McCarthy Services Reviews

We're very satisfied and they did a good job. The guys were very knowledgeable and skilled. However, It was painful to handle the scheduling and on a couple of the things we had done. One of them was when the AC is not working right, they were supposed to come out in the morning , and they let go until noon, and let us know that they gave us a new window for the afternoon. Finally, the guy called us at 4:00 on a Saturday afternoon and said, "We can't make it out today. I'm in Northwest DC. It's too far to drive. I'll be there the first thing in the morning," but they didn't show up. We called them again and we got them there Sunday night. That was aggravating. I think they overscheduled and once he's at a stop, he can't come. McCarthy needs to communicate that. The only way we found out what was going on was we had to call back our number, and she had to call dispatch, and sometimes they would get dispatch to call us directly.

After a lengthy pitch and presentation on his laptop about warranties, reputation, etc., Maneeb asked me what my budget was for this job. I said I didn't have a "budget" for it, because I had no idea what current prices might be. I told him I just wanted his best and final estimate, because I intended to get at least three other quotes. Finally, I got him to spit out his price: $21,673.

I took a deep breath and said, "You must think I'm a total idiot." He never blinked. He then said he might be able to work with me on the price. He asked me again what my budget was. I said, "Nine thousand dollars." He blinked this time. "Where did you get that number?" I said, "Same place from which you pulled out yours. Surely you must have a senior discount or a military discount." He calculated 5% for each of those on his computer spreadsheet.

He got his manager Mike on speakerphone. Manager says, "Since it's the end of the month, I can get you another 25%, but that's only good if you sign today." I laugh. I tell Maneeb, "We're done here." I don't care what kind of price you give me at this point. I'm not doing business with your company." He's astonished. Final answer? They quoted me $13,000 and Maneeb says he can “take care” of the $4. So, within about six minutes, the price drops $8,673. A company that can make a fair profit at $13,000 but adds 67% more to their price as PURE GREEDY PROFIT deserves to have no customers at all.

There must be—in order to keep McCarthy in business—too many people in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties who have more money than brains. If you need a new HVAC system for your home, go to www.Checkbook.org and find a reputable company. I did, and three other companies quoted me prices within a couple of hundred dollars of each other. . . WITHOUT first attempting extortion, profiteering, or exploitation.

Epilogue: two days past, then Maneeb called to ask me if I was ready to move forward with my new HVAC replacement. (Yes, he really did.) I laughed and said, “Yes, but it certainly won’t be with your company.” BUYER BEWARE.