Saturday, January 15, 2011

Kirkland Air Conditioning and Heating

Nothing worse than getting a raw deal on a cold winter day.

First I've known Walter Kirkland since South Meck High School days and over the years I've paid his company enough to put at least one of his kid's through college.

So its sad to see a company that once offered top-notch service at a fair price, lower itself to blatant piracy.

I'd guess what happens is things get comfortable and you start to feel like you can charge what you like, the customer and competition be damned.


Shane nice guy doesn't look like a pirate does he?

Last summer after years of paying Kirkland techs whatever they asked, never once questioning a bill, I called Walter out on a "contactor" a small but necessary device that tells the outside condenser unit to power up, which had been replaced just the summer before.

Seems ants have an attraction to the low voltage current that powers the contactor. The ant get inside the mechanism and eventually the contactor stops working and needs to be replaced or so I was told.

The price of a contactor from Kirkland is $185.00 the price for the same part on line is $22.50. I don't mind a mark up, even 100% or 200% but an 822% mark-up is out of line. In fairness this includes the technicians ability to connect four wires and tighten two screws. But add in the diagnostic service charge of $89.00 and suddenly a $22.50 part is a bill for nearly 300 bucks.

I told Walter I thought the price was pretty out of line. His response was that he thought it was fair and that was his price.

I told the tech I'd fix it myself and paid only the $89.00 service charge. Turns out if you shake out the dead ants the contactor works just fine. And now I have a spare that cost me only $22.50 plus $12.75 for the overnight shipping.

Yesterday I called Kirkland at 8:05 AM and asked that they visit a condo that they had replaced the a/c at a year or so ago. The tenant had called to say that the heat had suddenly stopped working and I assumed it would be a pretty quick fix on a fairly new unit.

But the response I got was that I'd have to pay the overtime rate because they were really busy. I'm pretty easy going but I get tired of being abused and enough is enough.

I asked Rhonda the friendly voice on the other end of the phone if that was the best they could do, her reply was everyone pays the overtime rate in the winter.

Needless to say I told Rhonda and Kirkland Heating and Air Conditioning no thanks.

Hello Morris Jenkins? Can I get warm heat in my house tonight?

12 comments:

Michael said...

I had about the same experience with MJ. Tread carefully.

Anonymous said...

Cedar I feel about the same way. The AC guys just want to put in a new "system" and while a lot of time it makes sense who has 5k sitting around?

MJ told me that my system was toast and came up with a 4899 quote, I looked though the files that the prior owner had given me and was shocked to find that Morris Jenkins had replaced the "system" only four years before.

Crooks all of them.

Anonymous said...

Ha! Cedar a smart guy like you getting robbed? Never!

They have been screwing you over for years and you just now figured that out? Amazing.

Morris Jenkins, MTB, Anderson, Costner or whatever they are called, they don't make any money unless they condem your system.

Its all a rip off.

Anonymous said...

Morris Jenkins is awful. They sell snake oil and smile when they do it. Never ever do business with them. Their stuff is designed to fail as soon as the warranty expires.

Anonymous said...

Morris Jenkins is "high pressure" sales and as I understand it the techs are on a quota system to sell new systems.

Never heard of Kirkland, used Acosta, Caryl Mech in Indian Trail, Brothers they all have the same pricing and they all are shady.

I'd really like to hear from someone who has a good refferal.

Anonymous said...

Try this guy: Jeff Thompson 704-882-5226. Small business owner. Has been taking care of my house for the last 6 years. Does great work, has great prices. His business is so personnal that he sends out Christmas cards to his customers each year. Anybody get one of those from Morris Jenkins?

Anonymous said...

Good for you Cedar if more people would say ENOUGH! Maybe they would get the message.sysin

Anonymous said...

Come on! How do you think Morris Jenkins pays for all those cheesy commercials?

Crystal said...

Andy Lewis heating and Air... I work for a major commercial HVAC and refrigeration company here in Charlotte;... we only do commercial but know the guys over at Andy Lewis and they are really good... honest, fair, and will let you buy your own parts sometimes (but won't warranty or order the part for you if you go that route)... They're Allen Tate's recommended service company as well.

Anonymous said...

Rand Heating and Air---704-661-2333-Randy. He is also a small business owner. Honest and fair. He has done a lot of work for CMPD personnel.

Anonymous said...

Avoid Morris Jenkins at all costs!!

Anonymous said...

I have had very good response and service from Comfort Design. Excellent BBA ratings. Nice working class folks with a family-owned business.

Best Regards,