Atlantic Heating & Air Conditioning

My home energy audit revealed that my gas boiler was 40+ years old and needed to be «tuned up» because the CO levels we too high. During the service it was clear that there was deterioration that might lead it to fail sooner rather than later. My options were a conventional (low or medium efficiency) boiler or a high efficiency boiler which, if I had the work done by Oct. 30, would get me a hefty rebate. It ended up being a complicated research project to decide the best category and choice of boiler and selection of HVAC contractor. I used recommendations, Angie’s list, and Unilocal to select 3 contractors to assess the situation and give me quotes. Two of the contractors really impressed me and were similar in their cost estimates. I selected Atlantic based on the recommendation of another contractor who I really like and trust (MF Reynolds). At that point I had only dealt with Darren Chapman of Atlantic who spent quite a bit of time going over the options and was very prompt in follow-​up. He was pretty careful to not steer me one way or the other on the high-​efficiency vs. conventional choice though the bill for the high efficiency was clearly going to be much higher (about 1.5 times). The information and advice he provided was very consist with what I had read or heard from others who had made boiler decisions recently. I’m sure I repeated many questions or asked for him to repeat some of the detailed complicated information and he was patient and clear throughout.
I ended up going with the high efficiency and decided to swap my 9 year old water heater out for an in-​direct water heater since I could piggy back on the work being done on the boiler. This was something that all of the contractors mentioned and my independent research was consistent with their advice.
I was also very concerned about getting the work done by Oct. 30 at that point because otherwise I might lose the rebate. Once I made my choice of option and contractor, Darren really moved things along smoothly and did a great job communicating. It took 1.5 days to get all the work done and the crew that did the work was very impressive. I was at the house most of the time they were doing the work, but in truth really didn’t need to be.
The system has been up and running for week and clearly does a better job giving me uniform heat in the house than I had before because the high efficiency boiler regulates the temp of the forced hot water better. The basement after the work was done was much cleaner than before they came in to do the work. Also, the administrative staff that prepared the rebate paperwork were great. Basically they took care of everything and all I had to do was sign filled out paperwork. I am really pleased and will have them come back in the spring to remediate the high velocity air conditioning system we had put in a couple of years ago. It has never worked well and the outfit that put it in is now is now out of business.

Showed up to repair my older boiler. Made repairs and cleaned up after themselves. Knowledgeable and fair.

The came on several service calls to my business and did not fix a single thing but said they: couldn’t figure out the problem… and sent me a 1700 bill. I would definitely not recommend as they did nothing AND sent someone who could not speak english clearly when trying to work with me. The problem with this? How can we clearly communicate if we can’t understand each other. I had high hopes when they first sent someone out to assess the situation, but he never came back. I feel my money went down the drain.

They may need to work on the customer service aspect as far as the outbound calling goes but the in person service I received from Ken was outstanding. I called towards the end of the week Christmas week and they explained that they were only taking emergency calls that week. They said they would call first thing the following week. I did not receive a call back and had to call them. That’s better than a no show in my book just poor business on their end. Once I called and got an appointment, I was given a window of 8 – 12. I figured Id see someone by 1:30 if lucky but my door rang at 8:30. Ken was very clear explaining our issue and walked me through how to avoid it in the future. I was at work by 9:30.
From reading the other posts and having one minor inconvenience on my end, it looks like they may need to sure up some things on the inside but the in person service I received was excellent. Your mileage may very!

They gave me a window of 1 – 5 PM. I called at 3:30 because I hadn’t heard from anyone and was getting nervous they were going to flake. 5:30 came around and still no call from anyone so I made the call again. They told me someone was on the way. Finally someone showed up around 6:20.
This is where they redeemed themselves. The technician who arrived was polite and EFFICIENT. He fixed the filter on my unit and proceeded to the main unit on the roof where he quickly identified the problem and fixed it. I now have AC again which I am very happy about.
If Atlantic wants to improve on anything, it would have to be communication. I am very satisfied with the result though.

We’ve called twice requesting a consultation to redo our entire heating system (e.g. big bucks) and haven’t even received a call back. That’s BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE!
We’re going to give Boston Standard Heating/​Plumbing a try… so far so good! We already have an appointment set up.
Stupid Atlantic Heating & Air.

We chose Atlantic Heating & Air Conditioning to help us re-​engineer and install an entire new system for heating and air conditioning in our 1880’s Victorian home. We went with them because they are reliable — they provided a heating unit for our downstairs apartment three years ago, and we were happy with the product and service. They were also competitive in terms of pricing.
It was a big job to replace our 1970’s system, and it involved creating new heating ducts as well as the removal of our old system. Dave (the owner) provided a full education to us on what it would take to install the system, and what our product options were. His team was completely professional and courteous. Even during the two weeks of installation which took over our house, the crew was careful to protect our floors and furniture, and left the house clean every day. They were very accommodating to any requests and were nice guys in general. I felt comfortable coming and going, and leaving them to their work. They came when they said they would, and they were here all day every day until the job was finished. The company also went above and beyond in making sure we got the company rebates for the systems we purchase, even filling out our paperwork for us.
The heating system is a huge improvement to what we had. You can really feel the difference, and we know we will realize efficiencies in our heating bills. Thanks to both Al’s, Brian and Dave for a job well done!
PS We are happy to speak to anyone considering these guys, and they have our contact information upon request.

I don’t even want to give one star to this place. This place deserves ZERO star.
First, AC guy came over last Monday and stayed for 15 mins. Then said we need new parts. Also he told us that it is not guaranteed that replacing the part will fix the problem. So he suggested to buy a whole new central AC unit. We just bought this new apartment and we were told the AC was just 25 years old and that it should last at least another 20 year if not more. So we decided to just buy the part and replace it. He told us that it would take a week to 10 days for the part to come. We asked for the price, the guy said he didn’t know but the office would call us to let us know. No phone calls. So we call the company up, to ask for the price and to verify when the parts would come. This guy John said that the past would cost $ 60 and when the parts comes in he would call us back. That was too vague, and we weren’t going to just sit around 1 month or until winter without AC, so we said we need an estimate of time. Then John said AC guy would come in July 9.
Since my darling couldn’t work from home that day, I took a day off and stayed home waiting for the AC guy to show up. He showed up at 3:30, replaced the part, and charged me $ 136.75 for the part. I was like WTF? I called up John but he did not want to answer my calls. So when AC guy called him, then he answered. I asked to speak with John, to which I was told no. I showed AC guy on the web that the part is sold for $ 47 and we are paying $ 60 which is already over-​priced, and that the unit could not be $ 136.75.
Then he said fine, but then he’ll charge for travel time. We were told originally it’s just parts cost plus labor hours, so that got me more upset. So if I hadn’t argued and persisted, they would have charged us $ 449.50. I ended up paying $ 313.00.
First of all, John should have answered my calls or talk to me and apologize for the mix up. And if there are travel time and minimum charges, the company should let us know about it, not say it’s just parts plus labor. Hourly rate was $ 125. I don’t know if the price is normal or not, but their service was terrible.
By the way, the AC is STILL broken after all that.
I called them up to tell them it still does not work, this rep Nick (Nicholas) said «that’s not my problem.» I said «well it’s not fixed so either you send someone to fix it without extra charge or I would like my money refunded.» He said no. I said I will talk to Better Business Bureau and also dispute the charge through credit card if I am not refunded. To this, he said «Fine go ahead. That’s just one more complaints from BBB, we don’t care.»
I looked them up on BBB and the record shows that they have 4 complaints filed against them. Go figure.