Back Bay Mechanical

These guys are the best. Installed two forced hot air, a/​c systems that work great. Professional, on time, within budget!

Back Bay Mechanical replaced my HVAC system earlier this summer. They were very professional throughout the process and paid great attention to detail in terms of the installation, clean-​up and customer service. Highly recommend!

I realized I never posted this review for last year! For my first time home owner, I was horrified when my heater stopped working. I was recommended BBM by my property management company so I gave them a call and they were able to help me right away. Robert came on time, was professional, and answered all my questions. I would use BBM again and highly recommend them!

Wow! If you want a quote the earliest they can arrange someone to come over is six weeks out (and I live a quarter mile from their office)! This place must be really good if it takes that long to just a quote. Unfortunately, I had to go elsewhere …

I hired Back Bay Mechanical for general maintenance of 2 forced hot air systems, and to check out a specific issue with one of the motors turning off & on all the time, regardless of the heat being on. Quoted cost was $ 100 an hour, with a 2 hour minimum, plus any other parts needed on the day. During the service call, the general maintenance piece was completed in 1 hour, with the technician mentioning the motor issue wasn’t reproducible, but it was likely fixed anyway due to the maintenance he had performed. I was fine with that, and he left. The next day it was clear the motor issue still was not fixed. I called them back to come take another look, but I was told I would have to cover the cost of a new service call and pay the 2 hour minimum again (so another $ 200, on top of the original $ 200). I asked in fairness that this be covered under the original service call since the issues I wanted addressed were clearly stated up front, I paid the full 2 hours (even though they left after only 1 hour), and beyond the general maintenance, they never really tried to reproduce the issue. They said all they could do for me was offer me a $ 50 dollar credit, but I’d still have to cover the cost of another visit. I asked why the technician didn’t spend the remaining time during the first service call trying to reproduce the issue. No clear answer was given. I’d recommend getting in writing what you call these people over for ahead of time, and make sure they deliver on it before they leave. or avoiding these folks altogether.

This review is a little belated… but I can’t say enough about this company and its professionalism! I had a problem with my gas tankless heater and they were immediately responsive.
They explained everything to me, emailed a quote the next day. The work was done perfectly and no surprise extras.
I recommend this company without any reservation!

James and Crew are the Best in Boston. Either you hire James now or hire him later to clean up the mess that the other HVAC company made.
He is very professional, responsive, and clean. We had a central air installed in our brownstone and never had dust or debris issues. James and his team cleaned at the end of everyday to ensure that we could continue to live in our home.
After the job was done, he was great answering further questions and following up.
It would be a mistake going with anyone else.

My furnace malfunctioned on a Saturday morning. I called Back Bay Mechanical. Tim (on call for emergencies such as mine) called me back promptly to ask about the problem. He had me snap some photos of the burner and thought he had an idea of what was wrong. An hour later, Tim showed up, figured out the 2 problems, and fixed them both. He had parts on hand to replace the pressure switch. Tim was friendly and knowledgable, the price was more than reasonable, and I will definitely call them again for HVAC work. Highly recommend this business.

I found Back Bay Mechanical on Unilocal with good reviews, so when my heat decided to stop working, I gave them a call. Much to my surprise, the woman who answered said that there was a technician in the area and that they could be at my house within the hour. Pretty shocking considering the snow and cold we’ve had for the last few weeks.
Tim was very helpful and friendly and figured out the problem in less than 30 minutes (although you do have to pay for a 2 hour minimum with each visit). They do carry universal parts on their trucks in order to avoid having to make additional visits, which definitely cuts down on service/​labor costs. Unfortunately in my case, the broken part had to be unit specific, so he needed to locate the part and then schedule another visit. While that was a bummer because I’d have to pay for 2 visits (which seems pretty standard in this industry), it wasn’t really their fault and I got a call later the same afternoon that they had found the part and could come back the next day to replace it. Sure enough Tim came back the next day and had the whole thing fixed in less than an hour.
While no one enjoys having to spend money on these types of things, I felt that BBM had very reasonable pricing compared to some other companies and their responsiveness and ability to get the job done quickly was well worth it. There was always someone answering the phone when I called, and when I needed to get a return phone call, they were prompt in getting back to me. They also give a 30 day warranty (parts and labor) if whatever they fixed stops working. I would definitely recommend them and plan to use them again in the future.

An incredible company to work with. Our furnace broke in the middle of record breaking snow fall and cold in the city of Boston.
Their honest opinions, and explanation to make you actually understand the problem was so much appreciated.
They were available after hours and their staff were responsible, knowledgable and professional.
We would certainly recommend. Thanks to Kevin, James, Steve and Phil, we were extremely pleased and now thankfully warm!

