After a horrible experience with another company whose only beneficial comment (after 4 hours) was…read morethat I needed a new furnace & new air conditioner, I called 3 more companies for quotes.
I was by far the most impressed with Kristian. He had previously been an installer/technician but has recently become a sales person. He was extremely knowledgeable and personable; we actually enjoyed chatting too much! He explained to me that their company actually makes and installs new ductwork with their furnaces so that they don't have to retrofit what's already there. He was also the only one who noticed that my water heater was old and would need replacing soon.
His quote was a bit higher than the other that I'd narrowed it down to, but I liked the Daikin furnace that he quoted because it has a very good reputation, the best warranty in the business and is environmentally friendlier than others. Additionally, rather than just doing a quote with line items, he attached pictures of each piece of equipment that would be installed, which I thought was a nice touch. I really wanted to go with him, but I had to think it over. In the meantime, I started to schedule a couple more appointments with other companies that offered 0% financing.
I was going to wait to make my decision until I'd gotten the last quote or 2. But Kristian texted me on a SUNDAY NIGHT! to ask what he could do to help with my decision. I told him that if he could do 0% financing, I would go with him. He managed to arrange that for 12 months and I signed the contract that evening.
Of course, this happened during an incredible heat spell, with temperatures in the upper 90s with matching humidity, so they couldn't get out as quickly as I'd hoped.
When they were scheduled, Steve came out as the lead technician, with Brandon and Alex helping the first day and mostly just Brandon the second day. They got here at about 8:15 a.m. and didn't leave until about 7:30 p.m. BOTH nights! They worked super hard, hardly taking breaks at all, and they were short at that. Steve promised that they'd have the air conditioner working before they left the first night, and indeed, they did. It was the first time in over a week that I walked into a cool house.
When Steve removed the furnace, he came upstairs and said that the water heater was about to blow, so I went downstairs to look at it. It was, indeed, bowing out. Kristian had already quoted a price but I was originally going to wait. But when I saw it myself (leaking, rusting and with a definite bubble), I texted him and told him I wanted that replaced as well. He was able to add it to the financing without a problem. So, in the end, I had a new furnace, humidifier, air conditioner, some ducts and a water heater installed.
I have nothing but good things to say about this crew. They were all very kind, personable young men who knew what they were doing. I feel confident that I chose the right company to do this work.