Alley And Co. Heating/Air

On April 2, 2014, a technician from Alley and Co. Heating/​Air arrived at our home to inspect a problem with our wall furnace after it began setting off our carbon monoxide detectoI explained what had transpired to the technician and after taking some pictures with his cell phone of the inside of the flute and inspecting the unit, he advised me that the entire unit would need to be replaced. I asked him about the condition of the burners, specifically, were the burners «clear» of obstruction, to which he replied, «Yes, the burners are clear.» Again, he stated that the «burners are clear». This particular point will be further addressed further below. He explained that due to liability concerns their company does not perform cleaning of these units, and, furthermore, that even if they did, the labor cost involved in removing the heat exchangers and disassembling the unit would closely mimic that of replacing it in its entirety, therefore making it just as advantageous to install a brand new unit. He quoted me $ 4800 for both the unit and the labor (which he said would be around $ 400 – 500) to install it. Shocked at the cost, I told him I would have to contact my landlord (who is actually my 97 year old grandmother) prior to authorizing anything further. I wrote a check for $ 65, thanked him for his time, and told him we would be in touch.
Alarmed at the cost that had been quoted to me, I did some research and found that I could purchase a brand new unit, of the same type and BTU output, for under $ 1000. I immediately began to question why, if you can purchase a unit for $ 1000, and, the labor is only $ 400 – 500, would they be charging me almost $ 5000 (and, I was actually told that $ 4800 is a couple of hundred dollars off of the normal cost to complete this particular job)?
Over the course of the next few days, we attempted to obtain a second estimate and opinion. Unfortunately, Alley and Co. Heating/​Air is one of the only companies in the area that deals with these types of gas wall furnace units. My grandmother, who again is my landlord, was able to locate an invoice from when we last had one of these units serviced. Thankfully, this particular company was still in business and after contacting them, a technician came out to inspect and evaluate the unit. I explained what had transpired, and, what the previous company’s technician had advised me, and the technician began to inspect and diagnose the problem. His first and immediate concern was the bright orange/​yellowish color of the flame coming from the burners themselves. Within 20 minutes he had both burners and both heat exchangers uninstalled and on the floor. I was immediately shocked to discover that, contrary to what the technician from Alley and Co. Heating/​Air had advised me, the burners were COMPLETELY clogged and obstructed. This was completely obvious even to the naked eye and without any formal training or experience. This, according to the current technician, would explain the inefficiently burning flame. Again, as stated above, the Alley and Co. technician specifically advised me that they were «clear». I immediately took photographs of the burners in order to document their condition upon removal. I would never do business with
Alley again.

I used to work for this company in the call center right when I got out of college. They treated all of us terribly, firing people because they spoke out against the owners forcing Scientology on people. I was forced to lie to people on cold calls… saying that we were the company that installed their unit when we did not even know the people… just numbers from a phone book. They routinely hired and fired people on a whim. They encourage people to lie and trick customers into buying things they don’t need. One of the technicians was promoted from the call center and was in homes within 2 days. NO EXPERIENCE. Just because he was a good salesman. Thankfully, I now have a stable career, but I thought it was time to expose this company for all their dirty deeds. Honestly, I’m surprised they are even still in business given the severity of their abuse of customers, especially preying on senior citizens.

I’m going to call them tomorrow for a refund. Your tech. Came out to my house and diagnosis of my hvac unit .that was not correct. He told me my relay board and blower motor had to be changed. I got a second opinion and just the motor bearing was out. .git it fixed for less than $ 150.00. Alley co told me it would be $ 2400.00 .they tried to have me call a sales rep for a new unit. What a rip off. If they don’t refund me back my $ 85.00 i will turn them in to the better business bureau my #916−873−0418 Alan Valdez

