Phill R.
Posted
I would not recommend Hoffmann Brothers…
I would not recommend Hoffmann Brothers to anyone. For the past several summers, I have been living in what felt like a personal hell because of an air conditioning system Hoffmann Brothers installed. They replaced a 20-year-old AC unit, yet the new system could never cool a small 900-square-foot home below 78 degrees. The old system cooled the house just fine before it failed, but somehow the brand-new $12,000 replacement couldn’t do the same. After the first summer, we called Hoffmann Brothers out to inspect the system. They sent technicians, managers, and specialists, but instead of finding and fixing the problem, every visit seemed focused on finding someone or something else to blame. The most common excuse was that the house lacked insulation. While insulation can certainly affect cooling performance, that explanation made little sense considering the previous 20-year-old system had no problem cooling the exact same house. The following summer, we called again. Once again, no solution. More excuses. More finger-pointing. Still no cold house. Eventually, my friend, who owns the home, moved out of state and rented the house to me. After suffering through another summer, I decided to call Beloman. My sister had recently purchased a system from them for a much larger home, and not only was it about $4,000 less expensive, but it worked flawlessly. Even when she had a minor issue, Beloman responded, diagnosed the problem, and fixed it within a day. When Beloman inspected my system, they quickly identified the problem and provided a written explanation of what needed to be corrected. To their credit, they never badmouthed Hoffmann Brothers. They simply told me that Hoffmann Brothers should be given the opportunity to correct their installation. So I called Hoffmann Brothers again. Rather than accepting responsibility, they refused to acknowledge that the installation could be at fault. Eventually, after a great deal of back-and-forth, they admitted they would perform the correction only if I paid them to do it. The issue? The system had never been properly charged with refrigerant during installation. Modern systems often require additional refrigerant beyond what comes pre-charged from the factory. Ironically, Hoffmann Brothers knew this well enough to write the required charge information inside the unit, yet apparently never completed that final step before leaving. To make matters worse, after becoming frustrated with their refusal to help, they contacted the homeowner and informed him they would no longer communicate with me directly, despite the fact that I was the person living in the house while the owner was five hours away in another state. This summer, I finally decided enough was enough. I called Beloman back out. Amazingly, they honored the same repair price they had quoted the previous year. Their technician completed the repair, and for the first time since the system was installed, the house is actually cool. I didn’t add insulation. I didn’t replace weatherstripping. I didn’t make any improvements to the house whatsoever. The only thing that changed was having a reputable HVAC company fix what should have been done correctly from the beginning. If you’re considering a new HVAC system, learn from my experience. Save yourself the time, money, frustration, and years of discomfort. Call Beloman first. As for Hoffmann Brothers, I wouldn’t recommend them to my worst enemy.