Schmitt Heating & Air Conditioning

This review is not about their service. It’s about a very suspect experience with one of their drivers.
About a week ago I was parked near my home (not in San Fransisco) when a man driving one of their trucks parked near me and then proceeded to stand behind my car. He stood there for a minute so I stayed in my car, scared. He took a picture of my license plate clearly with the flash on and everything & began to power walk away I rolled down my window to ask him what that was about but he ignored me and kept walking.
As a young lady I am extremely freaked out about the situation. Luckily I got his plate and called the number on his truck. I spoke to Andrea and told her about the situation and gave her his plate number. It has now almost been a entire week and I’ve called twice to check the status on the situation and she has no information. She says she hasn’t been able to talk to he driver an that the owner hasn’t been in .
I would have thought this would be a more urgent matter. It’s all very sketchy and unprofessional.

There are conditions that are not the fault of Schmitt: we are in a borderline cold snap. That’s like trying to get a roofer during/​following a storm. And, I can’t really comment in their service. Because after leaving a voicemail over night, a phone msg this AM, then a subsequent 2^nd call, the ETA on a serviceman was: JANUARY! Really? It’s ¹²⁄₁₆? I asked if they could refer me to an emergency heating service, and was told, «well one gal who called me said she tried 10 companies.» Thanks Schmitt.
Again, acknowledging the cold conditions, we have no heat. Schmitt put in the furnace 4 – 5 years back. I was hoping for a more collaborative attitude, not «See ya Next Year.» Which is too bad, since I remember as a kid seeing the big truck with «Let George Do It!» On the side (I believe George Schmitt started this company). So, maybe their work is awesome. I wouldn’t know.

I’m not sure if these guys are scam artists or just incompetent. Maybe that’s splitting hairs. Anyway, they took our money and didn’t do the work as requested. Then they refused to fix the problem or refund the money when we pointed out the error. Great!
Summary:
We have a newly-​installed pool, and the heater needed to be vented to the outside of its enclosure (a raised patio). We specifically and repeatedly told Schmitt’s phone person and technician that the vent HAD to be stainless steel, per municipal codes and the manufacturer’s specifications. We also sent them the PDF manual and noted the page where the vent specs were detailed. Very clearly, the manual says STAINLESS STEEL ONLY.
The guy came out on the appointed day (on time) and was very nice. He then proceeded to install a GALVANIZED STEEL vent (pipe and termination). We didn’t check on it until after he had left (was out doing stuff) but my husband called them as soon as he saw the mistake. The phone person had the gall to tell us «oh, we don’t work with stainless steel.» Say what? Then why did you take the job?
Seems pretty obvious why: they thought we wouldn’t notice. Dumb homeowner can’t tell the difference between stainless steel and galvanized. Except that it’s super obvious and any idiot can easily see which is which.
So then they proceeded to stonewall and refuse to refund the money, repeating their mantra «we don’t work with stainless steel!», which is tantamount to blaming us for their mistake. Just breathtakingly asinine. «Talk to the hand!» is essentially what they said.
Avoid at all costs.

I called with a question about the HVAC unit above an apartment I am considering purchasing. Andrea showed my pictures to the owner and he gave me a great assessment of the situation. Will definitely be contacting them to get the unit fixed (if I get the place)!

The folks at Schmitt are true professionals and do very high quality work. I have worked with Schmitt Heating for HVAC on two jobs and have been impressed by their workmanship and value. Our technician Scott is a great guy who is easy to work with and takes his craft seriously. Paul gave us a straightforward estimate that was very competitive with several other providers. The office staff are also great.
We had a basic, single zone system and exhaust venting installed at one property, and a more sophisticated, dual zone system and exhaust venting at another. They arranged for all permits and thoroughly discussed what was required. As an owner/​builder, they helped me understand all the necessary requirements, as well as dealt with a rather challenging building inspector. We have had some follow up items and they are extremely prompt at scheduling an appointment. PM me if you have any questions.

Last May 28, 2014 I wrote a review for Schmitt Heating as I was in charge of getting a furnace moved in my daughter’s garage in the Inner Sunset for parking purposes.
Expecting to write two furnace reviews in one lifetime is like growing up in Cleveland and expecting to celebrate two Super Bowl Wins before burial.
On December 27, 2014 the 32 year old furnace at our own home went kerplunk. It made no sense to us to repair it.
We made one call to Schmitt. We accepted their bid. The new furnace was installed
with the same precision and expertise as our experience with them last May.
We even had the same two journeymen, Scott and C.J., doing their magic with metal.
I just want to add that for the 31 years with the old furnace, I had always wanted a downstairs thermostat as my wife and I split the day with either being upstairs or downstairs. It killed me to have to heat the whole house.
We paid some more and Schmitt installed «Install 1– new Carrier 2– zone damper system complete with required zone dampers, control wiring, second thermostat control in lower room, barometric bypass damper and zone board.»
This feature pleases us to no end.
We again had a 5 Star experience with Schmitt Heating and all in one lifetime.

