Berner A/C & Heat

This is a tough review to write, as I used to really like this company. Here’s what happened:
I’ve given them about $ 10,000 in business over the last couple years — including two new unit installations. Their sales folks talked up the American Standard brand, so I bought a unit made by that company. Berner advertised a one-​year warranty on the labor with a purchase of an American Standard unit; 13 months after purchase, the coil developed a leak. Berner quoted me over $ 1000 in labor costs to fix the part, declining to honor their warranty that had expired just a month earlier. With some pleading and reminding that I’d been a returning customer, they knocked off a couple hundred bucks, but couldn’t fit me into their repair schedule for nearly a month (this in July, when the NOLA temperatures are scorching). I eventually paid another company to order the same part and install it for me the very next day.
Loyalty is a two-​way street. When I’d returned to Berner for purchases, maintenance, etc. over the last few years, I never haggled over price or even shopped around because I thought that, whatever the differential, they’d reward a good customer by cutting me some slack when I needed it most. Well, I could have used some slack, and they barely gave me an inch — unwilling to stand by a product they’d sold just a year earlier, and unwilling even to jostle the schedule around to prioritize the install once the replacement part arrived. I couldn’t even get the owner, Tom Berner, on the telephone to talk it all over.
I was disheartened by the experience. I won’t be returning to Berner for any of my heating/​cooling needs, and I will be more cautious in the future when presuming that a small business will reward my loyalty when the chips are down.

A bad, deceptive group of people. AC was bought 5 years ago and installed by Berner. Since then, nothing but problems; goes out twice a year. Parts replaced all at our cost. Tom Berner is dishonest and runs a terrible company. Have filed complaint with BBB.

So… We bought this house during the winter. We had no idea that the bank replaced the old air conditioning unit with a used one… a 15 year old used one.
Bastages.
So I did the smart thing and called Bryan Air… Ok…So that wasn’t so smart. But that review is forthcoming.
After totally failing to get service from Bryan, I called Berner on the recommendation of some friends.
The owner said he would find a way to get someone out to the house the same day. And he did. The Tech (Seth) made it in great time and got right to work. Seems the condenser coil is leaking and needs to be replaced. And of course it was out of freon.
And of COURSE, COURSE, the old freon has been raising in price this year. How badly? from about $ 20 a pound to 40 and then, a few days ago, 50 bucks a pound. And my air needed 5lbs. :(
And the new freon won’t work in mine… and in order to use it,. we’d have to switch both compressor and the main unit… Several thousand bucks later and we might be comfortable again.
Not only did he give me a decent deal on the freon (Won’t say exactly how much in case it gets him in trouble) but he gave me some ideas that might help the current unit last a bit longer until we can get the money to replace it.
He even helped me fix their badly done installation so that my unit drains a little better.
Got to hand it to them, they took really great care of me for such a small company. I’ll use them any time I have air/​heat issues.

We had a new AC unit installed on our second floor a few months ago (in the winter) by Berner. We haven’t had to use it until now, Saturday June 12, only to find it not working. We called he company and they refused to address our concern until Monday. We have out-​of-​town guests (with children) using the upstairs and it’s 95-​degrees out. We explained that this was an emergency and that we needed an after-​hours serviceman to come. They refused. We paid over $ 3200 for this unit and feel that they should back their product. In the south, HVAC companies should be able to service customers in the event of an emergency, even if it’s on a Saturday. Not only that, we got yelled at and cussed out by the owner — Tom — because we were «bothering» him on a Saturday. I would not recommend using this company for your heating or cooling needs. They do not stand behind their product and their customer service is offensive.