Atlas Butler Heating And Cooling

In November 2018 we were without heat for 15 days and Atlas Butler customer service did not care. We called daily requesting information on when the repair would happen with no results. The repair was supposed to made be using warranty parts. The technician reduced our bill when completing the repair stating that the reduction was for the cost of the parts. We asked for but did not receive a discount to help with our high electric bill from running space heaters for 15 days in our three story house. We contacted owner of company Mark S via Linked In because there is no number on the Atlas Butler web site for escalating a problem. Mark’s admin responded to our Linked In request and we sent a detailed account of our experience with our inputs about what could correct the situation. We were referred to Jeff S, but he did not return our call to even hear about our experience or our request for help with our electric bill. We let Mark’s admin know that we had not been contacted, but did not receive any response from her.
This is the third time in eight years we have been without hear or air for more than five days under our service contract with AB.
We will not buy another furnace from AB and can only give an extremely negative review for their repair service.

I came home from out of town December 30th to find that my heater was not operational. I called the company and they sent someone out to do a diagnostic.. There was an $89 fee associated with the diagnostic trip. The person that came out was very nice and indicated that the blower motor needed replaced. He indicated that it was completely burned out. He further indicated the cost would be over $1,000 to order the replacement. He said it would take about a week to get the part. He indicated that it likely would be better to simply replace the furnace because of the age of the furnace.

My father drove three hours to get to my house and cleaned the the blower motor. He used no new equipment and the furnace has been working ever since. I called the company to get a refund of $89 and they indicated they will not refund the money despite the fact that they provided an incorrect diagnosis. They indicated that the blower needed replaced and this was temporary solution. The blower was clogged with dust and a piece of the filter. It didn't need immediately replaced. Regardless of whether it might need replaced in the future, it is fully operational now and we anticipate it will last all winter or longer. It was not completely burned out and to say that it was, and that I needed a full replacement was in a representation.

I'm very disappointed in the company for failing to refund the $89. The least the company could have done when they came out to diagnose the issue, was to provide a fix. All they had to do was take the blower apart and clean the piece. Instead, they were going to leave me for days without heat just so that they could charge for a replacement.

When I called and asked for a refund, the person I spoke with was very rude. He insisted that eventually the motor will need replace. Eventually everything might need replaced, but the company shouldn't indicate that replacements are immediately needed, when indeed they're not. They should do whatever is required to fix the issue and present all options to the consumer. They shouldn't make it seem as if a replacement is needed without even making a thorough assessment. No one even attempted to fix the blower. They simply said it was burned out. Clearly it wasn't.

The business caused flooding in my home during a routine equipment check-up on November 19. After filing a complaint with the Revdex.com, the company offered on November 30, through their representative Darren E, to furnish any necessary HVAC repairs free of charge (estimated at $800.00) in lieu of paying upwards of $1,200.00 as originally requested in the complaint. I also offered to accept the businesses' complaint response, which involved getting my homeowner's insurance involved, as long as the business paid my deductible up front.

I have repeatedly requested Atlas Butler to remove me from their service agreement. I am doing so because of the lack of professionalism and the high pressure sales to replace our HVAC system by one of their service techs. Each time I have called they have promised to refer the matter to another office and that they would get back to me. I have not heard from them regarding this matter.

I also had our HVAC evaluated by another HVAC service company and they did not find the condition of our HVAC system to be as serious as Atlas Butler diagnosed.

I had a leak in the basement calling. The plumber came out and said he had to replace the drain pipe up to 10 feet fittings straps and braces. He said it was a involved job and he could not do it for less than $546.00 He said he had to go to the store to get the parts. He was gone for an entire hour. Came back and only was here for 20minutes. All he did was put the plastic backer and 2 straps. I’m not sure he even glued the joints. Charging me the full amount. I’ve left 2 messages for the manager who has not called me back.

High prices, incompetent maintenance technicians and poorly installed systems are the Atlas Butler way. Stay Away!

