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Old 04-07-2010, 09:48 AM
 
Location: Ashburn, VA
577 posts, read 2,061,464 times
Reputation: 301

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Yikes! Gary gets a D- from the BBB.
BBB of Washington DC & Eastern PA: BBB Reliability Report (http://www.dc.bbb.org/report.html?national=y&compid=14686 - broken link)
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Old 04-07-2010, 01:11 PM
 
Location: Richmond, VA
2,309 posts, read 2,317,959 times
Reputation: 974
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashburnite View Post
Yikes! Gary gets a D- from the BBB.
BBB of Washington DC & Eastern PA: BBB Reliability Report (http://www.dc.bbb.org/report.html?national=y&compid=14686 - broken link)
Yikes is right! WOW-he treated us so well. Maybe b/c he lives near us, lol! Well, then I say go elsewhere. My FIL swears my McCrea
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Old 04-07-2010, 05:01 PM
 
4,709 posts, read 12,679,113 times
Reputation: 3814
I would take anything the BBB says with a grain of salt. Contrary to popular belief, the BBB is NOT a government run organization...it is supported by dues paying "member" companies.

Gary is probably not a "member"...

For more unbiased sources, I'd check Angie's List or your County's Consumer Protection agency.

Fairfax has a good one:
Complaint History Lookup - Fairfax County, Virginia

The other large jurisdictions probably have something similar.
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Old 04-07-2010, 06:06 PM
 
Location: Ashburn, VA
577 posts, read 2,061,464 times
Reputation: 301
Car54 - I see your point but a company does not have to be a member to be on their lists. Some places have no rating at all. I'd like to use Angie's List but it isn't free and I'm not willing to pay for it.

I'll check out the Fairfax County CPA and other local ones I can find.
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Old 04-07-2010, 07:07 PM
 
4,709 posts, read 12,679,113 times
Reputation: 3814
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashburnite View Post
Car54 - I see your point but a company does not have to be a member to be on their lists..

Well, then maybe it's just a co-incidence that "members" often have better "ratings" than "non-members"...
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Old 04-14-2010, 05:53 AM
 
Location: Ashburn, VA
577 posts, read 2,061,464 times
Reputation: 301
Quote:
Originally Posted by car54 View Post
Well, then maybe it's just a co-incidence that "members" often have better "ratings" than "non-members"...
I asked the HVAC guy who was here for an estimate yesterday about that and he said that non-members might get an A but members get bumped up to an A+. If that is correct I guess that isn't too bad.

We have a zoned system - regular A/C for the main floor and a heat pump for the upstairs. It looks like we'll just have to replace the heat pump. Another guy is coming to do an estimate today. Shanahan's can't get out here for two weeks to do an estimate!

Oh, and the first guy said that our heat pump is a 1.5 ton unit, which he usually only sees in garages or very small spaces. What was the original contractor thinking??? It's a 3,000 or so square foot house. I'll have to wait and see if the next guy says it's a 1.5 ton, too.
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Old 04-14-2010, 04:55 PM
 
4,709 posts, read 12,679,113 times
Reputation: 3814
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashburnite View Post
I asked the HVAC guy who was here for an estimate yesterday about that and he said that non-members might get an A but members get bumped up to an A+. If that is correct I guess that isn't too bad.

We have a zoned system - regular A/C for the main floor and a heat pump for the upstairs. It looks like we'll just have to replace the heat pump. Another guy is coming to do an estimate today. Shanahan's can't get out here for two weeks to do an estimate!

Oh, and the first guy said that our heat pump is a 1.5 ton unit, which he usually only sees in garages or very small spaces. What was the original contractor thinking??? It's a 3,000 or so square foot house. I'll have to wait and see if the next guy says it's a 1.5 ton, too.

There's a reason Shanahan can't get there for two weeks....he gets LOTS of recommendations!

Yeah, 1.5 tons is seriously small...only 18,000 BTUs, 1 ton=12,000 BTUs. There should be a plate on your present unit that says what it is...but you'll probably have to crawl around on your hands and knees to read it...

Last year, I replaced the A/C in an 1100 sq ft, single level, rental house and it took a 2.5 ton...the old one was 2 tons, but Kirk suggested bumping it up a bit....works great.

Remember though, in A/C, too big is as bad as too small...an oversized unit will drop the temp too fast, not running long enough to properly de-humidify the air.
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Old 04-14-2010, 05:42 PM
 
Location: Richmond, VA
2,309 posts, read 2,317,959 times
Reputation: 974
Ours is 3 tons (I think) on a 2400sqft home.

Oh, and I THINK our seer is 17 or 18...
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Old 04-14-2010, 06:13 PM
 
2,737 posts, read 5,458,291 times
Reputation: 2305
Quote:
Originally Posted by car54 View Post
Well, then maybe it's just a co-incidence that "members" often have better "ratings" than "non-members"...
I've also found BBB ratings to be helpful, though not perfect, obviously. The BBB has also helped me with resolving some (but not all) complaints against businesses (such as a cable company).

If there is a relationship between ratings and membership, isn't it also possible that businesses that care about their reputations and good business practice customers are generally more likely to care about their BBB ratings, and willing to live up to the standards required for membership? I'm not saying you're wrong about the possibility that some businesses hope to "buy" a good rating, because I obviously don't know. But, unless you believe the BBB makes up some complaints or doesn't report others, or misrepresents the outcomes of the complaints, which all influence the ratings, then the ratings do have some meaning.
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Old 04-14-2010, 06:18 PM
 
Location: No Mask For Me This Time, Either
5,662 posts, read 5,091,130 times
Reputation: 6088
This might be a little late but if you're replacing the whole system, look into state energy rebates from the VA Dept of Mines, Minerals, and Energy. I just got a $2,000 check from them for a high efficiency heat pump I put in last fall. I think the fund is dry now but might be replenished in the future.

Check out https://epm.virginiainteractive.org/eerebate/Login.aspx

With this rebate, manufacturer rebates, and a $1500 tax credit, it cut the cost of my system in half.
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