I bought a new furnace and air conditioner a year ago in April 2015. Two free service calls were included in the cost of the system. In the past year I called a couple of time asking when service was needed as I was getting prompts from my digital thermostat well before the service to replace the air filter in the furnace. Turns out air filters should be replaced every four months. I was told by Specialty not to worry about the prompts and that the air temperature had to be high enough to test the air conditioner so I needed to wait a full year until April 2016. So I had the service this week on the furnace and the AC. At the conclusion of the service on the furnace and air conditioner (about 1.5 hours) I was told that Specialty had done both prepaid services at once (furnace and AC) so I now had no future prepaid service. Specialty also sent out the wrong sized filter which made no sense as they sold me the furnace a year ago and should have had all the specifications. They also told me the air filter was not part of the service and I had to pay an additional $30 for the new filter. The right filter then had to be delivered and installed. After the service the technician Scott told me I needed a "surge protecter" for the air conditioner compressor for over $200 in case of a power outage or I risked damage to the $3000 compresse. He also said I needed to prepay for future service appointments (more than $300) or my equipment warranty would/could be voided. I have been in this house for 38 years and have never needed a surge protecter for my AC compressor so that was obviously bogus. And since my system is a year old and I just had it serviced I doubt I my system warranty would be voided if I did not prepay for a maintenance that is not due for six months to a year. I have generally liked Speciality and had a good sales and installation experience. What I have found is that after the sale there is often a hard sell on the customer for unneeded services. When I had Climate Control it was a $730 air filter that needed to be installed into my return air ducts which was totally bogus. I fired Climate Control after this bogus hard sale sales pitch. So I was not happy with the bogus hard sell after my service. I declined both the surge protecter and the prepay on future maintenance. I had just fully paid off my expensive furnace and air conditioner this month so was not amused over the effort to try and extract $30 out of me for a air filter that should be part of any furnace maintenance or an extra $500 for a surge protecter and a prepaid maintenance that is not yet due.
RESPONSE FROM Specialty Heating & Cooling Inc.:
Thank you for taking the time to review our company. We work very hard to earn our high quality reputation. We have updated our records to ensure you receive the correct filter and apologize for the inconvenience. Regarding the surge protector; with the recent major power outages we had several customers have large repairs due to power surges and we only want to offer additional items that will enhance or protect your heating and cooling system. We value each of our customers and appreciate all feedback.
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