Every time I have used their services I either been sent a tec that is not able to complete the job ( due to being the wrong type of tec) or a tec who Falsify’s the report, and is disrespectful

I signed up for an elite membership and requested for my first service. In the contract, I am supposed to have a tech within an hour of call and that didn't happen. fast forward as part of the contract I am supposed to have all my main plumbing work inspected that did not happen even after I requested for a plumbing service and the lead or supervisor I spoke to that night with the name I have on record said "he will schedule"...that did not happen. Fast forward....this company did not honor their part so I decided to part ways....fast-forward...Debbie kept harassing me via emails and I also replied via email explaining myself for why I will not pay for $267.20 which was the service calls I placed as an elite member? The night of calling for plumbing inspection work 3 days after my whole basement flooded. If I had that plumbing insection THE COST OF $5,500 payment to restore my basement would have been prevented....now I get a letter from Atlas collection for a bill of $267.20 ...for what I don't understand it and if they pay my $5k plus I will pay their @267.20.The help I need or my complaint is Atlas failed to honor their part of the contract and I lost money due to lack of preventative maintenance and a years supply of AC filters which was not supplied as per contract. I need the owner to explain since Debbie who is in charge of their account 1. IS DISRESPECTFUL TO A CUSTOMER. AND SHE FEELS I LUCK THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THEE CONTRACT ENTALES. NEED HELP TO HAVE THEM STOP HARASSING ME.

This company does not care about customers. My father has been using Atlas Butler for 7 years and seemed happy with his service. When my mother moved we started using Atlas Butler, she signed up for Comfort Club Membership, which cost $ 240.00 a year. This service was done twice a year before turning on air unit and heating unit for the season. The one complaint that we continued to have was that the unit is located in the attic, and this required the service person to bring a ladder. This past month the service person came to do the air unit check, he did not bring a ladder. The unit in the attic was not checked. Three weeks later the air unit was not cooling the house. We called Atlas Butler to remind them that a ladder was required for the service in this home. A serviceman showed up without a ladder and used a kitchen chair to climb in to the attic where he found that a screw was loose on the unit. The service call cost $89.00. This was an issue that should have been caught during the earlier unit check. A call was placed again asking for a refund of the $89. The office manager returned the call three days later, it was explained that the serviceperson that did the air unit check, did not do the required service. He would have needed to go into the attic. The office manager said that it did not matter he would not refund the money for the service call.
Facts:
Paid $240.00 a year for services not performed.
Recommend this company to neighbor that had to have his unit replaced.
This company does not care about customers.
The major difference in my father's service calls and mother's calls are that my father understands and can see that work is completed. My mother was suffering from a health issue and was taken advantage of from this company.

They advertise no overtime charges for nights, weekends or holiday's. I called to have air conditioning
checked. They told me there would be an 89 diagnostic fee and I agreed. Then they started pressuring
me to accept there maintenace contract etc for 32.95,I assume dollars, monthly, I refused. The
technician shows up and states there was a bad capacitor which I already knew as I have general
knowledge about HVAC units. He said that the cost would be 89, 426 for 517. No dollars or hundreds
stated. I didn't hear the 517 but thought he was referring the capacitor at $4.26 but he meant $426 to
either install it or whatever as my invoice doesn't state a reason. I paid and I signed that I assumed the
prices and completion as it was temperate weather and at 80 years of age and treating cancer, I couldn't
afford not to have the air conditioning. I believe that the charge of $426 to install a capacitor is borderline
criminal. A 10 minute job and $5-10 part. I checked reviews online for this company and saw several
complaints like mine, gouging and scamming. Should have looked there first.

On 5/3/18 I contacted Atlas Butler to service an inoperable air conditioning unit which is 4 years old. Atlas Butler dispatched a service technician to diagnose the issue on 5/4/18. Upon arrival, the technician took some voltage readings, and attempted to start the unit. At this point, the technician determined that the fan motor failed and likely caused the compressor to fail. The technician quoted me a repair of $3,000, but suggested that the entire unit be replaced due to the cost of the repair. The technician advised that I could request a second opinion and only pay Atlas Butler for the trip charge of $89. At this time, I informed the technician that I would be seeking a second opinion, and paid the $89.

Shortly after Atlas Butler left, I contacted *** (License ***) to diagnose the issue. On the evening of 5/4/18, R *** investigated the issue. The fan (previously diagnosed by Atlas Butler to be inoperable) was given a nudge and started up as expected. R and quickly determined that the Starting Capacitor was faulty. The capacitor was replaced, part cost $46, and the air conditioner was running and cooling as expected.

