Blue Collar Mechanical LLC Reviews
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By Kira S.December 14, 2023New AC
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By Natalie B.May 23, 2023Install ac/furnace$10,000Read more
I had a 16 year old AC unit and the compressor went out on it. Recognizing that the cost to replace the freon and compressor would cost $4k+ it was time to start looking for a new AC/Furnace. I received a few different quotes, some of which were provided by Richard, the owner of Blue Collar Mechanical. I chose Richard, I like the idea of not just going with a small business but also a Veteran. He was able to schedule my work quickly. The day of the install Hunter and Christian arrived to install the units and remove the old equipment. During that day Richard stopped by to help as well. Hunter and Christian were friendly and professional upon arrival and throughout the entire process. They did the install on an extremely hot day and were committed to having my AC running before they left that evening (this is the part that mattered most, as I have a one year old and AC makes for a happy one year old). When they left that night, Hunter told me they had to update my breakers and had a few loose ends to tie up. He also took the time to ensure something was covering the larger hole they had to create to get the furnace into my attic so nothing would fall out into my laundry room.
Richard contacted me that night as well as the following day to schedule time for his team to come out and finish those odds and ends. Hunter came back to replace the breakers with larger ones, turn on the gas to my furnace(after checking the line for leaks) and to ensure I was happy with everything else. Following Hunter, on the day I agreed upon another man named John came to repair my ceiling. Once again I was greeted by a friendly and professional member of Richard’s team.
I can’t say enough about Blue Collar from their level of communication, their courteous behavior to their cleaning up the mess when they left. If you are wondering if you should give this team your business and are on the fence, I’m here to tell you that you should. You won’t regret it.
I previously recommended Blue Collar, we had good experiences when we had our AC serviced, gave a 5 star review & recommended them often. But after our most recent experience I can no longer recommend them. I will try my best to sum things up but this will be a long review. I now know way more about AC's than I ever thought I would. I emailed our issues, in even more detail and haven't received a response yet.
The "he" I refer to is the owner of Blue Collar, who we delt with the whole time.
Overall: lack of communication & constantly changing things without communicating the change/getting approval. We would come to an agreement then we would have to have another "meeting" because he decided to change things &/or didn't act on what was agreed upon yet & needed to go over additional options.
In early Aug. we opted to replace our current unit with a like kind & went with his recommendation of an AC pro. Our current unit was a 3 ton, 2 stage Trane. He really hyped the AC pro and we trusted his professional opinion. We had functionality issues from day one and he came back several times to check things. At our meeting on Aug. 31st after performing 3 heat loads, we were on the cusp of needing a 4 ton or 5 ton but he recommended a 4 ton. We went over pricing and agreed to a 4 ton, 2 stage trane and we would owe an additional $2,374. He asked for another meeting which we had on Sept. 6th, he presented another brand option and went over more info with us. We were confused but left that meeting with the agreement that we were getting a 4 ton, 2 stage trane and owed $2,374. Trane was on back order so it would take some time, which we were ok with.
Oct. No updates unless we checked in and on the 16th he said a 5 ton, 2 stage was about 4 or so weeks out. At this point we assumed he was covering the cost between the 4 ton, 2 stage to the 5 ton, 2 stage. Because we never discussed changing our order or oweing any additional funds other than $2,374.
Nov. 15th, reached out for an update because we hadn't heard anything. He called with some nonsense that didn't apply to our situation and mentioned AC Pro again. We expressed our frustration and said we wanted what we already ordered, a trane unit.
Nov. 16th, he said our order was ready and time to schedule. He said we needed to meet in person to go over the change order. He came over later that day and said we owed around $4,500 now because the 5 ton, 2 stage is more expensive. We asked about what we ordered/agreed to in Aug and Sept and he said it was impossible to get it. We were done and asked for a refund. There are issues with the refund now and we have to wait 2-3 weeks to get our money back.
Workmanship issues:
-Cut into the elbow & patched it, which not only compromises the whole integrity of the elbow but also the efficiency.
-Electrical whip was reused instead of replacing it, even though the invoice said it was going to be replaced.