THIS review is why I joined Yelp. In a world of mediocre to terrible businesses, I had to write…read moreabout the amazingly positive experiences that I keep having time after time with the family-owned Beckman Brothers Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning.
I'll tell you my overall opinion, and if you want to know the details of the "why" behind it, read-on beyond this next paragraph:
Beckman Brothers is a genuinely honest, reliable, experienced, and fair company. Most of their staff is family. At last count, one person wasn't related, and he is a life-long friend of one of the technicians. When you call, John, the owner, typically answers. If you have an emergency, a technician is at your house somewhere between minutes and at worst, a couple of hours. They give you honest analysis and solutions at reasonable prices, usually with good, better, best options. And when they perform the work, it's done right. Simply put, I have never worked with any company, in any of the trades, that I trust and appreciate more. They are what you wish every company would be like.
So how'd I get here?... Let me give you a bit of background... I had been using a legacy local HVAC company... A one-man operation, who has his office in downtown Lake Zurich and has been servicing the area for years. He is friendly. Honks his horn as he drives by and tells you his life story when he comes to do work. And here's where the problems are with him... He either lacks knowledge or intentionally strings out issues so that you call him back out, over and over. My final straw was that the flame wouldn't light in my furnace, so I called for repair. He'd diagnose a failed flame sensor and fix it for a hundred bucks. Three months later, same problem. Another hundred bucks later, I get two more months, and, you guessed it, same problem. This is when I asked around, and called Beckman Brothers on a referral from a friend.
Martin from Beckman Brothers came out within hours and scoped the furnace to find that there was a crack in the heat exchanger, which not only could have been leaking carbon monoxide into my home every time the furnace fired up, but also was leading to the repeated failures around the flame sensor as the safety kicked in and wouldn't let gas flow. Martin showed me the image from the scope and gave me a written estimate for repairing the furnace. I also asked him for an estimate to replace the entire furnace, as it was around fifteen years old.
Out of curiosity, I called my legacy HVAC guy, who came out, and to no surprise, wanted to replace the flame sensor again for another hundred bucks. I told him that after some research, I was concerned about the heat exchanger, as it could be a root cause of my repeated problems. He finally looks and tells me, "your heat exchanger is broken," and the resolution is to, "replace the furnace." Not only did he not find the problem on his own in three visits over five months, but he also gave me one resolution in the end, a quote for a builder-grade furnace that COST MORE than a mid-level Bryant furnace from Beckman Brothers. Needless to say, that was the last time I invited my now former HVAC guy in my house.
Since then, Beckman Brothers has replaced two furnaces and two air conditioner condensers. I have a service agreement with them where they come out twice a year (once for Heat and once for A/C) for preventative maintenance. Since switching to Beckman Brothers, the only issue I have had was a furnace intermittently turning off because of a dirty flame sensor during an unusually early cold snap. Had my annual maintenance been scheduled for two weeks earlier than it was set for, I wouldn't have even had that problem.
Bottom line, I cannot endorse a company more than I do Beckman Brothers Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning. And if you have an issue, do not hesitate to call them. You will get honest service and fair options. I am confident you will not regret it.