I received a survey from Atlas Butler and let them know about my experience. On Monday 5/7/18 I was contacted by Atlas Butler customer service. They apologized and informed me that if I provided the invoice from my repair, from a licensed professional, they would refund the $89 trip charge. On 5/15/18, I emailed Atlas Butler the copy of my invoice. I received a response on 5/17/18, which is pasted below:

"Good afternoon B. Sorry for the delay, we have been quite busy here in the office. After reviewing the document you attached in your previous email, it does not appear that this second opinion came from a licensed contractor. In this case we would have to stand by our initial diagnosis of your system and not grant you a refund of said diagnostic fee."

I replied to the email with R *** HV license credential, and have yet to have resolution. A quick search could have been done by Atlas Butler to avoid any confusion.

Not only was the diagnosis incorrect and predatory, Atlas Butler has failed to stand by their refund of the trip charge.

I have been a member of the Atlas Butler monthly program for nearly 2 years. Recently when they went through a billing update and where unable to retrieve my payment information for their new system I received several calls to provide the payment information. I contacted the company and provided them my payment information again. At the time the gentleman asked if I wanted to upgrade to the elite membership for $23.00 more a month I said sure since it included additional benefits. Well I had a technician come to my house and advise that I had a leak of some kind and that due to the age of the equipment I would probably be better off replacing it. He of course couldn't give me an estimate so I had to wait for a sales rep to show up. That gentleman ended up being nearly 2 hours late. The cost of the replacement was extremely high so I decided get an estimate with another company. I ended up purchasing my equipment with the second company. Since I have an entirely new system that is under warrant there was no need to keep my monthly maintenance with Atlas Butler. I called them on 5/20 to cancel my upcoming service appt. as well as my membership since it would not benefit me in anyway. The nice gentleman on the phone advised he would cancel the apt and send the membership cancellation request on. I receive and email on 5/22 advising I owe the different of the monthly membership and the cost of the diagnostic. I felt that since I have been a customer for almost 2 years and never received any terms or conditions documents prior to being notified I would be penalized for cancelling my service that I should not be charged the $56.02 difference.

Dear Sir/Madam:
This letter is to alert the Revdex.com and the citizens of Central Ohio that the above company in my
experience is conducting deceptive and unethical business practices.

On April 16, 2018, I arrived home late after all day at the hospital with my wife to find that our furnace
was not operating. The thermostat indicated 63 degrees on a night when temperatures were expected to
drop into the 30s. I called Atlas Butler based on their ad that no extra fees would be charged for an after
hours emergency visit.

The technician arrived about an hour later, which was appreciated. I told him the furnace tried to cycle
but it was not producing heat. Within a few minutes after removing the furnace cover the technician
said the inducer fan/motor and the vacuum switch would have to be replaced at a cost of $1500.00. I
was observing during this time and I noticed that no testing was performed to confirm these claimed
parts failures, although it was apparent that when the furnace tried to cycle you could hear water
sloshing around. I was left reeling at the enormous cost of replacing these two pats.

The technician then proceeded to demonstrate using a borescope how my furnace heat ex-charger was
somehow damaged although I saw no convincing evidence. He also drilled a hole in the plastic flue
pipe and said the flue temp was too high, all apparently demonstrating the need to replace the furnace.

At this point the technician pointed out that
I might as well invest in a new furnace since the repair
costs would be half the new cost and the fact that our furnace was 15 years old. He also suggested
replacing the air conditioner. He said he could have someone come out that night (it was already after
11:00 pm) and he said the furnace and a/c could be installed the next day for somewhere between
$6000 and $8000.

I said I am not going to spend that much money without another opinion. My main concern was,
getting the furnace operating that night since my wife was due home from the hospital the next
morning. Recalling a similar repair on my furnace a few years ago I suggested why don't we try and
remove the water and see if the furnace will at least operate through the night. The technician
reluctantly agreed pointing out that the fan may not produce enough vacuum, etc.
-2-

Upon removing the inducer fan housing a bunch of water was dumped out. On re-installing the
housing the furnace cycled normally. I paid the technician the $89 service fee and said I would get
another opinion the next day.

