Hales Corners Heating & Air Conditioning

On Wednesday 01/​20/​2016, I came home for lunch and found the house to be 63 degrees. I went in the crawl space, which isn’t all that inconvenient. The boiler didn’t seem to be running. I found a heating and cooling company in Hales Corners (Hales Corners Heating & Air Conditioning). I phoned them and asked them to come out. The woman was very pleasant. She advised that she would send Dennis out and that he’s very good and has been doing it for a long time.
Dennis came out within a couple of hours. Dennis went down in the crawl space and I followed him. I was honest and explained to him that we hadn’t maintained the boiler although we had intended to. Dennis remove a plate from the front of the boiler area and said «Oh God!» and «Some rodent has made a nest in here». I had a look and sure enough there was a nest of insulation (perhaps) and soot and droppings. Dennis added, «The moron who installed this boiler should be shot!». He declared that 3 times or so while he was here. That’s not paraphrasing, that’s exactly what he said. Dennis added that the furnace should never have been installed there since it was 3 inches from the floor joists and he couldn’t get the top off to clean it. He added that the boiler was turning off and on because it wasn’t getting proper ventilation. Dennis told me that it would be more expensive to repair the boiler than to replace it since the boiler would have to be remove to be repaired and again «The moron who installed this boiler should be shot!» He added that the vent pipe had been installed at ground level and this allowed a rodent to crawl in and clog up the ventilation and this was why the boiler was failing. Dennis said I should get a Williamson boiler. Dennis offered to have his boss call me and quote a new boiler. I agreed that it would be nice if he would. Dennis graciously wrote up a ticket for a service call and charged only for a service call, roughly 76.00 or so. I looked up a Williamson boiler on The Internet and I thought good, cause it seemed that a 105,000 BTU Williamson boiler was about 1500.00 — 2000.00 and that since Dennis recommend Williamson, they likely carry those and since our current boiler is about 100,000 BTU they would likely use the 105,000 BTU Williamson.
A few hours later, Scott from Hales Corners Heating & Air Conditioning called and reiterated what Dennis had said about the improper location and installation of the boiler. He explained that a new boiler installed there was likely going to cost between 8500.00 and 9000.00. They would have to install a new vent pipe and we would have to dig a hole to install a window well around the outside end of it. Scott told me that if you call another company to bid on the boiler replacement, be careful because not everyone knows how to install boilers and that they «install more boilers than en-​ee-​buh-​dy.» (Spelled the way he pronounced /​enunciated it)
We put space heaters about the house and it was reasonably comfortable. We had to go to a wake and while we were on our way there and back I gave it some thought and decided it might be a good idea if I dig out the papers that came with the house. So when we returned home I went and found paperwork from the heating and cooling company that installed the boiler in 2004(About a year before we bought it). They explain in their notes that they came to the house and it was 22 degrees in the house and the pipes were frozen and cracked and the boiler was inoperable. They explained that they put in space heaters and came back the next day and the house was 66 degrees. They repaired the cracked pipes and replaced the boiler and installed a new 100 amp service and the total estimated cost was approx. 6300.00. And this paperwork was signed by guess who — Scott at Hales Corners Heating & Air Conditioning. I confirmed the phone number on this paperwork was 414−425−1390 same as the modern day Hales Corners Heating & Air Conditioning. Same owner presumably, Scott who had confirmed Dennis’s conclusion about the improper installation of the boiler.
The next morning I asked my wife to call another company. The next company said they didn’t work on those boilers. She called another company who just to cut this short, clearly wanted to fix it if possible, rolled up their sleeves and used a multi-​meter to test the voltage at several terminal locations and advised that 2 parts had burned out and the cost would be 850.00 and they had already ordered the parts and a second tech came the next morning and replaced the parts and the boiler works better than it has for some time.
All I want to say in conclusion is. I believe Scott from Hales Corners Heating & Air Conditioning. They likely do install more boilers than «en-​ee-​buh-​dy»

Techs are nice, but the company overcharge for everything. 89.95 for service call which include 4 miles travel round trip from the office and they wanted 229 for diagnostics (this is in addition to service call). Over 320 for diagnostics seems a bit high to me. I said no thanks and send them back. Will not use them again.

I have been a loyal customer for 12 years. Each year purchasing their esp service agreement. Up until today I have been very pleased with their service. Yesterday my ac quit working. I called them as I am supposed to get a discount for repairs. When it was all said and done, they replaced my thermostat, added 2.5 lbs freon and put some leak sealer in the system. After doing some checking this added up to about $ 260 in parts. Was charged $ 671. Tech was in and out in 1 hour 10 minutes. Checked around to verify what others would have charged for repair and not surprisingly all came in far less. Talked to owner and was told that he is only netting 2% margins on his repairs. Net doesn’t mean anything as businesses can tax plan minimal margins easy enough. Gross is what concerns me. I figure he grossed at least 59% on me after labor. So much for that esp discount. Feel as if I was clearly overcharged on this repair despite what the owner said. But he already has my money so what can I do. All I can do is let others know and stop patronizing his business. It’s not like there’s a shortage of qualified contractors in my area.