Scott Hendry

Review of Aire Smith

TLDR - super low on refrigerant, was asked to diag...

TLDR - super low on refrigerant, was asked to diagnose my own system, scare tactics and attempts to try to sell me parts and services that weren't in my best interests (or needs, as I'm sitting in 75 degree air a week later), and then charged $531 for the whole thing. They fixed my problem but it wasn't pretty.

My problem: plenty of air moving but it was ambient temperature at best.

After asking me where the problem was (inside/outside - strange question from someone certified to work on AC systems to someone who clearly isn't), the guy decided to look at the guts of the air handler inside anyway. Not sure what could have possibly been wrong there but it was all of 2 minutes before we wound up outside. Every YouTube video I'd watched prior to the service call showed you top up the refrigerant from the outside unit - my house was no different. I'm still not sure why we checked anything inside and he didn't explain what he was looking for there (didn't think to ask, honestly).

Outside, we finally made progress. Sure enough my refrigerant was at half the PSI it should've been. This is where things really went south.

There was a technician doing the work, and one that was there mainly as backup. Mr. Backup offered up two choices - a stop-leak fluid + refrigerant top-up, or they could locate the source of the leak manually (somehow). The latter, he told me - even though HE hadn't been in my house - would no doubt reveal that some coils in my air handler had somehow rusted through and that there would be a hole letting out the refrigerant. Not sure about his theory there as the pressure held steady while he explained that these coils would cost about $2900 and that the leak trace was ~$400 and blah blah blah. They weren't going back in my house at this point.

Once I decided to go with the stop-leak, Mr. Backup went back to the truck and the technician started slowly adding refrigerant and monitoring everything along the way. This guy was super thorough, explained everything he was watching as he was working, and told me about his military service. Great dude.

The whole appointment up to this point felt like they were leaning on me to identify a problem for them to fix vs. me being the dumb customer I am just describing the symptoms we were living with. At no point was there a recommended course of action. No one ever said "this is what I'd do if it were mine". It felt like they were trying to lure me into going with the slightly cheaper leak location which would only lead me to some other "problem" that would inevitably cost more. I wish I didn't have to jump through those hoops. I guess I'll keep looking for that "guy in a truck" operation that'll shoot straight with me and not charge a kidney.

The weirdest part, I needed to sign a piece of paper for payment that the technician had PRE-CHECKED the monthly payment box for their service club. This club gets you (a little) reduced prices on services in exchange for $13/month. Strangely, you can pay for that one month and be done with it, or you can call and cancel anytime. Either way, the club membership does save you a little money but I can't come up with a reason for paying for it month after month. If you have problems that often, you're better off calling someone else in my opinion.

Basically, this experience was what I expected from some huge company like Arnold Moos/John Wayne where they've got an advertising budget and mega fleet to pay for. Asking me what part of the AC system the problem was in after I explained my symptoms, trying to get me to pay for services they likely knew I didn't need, and the high cost severely outweighed my good experiences with their receptionist and the one technician.