This company installed a top of the line $ 6500 furnace in my home and one year later, the installation caught on fire and blew toxic bits of charred installation throughout my home. Their own technician determined that Alley was responsible due to a faulty sealing of the intake valve. In an attempt to make my home somewhat right, I spent months haggling with the owner just to have him clean my rugs and walls. At that time I had not realized just how much damage there was. Tony Alley strung me along, sending people to my house for estimates and then refusing to hire them. I finally had to turn to my homeowners and with further investigation, found out my entire home had to be emptied, all clothing, linens, toys and such sent out to be professionally cleaned and my favorite… the home had to be deozoned. The toxins actually ate the paint off my walls. It killed my fish in my tank, I had to put my cat down and live out of pods and my garage for over a month. It cost my homeowners close to $ 50,000! In which their insurance refused to pay and my insurance company had to start court proceedings which we won. During the months of Alley refusing to take responsibility, I spoke with many of his employees, who told me horror stories about working for him and problems with customers. Several of those employees lost their jobs after speaking with me. The bottom line is stay away from this company! They’ve changed their name several times in the past because of bankruptcy. They overcharge, don’t follow through, cannot install a proper furnace and won’t take responsibility. They treat their employees terrible, those I’ve spoken with, and fire those who stick up for the customer. If this saves even one person from experiencing the horror I had to deal with, then this review was worth it

Do not call these people. Our air went out on a 108 degree day. They were prompt and available 24 hr. but immediately said we needed a new unit for $ 9800. Or at the very least, $ 2000 worth of work. But they could do a $ 400 repair to get us by…
Had the company who originally installed the unit a week later and said there was NOTHING major wrong with the unit. And the $ 400 repair was more like a $ 200 repair…
So, nope… won’t call them ever again.

Aaron is a life saver! After spending an entire sweaty day moving into our new home i go to turn the a/​c and i get nothing but recirculated air. My pugs are panting and can’t rest, no amount of time in the pool makes it bearable, and the home warranty company doesn’t have my papers in order yet.
We had used this company for the same problem in the past and had a good experience. But this, this was the topping of a stressful week and they just made my day.
Aaron was professional and punctual and very knowledgable about the system. It took about an hour and finally my family was able to relax.
You get what you pay for people. And when everywhere else is closing up shop for the day, these guys are rollin out for another call. You have no idea how much that is appreciated. You get what you pay for, yes, a company that’s ²⁴⁄₇ is a little more expensive, but i love their work.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! My unit went out 3 days ago in the evening. Because they were 24 hour, I called them. The Tech came out looked at the unit and said it needed to thaw and he would have to come back tomorrow. He charged me $ 85 and said when he fixes it tomorrow, he will credit the $ 85. He came back spent 45 minutes writing up his quote for $ 2,800 plus verbally added in coil cleaning for $ 349, but if I bought their maintenance program for $ 203, I’d get it for free. I told him no, I was getting a second opinion. The tech said «It will be another $ 85 for today». I told him «hell no I wouldn’t pay it since he didn’t do anything yesterday but turn off the unit». I called the company and asked for a Manager who told me she wouldn’t charge me, and blamed it on my unit. She said «It’s not the tech’s fault, it’s the unit’s fault, I’m not saying it’s your fault, it’s the unit’s fault». Are you kidding me! Their quote included Circuit board replacement, Blower replacement, Blower cleaning, the maintenance program and the coils cleaned. I got it all repaired for less than ¹⁄₃ of the cost and all that needed to be replaced was the circuit board which Premium Heating & Air charged me $ 459, (Alley quoted $ 1118). Blower motor works fine (Alley quoted $ 1026, no blower cleaning (Alley quoted $ 458), coils were fine (Alley quoted $ 349), BUT… it appears the technician from Alley & company either purposely or «accidentally» (can’t prove) broke the freon connection and now all the freon leaked out. That cost us $ 470 to fix. Alley never mentioned a freon leak, not was oil and water flying out of our unit when he showed up, but started flying as soon as we turned it back on flying 3 – 4 feet, dripping with liquid. Just Scandelous!!! How can you live with yourselves as a company.