I can’t say enough good things about this company and the people that work for it!
My best friend and I had a bit of an unfortunate situation. Monday morning, she lost her husband to a long battle with cancer, stricken with grief and obligatory funeral arrangements, she didn’t notice her heat had gone out. Her home had gotten to 47 degrees!!! She also didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with it!
Its thursday afternoon by the time we realize we have a serious problem. I work in real estate development and asked our contractors who would be the best to help me. Unanimously, Back Bay Mechanical was recommended. Samantha took my initial call and heard my story. She quickly got someone to the house to diagnose the issue and meanwhile contacted the owner to express the sensitivity of the situation.
Tim arrived, after normal business hours (as I had called Thursday afternoon, it was the fastest he could get to us!), and quickly and thoughtfully determined that the control board was dead. We had two options, replace the board, which he located first thing the next morning, or replace the furnace. We decided to not put good money in to an old furnace and decided to replace the furnace.
James, the owner of the company, stepped in and came by shortly after we made our decision to take measurements and source a new furnace. James himself had also had a big week. He had just welcomed a new baby in to the world-​not only distracted, but probably exhausted!
Its Friday at this point, the day of my friend’s husband’s funeral. All she wants to do is have a home to return to and mourn the death of her husband. We had pretty much accepted that it wouldn’t be till Monday that she would get heat. James, bless him, found us a furnace that day and Tim, god bless his soul (!!!) volunteered to work on Saturday to get the furnace installed. Tim was determined to get Lexi heat, whatever it took.
Saturday morning, bright and early, Tim and Phil showed up and worked ALL DAY, till 8pm, installing the furnace. They are angels! So polite, respectful, and extremely professional. They weren’t just «HVAC guys» that day.
Lastly, and another relief was that is was about $ 3000 less than we thought it would be. And I have to mention, the entire interaction, took 48 hours, which was the fastest I think they could have diagnosed, sourced and installed a furnace… amazing!
I can’t say enough wonderful things about Back Bay Mechanical.
Thank you!!! Thank you!!!
Torry

Working from home is great until your furnace sh*ts the bed on one of the coldest days of the year. I called several places, desperate to have someone save me from the deep freeze. Many of the places I called (and believe me, I called ALOT) are charging a visit to come out to diagnose the issue and then a separate visit to do the actual work. BS excuse to milk money (not to mention the inconvenience of having to be around for two visits).
I immediately went with Back Bay Mechanical when James said that their trucks come stocked to fix the darn thing right then and there. Samantha managed to get me an appointment for later that afternoon and the tech came within the 2 hour block specified. He found the capacitor to be the culprit and was in and out in no time. The one knock I have is that they do a 2 hour minimum so in the end, it’ll cost you close to what the others are charging. But, it’ll save you from having to take time off for two visits and frankly, these folks are honest and competent.
I hope I don’t have to see these guys too often, but if and when I do… they are on the top of my list.

I had a great experience with Robert from Back Bay Mechanical. I’ll pass along my likes and dislikes, but overall, I’m very satisfied and would recommend them.
LIKES: Spoke with a receptionist and was quickly called back by the on-​call technician. No knock on the smaller companies — I’m sure they do great work, and might be more flexible on pricing — but if it’s a one man operation and he’s on a job, or not checking texts/​voicemails, it can be tough to lock in a time. I wasted time at the beginning of this process playing phone tag and waiting for another company to become available as the job they were working on dragged on. With others it felt like I had to beg them to take my money. Not with Back Bay.
The technician showed up promptly at the agreed upon time. He was friendly, but got right to work, and didn’t mind my questions — he let me know what he was doing, and after diagnosing the problem, let me know exactly how much the parts would cost. He was aware that I was paying by the hour, and cognizant of the fact that since only a simple repair was required, I would want to keep costs down, which I appreciated. I was able to pay by credit card, and a receipt was immediately emailed to me.
DISLIKES: This is probably reflective of the industry, so I’m not necessarily faulting Back Bay, but as soon as you have them coming onsite, you’re paying for a minimum of 2 hours. If you want them to come out after 4pm, you’re paying for 2 hours at time and a half (and 4PM is an early cutoff in my opinion). They are willing to come out and diagnose the problem 24/​7, but if the part isn’t in the truck, they won’t be able to make a repair until the next day, at which point they’ll charge you for more time. I discussed this with Robert the night before, and I would say he was willing to come out, but wasn’t pushy. Ultimately, I’m glad I decided to wait, as he needed to drive to pick up a part that wouldn’t have been available the night before.
It was a simple repair (faulty vent damper valve), but I trusted Robert throughout. He’s been working for Back Bay for 3 years and in the trade for 15. They’ve won my future business.

