Ahern Contracting Corporation

They gave us an estimate for oil to gas heat conversion and despite the fact that we were dragging our feet because we were getting financing through Mass Save (BTW, the process turned out to be easy after all), their estimate was still valid after a few months. Their estimate was very reasonable too. They did the job in less than a day with minimum hassle. They did a great job, and gave us all the required paperwork for the rebate.

Their work is good. Bedside etiquette and follow-​up not so much.
My mom recently had her house converted from oil to gas heat. It was a big job and required lots of work. I called Ahern for an estimate. They came out and did an estimate of $ 12,500. We felt that was a little much and were able to talk them down to $ 11,500. They sent me the contract. I signed it. I talked to them and they said they were busy, but would be able to start in a few weeks.
After OVER A MONTH and several phone calls, I was finally able to get ahold of them to have them start the work (obviously, we want this stuff installed before it gets unbearably cold). The conversion itself only took about three days. They were there all day long and were very nice, respectful, did all the cleanup, put back everything they moved, etc.
Given the scope of the project, I knew there would probably be a few issues afterward and there were. One sink on the first floor had no hot water. The heat on the third floor was on overkill; meanwhile, the second floor got no heat at all. The new hot water heater was leaking (only about a teaspoon a day, but a water heater shouldn’t leak AT ALL). Each time, I called Joe (the owner) and he was as pleasant as can be. However, though he promised to come out «as soon as possible» and fix the problems, it sometimes took over a day for him to make it out to the house (and we live less than a mile away from his office).
I know he’s probably busy and technically, his work there is done, but shouldn’t those be things you check before you leave the project? I was slightly disappointed. They were VERY nice about everything, but I felt like everything required a million phone calls and follow-​ups.
They required a 50% deposit before work could start and the other 50% afterward. When I finally got the bill for the other 50%, I noticed that they quoted the ORIGINAL price and not the negotiated one. Tisk tisk. I sent in a copy of the contract and the remaining amount for the lower price. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.