Six days later the furnace continues to operate normally. With further research I have learned that
water in the inducer fan housing is a common and easily fixed problem. With the help of qualified
people I discovered that the drain outlet in the plastic flue and the drain hose were clogged causing
water to backup into the inducer motor housing. After cleaning everything in the drain system all
indications are that the furnace is operating normally and has no discernible problems. The plastic flue
is now at a normal temperature because the inducer fan is operating at full speed. The Atlas Butler
technician never offered to do any of this cleaning, which was the root cause of the failure!

One other issue: On researching the cost of replacing the inducer fan assembly and the accompanying
vacuum switch I learned that these parts together generally cost in the vicinity of$300, nowhere near
the $1500 quoted by the technician. Was this a scare tactic?

My complaint is that the technician was much more intent on selling me a new furnace than he was fixing my immediate problem. He actually never offered to fix the furnace until I suggested removing
the water. It looks suspiciously as though Atlas Butler uses commissioned repair people to sell new
furnaces rather than making less expensive repairs that fix the immediate problem.
Although Atlas Butler as of today's date has not cashed my $89 check, I would appreciate the return
my money since the technician apparently did not want to fix my furnace and I only got my furnace
working based on my suggestion to remove the water. That should have been the first thing the technician
did! I And I had to have another technician clean the drain system! I think this incident
should be on file at the Revdex.com to warn other unwary consumers.
Thank you for your time and attention.

*** PS.. Enclosed find the Atlas Butler email follow-up to which I responded and expressed my concern as stated above. I have received no response from the company.

Listen to the other reviews you can find online, never join the comfort club. Everything was fine for a couple services so decided to join for ease. $1,250 to haul away and install a new hot water tank. Mind you, it's under warranty, so the $1,250 does NOT include the actual tank. And that's WITH the member discount.

9/26/17 Doug W charged me 192.00 for services to our central air conditioning but did not address the problem. He said we needed a new system but would "move a couple of wires around" to see if he could get the system running again until we decided what we wanted to do about replacing our A/C. I turned the system on as he was pulling out and it still didn't work. I called their office to say I didn't want to pay for services I didn't receive but no one called me back so I stopped payment on my check in amount of 192.00.

My furnace is 10 yrs old. I purchase it from Atlas Butler. It is a York system. We have had problems with it from about the fifth year. On January 31 I was told I needed two parts one was going to 298.00 the other was 451.00. But if I purchase both of them I would only be charged 451.00. At that time I didn’t have the funds. On February 2 the furnace went out. They came out and put the two parts on February 3. I paid them the 451.00. A hour later the furnace went out again. He came back out and said this time it was a blower that will cost 713.00. We had no choice at the time to have it installed but said it would have to be billed. I started calling around and found out just how much we are being over charged and probably didn’t need the first two parts. So on February 5 I called in and canceled my membership with there company. Then was told I would be charged a additional 399.00 for the membership. The service man that did the repairs stated that they stopped carrying that system because it was junk and had to many returns on the equipment. But they still sold it to me. I was going to go ahead and just pay for the overpriced blower but when they decided to try and charge me another 399.00 I decided to contact you. Just got off the phone with them them and still told them I would pay for the blower but will not pay for the 399.00. They said I will pay for both. And did not care about my complaint that I was in the wrong. And they would send it to collections. If you can give me any help with this thank you very much

I believe Atlas Buttler took unfair advantage of me. I have paid around 2,000.00 in less than 2 yrs. Gess the technician I had the last time, when he was finished, wanted to look at the breaker box. Why? I believe the furnace was maybe tampered with.