They ARE taking new customers. There is an earlier review to the contrary but this is not what we experienced today. I called them at 9 this morning (26^th of December) and the service on our heat pump was finished around noon. They are timely, communicative, skilled and reasonable! Couldn’t ask for more.

After learning of my experience, James from Back Bay Mechanical contacted me and apologized for my experience and stated this is not the way he wants his business conducted. He offered to repair the unit at no charge. The staff saved an appointment for me two days later. The technician arrived on time and quickly repaired the unit and left me a note that all of the repairs were complete. The workspace was left clean. I was please with the second interaction I had with Back Bay Mechanical.

Since last summer I had been having trouble with my AC/​Heating Unit. I have used another HVAC company for 10 years. They charged me $ 400/​yr for a service contract and did twice yearly preventive maintenance. When the problems began last summer they first told me my unit could not be repaired because it used freon (no longer legal in MA) as a coolant — this turned out to be untrue. They then said it needed to be replaced for $ 10,000 and began to set up the replacement. I asked whether this was covered under the service contract — NO they said and even if it was fixed, they would no longer offer me a service contract on the unit — which seemed totally unfair since I had paid them $ 4000 over ten years and now, when I needed repairs they refused to honor the terms of the contract.
I called Back Bay Mechanical for a second opinion. Robert tested the unit and discovered that there were several loose connections that were causing the condensor fan to operate intermittently. After fixing the electrical issues the unit has run efficiently and has kept my condo comfortable during the recent heat wave. Because he showed up late for the app’t — he didn’t even charge me! Back Bay Mechanical saved me serious money and aggravation. Robert was very personable, competent and honest — three hard to find qualities in this industry. I will use Back Bay Mechanical for all my service and maintenance needs going forward. Thanks guys!

I’m a first-​time home (condo) owner!!! Yay!!! Now I have to pay for repairs! Boo!!!
After the home inspection on my Fenway duplex, my realtor suggested Back Bay Mechanical when I needed to assess the status of the HVAC heating and air conditioning (is that redundant? I dunno) in my condo. Being used to having «free» heat the temperature of hell’s eternal inferno (for the low-​low price of only $ 1600 a month for a 350 square foot, 110-​year old studio in the Fenway living below an idiot with a subwoofer), I was pretty bummed to hear the average utility bill for this unit was 200 per month from NSTAR. I crawled into the fetal position and cried (okay I didn’t do either of those) but decided to learn more about whether or not this HVAC in the condo I may buy is going to s#!t the bed upon move-​in. I also wanted to know the age of machines.
Back Bay Mechanical sent an HVAC person (person/​tech/​man/​lady?) to meet my realtor to assess the current state of affairs of the HVAC. I wasn’t there, I had to work, but I did get it all scheduled for the next day.
I got an estimate to fix some things that were broken [Homer Simpsons blank stare… some parts were dunzo] and also to replace the entire new unit. Turns out my air handler was built the same year Back to the Future came out in theatres and my compressor was installed when cassette tapes started to see their slow demise…
I compared the two options… since replacing the whole damn thing was going to cost $ 7800, and I don’t know where I’d come up with that sort of cash flow without some serious liquidation of assets, I opted for the basic repairs.
I scheduled it upon closing on the condo and arranged to have my dad here in town to help me fix up the new place and also to have someone else who has actually purchased a house before. That way the things that were broken could be fixed sooner than later in the summer.
Long story short, there was a little bit of a glitch somewhere along the line when it came to the appointment. Sure, I was frustrated… but I spoke with James the owner and he got me a solution that worked.
As anyone who knows me, I don’t care when mistakes happen. I’m much more concerned with how management handles it.
And, Back Bay Mechanical did just that. They made things right, and if/​when my HVAC kicks the can, I will call these guys back to hook a sister up!

When you call you submit a credit card number which they tell you will be used for a minimal charge in case you decide not to do the full repair.
The technician showed up in time and fixed my central heating as expected, so I was happy, for about three days…
After three days the system again stopped working, I had to wait a couple of more days for the technician to come back and repair the previous repair; I was charged three more hours of work.
As they had my credit card info they just charged the money.
I repeatedly tried to reach the company by phone and email expecting a full refund, I got no replies.

Had a really great experience and can’t say enough about how nice they were about a problem we encountered. It’s hard to find companies that go above and beyond to make sure their customers are happy but James at BBM truly did that for us.

A/​C not working as well as before. Next day appointment — no problem. On time… no problem. Friendly… yup. Glad I brought them back for a third time — yep.
Got the problem fixed quickly. Great advice and an enjoyable visit. I’ll keep calling…