cost to me. Company has been very fair to me for over a decade now even though I am not in its targeted service area. read more

I recently had Guthrie and Sons install a new high efficiency heat pump and replace the 35 year old furnace in my new house. Anthony the sales person, and Wayne and Matthew the installers were all a pleasure to work with and were all very knowledgeable, professional and friendly throughout the process. The pricing was competitive with the other quotes I received especially since they took the time to explain the potential tax implications of the different options where some other companies did not. I would highly recommend this company for HVAC work. read more

Regretfully had to call Guthrie and Sons in the middle of a heat wave. Took a week to get an appointment slot since everyone else's air conditioners failed before ours. Received a confirmation call on Friday. Vlad called 15 minutes before arrival as a courtesy. Excellent appointment and scheduling. Vlad arrived as promised 15 minutes later. Super polite and friendly. Excellent field representative for the company. His vehicle was spotless and well organized throughout. Makes the company and its field staff look organized, professional, reliable and dependable. Walked outside to check the compressor which was iced over. Suggested i wait 24 hours to use the system as there was probably extensive condensation on the sister unit in the attic crawlspace. Inside to climb into the claustrophobic crawlspace. He opened the unit effortlessly, quickly identified the defective part, stated the replacement cost, swapped it out and voila, the ability to once again thwart nature is back within our control. Sure enough the attic was damp with a collar of ice encrusted on the exposed metal connector. Vlad snapped off the chunk of ice and grabbed the washable air filter on the way back out. Cleaned, dried and reinstalled the filter, closed up the attic space, final instructions, warnings, and offer of the annual service and maintenance contract which we'll actually consider. Vlad wrote up the service agreement. No hidden charges or surprises. Excellent cost transparency. All in all, Outstandingutstanding service from a reputable firm. It's quite obvious Vlad is a very happy employee which means Guthrie and Sons treats its staff well, which implies they also treat their customers well. We enthusiastically recommend this firm as a reliable professional experienced service with transparent billing practices. read more

I just recently had our new AC installed and all I can say is; I AM VERY SATISFIED and HAPPY! The crew that came in are very friendly, respectful and informative, and on top of that, everyone wore face masks and shoe covers which is a big plus for me. They brought some coverings for our floor to and they even clean up after themselves! Every penny spent is all worth it, service and product are both excellent! This is the company you would want to hire for all your cooling and heating needs. read more

Guthrie and Sons - Heating & Air Conditioning/HVAC Near Me - San Diego, California

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To date I've never received a response from Guthrie and Son, so I'm moving on. Even after being told that management would be informed. Sad when you think about a local company with a lot of competition! read more

2 years ago I was bullied by this company to remove my negative review. I tried to move on since then, however after spending $25k on 2 new AC units with them, I continue to have issues with both units that I purchased in 2017, making them 4 years old. I had an issue with one of the units about 2 years ago and asked them to fix it. They claimed it wasn't their problem. I had a 3rd party confirm it was a bad install, wrote a bad review and THEN they agreed to fix it after calling me 10x to remove my bad Yelp review. Here I am again and now my other AC unit installed at the same time is having the same issue the other unit did. Again, I called Guthrie and sons who refuse to be accountable for their install, even after again having a 3rd party confirm they should be responsible. Please don't be deceived by the good rating as I'm sure I'm not the only person they have done this to. If you write a bad review, you will get a phone call and ask you to remove it. I also filed a complaint with the BBB read more

Update (07/30/2019): One of the technicians, Zack, inspected our AC unit and identified a broken refrigeration line as a possible reason why the unit is only producing warm air. Today, one of the owners, Matt, called me on the phone and expressed his regret that we have not been satisfied with our unit. After the issue of the broken line is resolved, Matt said he would inspect the unit personally to determine if there are other means of improving the unit's performance. He also said he could potentially cover the costs of any enhancements. We are still frustrated with the unit (see below), but definitely appreciate how responsive, professional and courteous the company owner and staff have been. read more

