Dealing with Temperature Equipment Corporation (TEC) has restored my faith in the business of doing business. The people of TEC operate in with professionalism, forthrightness and courtesy in a way that has become a rare commodity.
In the summer of 2000, our home air conditioning system failed. We asked friends who had operated a commercial plumbing business in Los Angeles for over 30 years if they had a suggestion for an HVAC service company. They gave us the name of Temperature Equipment Company, and said, "Jim Kontos is a good guy."
The TEC service technician that came to our house got the system running within a few minutes. He said they would charge us a "minimum fee" of $27.78. We thanked him and he went on his way. I made a note in our records that I was impressed that he had not tried to sell us anything. He just got the job done and that was that.
In July of 2006, our A/C failed to turn on one day. We called TEC and made an appointment. The next day, I tried the A/C again, and this time it worked. But obviously something had gone wrong, so we kept the appointment.
I told the two TEC technicians that the system was now working, and they spent some time with the thermostat, and then removed the condenser unit cover and felt the "cold pipe" of the compressor and determined that it seemed to be cooling normally. I asked how the refrigerant level was - we'd never had the A/C serviced. One tech said that he was worried that if he put his test gauges on the 35 year-old Schrader valve, it might not close again and lose refrigerant. "If it's working, just leave it alone," he said. Again, they billed us some small amount for the visit. Thinking that we would soon need to replace the old A/C system, I asked whether they'd have to replace the duct work in the attic, and they told us that if we had uneven cooling, that new, bigger ducts with a high-efficiency A/C unit would be an improvement.
But that was it. They cleaned up after themselves and said they'd bill us. Again, not even the suggestion that we might think about doing something more.
My note from 2006 says: "So once again (the first time in 2000), Temperature Equipment chose NOT to sell us a big repair. I appreciate it, and we should give them our future business."
When our HVAC finally coughed its last 40+ year old breath, we called TEC first.
During the initial call, estimator "Alex" entertained my questions about options I'd thought about and researched in advance, but discouraged me from spending money unnecessarily on one idea. After receiving a proposal via mail which included some efficiency-related options, I barraged TEC with questions via email for a week. Via "Veronica" in the TEC office, responses from owner James Kontos were thoughtful and thorough. Even after we scheduled the installation of a new system, I kept thinking of things to ask (would a variable-speed motor blower be quieter?), and we'd get a sensible response (yes, these $1,300 to $1,700 more expensive furnaces would be quieter, but we'll try to install the system in a manner which reduces noise as much as possible). The final installation was magnificently quiet.
The installation took two days, partially because a heat wave in Los Angeles made for brutal temperatures in our attic, where they were replacing our original asbestos-laden duct work. On second morning, I realized that several pieces of furniture my wife and I had moved to allow them access to the registers in the living room had been restored to their original locations. We never mentioned that we had even moved the furniture - they must have noticed the indentations in the floor where the furniture had been. I'm still amazed at this, and I thanked them for their attentiveness and courteous actions. That furniture was extremely awkward to move, several pieces being mechanically- and electrically-linked together.
The final part of the installation was a change in our thermostat to incorporate the operation of a whole-house humidifier I had specified. Technician Kevin thoroughly answered my questions about wanting to run the humidifier in all modes (here in SoCal, it can occasionally get hazardously dry in the summer, so I wanted a somewhat less-common configuration where the humidifier can run during heating, cooling, or with fan only). Kevin also had encyclopedic knowledge of the operation of the new thermostat (which has many, many, menu-driven options), and was happy to run through as much of the thermostat operation as I wanted (which is certainly more than most people).
I've never met TEC owner James Kontos, and only indirectly communicated with him via email. But the qualities of the nine TEC employees with which we've interacted over the past 13 years reflect a remarkable thing that Mr. Kontos has cultivated: a business with integrity, conscientious professionals, and honorable practices.
My only regret is that they can't be there for every other kind of services I'll ever need. read more
