One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning Reviews

On August 30th, We had a drip leak coming from the Smoke Detector in the smaller bedroom. I went up in the attic to discover the bottom of the upstairs A/C unit had 3 inches of water in the pan. We called One hour and at this point they make an appointment for the next day. This is where I found out that our Comfort Care was no longer active and that we had missed 2 years of service.

On Aug 31st midafternoon, ** arrives and access the damage. At this point the ceiling is damp. He states that the Upper pan of A/C unit is not draining due to a clog. He shows me and it light brown rusty sludge. He also states that the return from the A/C to the hall has some water in and recommends being repaired with a patch. He suggested this was our fault for not having the unit services. I told him I need to talk with his manager, and he replied “What for?" I asked him to step out of my house while I call the manager at one hour. After discussion with the Manager at one Hour, we decided to go ahead with the clearing of the drain and patch. We also signed back up for the Comfort Care.

While ** was repairing the Return from the Furnace, 4-5 gallons of water dumped from the attic through ceiling dry wall to bedroom below. I told him through the ceiling what had happened and did not immediately respond. Then I go to where he is in attic, and then he came down and saw the damage. Part of the dry wall was hanging down. I pulled it down to prevent more damage to the bed. Apparently, he put in his notes that this hole was there prior to him coming over. Hence the integrity problem here. This was all done at approximately 1100pm.

I notified One Hour Monday and they said they would send a representative to the house (**). **looked at the hole and saw the return patch that was made. **told me that he was the guy that the company use to do Dry Wall repairs and likely could complete the next day. He then proceeded to the attic and stated that the patch performed prior was not correct and also place a PVC valve on the valve of the drain line to help get more air in it.

Everything seemed like we were going to get the situation fixed at the lowest level until someone from one hour called. After that ** demeanor changed. He then started taking questions personally. We were suppose to receive a phone call from **. Never Happened. I cancelled my appointment and called and let one hour know that we will pursue this repair and service another way. Also to cancel our Service Plan. They immediately responded with I sign a contract. The One Hour Guarantees is not what I experienced.

Original Review: July 7, 2023

Very disappointed and now I am livid. Yesterday, technician Daryl came to do an annual tune-up of my A/C that One Hour installed new 3 years ago. This technician was by my A/C for a short time and then went to my front yard water tap for what reason I do not know. He ended up knocking on my door with part in hand and said I need a new capacitor. He said feel it, it is hot but no it was warm because we are in 3-digit temps. The part still looked brand new and I ended up taking the existing part back from him. He probably did something to the part with my water to have a different reading.

This morning, I could not put the hose back on to water my tree which is dying, I am livid. He was not at my A/C unit very long. I know the last 2 technicians did a real tune-up for the length of time they spent and they never used my water in front. Daryl said my unit will stop working if I do not replace the capacitor and had no choice due to the 3-digit temps. With a $59.00 coupon I presented he still charged me $173.00. The part on Amazon is $27.10. In addition, he just looked up at my ceiling and said yes it looks like the filters are in properly where previously, the other technicians opened the grill to check. I was pleased with this company until now. The company was affiliated with Ben Franklin Plumbing in which I was also taken advantage of by one of their technicians. Not all technicians are bad people but there are some rotten apples in every basket.

I knew from another review that they would not allow me to cancel the charges, although I did ask when they called to schedule the maintenance. I told them I don't need the maintenance, I have a new unit and she said she would refer me to the business office and they would call me, but they never did and the charges are still on my credit card. The repair man wasn't a good repairman, but he was a good (pushy) sales person. I think they make most of their money from the maintenance agreements. I would recommend that you get to know a local repair person and form a relationship for the future so you don't get stuck with companies like this in an emergency.

We got a different story from every person (6 in total) we talked to in this unhappy process, and there is no way of knowing if any one of them was telling us the truth. They all tell you the bare minimum of what sounds like an answer - but the next person tells you something totally different. Live and learn: Learning can be very expensive! Get a few quotes from reputable local contractors - do not deal with these people at all.