It's been 2 years since we had our AC unit installed and I am so happy that we chose to go with Guthrie and Sons. My AC unit is maintained in the winter and summer and the wonderful ladies in the office make it so easy to schedule maintenance appointments. Shout out to Amy and Courtney! Wayne is the technician that usually comes out for our maintenance calls and he is the best. He is on time, quick and efficient, a good communicator and so pleasant to deal with. Thanks for being so awesome to deal with, Guthrie and Sons! read more

Guthrie and Sons - Heating & Air Conditioning/HVAC Near Me - San Diego, California

I had some questions about my mini split, and Alerik went out of his way to stop what he was doing to answer every and all my questions! I was very satisfied with his responses and hopefully to be a future customer of Guthrie and Sons!!! read more

This company somehow has much too many positive reviews. It seems like they change their ratings by enticing folks to change when there are issues. We cannot stand by and watch others get taken to the woodshed like these folks have done to me and my family. Courtney the front desk girl is rude as all get out. Amy the manager isn't much better. We have now had two people come out and both have said "I cannot believe Guthrie and sons has left you in this bad of a situation". "They should be warranting as well as caring for customers. " Additionally today we hear that Guthrie and Soms didn't install according to code. read more

Use Guthrie and Sons!! Hands down, no better company out there. Our AC went out on Labor Day weekend (which also happened to be the hottest weekend we've seen) and they gave us an appointment for the following Monday. A few days later, it was the Friday before our Monday appointment, and they called to give us our appointment reminder and let us know if they determined on Monday that we needed a replacement unit it would be a few week wait. We were dying in the heat and Amy was able to squeeze us in that Friday just to have a guy come out and access so we could decide if we needed to find another unit or not. Vlad came within the hour and was able to not only repair the unit, but did it in the pouring rain! I could have hugged both of them! Amazing, amazing customer service and quality of work!! Thank you!! read more

Thank you for the prompt service. Amy, Courtney, Zach and Nick. You are an asset to this company and saved the day for my family. I appreciate the awesome customer service. read more

Met with Matt on 4/15/22, after going over the system I wanted he immediately gave me a proposal. We worked out a few details and we booked an installation date. It just happened that 4/18/22 was open due to another client needing to reschedule. The installation crew, Rob, Mike and Travis were a pleasure to work with. Rob, in particular answered and addressed all of our questions making sure that we were totally satisfied with the 4-zone mini split system we had purchased/installed. My husband and I highly recommend Guthrie and Sons. Again, a BIG thank you to Rob, Mike and Travis. read more

"I say BRRRRRR it's cold in here, there must have been some Guthrie & Sons in here..." It has been HOT-HOT-HOT in San Diego this past week. Last year, I was in Paris during a heatwave and it was in the 90s and I had nothing but some fans where I was staying. When we got back, the AC made a billowing moan and died. So having survived the stifling heat in France, the heat here was a piece of cake. However, it was time to replace the old unit. We looked at several different companies, but some of their phone skills were awful. I found G&S through Yelp, and even wrote back and forth with Love Z. before deciding what to do. Matt came out, looked at the old unit and ventilation system, made some suggestions, and explained what they could do. He then came back by with an estimate, which was reasonable for what they were going to do...move the unit to the back of the house. Not only did they come and install everything, they hauled away the old unit and whatever else was with it. They deal with Trane. The unit is quiet and so damn efficient. A few months later, there was a little problem with a hissing noise, but that was taken care of promptly. We also have a gas heating unit which worked great this past winter. Right now, the air is cold...sometimes too cold and I have to turn it up to 76. The old unit never cooled the house effectively, so it was on all the time during hot days. This new unit is amazing and has saved us a lot of money on energy costs. Sure, it's summer and it's hot...and I could go to the beach and deal with the crowds and parking, but I can also just stay in where it's cool and walk to the fridge for ice cream...or a beer... "Oh-ee, Oh-ee OOOHHHH..ice, ice, ice..." read more

I was so very impressed with the service from this company. I originally used them to install my brand new air conditioner. There service folks are professional and very good at their job. Since then I have had them back out to do installation of new vents and replacement of old vent covers. I would highly recommend you give them a call for your next service! read more

