Anonymous wrote:Nugent is great. We also like Pride. We have a service contract with Pride.

McCarthy WAS great before they got bought. But that was a long time ago.

+1. We had a decent experience with McCarthy installing a new HVAC system years ago but it was a different story when we used them for routine service a few years ago. It was a total scam, and we asked the guy to leave. He literally did nothing except look at our filter and declare it clean. I called and called and had a similar experience as OP with promises they'd escalate and I'd get a call back, but none of that happened. In the end they charged us only $15, which we were able to get back from our credit card. I would never, ever use them and feel sorry they are still bilking people years later.

Nugent is great. We also like Pride. We have a service contract with Pride.

McCarthy WAS great before they got bought. But that was a long time ago.

HVAC contractor here; you got ripped off and unfortunately it is all too common.

Home Services became in vogue with PE firms just before the pandemic. There was a point when I was getting multiple calls a day from people looking to buy my business. Interest rates cooled the market down, but I still get offers a few times a month. Like everything else PE touches it’s all about maximizing growth so they can exit to the next group of vultures at a higher valuation. Service Techs are turned into salesmen; they get paid to sell not to fix. Salespeople for replacement systems are trained to be as high pressure as possible. I have real concerns that the next financial crisis is going to come from these unsustainable business practices causing companies to go belly up. Opening these kinds of investments to 401k plans is a disaster waiting to happen.

Do not use this company. After we paid McCarthy almost $900 to clean our air conditioner unit last May, and when it stopped working in July, another $600 to flush the condensation drain, I called to ask why these charges were so ridiculously high. Over the next few weeks, I spoke to five different agents, who all assured me that they were "escalating" the issue to a service manager, and I would receive a call in 24-48 hours. That was a lie. Having received no response to my multiple calls, I drove to the office and asked to see a service manager in person. Instead, the office manager met with me, and told me that they had a set list of charges for certain tasks, and they did not have the discretion to change them. She did not give me an answer to my question of why they treat their customers with such disrespect. Nor have I ever spoken with a service manager. I call BS.

Service providers rely heavily on neighbor referrals and word of mouth. It's not hard to guess what my two cents will be. Also, there should be a minus sign before my rating.

Spraying the coil will get some dirt off, but you can buy a spray can of coil cleaner and spray it on and the foam it makes lifts the dirt off the coil in 10  or 15 minutes and hose it off. Or get a garden sprayer and get some non acetic high foam for coils and add it to water and spray it, after 20 min or so when you see the foam lifting off, spray it off with your hose. If they charge more than 200 Red Flag.  Get prices before in writing. As simple as it is to do, the coil cleaner cost about 30 a gallon. United Refrigeration (https://nextdoor.com/pages/united-refrigeration-frederick-md/) or Aireco Supply in this area.

Do not use McCarthy Services or American Residential Services (Parent Company). They will grossly overcharge and will not return calls. And their office staff will treat you rudely.

We used McCarthy Services to replace our HVAC on 2020 because we had a neighbor that did sales for them. He helped us and it was reasonable.

Something has drastically changed. He left the firm in 2022. Said he was not treated well. Hmm.

On 8/25 we had them come over for a service call. Nothing was wrong with the Carrier unit, but had them do preventative maintenance. The technician , Alexander Kazeitchev recommended a Condenser Coil Cleaning Level 2. We thought we could trust them. The bill for the condenser coil cleaning was for 899$.

So today I called Carrier directly and talked to Bonnie at 800-379-6484 and she said that was very very high. She send me a list of approved Carrier vendors for Sterling Virginia.

I called Nugent and Sons at 571-341-5238 and they estimated coil cleaning was 300 to 400. But no where near 899.

I called Capozio LLC at 571-638-5611 and talked to Alex and he said an extensive coil cleaning was about $250 for 1.5 hours of labor and $20 of cleaning supplies. No where near 899$.

I called T&D Heating and Cooling in Newport NC where I have another house and they include coil cleaning in the service agreement.

The cleaning took Alexander 30 to 60 minutes max.

they charged us 3 times the going rate for this. We were fools. But you can learn from our mistake.

I called McCarthy and asked to talk to Tracy the Quality Assurance Manager. Twice I called. She has never been available. And she had not called us back.

I have no doubt the rest of the charges were inflated also. We trusted them because a friend used to work there, but they stabbed us in the back.

Do NOT use McCarthy Services, they will overcharge you and then never return your calls.