3 On Your Side: Top Rating Air Conditioning Repair Firms
By: Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The last thing you need in the summer is for your central air conditioning to break down. Getting it fixed quickly is often easier said than done. First you have to find a repairman, but how do you know which one to choose? 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan teamed up with the publishers of Delaware Valley Consumers' Checkbook to find out. Checkbook surveyed its readers on their experiences with air conditioning service companies. 131 businesses were rated on everything from price to performance.
Trying to get your central air conditioning repaired can often leave you hot under the collar. "You want to make sure you find a company that can do great work, can do it right the first time, doesn't have to keep coming back over and over to get it right," says Kevin Brasler, Executive Editor at Checkbook.org.
When Checkbook surveyed its readers on air conditioning repair companies Brasler says they found really big quality differences among companies and prices that ran the gamut. According to Brasler, "Just for a programmable thermostat for example, we found prices ranging from about $175 to almost $700 for the same thermostat, same work everything."
Brasler says customers don't have to pay a lot in order to receive quality service. He says, "The companies that rated really well for the quality of their work were just as likely to quote a low price as companies that didn't rate very well at all."
Several companies received Checkbook's highest ratings for quality and price.
In Pennsylvania they are:
Blue Bell Heating & Air Conditioning
Hannabery HVAC
Oehlert Brothers
Precision Air Heating and Cooling
Pujol & Swink Equipment
Rinaldi Heating & Air Conditioning
Today Heating & Air Conditioning
Weaver Heating & Air Conditioning
In New Jersey the top rated firms were:
Audubon-Cesco
Jim's Heating & Air Conditioning
Phoenix Heating & Air Conditioning
RPM Heating & Air Conditioning
TJ Eckardt Associates
Now through July 5, 2013 CBS 3 viewers have exclusive FREE access to the full ratings of all 131 air conditioning & heating companies that were rated by Checkbook. Just visit: http://www.checkbook.org/cbs3/acrepair
