this place has me in the middle as far as a review. (id give a dead 2.5, in the middle, rating)
our A/C had gone out on, literally, the hottest day of the summer. i knew it was old (17yrs at that time) and was about to give out. so i gave steele bros a call (via friend referral).
since our system (A/C and furnace) was so old, the compressor and chemicals they usedwere pretty much obsolete so we opted to get an entirely new system.
we got a Trane system. they had to do some custom cutting and installation for our home, but between the foreman and 3 crew members, they had it done in a half day. they were conscientious of the house and kept it clean. when they were finished, everything looked great and the house extremely clean. they removed all debris and removed the old system. ive had other people over (including XCEL and some other home "contractors") who all commented on the excellent work (appeared) done and that it looked great. so, no complaints there. the system works great (cooling and heating) with no issues.
but this is where i have to dock them on the review stars: honesty. when we had the system installed, we were supposed to get a certain A/C, Furnace, and Coil. this "combination" per the AHRI (Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute) was valid and would qualify us for the tax credit based on the 'efficiency' of the system as a whole. you have to print a certificate as well.
but during the walkthrough after the installation, i noticed the coil model # did not match our invoice of what was to be installed. (as matter of fact, i noted several 'typos' which were ambiguous in model #'s). nonetheless, i addressed this and was told that the model we were supposed to get was out of stock, they didnt want to delay the installation, and this was actually a better fit. okay, im not a HVAC guru so i took the guys word for it.
later, i went back to the AHRI site to put in the combination that WAS installed only to find this combination didnt even exist! like it wasnt supposed to be done, or never had been done. i then contacted Trane and gave them this info. they said the combination would work and updated the AHRI website with a certificate. whew. HOWEVER, they noted the efficiency was less than the promised combination and that it would NOT qualify for the tax rebate based on this.
i contacted steele bros and addressed my issue. i felt like if we paid for a certain system, we should have received it. period. the guy said that the slight decrease in efficiency would not have significant impact on the cost savings over the year.
but this is my point: honesty. i dont care about the money. i told him i felt like it was a bait and switch (cuz this was obviously not as efficient as the other system). my whole idea is that, "why didnt he just tell me up front BEFORE the installation that particular coil model was out? and then offer me a choice: wait for the right part, or proceed with his recommendation". i mean, this was a $5,000 system i was paying for. had i not pointed out the discrepancy in the model #, i guarantee they would have never said anything to me about it. so i dock them for honesty. that is key for me as a business.
in conclusion, we kept the system as is and it works very well. installation was clean and well done. however, i would question their ethics when it comes to things like being honest when things arent what they promised. read more