First Choice Air Conditioning & Heating

For your convenience, we offer:

A Showroom
Payment by Credit Card
Manufacturer Warranties
Rebates
Training
Computer Proposal Tools
Payment by credit card
Manufacturer Warranties
Consumer Financing
Maintenance Agreements

Our Products & Services Include:

AC & Cooling
Central Air Conditioning
Heat Pump
Swamp Coolers
Ductless Mini-Splits

Furnace & Heating
Furnace
Heat Pump
Electrical Baseboard or Wall Heater

Insulation
Batt/Rolled/Foam/Poured/Reflective
Blown-In

Water Heaters
Tankless Water Heater

Did this contractor actually perform work for you? Yes

• Type of Work Performed: installation of new furnace
• Date of Work Performed: 10/2009
• Amount Spent: $3200
• Brand Purchased: Rheem furnace

Finally, please tell us about your experience with this contractor:

I would not recommend this company to anyone. I had a furnace incorrectly installed by the owner and his team in October 2009 that stopped running in March 2011. In March Leo overcharged me to have a part replaced that was under warranty and that was not the crux of the problem. Only when pressured, he refunded part of the fee I paid him. The manufacturer of the furnace confirmed the roof vent was also improperly installed. Leo refuses to correct that unless I pay him additional money. These are just some of the unpleasant encounters I have had with Leo, the company\\\'s owner. He has proven himself to be untrustworthy.

Finally, please tell us about your experience with this contractor:

In June 2008 my husband and I had 3 quotes from 3 different heating and air conditioning companies. First Choice being one of them. We own a house that was built in 1923 and had some heating ducts and a furnace but no air conditioning unit. First Choice submitted the most reasonable quote and Leo the contractor who came to the house to make write up the proposal assured us verbally that the quote included everything new...Everything, all grills, duct work, insulation, furnace and air conditioning unit. As we are not A/C or heating experts we looked at the quote and took him at his word as it appeared thorough. The day came to install everything, Leo arrived with about 5 laborer and one electrician and left about 30 mins after. The men worked all day and into the evening, complaining and swearing in various languages. They did not clean up after themselves nor did they communicate with us at all. The opening to the attic was the wrong size for the furnace and it took them longer to install it, and cracked the door and the frame to get it in. When it came to complete the day, we noticed that the intake grill had not been replaced. We asked the man who was asking us to sign and he said it was not part of the quote, but he had not authority to speak on it. We left it and called the next day. We spoke to the contractor, Leo who said the same thing, it was not on the quote and they were not responsible. We decided it was not worth the fight, it was just a grill. We took the old grill off and then it was revealed the plenum and the elbow connecting this to the ducts was also not replaced. We checked the quote and this was part of it. We called 3 times and asked to speak to the manager and go no response. I then wrote a letter and then received a call from Leo. Who stated, and I quote, "Why are you hanging me out to dry? You have a lovely new air conditioning unit, it's nice..no? Why are you not happy? Why you complaining? Be happy!" Leo came out and had a look. He said, quote again, "look, just paint the grill and be happy. I've done what I am obligated to do." The next day we called Mike Gurts who is the manager. He called me back. He argued with me on the work and the quote. When he finally understood and heard the plenum and the elbow were not replaced he softened and said..."oh, those should have been replaced. When can we do this work for you?" He added that he would not replace the intake grill as it was not in the quote. I decided to accept this, even though I was verbally assured it would be replaced and could not have been expected to know any of these terms at the time, it just didn't seem worth the trouble. We set up an appointment and they didn't show up at the time allocated and they didn't call. After one letter, at least 15 - 20 phone calls, (note-even after all this activity the receptionist still didn't know my name or remember anything about this issue), and now over one year of dealing with this we decided to dispute the final charge from the finance company. As soon as the final charge went into dispute, we received a call from Mike Gurts' secretary asking if they could come out on Monday. I said that I would need to check with my husband because I would be out of town. They kept calling, Sat, Sunday and Monday, on my cell phone and greatly added to my long distance bill. They did not call any other numbers. I finally called them on Tuesday and Mike snidely stated that he wanted to be there yesterday (Monday) to complete the job. I replied that I wanted the job complete June 2008. He went silent and said, "You're right. When can we finish this." We set up the appointment last week, mid September (now 13 months from the original install) and they came and replaced the elbow and the plenum without charge. As agreed. We just today received a review from the financing company stating that the dispute has been resolved in the merchants favor and to read the attached letter from First Choice. There was a letter from Mike Gurts himself negating everything we had discussed. He does not mention that the plenum was not replaced or the elbow was not replaced and that they have completed this at no charge to us. He does not state that they didn't show up for the first re-appointment before the charge dispute and did not call, he just states that we were not home. An utter lie. He states that we called and asked them to hold off because we did not want to repair drywall - another lie. Either way...Let it be a lesson. When a service man comes to your house quoting you for something that you know nothing about and they say repeatedly, "don't worry, everything new, everything new", it is not their job to be honest, it is your job to do your home work. I have learned this lesson. Now it has not only cost me $10,000,but an additional $1800 in finance charges. Run the other way from this company!