Thompson Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling

Thompson Heating & Cooling serviceman tells me that my heat pump compressor is on it last legs and will need to be replace - will have a salesman call me to quote it. They use a phrase of "high head pressure" to scare you into thinking your unit is going to blow-up and you will be without heat in middle of winter.. Mind you that my furnace has worked perfectively fine. The only reason I called them was because it seemed that my thermostat was not holding heat at the set level. Asked them if my thermostat, which they installed, was under warranty - his reply , no its only under warranty for one year - complete rubish, mfg. says it has a 5 year warranty, my units was only 3 years old... So I asked him let me get this straight, I need a compressor, but you are offering to install a new thermostat for me at $235 + $70 service fee. WHY? well you need the compressor, but may also need the thermostat... Again he did not test the thermostat.. Just an "educated guess" on his part. Unbelivable that someone could be so straight-faced when lying. A more gullable person would have probably gone for this. Instead I called another company for a second opinion (another $80 service call ) and all it turned out to be was a bad thermostat.. For the $70 service call fee they do not check anything... They did not utilize any testing instruments other than a pressure gauge, which is really just a prop to convince you that your compressor is failing. Frankly I dont know how they can live with themselves, knowing that they are undoubted taking advantage of consumers. Thompson Heating & Cooling - Cincinnati is a deceptive and a scammer. I would not recommend them. BUYER BEWARE OF THOMPSON HEATING AND COOLING.

I anticipated paying $78 for a routine tune up, but by the end of the day I was writing Thompson Heating and Cooling a $575.95 check?! My furnace worked fine prior to Thompson coming to my home! While cleaning out my coils/fan apparently a lose wire fell?! and blew up my transformer, capcitor, motor, and fuse! I was told by the technician that some one had jerry rigged the wiring (possibly the previous owners since we've only lived here 3 years and have never had it serviced). Because of this 'accident' I was out almost $600! I couldn't 'not' pay him to fix it, because with two kids and temperatures in the single digits I needed my furnace to work! Long story short I filled out the satisfactory survey on Thompson's website, and asked for a call back. When Bob called me pretty much he said $575.95 was a fair price!! ?? Obviously Thompson heating and cooling is lacking in customer service! I even bought a membership which I will be canceling! The customer should be responsible for paying for parts that were broken during a cleaning/tune up??!! I think not! Write it off on your expense sheet Thompson! I am blessed that I had the money to pay for it, but if I had not, I guess I'd be sitting here with two kids and no heat! *************************UPDATE******************** ****** Since I posted this review, Bob from Thompson Heating and Cooling has called again! He has since made this matter right, and has resolved this matter to my satisfaction! I will continue my membership with Thompson, and have since had Matt (a plumbing technician) come to my home to do some work. I was BEYOND impressed with Matt! He went above and beyond customer service by sitting with me and discussing the various options I had! He not only made calls to get me in contact with the right inspectors, he also saved me ALOT of money!

I think Thompson did a great job. I had a man out to fix my furnace because I did nothave any heat. Thompson was there in the same day, wore stuff on their shoes to protect my floors, was very friendly and helpful and explained everything they were doing. I felt very comfortable with the man in my house (which is unusual for me). The price was very fair and worth the service I received. I am normally very skeptical about having people in my home...however...I would recommend Thompson to any of my firneds or family!

I had an appointment for a HVAC person from Thompson to visit my home. They were late, but when I looked outside my windows, I saw a Thompson truck parked just outside my next door neighbor's house. Since it was 45 minutes after our meet time, I assumed he might be mistaking the houses. I came up to the window and asked him if he was looking for my address. He sarcastically laughed at me and said "Yeah! I am just sitting out here hiding. Just wasting time. No, I am not coming to your house. Do you need a plumber?!" Evidently, they do all kinds of maintenance work- plumbing, HVAC, electric... and one of my neighbors used them the same day. Since we both use them, I asked his opinion and my neighbor told me it was the last time he was using them. Actually, I agree. This was a very bad interaction. I am not impressed. It was also 30% more than other companies.