MONDAY: The technician arrived at 2PM. At this time, the temperature inside my home was 75, and the outdoor temp was at its high of 92 (comfortable, but not hitting my sweet spot of 72). By 2:30PM, the technician completed the diagnostic, told me that my unit was low on freon, and quoted $503 to add 3 lbs. He told me that I should be good to go in a few hours but advised that there MIGHT be a leak and it’s possible the freon would continue to leak. He told me if there was a leak, the freon would only last me a few months, and I might back in the same position come Sept/Oct.

Because the temperature in my home was 76 during the hottest part of the day, I decided to go ahead and have the technician add freon for $503. Based on his assessment, the worst outcome would be that my HVAC would be functioning as before come early Fall when outdoor temperatures are cooler. I figured adding freon would get me through the hottest months of the year and into Fall. Because my AC cooled fine at night when the outside temps were cooler, I was OK with this outcome. It would give me time to shop for a company to replace my system.

3-8PM: While the outdoor temps were dropping, the temps inside my home were rising. By 8PM, my thermostat was reading 84-85. MY HOME HAD NEVER EVER BEEN THAT HOT BEFORE – even during the hottest days the week before when Bham was under a heat advisory. THE TEMPERATURE INSIDE MY HOME HAD INCREASED 10 DEGREES AFTER PAYING $503 TO FIX THE PROBLEM. I called customer service that night and explained what was going on. They told me they would send a tech the next day (Tuesday) but couldn’t give me a time window so I had to use PTO again to wait on the tech. Monday night was extremely rough, with inside temps reaching 86 while outdoor temps ranged from 70-76. At one point, it was 15 degrees hotter inside than outside.

TUESDAY. The tech arrived at 11:20AM (same tech as before). At ~12PM, he informed me that the compressor wasn’t running because the capacitor was bad. I asked why he added freon the day before if the problem was a bad capacitor. He told me that the compressor was running fine and the capacitor wasn’t broken the day before. He said it must have “COINCIDENTALLY” failed in 1-2 hrs after he left (I kid you not, he said this was a COINCIDENCE, & he sees it all the time). He changed the capacitor and told me the freon levels were perfect and where they should be. I was annoyed, but hopeful my AC would be fixed. After ~3hrs, the temp inside had dropped to 80-81…which is still 6 degrees HOTTER than before the tech ever came out.

I called customer service again at ~4:45. They told me they could send a new tech the following day, but because they were so busy, they couldn’t give me a time, meaning I’d have to take PTO for a 3rd day to wait for a tech. They also told me it’d be another $89 for them to visit if they discovered a “new issue” with my HVAC. She said if there weren’t any “new issues,” then I wouldn’t be charged the $89. Seeing how my capacitor “COINCIDENTALLY” broke in the 1-2 hr after the tech left, I was obviously not OK with paying another $89. As he said, they see these COINCIDENCES ALL THE TIME, so I have no doubt there’d be another coincidence. After talking to her manager, they agreed to waive the $89 fee. Because I can’t take off from work again tomorrow, I’ll have to wait until Friday for a new tech to come out. As of 9PM on Tuesday, it's 81 degrees (hotter than it was before they ever visited). We’ll see what Friday brings.

I called the next company and the tech came and opened the blower cover and connected a meter and began testing. Five minutes later he said that the control board is bad. I asked him about the blower motor and he said that it was fine...just the control board needed replacing. He replaced the control board and was pulling out of our driveway 37 minutes after arriving and the TOTAL COST was $620-That included the $85 diagnostic charge! Well, you can guess who we will be bad-mouthing and who we will be praising in the future. Not to mention, they now have a lifelong customer. It MAY have been a fluke but I would suggest AVOIDING One Hour Heat & Air and just pick another company. Their tech, although a very nice guy, OBVIOUSLY had No Clue what he was doing. Heck, even on YouTube they teach you how to TEST with a meter. The One Hour guy just LOOKED at it!!