My advice is to stay away from this Company. Look them up at the State of California Contractors Board web site.
The charged me 4 times the going rate. Like a «dummy» I did not check them out prior to having the work done.
Their Ad is also misleading.
DON“T TRUST THIS COMPANY

We were quoted repairs would be $ 1800+, too much for us and a shock since our a/​c was only 4 years old. Called Bell Brothers for a second opinion, they fixed us for less than $ 500. These guys were trying to take advantage of us. Don’t use this company.

I’m selling my house. Today is the open house. It’s going to be a hot day probably 100 degrees! And the AC stops working yesterday. Ugh
I called these guys because they said they do 24 hour service.
Unbelievable rip offs !!! They quoted me I kid you not $ 10,000 — $ 15,000 by a certain Huck. Then when I say NO, he says ok he can replace that one section of the AC unit for $ 2600.
Guess what? This morning I had it fixed from another AC company for $ 560!!!
I called them and spoke with Mike to let him know I’d be advertising their stellar service… NOT! What awful jerks.
What a pathetic excuse for a company and business. I doubt they will last. You sow what you reap!

My AC at home hasn’t ever worked right. I’ve spent thousands of dollars for Alley to come look at it and replace all kinds of stuff — compressor, ducts, who knows what else. Turns out it was a $ 30 capacitor those morons hooked up wrong, a part they charged me $ 250 to replace just last year or year before, I can’t remember exactly. I know they came out last year and told me I had a leak and I needed the entire system replaced end to end! Another heating/​air place just checked for leaks and there are none.
Avoid!!!

DO NOT DO BUSINESS with these rude people. They have hung up on us (both my husband and myself) several times. Customer service is terrible. Alicia seems to be holding the business together by calling back and begging you to stay. Promises a reduction in the service call because of the hang ups and the reduction does not appear and the service technician left a big mess in my laundry room without even letting us know. I went to do laundry this morning and i have a 20 minute clean up to do before I can start my laundry. There is insulation from the attic all over my laundry room, on my clothes, etc. If you want overpriced crappy work, by all means hire these guys. Otherwise, RUN in another direction.

I called and asked about a job they were offering and that i was in school and about to get my certs i asked to talk to the service manager she told me yes they were hiring and to drop out of school it was a waste of money and come work for them !!! WOW then she said they offer a one week class that will teach me everything i needed to know they must hire anyone off the street because i will be in school over a year and if they can learn that all in one week god bless them!!! anygood technician it takes atleast 1 year if not more to get the basics and 5 to be an journeyman this place is hiring anyone off the street and having them come into your home and service very delicate equipment so please do your homework before you have this company do any type of work for you

The following review doesn’t change the previous one, with the exception of the last sentence. What it does do is add a BUT — After my previously noted experience i decided I needed to have work done on my duct work and insulation. They were both about 30 years old. This was a separate issue from the equipment install done by Alley.
Accordingly, I called them to give me an estimate on the two jobs, duct work and insulation. An estimator came fairly quickly and checked out the attic to see what needed to be done. As an aside the gentleman who came slipped and put his foot through my bathroom ceiling. Fortunately, for both of us, it was unoccupied at the time. The company had the ceiling repaired the next day and they did a great job. These things can happen.
Now as to the problem. The young man gave me the estimate and after applying the paddles to my chest I was able to discuss it. The estimate was more than double the cost of furnace/​air-​conditioning equipment they had installed. What I really found interesting was the cost of the insulation was even more than the duct repair. Apparently they wanted to sell me Cadillac service for the cost of a Lamborghini when I needed a Neon.
Without discussing their actual price, I went out and get estimates from other companies recommended by those who had used them and an acquaintance who is a Real Estate agent.
I had the duct work done last week (for my view of that company see my other reviews) and the cost was literally one third of what Alley proposed.
Today I had the insulation put in. The cost here was, hold your breath, one tenth of what Alley proposed.
So, the cost of my duct work and insulation combined was only one fifth of what Alley intended to charge me. (One person suggested the reason their proposal was so high was they really didn’t want to do the work. Nah!)
Anyway the warning here is obvious. If you need work done on your heating and air systems, and have the time, get multiple bids. Consider some of the smaller companies who get their business via word of mouth rather than a big advertising campaign. And then make your decision accordingly.