I need to add my voice to the chorus of acclimations. Schmitt Heating was not only a great heating company but a model of professionalism and friendliness that ANY company could learn from. As others have said to the responsive courteous office staff, Dani in particular, to the approachable knowledgable estimator Paul, to the courageous John who climbed the great ladder to my roof to install a new venting duct and his able assistant CJ, the entire experience was pleasant, seamless and skillful.
It’s great to know that such a company exists and I hope that I can improve my professionalism in all I do by learning from their model.

Called in today to get a quote — the AC is not working. Jenny, the lovely woman who answered the phone, was very helpful! She made a few suggestions for me to try before committing to having one of the techs come down. It was great to have a conversation and discuss options, instead of just recieving pricing information. Great customer service :)

We had someone come over to look at our furnace since it had been making clicking sounds. He didn’t fix the problem, left our Nest and furnace broken and nonoperational, and still charged us at an hourly rate for the diagnosis. The diagnosis was that our furnace unit was oversized for the pipes and suggested we add an additional duct or punch holes in our existing ducts, but when we asked our neighbors with the exact layout whether they had been having problems, they said no — which suggests that the diagnosis was wrong. In short, we paid for the privilege of having them break our system, and still were left without any information. This was in June, we’re still without heat, and now it’s getting cold…

so very disappointed with this company. they installed air conditioning in my business several years back and after 1 yr they sold the maintenance contract to another company (which is TOTALLY fine) who has been servicing ever since. i own a bar which means lots of body heat + cold air = condensation. in my situation, there is SO much condensation that it leaks/​drips water over my entire length of my bar. it should have been properly insulated when it was originally installed. im not well versed in air conditioning so i had no idea this should have been done. it’s always leaked at peak occupancy but i just installed new hardwood floors which is now being ruined buy said dripping. i called schmitt today to schedule an estimate (which i expected to pay full price for even tho they should have done it originally) only to be told that they charge $ 140 for the first hour and $ 150 for any additional hour. they looked me up in their computer and recognized my address, fully aware that they installed the air conditioning. i explained that i didn’t mind paying for the insulation and i didn’t want to appear petty but i thought it was a little ridiculous to charge me for AN ESTIMATE on work i need done! especially considering the fact that they neglected to do it on the original install!
conducting poor business in a small city is bad for business. take pride in your business!

My technician was really shady.
I called Schmitt because of a friend’s recommendation and a high Unilocal rating. My experience was quite different.
Our heater wasn’t properly heating the remote rooms. We know nothing about heaters, so we called Schmitt. I asked how much an onsite visit to check it out would cost, and the person on the phone said something to the effect of, «don’t worry about it… we won’t charge if there is nothing wrong with your heater.» … I took that to mean it was free unless some work was to be done.
When the technician came out, he inspected the heater and immediately said the problem was that a circuit board needed to be replaced. He claimed the heater doesn’t work at all. When I asked him why the main room gets warm when we start the heater, he continued to say it was because our condo is on the top floor… and the heat from the downstairs neighbors is traveling up, giving us the illusion it is working. When I continued to ask him why when I turn the heater off, the main room subsequently cools down, he didn’t have such a glib answer.
I had zero faith in his analysis… but rather than confront him, I told him I’d think about it and he left. For weeks after, he would call me to ask when he could replace the $ 500 circuit board.
After I successfully ignored him, his company finally sent me a $ 135.00 invoice for a service call!
In the meantime, I called a reputable service company who came out and determined the problem was with the air duct configuration. By closing the ducts in the main room and opening them completely in the remote rooms, the heat spreads more evenly. They confirmed the heater was just fine.

