I first went with Choate's Air Conditioning, Heating, & Plumbing back in 2013. I wanted to get quality heating and air units installed, and they were the only ones who handled Tranes. I have had the two units serviced pretty routinely, and if not every year, then at least every other year. And, they were the only ones who touched these units. But it seems like there has been some kind of service issue every time I have called them lately. First, there was their service tech who told me that my fan motors were installed in reverse, and that they needed to be turned around. I was charged $200. That didn't make any sense, so I called them a few days later, and they sent another technician out. He said the motors were reversed, and he put them back the way they were. I talked to the company, and they did refund my money on that. Then, this last October or November, I had them come out to check the heating units before the cold weather got here. I was charged $60 per unit, and I was told that both units were in great shape, and ready to go for winter. Then, last week, when the cold spell hit, we turned the upstairs unit on, and it did not work. The fan did not even come on. So, we called them back out, and I was charged $60 to look at one unit, and $90 just to look at the other one. After examination, I was told that parts needed to be replaced, and that the units were not under warranty anymore. It was going to cost me $1,800 for the repairs. I told the service tech that I wanted to think about it, and that I would call the company later. I called my son, who has a degree in mechanical engineering, and he went to the Trane website, and looked up my name. Come to find out, I had a 10-year warranty on parts, and a 20-year warranty on the heat exchange. This took him all of about five minutes. So, I called up Choate's Air Conditioning, Heating, & Plumbing, and they did some research, and they agreed that my unit was still under parts warranty. Apparently, they had neglected to update their system or something. The service technician comes back out, and he installs the part, which was a fan motor. He spent about 15 minutes on the work, and I was charged $600. I have talked to several people since then, and they say that parts and labor both on a job like this should be around $200 to $250.

I have tried over the years to be a good customer of Choate's Air Conditioning, Heating, & Plumbing. I have tried to give them my money to do a good job for me. I bought top of the line units from them, but I have become a disgruntled customer. Their service used to be okay, but I now believe that there is not a competent person there. I do not plan on calling them again. It has been a frustrating experience, and they had many chances to do the right thing. Before I retired a few years ago, I was a QA (Quality Assurance) inspector for a major corporation. I know how customer service is supposed to work, and how a company is supposed to interact with its customers. I wonder what would have happened if I had simply paid them the $1,800 for the repair when they presented that quote? It just seems like a very bad business practice not to even fully check out a warranty for your customer.