Southern Comfort Heating and Air

These folks are the best! I had an a/c issue over the summer and guests coming in a few days. They came late that day and made the fix. Then about 3 weeks ago I called on a Sunday with a furnace issue. Carrie called me back (on Sunday!) and gave me a couple of ideas over the phone to try before sending a tech on Monday. It worked and they refused payment. Can't say enough good things about my experience with SC Heating and Air.
Sep 7th, 2020

I would NOT recommend this company. My wife and I hired them to inspect the AC system in our home before we purchased it, based on the recommendation of our real estate agent. We suspected the system was on the fritz because it was 14 years old and the prior owner disclosed that the refrigerant had to be recharged twice in the prior two years. We were surprised when the inspection report from the owner of Southern Comfort, Mark, came back positive. He just suggested that we inject sealant into the system in the spring (the inspection was in December). Unfortunately, our original concerns came true as soon as we turned it on in the spring and it didn’t cool our home properly. Our home warranty company sent an HVAC technician who eventually diagnosed a severe leak in the evaporator coil. They performed a pressure test to confirm the leak but also indicated it was obvious from a visual inspection because there was severe corrosion in the evaporator coil pan. To make matters worse, we could not simply replace the faulty evaporator coil because the whole system was running on R-22 refrigerant which, as of January 2020, is illegal to manufacture or import in California. We brought in another HVAC company for a second opinion and were told the same thing. The technician specifically noted that the evaporator coil should not have passed inspection. Naturally, we began wondering: Why had Southern failed to note the leak in the evaporator coil? The written inspection report provided a possible explanation: They had never actually inspected it. The report includes a list of HVAC components, and most of them have a check mark next to them indicating they were inspected. However, where it says "evaporator coil", there is no check mark. We contacted Southern to inquire as to whether the coil had in fact been inspected. The office manager responded that the failure to note the check of the coil was an “oversight”, as she thought the technician had inspected it. She offered to connect us with Mark, who completed the inspection, for further explanation. We accepted her offer and also asked her if he could also explain why the inspection report had not noted that the system depended on a refrigerant, which was being phased out. We then waited 12 days and heard nothing, so we emailed her to check in on whether they were planning to respond to our concerns. We waited another 12 days and heard nothing, so we emailed again. She responded promptly this time, promising that Mark intended to follow-up within the next day or two. We waited another 8 days and heard nothing, so we finally contacted our real estate agent who had referred us to Southern Comfort in the first place, thinking that perhaps she could intervene. Our agent told us that Southern promised her they would call us to follow up, but they never did. She also forwarded us an email that they sent her which was written very unprofessionally in all caps. The email asserts that system leaks are very difficult to detect and that the corrosion, which the other HVAC technicians identified as a symptom of the leak, was “very common”. They also assert that their competitors were simply trying to scare us into replacing the AC system by informing us that the refrigerant was being phased out. Southern claims that the refrigerant can still be purchased, albeit at inflated prices. However, even the home warranty company agreed that the system needed to be replaced (and getting them to pay for anything is like pulling teeth)! Moreover, even if it’s true that other HVAC companies were trying to upsell a new system, that doesn’t explain why Southern never even mentioned that the refrigerant was being phased out so we could make our own assessment of the durability of the system. Ultimately, we had to pay $6,000 for a new AC system so Southern Comfort’s inadequate work cost us several thousands of dollars. On top of that, their unresponsiveness and unprofessionalism in responding to our concerns leave us to conclude that this is not a reputable business.
Feb 26th, 2020

I would like to start out by saying I would not recommend this company to anyone. I had contracted Southern Comfort to Install a new HVAC system install a new HVAC system and along the way learned of many illegal practices by this company, a year later I still do not have working Heating and Air Conditioning. First, they asked for the contract price of $10K cash upfront which later I found out to be illegal. They can only ask for 10% or $1,000 whichever is less. The also did not offer me 3-day rights to rescind our contract. I never signed a contract the owner signed it. They also did not pull any permits for my job. My install was supposed to take five days and lasted more than a month and still was never actually functional. They cut in new vents in my floor an inch to 2 inches to big and ruined my floor. Then they put ceiling vents in the floor instead of floor vents. Towards the end of the install the owner of the company let me know that they did not have anyone certified to connect the gas line up to the furnace. All of this led me to get the Contractors State License Board involved. They sent their industry expert out and he found 21 major issues with the system totaling more than $18,000 worth of damage to my property. The mistakes were so bad that a few of them would have caused my house to burn down or have major water damage. One of the biggest issues I had was with parts that they knew were not up to code and they decided to cut corners. They decided to save money and install ductwork that was not to code just to save money. There is a lot that happened because of the installers not knowing how to do their job. Fast forward a year later to now and the CSLB was finally able to conclude improper install and trade practices. Please save your money, and time and choose a different company to install a new system for you.
Nov 17th, 2019

Honest, on time, no b.s. service-we need more like these folks. The technician arrived on time, was personable, without being overly chatty. Having quickly diagnosed a minor a/c issue, and did not try to get me to unnecessarily replace parts, or "service" items which would have been an easy "upsell" as it was hotter than hell. Definitely recommend them!
Jul 13th, 2019

The best heating and air company in the area
Jul 9th, 2018