One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning

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!!

Original Review: One Hour came to my house in Nov. and charged lots of money for a central heat and cooling system. The guys worked in a thunderstorm putting the system in. The unit never got the house warm, and One hour never helped us, so we bought 2 electric space heaters and wore sweatshirts and blankets. May came and 90 degree temperatures outside. We sit in 80 degree plus heat every night! Company finally sent out a worker who said to change the air filter and we did. No improvement. The company took 2 days, not one hour to send someone out. Receptionist says since Norfolk inspector OK'd install so they will do nothing about it. As bad as the unit performs, our gas and electric bill is 30% higher than our 22 plus old unit was. No further response from the company. Never heard from the salesman. They continue to ignore us while we sweat it out!

This sounded very suspicious and I called my cousin, who is engineer. He was able to fix my compressor in 2 minutes, HE NOTICED THAT WIRING WAS COMPROMISED TO CAUSE IT TO GROUND AND BURN. I can’t describe the frustration and anger I feel towards the unethical and unprofessional behavior of One Hour Air Conditioning and Heating. They should be ashamed to embroider the American flag on their uniform. Sharing this so that no other customer falls on this type of despicable techniques.