My initial experience with First Choice was with the front office. I was told, by text message, that someone would be out "in a little bit." Two hours later no one had arrived. I contacted First Choice again and was told "I'm sorry the person dispatching him spaced it and sent him somewhere else. Do you have availability tomorrow?" This experience is very telling of the entire company.
The next day, one of the owners showed up at my door. He couldn't seem to get in and out of my house fast enough, as he sprinted down my stairs, which explains a lot about the quality of work in my home. Fast, sloppy, and incorrect in multiple places.
The first problem with the installed system is that the supply plenum sits 1.75" too low, and is not flush with the joists. This is right alongside a doorway, and is making it so I cannot install a standard door in the framed doorway. Instead of offering to fix the issue, the owner just said "you can trim a door." I shouldn't have to go to the expense of trimming a door when I already paid for HVAC work that shouldn't interfere with the door.
The supply duct work should be flush against the joists, should be level, and should not block a standard door. When I pointed out my neighbor, who has the same model home as me, did not have this issue in his basement, the owner shrugged and said "must have been done by a different company."
Yeah, clearly a better company.
He told me that I'd have to pay $450 to correct the incorrect work, when I already paid to have it done in the first place. Why should I pay twice to get the job done correctly? As I soon learned, this would not be the only work I'd have to pay (someone else) to correct.
I showed the owner where the front of my furnace had been leaking massive amounts of air, and it hadn't been taped. I showed him where screws had not been driven all the way through the metal, and instead bent it outward, causing air leaks. I showed him where connections hadn't been sealed with tape or mastic (apparently called "pookie" by those in the area). I showed him holes in the mastic where air was leaking.
I showed him where ducts weren't level. I showed him where tape was not fully sealed. I showed him where I could see daylight from above coming through the register box. And, when confronted with this substandard work, the owner just shrugged and said "it passed inspection." He kept using that phrase as I pointed out locations where air was leaking, where supply ducting was too low, and even where the front of the furnace wasn't taped. "It passed inspection!" As if passing inspection is the purest benchmark for quality work.
When I pointed out yet another issue with the installation, the owner said "what, you've never made a mistake at your job?" No offer to fix the installation problem, just another excuse. An HVAC mistake isn't the same as a typo in an email. An HVAC mistake costs the homeowner money every single time the system is run, and system performance and longevity are affected. Did you know that you can lose up to 20% of your conditioned air when joints in your ducting are not sealed properly?
The installer ruined my floor in at least three places by cutting a hole in the wrong spot. Not once. Not twice. THREE TIMES. Once is a mistake, twice is a pattern. Is three times malice? My floor had to be repaired and the flooring is now weakened where these repeated mistakes were made. I cannot just replace my flooring, and I shouldn't have to go to the expense of doing so, when the job should just be done correctly in the first place.
One of my registers would not close all the way because the supply box wasn’t nailed in correctly. One of my hired contractors fixed this for me, at an expense I should have never had to incur. Instead of installing a support for a duct run, the installer allowed the run to rest on flexible water lines.
When I went to replace my furnace filter for the first time, I found an empty can of Monster Java in my air return. When I hired another contractor to fix all of the mistakes that First Choice made, he showed me how the air return was set up in such a way that it only uses about 2/3 of my air filter and “starves” my system of needed air. I asked about this to a second contractor, who agreed with the first. Each of them showed me a free way to mitigate the issue, and also discussed options for a permanent fix.
First Choice has cost me more money than it would have to go with any other contractor in my area. I wound up having two companies come in to correct all the poor, sloppy work that First Choice did. In each instance, the new contractor commented that the work done by First Choice was of poor quality. Each of them commented on how one supply run had six 90-degree bends in it, which results in poor air flow to one of the bedrooms.
If you want to incur added expenses to your already expensive installation, then look no further. But if you want the job done correctly, look elsewhere. Don’t let these people into your home. Hire anyone else, even if it’s your accident-prone brother-in-law. You’d be better off doing the job yourself than you would be hiring First Choice for anything.
