MM
Matt Materazo
Aug 21, 2025
Purchased a Carrier furnace from ACS in 2012. On Tuesday, my system would not turn on. Called ACS Tuesday evening and spoke with Joe, who was very knowledgeable and helpful. After several minutes, Joe was able to narrow down my issue to a likely faulty condensation pump. He scheduled a technician for the next day, Wednesday at a price of $85.00 for the appointment. On Wednesday, Caesar came to the house within the scheduled window. After a short period of time, Caesar confirmed what Joe had suspected, that the condensation pump was shot and needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, Caesar did not have a pump with him, but was able to quote me a price of $311.00 for the pump and installation. At that time I asked if ACS would install the new pump if I was able to supply it. He spoke to the office, which confirmed that they would install my pump at a labor cost of $105.00. I was able to find the exact pump at my local ACE Hardware for $65.00 (so yes, ACS was charging me $206.00, $141.00 more than I paid for it). Now I understand markup, as ACS needs to make money, but a 217% markup is highway robbery. Regardless, Caesar told me to call ACS as soon as I was able to purchase the pump, and the office would schedule Jose to come by and install the pump between 1-4:00pm that same day. So, given the high temperature and the fact that my wife has MS and the heat wreaks havoc on her body, I dropped everything to go purchase the pump, which I did before 11:00am. I then called ACS, as instructed, which confirmed that Jose would install the pump and my AC would be up and running by 4:00pm. At 2:27pm, I received a call from ACS informing me that Jose would not be able to make it that day, but would be there first thing Thursday morning. When I asked if there were any other options for Wednesday evening, given my wife's medical condition, the ACS attendant's response was "I understand" (she could not possibly understand unless she is dealing with this horrible, debilitating disease), and that nothing could be done. Okay, so we scheduled Jose for the next morning. At approximately 8:15am, Jose showed up to install the pump, which he did, within an hour. He was pleasant, knowledgeable and tidy, and most importantly, the AC unit was working beautifully. And then came the bill...$230.00. Not the $105.00 I was quoted the day before by the ACS office. So, I spoke with the ACS office to inquire as to whether a mistake was made, and of course I was told "no, no mistake" and that the additional cost was due to a new PC pipe to replace the one that ACS installed in 2012. Now I understand that perhaps a new PC pipe was necessary, and I appreciate the ACS technician wanting to ensure that the system be in the best possible operating condition, but an additional $125.00 for a 2.5' PC pipe? So then I asked if the $85.00, that I paid for the attendant to come out and essentially confirm what Joe had told me the night before, would be applied to the new $230.00 bill. I was again told "no". So, all in, I paid ACS $380.00 for the installation of a $65.00 condensation pump. All of this on top of the fact that I am (was) a loyal ACS customer, having paid ACS several thousand dollars for my Carrier furnace. So let's review, clear price gauging, complete disregard for my wife's medical condition, and clear lack of appreciation for my loyalty and business. All of this said (apologies for the long story), I will no longer be giving my business and my hard earned money to ACS Air Conditioning Systems. What stings the most is that I have referred several customers to this company.