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY!!! My mom who is 65 years old with dementia called this company to have her air ducts cleaned. She was home by herself when they came. They ended up talking her into and signing a $ 24,000 contract worth of work that was not needed (which did not even include a new air conditioning unit)!!!
They removed all the insulation in her 3,000 sq ft home which was not needed. They found a dead mouse in her attic and brought it down. They thought it would be funny to show her what they found and literally tossed it at her which they admitting to us they did, and only then did they apologize.
When we found out about this work she had signed up for 1 week into the job we called the company and stopped the work in the middle of it. The owner called us back and met with us at the house and brought along with him one of the technicians, but of course not the technician who sold my mom on the contract (he was busy that day, yeah right).
We had them go up in the attic with us to show us what they had done and not done. We recorded the WHOLE conversation of THEM repeatedly admitting to the work not being needed. We hired a lawyer and let’s just say we did not have to pay the $ 24,000 contract. However, we still have a house with no insulation and some ducts that have not been finished being cleaned nor wrapped with the padded insulation they use.
In addition, there are items missing from the house that they were freely able to roam.
HIRE THIS COMPANY AT YOUR OWN RISK! This company was also on the call Kurtis report on channel 13 news for doing the same thing to others. See link to watch that report
If I could rate this company negative stars I would. They do not even deserve 1 star.

Avoid, these guys are charging ridiculous amounts to service A/​C units. The entire time the guy tried to get me to buy a new unit for $ 15,000 when the system just needed to be recharged. They tried to charge us $ 700 to recharge the unit, but when I asked how many pounds the unit needed he told me that they don’t use a scale and that it didn’t take as much as they expected so the price was only $ 495. If they don’t use a scale how do they know it needed less that they thought? Total scam.

They sucker you in by saying they can come out same day then charge you 85.00 to do nothing. not kidding… tech just stood in front of my 9 year old unit and said «you need a new system» didn’t even put a set of gauges on it. beware of these guys

Even after calling them a year ago and telling them why I won’t use their service, they still keep calling me for that last «maintenance» visit I paid for. No thanks Alley Heating & Air. You have tried swindling me out of enough money. Thankfully though you’ve now been exposed for it

I had a really great experience with Alley, and I’m glad I didn’t read the Unilocal reviews before choosing them because I may have been dissuaded.
I was referred by a friend who had used them before and had been satisfied with both Alley’s service and pricing. I called them immediately upon realizing my air conditioner was not working on the first hot day of the summer.
The person I talked to on the phone was very professional and I immediately felt that I had made the right decision. When the technician came out, he told me everything that was wrong with my air conditioner and what would need to be done to fix it. He was helpful and made sure I understood exactly what he was going to do.
I was also happy that they quoted me correctly, because there’s nothing worse than having to pay more than you expected to. The technician was fast and efficient and I was very happy with the service I received from Alley.
If anything happens with my air conditioner or heater, I will absolutely call Alley again because they gave me excellent service with great customer service and care.

This is a sinking ship and these people are con artists. BEWARE!
They called my mother several times and finally sold her a heating and A/​C tune up. The so called services they try and sell you are all scams. My moms neighbor works for another heating and air company here in Sacramento. He had the day off and watched the service be preformed. The tech didnt do half the things he was supposed to do. When he asked the tech why he hadnt done most anything except open up the system and look for items to replace, the tech told him that the technicians dont even have the proper equipment to carry out all the services they sell. And he personally hadnt even finished his training! The technician explained he was just waiting to quit until her found a better job, the company was so poorly run he couldnt handle working there.
I am helping my mother file a complaint against them with better business. Come to find out this place says its been in business over 25 years and thats also a lie. They have had to change their name several times over the 25 years just to avoid lawsuits on customer claims.
AVOID!