First Choice Heating & Air Reviews
My initial experience with First Choice was with the front office. I was told, by text message, that someone would be out "in a little bit." Two hours later no one had arrived. I contacted First Choice again and was told "I'm sorry the person dispatching him spaced it and sent him somewhere else. Do you have availability tomorrow?" This experience is very telling of the entire company.
The next day, one of the owners showed up at my door. He couldn't seem to get in and out of my house fast enough, as he sprinted down my stairs, which explains a lot about the quality of work in my home. Fast, sloppy, and incorrect in multiple places.
The first problem with the installed system is that the supply plenum sits 1.75" too low, and is not flush with the joists. This is right alongside a doorway, and is making it so I cannot install a standard door in the framed doorway. Instead of offering to fix the issue, the owner just said "you can trim a door." I shouldn't have to go to the expense of trimming a door when I already paid for HVAC work that shouldn't interfere with the door.
The supply duct work should be flush against the joists, should be level, and should not block a standard door. When I pointed out my neighbor, who has the same model home as me, did not have this issue in his basement, the owner shrugged and said "must have been done by a different company."
Yeah, clearly a better company.
He told me that I'd have to pay $450 to correct the incorrect work, when I already paid to have it done in the first place. Why should I pay twice to get the job done correctly? As I soon learned, this would not be the only work I'd have to pay (someone else) to correct.
I showed the owner where the front of my furnace had been leaking massive amounts of air, and it hadn't been taped. I showed him where screws had not been driven all the way through the metal, and instead bent it outward, causing air leaks. I showed him where connections hadn't been sealed with tape or mastic (apparently called "pookie" by those in the area). I showed him holes in the mastic where air was leaking.
I showed him where ducts weren't level. I showed him where tape was not fully sealed. I showed him where I could see daylight from above coming through the register box. And, when confronted with this substandard work, the owner just shrugged and said "it passed inspection." He kept using that phrase as I pointed out locations where air was leaking, where supply ducting was too low, and even where the front of the furnace wasn't taped. "It passed inspection!" As if passing inspection is the purest benchmark for quality work.
When I pointed out yet another issue with the installation, the owner said "what, you've never made a mistake at your job?" No offer to fix the installation problem, just another excuse. An HVAC mistake isn't the same as a typo in an email. An HVAC mistake costs the homeowner money every single time the system is run, and system performance and longevity are affected. Did you know that you can lose up to 20% of your conditioned air when joints in your ducting are not sealed properly?
The installer ruined my floor in at least three places by cutting a hole in the wrong spot. Not once. Not twice. THREE TIMES. Once is a mistake, twice is a pattern. Is three times malice? My floor had to be repaired and the flooring is now weakened where these repeated mistakes were made. I cannot just replace my flooring, and I shouldn't have to go to the expense of doing so, when the job should just be done correctly in the first place.
One of my registers would not close all the way because the supply box wasn’t nailed in correctly. One of my hired contractors fixed this for me, at an expense I should have never had to incur. Instead of installing a support for a duct run, the installer allowed the run to rest on flexible water lines.
When I went to replace my furnace filter for the first time, I found an empty can of Monster Java in my air return. When I hired another contractor to fix all of the mistakes that First Choice made, he showed me how the air return was set up in such a way that it only uses about 2/3 of my air filter and “starves” my system of needed air. I asked about this to a second contractor, who agreed with the first. Each of them showed me a free way to mitigate the issue, and also discussed options for a permanent fix.
First Choice has cost me more money than it would have to go with any other contractor in my area. I wound up having two companies come in to correct all the poor, sloppy work that First Choice did. In each instance, the new contractor commented that the work done by First Choice was of poor quality. Each of them commented on how one supply run had six 90-degree bends in it, which results in poor air flow to one of the bedrooms.
If you want to incur added expenses to your already expensive installation, then look no further. But if you want the job done correctly, look elsewhere. Don’t let these people into your home. Hire anyone else, even if it’s your accident-prone brother-in-law. You’d be better off doing the job yourself than you would be hiring First Choice for anything.