A1 Appliance Repair

Terrible service. They charged me for a part that was never installed. They claim the part is no longer available and that they would refund my money. It has been 8 months and still no refund

I have never had such a bad experience with any company like I did with A-​1, they stiffed me for $ 435.

DO NOT use this company for HVAC diagnostic/​repair, or any repair, for that matter. I’ve never had such a bad customer service experience in my life.
Their technician erroneously insisted that I do NOT have a heat pump-​equipped HVAC installed at a rental property, when in fact I do. Because he had no idea what type of equipment he was servicing, he cut the wires connecting the thermostat to the heat-​pump, thereby rendering the compressor to a straight AC unit, in 35 degree weather. So when the gas furnace was not engaged, the compressor was blowing cold air, instead of air warmed by the existing heat pump, thereby dropping the overall temperature. I was charged for the service call. My tenants called me almost immediately to tell me that the temp was still dropping in the house. I called the technician to let him know that his «repair» did not work. He eventually called my tenant, admitted that after some research, he’d made a mistake and that the HVAC was indeed equipped with a heat pump. He scheduled another visit to the house directly with my tenant.
When I called A1 to dispatch a more senior technician to undo the first tech’s mistake, I was told the tech had relayed a completely different series of events to the her. She assured me the owner would come out the following morning to fix the problem himself. I received a call from the owner that night and explained the situation. He was defensive and dismissive, insisting his technician was a «senior, head technician with a spotless record.» He then put me on hold while, without warning, he had the same technician join our call! He actually put me, the customer, in the same space with the very technician about whom I’d lodged a complaint — unheard of! He then asked the technician his side of the story with me on the phone. The technician denied everything. He denied disconnecting the heat pump from the thermostat. He denied calling my tenant directly and admitting his mistake. He was argumentative and claimed that I was lying to his boss. I was so livid and in such a state of shock, I had to politely excuse myself from the call. I expected the owner to return my call, without the presence of the technician, but to no avail. And no one showed up the following morning to remedy the situation.
When I tried to call the following morning, I was repeatedly cut off. After making several calls from my cell phone, it was clear my number had been black-​listed. I tried calling from a work phone, and I was repeatedly cut off.
I called Ace and A Heating and Air in Decatur. They came out and immediately confirmed that I do in fact have a heat pump-​equipped HVAC, pointing out all of the obvious characteristics of such a system, including a hot coil, additional wiring on the compressor, and a special panel on the HVAC system itself. The outside compressor is even marked as a heat pump model just next to the model number. They fixed the problem promptly, and my tenant’s heat is restored.
I have still not heard from anyone at A1. Now, when I call, I am just cut off. Or I’m told I’m being transferred and then cut off. I have disputed the charge on my Mastercard. If the charge somehow goes through, I will take them to court. I am also reporting this to the better business bureau and the FTC, as is my tenant.