After getting a couple of quotes, we went with Guthrie & Sons for a new furnace and Air Conditioning. I'm so happy we went with them - Where do I begin? - They are SO nice. All of them. Zac was terrific/knowledgeable when he came by our house for the quote and Amy + Courtney both left lasting impressions when I spoke to them over the phone. - The pricing was fair and the financing was VERY quick/easy! - The guys who came over to do the work - Blake, Luke, & Adam - were WONDERFUL. They were kind, so patient with my crazy dog, clean, very efficient, and clearly worked well together. - The AC is ice cold and that's why we're all here, folks. The whole process was very easy and quick. Highly recommend. know I read these reviews when I started looking, so hopefully this one is helpful for you! read more

I had the true pleasure of using Guthrie and Sons for assistance with my a.c. unit. Everyone at this company was a joy to speak with. From the receptionist on the first contact, to the gentleman who initially came out to give me a quote for a new unit but through his honesty told me I could get a fix instead, and then to the technician who came to fix my issue, I am very satisfied. In a city where there are so many options for heating, cooling, and solar, Guthrie and Sons is the best experience I've had. read more

Wow! - that was my first impression and I can't shake it. The estimator came out and he was punctual and professionally dressed. I guess it's the slow season, so they bid my project at below market value - awesome! They were able to do the work the very next day. The tech that came to my house was amazing. The project execution was a little different from what the estimator described, but the tech went out of his way to do all he could to complete the job as the estimator promised. The tech spent more time than was estimated, but seemed enthusiastic to do so. He even played with my dog a little. I'll definitely call these guys again for an estimate for my next project. read more

Matt was one of a few contractors that came out to our house a few weeks ago to give us an estimate on a new HVAC system. He really knows his stuff and gave us a VERY informative presentation and what was a good price for Trane. We ended up going elsewhere, with a less expensive system. Had we elected to choose Trane, we would have chosen Guthrie. Matt's advice (and price) was so much better than the other Trane proposal we received. We did a lot of research before selecting Guthrie & Sons as one of the potential contractors and I am totally confident they would have done a wonderful job. read more

Stephan was our sales rep. He informed us of all our options without giving us any sense of pressure. We felt very comfortable dealing with this company after meeting him. Andy and Rob did our installation. They were very friendly, informative, and hard working. We would recommend Guthrie and Sons to everyone! Stephan, Andy, and Rob thank you so much for all your hard work. We are extremely happy with your service! read more

From the estimate to the installation, i could not be more happier. The estimator/owner came out and exuded confidence about solving our problem. Several other vendors offered solutions of putting a heater on the roof, while others suggested putting a heater in the house - that would take up some of the closet space. Not only did they provide a viable and less intrusive solution, but the PRICE WAS RIGHT! Please look no further and get an estimate from Mr. Guthrie; he will not disappoint. Oh and one more thing... They removed an old air conditioner from the roof for FREE! These folks far exceeded my expectations! read more

I have used this company for 5+ years for our home. They installed a new unit for us. Installed in a very timely manner and in a clean way. We have not had one breakdown with our unit...and we have very hot summers. We like a really cool house, so we use our unit a lot. I recommend getting their service plan, it an investment, but well worth it. They call to schedule checkups/tuneups and if you have any minor problems they are out quickly. We have been so happy with their services that we ended up using them for our business. We had problems left and right with our thermostats in our large restaurant and they switched them out with a really great looking unit. All this was done over the phone because I wasn't able to meet it person. We trust them fully for all our cooling needs! They go above and beyond and with a smile! read more

I have used Guthrie and Sons in the past and continue to due to their customer service. I just had a new AC and heater installed. Christian, Alerik and Jay did an excellent job removing the old dilapidated equipment from the attic and installing high quality equipment. They added dampers (?) to reduce the airflow in the freezing cold bedrooms and direct more air to the kitchen and living room. I have 2 AC systems and they rewrapped tubing on the older AC. They showed me the new equipment via video so I didn't need to crawl into the attic and showed me where to change the filter. Thank you. read more