Complaint from:
*** RE: Atlas Butler
September 2015: Replaced part in heat pump. COST:$500.00-$600.00
December 2015: Inspected furnace. Found a leak a coil.
January 2016: Replaced coil. COST: $1400.00
November 2017: Coil leaking again. Atlas Butler Tech stated that they could not fix it and stated it would
cost $800.00 to replace the coil.
Alas Butler did not call me after the technician reported the findings. I called the same day and was told
that someone would call me. They did not.
The following morning, I called again. I spoke with a supervisor who was rude, arrogant, and very
condescending. He stated that it was a manufacturer's problem and there wasn't any warranty. If I had
been told this in 2015,l would not have put $1400.00 into a new furnace. The supervisor also told me
that he was "helping" me by doing the work for $800.00.
I told the supervisor that I was reporting Atlas Butler to the Revdex.com. The supervisor told
me to "go ahead".
I also left a voice mail message to Mr. S's executive secretary. She also did not call me back.
I had to use the "emergency" heating in order to heat my home and I also had to purchase space
heaters to heat my house at a cost of $100.00.
I had joined the "member's club" with Atlas Butler in September 2015. This is a monthly charge of
$18.25 per month. I have had three service calls (two were inspections for summer and winter). I have
asked that the remaining money that I have paid into the member's club be returned to me. I have not
received an answer.
I am 88 years old with limited eyesight and I live alone. I am on a limited income and cannot afford any
extra expense of a new furnace.
I believe that Atlas Butler took advantage of me because I am a Senior Citizen.
Sincerely

Beware this company practices price gouging and overcharging for their services. I wish I could post negative stars because that is what they deserve. Atlas Butler was out on 6/29/17 my AC had stopped working. They showed up and diagnosed the problem very quickly. The capacitor for the compressor fan was not working. they had one on the truck and replaced it and were on their way to their next call in about 30 minutes. The bill was final bill was $388, it was much higher than that until I told the tech I was also a commercial customer of theirs. I don't recall how much he discounted, but even $388 is outlandish. I did a little investigation and found the EXACT capacitor could be purchased on line for $13 - $18. So I did some quick math - $75 for the trip charge, I'll even let them charge more than triple on the capacitor $50 (which is more than fair), this puts their hourly rate at $526/hour. So when I called the office to share my concerns I was told nothing could be done. I then talked with my contact on the commercial side, he agreed about the pricing & indicated he would submit a $200 refund to me. Almost 6 mos. later, numerous call, e-mails, and the runaround being told I 'll look into and get it sent out I still had received nothing. That commercial mgr. now is no longer there, when I tracked him down he said to call Jeff S, so I did, 3 times and he never bothered to return any calls. I finally spoke with office mgr. William and explained the situation he said there were no notes on my home or business account and was not going to honor anything the previous commercial mgr assured me would happen. Through my commercial account I have done well over $100k in business with them in the past year or so. They obviously didn't care about that business and were willing to lose future business all over gouging me out of $200. So if they value a customer at that spend level with no care, Imagine what concern they have for the average customer spending only hundreds of dollars with them.

Atlas Butler sent a service tech to do routine service on my furnace on September 13th. Before the tech arrival my furnace and air conditioning units were both functioning normally at this time and they were not even two years old yet. Upon arrival the service tech started working on my furnace. He was taking inordinate amount of time to service my furnace. When I went down into the basement where the furnace is to see what was going on. I saw the service tech had disassembled my furnace and components were lying on the basement floor. When I asked him what was happening he told me that he could not reach the back components to clear them. The service tech replaced my old filter with one that I bought, but under my service contract he should have use his filter instead of my filter. He put my furnace back together and turned on my furnace, heating my home up. The service tech told me that he was done and that I might want to turn on my air condition to cool the home down. I agree and the service left my home. One hour after the service tech left my home my air condition was now not cooling my home. The service tech had damaged my air conditioning unit. I called Atlas Butler Office and told them that their tech had damaged my air condition unit and that he needed to undo what he did. Atlas Butler Office lead my to believe at that time a service tech would back on September 14th at 400 pm. When 400 pm came and went without a service tech showing up. I called once again asking were the service tech was. The Atlas Butler Office told me that he would be at my home at 530 pm. When 530 pm came and went without a service tech at my home. I called once again Atlas Butler Office and they told me that the tech would be at my home at 600 pm. Once again 600 pm came and went without a service tech showing up at my home.I called Atlas Butler again at 615 pm and they told me that the service tech would call me. It was a wire that was not connected to my air conditioning unit.

Called for a price on an Aprilaire dehumidifier. Told that they would need to come to home to determine size. Technician arrived-taken to basement-looked at furnace. Immediately told me that the dehumidifier would be $2000, but that with one of their memberships price would be reduced to $1840. Never measured basement to determine size of dehumidifier needed; never even walked through the basement. Seems to be that entire premise for in-home visit was to get into house to make a sales pitch. Will never call again.