Not sure what happened, they fell of the face of the map… Schmitt is a name that evokes a sense of being the best in class heating and a/​c company. They installed two heating systems for us in ²⁰⁰⁷⁄₀₈. They had a competitive price, their work was good and we were glad we went with them. Through both installations we worked collaboratively to make sure that the new furnace (s) were heat balanced and running as anticipated. We just recently called them back in April of this year to help us to create a new zone and upgrade our infinity controller and manufacture a new laundry chute; which is what sheet metal people do. We received a relatively pricey bid; (which I rationalized as «you get what you pay for»); wanted to clarify and move forward and never heard from them again. I was flabbergasted that a company would do this to us especially since we had three great preliminary meetings and lived up to every iota of the commitments we promised them. Both our contractor and I called them on called them on several occasions and we simply never heard back from them. I think that Greg Schmitt would have been very disappointed to know that his company lost significant revenue and repeat business by the actions of his employees; from admin support to field engineers. Totally bummed that happened to us.
Update: April 2014,
Even thought the above situation happened, its water under the bridge. I can say with certainty though that Schmitt knows what they are doing when they finally get in and roll up their sleeves. A few months after construction, Schmitt (Paul) came back to assess the scope of what was needed to balance the system. He knows his stuff and he has a team of professionals with all the right trade skills and tools to fine tune our system to where he believed it should be and we agreed with his recommendations. The scope of their work included installing a heavier cold air return grill, add room dampers and re-​balance all zones as well as update our thermostat to the latest Infinity model. Paul has since followed up with an email seeking feedback and how the system was doing and offered to come back to and make some minor tweaks to ensure the service is to our satisfaction and Schmitt’s high quality standards.
Net-​Net; I am still a big fan of Schmitt at the end of the day.

Very professional mechanical contractors — Great value — they are one of my favorite San Francisco contractors.
Greg will take care of you. There is a reason they have been in business for 100 years.

As good as it gets.
I liked every step of the process working with this company.
I interviewed 5 companies and it was clear who was on time, gave me a full description of everything that would have to take place, spoke clearly and responded to my litany of questions.
The install went as planned and I can not complain, which is rare.
well-​done!

We had Javier come yesterday to do some duct work on a ventilation system. To cut to the chase — I will keep Schmitt’s phone number on speed dial as they are the only ones I would ever call again! Great work, amazing price. What more can you ask for?

I am really happy with the service provided by Schmitt. I hired them to vent my dryer to the exterior of my condo building and they impressed me for many reasons:
1) Came up with a creative solution that was much better than those offered by two other contractors.
2) Paul was GREAT. I believe he is the company’s Service Manager. Very personable, took the time to explain all our options and diligently followed up with us.
3) We had HOA issues that delayed the work time and time again (long story). However, Paul and Schmitt stayed very patient with us throughout the entire ordeal.
4) The work was done to our satisfaction under time and on budget.
I really enjoyed working with Schmitt and would highly recommend them to anyone looking for an HVAC contractor.

Upon recommendation from a contractor, we contacted Schmitt Heating to vent our dryer to the outside.
Paul came by to give a quote. He was punctual, friendly, and told me the details of the work that would be done.
We arranged to have the work done the following week, and again, the gentleman doing the work was friendly and punctual.
I’m giving 3 stars instead of 4 because the vent cover that Paul described was not the kind actually installed (which we had discovered only after the work was completed).
When I contacted Paul to explain my problem, he arranged for it to be solved.
Given the amount of things we have in our garage — which we had to move to make space for the work to be done — having them return to fix this was a bit of an annoyance.
They were apologetic but, like I said, it was annoying. (And to top it off, my husband sliced open his hand during the 2^nd move!)

Our building needed a heating upgrade last summer. They installed 2 new Carrier furnaces and ductwork. The heater is amazing and keeps every room toasty during the colder SF months.
Paul was easy to work with and very knowledgable about older San Francisco homes. Scott and Randall were very punctual and professional. The best part is they found crawlspace to install heating ventilation throughout my home.
Highly recommend!

Really nice folks — from the first call, to installation, through to the resolution of some billing problems (not their fault) they were tops. We knew we had to replace the heater, just from the property inspection, and Schmitt was the recommendation. They did a nice job sizing the new heater (the previous one was bigger — by BTU output — than we needed by about 10%) rather than just relying on what was there previously. I had thought about zoning the house, but the guy recommended not doing it because of our house layout and the layout of the heating ducts. They completed the installation in one day, and it passed city inspection in about 2 minutes.
Highly recommended!

Called Schmitt Heating this morning after another place said Friday was the soonest they could come in. HEY! I LIVE CA! I need heat for these 50 degree winters! Feels like straight up Alaska up in here! They said they would be there between 2:00 and 4:00. SOB rolled at 3:01. Damn, they are prompt!
He’s debugging the heater now and I’m anxiously waiting for a diagnosis so I can get back to work… Check back to hear the conclusion of my exciting story!
CONCULSION ! *… FIXED IN 1 hour & 45 minutes !! New parts, and working like a champ! Only was charged labor because they are a Carrier authorized dealer and my furnace was still under warranty.
You go Schmitt Heating !