Abbey Air Home Services by Enercare

On February 10, 2021, it was -10C outside and my eight year old Goodman gas fired furnace failed to produce heat. I checked all the simple issues including fuses, thermal shut off switches, ignitor and flame sensor. I concluded that it could be the gas valve. I had no prior dealings with Abbey Air but called the company based on some of the positive reviews. The serviceman arrived at around 5:00 PM and confirmed that it was the gas valve. There was a $99.00 flat charge for the serviceman to look at the furnace. This charge does not go towards the installation of any parts. He quoted a $700 installed price for the gas valve and offered a 15% discount on the price if I sign up for a maintenance plan. I refused this plan because it did not cover future parts or labour but just a 15% discount and a waiver of the $99 trip charge.

I received the invoice by email: $99.00 service call + $705.00 + tax of $104.52 = $908.52 with no breakdown of parts or labour.

I researched the cost of the part and it is available in Hamilton for $166.61. Reference the attached image.

The part can be installed by a serviceman in one hour. In the math below, I give $99 for the service call, 2 hours of labour at $100 per hour and $200 for the part. This should cover all the costs and provide a reasonable profit for Abbey Air.

$99.00 (service call) + $200.00 (labour) + $200 (part) + $64.87 (tax) = $563.87

In my calculation, I was overcharged by at least $344.65 ($908.52 - $563.87 = $344.65)

I emailed Abbey Air with my concerns and talked to Todd who is the General Manager. He stated that Abbey Air is not a non-profit organization and that $908.52 is a reasonable charge and the standard in the HVAC industry. In my opinion, this is sad reflection on the industry. And, the invoice does not detail the cost of parts and labour but just one number in addition to the charge for the service call.

Are there any other homeowners out there that had a similar experience with Abbey Air?

They spent two day installing the complete system. Courteous, efficient and helpful. Arrived on time, laid down matts to keep traffic route to furnace room clean, explained how to do routine maintenance.
Marcel and Nav did the install on the second day and accommodated some changes we wanted with the equipment.They were helpful in explaining the software

Summary:
My furnace had a motor problem; loud noise; my family, me and wife, and my children, worried since they noticed a big noise from the furnace motor.
I called Abbey Air.
Technician came
I explained the issue seems from Motor.
The technician confirmed the issue comes from the motor; should replace the motor or replace the whole furnace.
Nothing fixed.
Technician gave an expensive invoice; visit fee + "EXTRA CHARGE"(inspection fee, which never heard before he talked), and he said that I should pay this.
Even though I paid the overcharge fee, I decided to go with another big and professional well-known company for whole furnace replacement.
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Detail:
Jan 19, Furnace Issue Happened. (Loud Motor Noise; my whole family heard the weird sound from motor.)
Called the company, and heard that I should pay a fee $# for their visit.

Jan 20, technician arrived; he ensured that I should pay $# for his visit. I agreed.

I talked about some overall issues; the motor had loud noise; 3 yrs ago somebody came and fixed some motor part and then the issue was gone.

The technician opened the furnace's sliding door and heard its sound; touched the motor.
Then, he confirmed that it was caused by an "old motor."

He sent the serial number and waited for the quote for the motor repair.
He said that I may need to replace my furnace since mine is too old.

while waiting for the quote, he started looking at some other area. He unscrewed and screwed some parts, and checked drain parts, which was repeated.
Then he confirmed that the issue is from the motor; it is old so I should replace the motor or the whole furnace.

Finally, a quote for a motor fix arrived.

Then, he introduced some extra charge, Inspection fee. (I should pay $## = visit fee $# + inspection fee $#. The inspection fee is almost the same as the visit fee. I paid double the price than the amount that I heard from the first phone call from Abbey Air. Here, the reason why I said 'extra charge' is I have never heard before. When I contacted the company and when the technician came to my home and when he started doing something, I never heard about the inspection fee.) But he kindly explained that if I replace my furnace with Abbey Air, the visit fee + inspection fee would come off.

Somebody from Abbey Air came for a free quote for furnace replacement; he was kind too.

I got a quote from Abbey Air. After this, I got other quotes from other companies. After a thorough comparison, I decided to go with another company to replace the whole furnace.

I contacted Abbey Air on a Friday afternoon when my hot water tank stopped working. The company sent someone immediately to review it. I found the staff to be extremely helpful, polite and clearly had my best interest in mind. They provided a very detailed explanation of the various options for new hot water systems including the various benefits/drawbacks of both tank and tank-less options as well as the considerations for buying versus renting a system from them. I felt zero pressure to go with one system or another and to rent versus buy and instead they simply provided the facts and helped educate me to find the optimal solution for my household needs. They then had a technician come the next morning at 8am to complete the removal of the old tank and installation of the new one. It was a seamless experience and the technicians did an excellent job cleaning up afterwards. Overall a great experience and would definitely recommend Abbey.

I have an annual maintenance plan with Abbey Air (I also just replaced my old AC and Furnace using them). I have always had a good experience with them.

They are proactive and take the time to explain everything. I trust them with my Heating, AC and HRV unit. They also installed my humidifier. They provide helpful advice when they visit too, (covering things like when to turn the fan on, humidifier on/off, HRV, training on the thermostat etc.)

This is the 2nd time I have used Abbey Air....air conditioner install several years ago and today a water heater replacement. I would not hesitate to recommend this company. I called yesterday and Brendan arrived within a few hours to provide a diagnosis and a quote. This morning two service technicians arrived (I'm sorry I forgot their names) to install my new heater. All of these folks were efficient, polite, professional, neat, clean and tidy knowledgeable workers. They arrived on time and kept me informed of their progress.
Thank you guys. Great job.

Jay arrived on time, with mask, removed his shoes and cleaned our gas fire place quickly and efficiently. Very pleasant guy who provided some useful advice regarding the connection on our gas BBQ. He also recommended us signing up for the summer/winter maintenance plan for overall coverage at a reasonable cost.

Our Furnace which was only 10 years old, which had been installed by a so called "reliable company" , had water running from the furnace. I called Abbey Air for which I have used their services for over twenty years to come and sort it out. They found that the problem came from the air conditioner. I asked about fixing the air conditioner and the technician said that it was possible. We then went in and looked at the furnace and found that it was rusting from water running over the parts. We then decided to replace everything. We chose to go with the very best furnace available, hence the higher price. The work was done immediately. Three technicians spent all day and removed the old furnace and air conditioner and replaced it with the new ones. We love the new system and it has a 10 year warranty.

Abbey Air came to perform a gas line leak check. The team was thorough and tested all the gas line joints, monitored the meter during their checks and used a gas leak sensor. They did not rush this job and were very thorough. In the end no leak was detected that might have caused the odour but they took their time, explained all of the checks and tests they were conducting and made sure I was comfortable with their findings and reasoning. Some companies, even if they didn't find a leak, might be tempted to undertake additional work just to be able to bill. Abby Air did not do this. They billed as quoted and didn't undertake unneeded work. Staff were quick to respond, friendly, professional and kept their masks on throughout (as this visit has happened during COVID19). I was very impressed. On the other hand, I called Reliance and they were more interested in selling me services than doing the job. I've already recommended them to family in the area and will use them myself for future appliance work/maintenance.

Corey was patient, thorough and respected all company policies regarding covid-19. Highly recommend the company and Corey. We have been clients of Abbey Air for several years now and find that all of their staff from reception,sales, installation and maintenance have always been accommodating, professional and supportive!