The HVAC consultant arrived at 2:30pm for our 11 am appt. He wanted to talk more about his personal financial problems than my new heater/ac system. He gave me brochures for the next model up for the ac, but on the contract I have the lower model, so the pricing and features we discussed thoroughly from the brochures were not accurate for what I signed on the contract. That is unacceptable and very deceptive. I asked for energy star ac and was told I'd get it but did not. The thermostat does not work well. My digital thermostats all around the first floor indicate it is 5 degrees cooler (it is winter as I write this) than the Thompson provided thermostat. I believe I was charged about 2-3k more than I should have been, and I am totally dissatisfied with the outcome. You do not get what you pay for with Thompson. You can get bad quality HVAC from a mom and pop shop that charges much less and is more honest. My system price was $11,320 for a 80k btu Thompson Premier gas heater, 42k btu Thompson Basic electric ac (3 ton) blower and humidifier with condensation pump. My friends with Thompson heating products say it is not the best quality and that I should not expect to have this system for 20 years. They claimed when I signed the contract that they would leave my house cleaner than they found it. I had just mopped the floor the day before. After the sales guy who said that left, I saw he left all kinds of white salt marks on my clean wood floor. He came in with shoe protectors but did not use them each time he went outside. When the installers came, they said they had to put a smaller blower in due to the size of my air ducts and they were resistant to reducing the price. I talked them down to $10,725 and that is still outrageous for what I am getting. While they did replace the conduit and connectors at the condensing unit, emergency gas shutoff valve, and copper refrigerant lines- it is pricey and the service was terribly deceptive. You must double check every document they give you a couple times to compare to presentation. Also, I was told my unit would be smaller and take up less room in my basement. This was not only untrue, but it was actually a tiny bit larger. My ac is too small for this large house. I would like them to replace it with a bigger one for the same price. They are making a huge profit off me and I deserve the right size and quality for $10,700. Now it is time to mop my floor again... in this cold house that Thompson says is 70F, but all my thermostats say is 65F. If you do business with these people, you will, I guarantee it, feel like a sucker that very same night. The other reviewer was right about buyer's remorse. UPDATE: In order to get the 2009 energy credit you need a Manufacturer's Certification Statement that it qualifies with the federal guidelines. They promised this for the gas heater, as it does qualify, but did not deliver this to me. It has been a week and a half since installation. It is now tax season and I have to beg them for this form a third time to keep in my records to prepare for potential audit! It was their selling point and they can't even bother to deliver on it.

I needed to replace my furnace and I called several companies. Only three called me back and actually came to my house. Thompson was the only company that sent someone I felt I could trust. I later found out every Thompson employee is criminally back ground checked and guaranteed drug free. Must be why everyone I dealt with was so professional and clean cut. Thompson Sent George to my home and he went over all of my options. I told him about my problems with hot and cold spots in my home and he assured me the Thompson Ultimate furnace was the way I needed to go. I scheduled the install and I have to say I have never had a more courteous and competent group of service people in my home. They worked diligently and efficiently cleaning up as they went. They helped me even clean up the area behind the old furnace before installing the new unit. I was completely satisfied. This story gets even better… everything George promised me happened my upstairs is more comfortable than ever before.. Also my other rooms are more comfortable than ever. I just received my new gas bill and I was shocked IT was the lowest bill I have ever had during the 12 years I have been in this home. Thanks Thompson for doing everything you promised I could not be more pleased with your company or your service. I would recommend Thompson to anyone they were the only company who show up on time also

We are new to the city and our heater went out on Sunday. I had seen the Thompson ad in the Sunday paper and called. I could not believe they actually answered the phone and were "open for business" !! Their service man Steven was to our home in less than an hour. He was very clean cut, used a carpet at my door and put booites on to protect our home. Steven got right to work seeing what was wrong and found the problem in a jiffy. He then quoted me what was necessary and He "actually had the part on his truck" We were back up and running in no time !! I have never had a service company do what Thompson did, ever. These guys are great ! Our tech Steven was a real gentilman in our home and I learned that all Thompson people were drug free and criminal background free. Steven is also a veteran of our Armed Services and he explained that Thompson had just donated over $20,000 to the Disabled American Veterans. My husband served in Vietnam and a company who supports these heroes is truely outstanding. Anyone needing service should call Thompson. I wish all companies were as reputable as them .

WE HAVE USED THOMPSON FOR YEARS.. i have never had a service company that made me feel as comfortable as they do. You can always find some other guy cheaper BUT you will never find anyone better. I had a furnace installed two years ago and it never worked right.. i paid a LOW price and i got what i paid for.. i have decided to go back to thompson and i could not be more pleased. Remember you get what you pay for.

I recommend going somewhere else. The diagnostic fee was similar to most places, but I feel really shafted when it comes down to the repairs. I had to get the blower motor in my furnace replaced. I told him that was the problem, so he knew where to look and the $70 diagnostic only took 10 minutes. The quote he gave me to replace the part was about $650.00. After giving me the price he pitched me there preferred membership which was around $20 a month and gives you like 3 free check ups, one of which was a furnace "tune up". And with a preferred membership the magical price of the part dropped like 360 dollars and the total I would be paying under this plan in all was about 5 to 10 dollars less so I agreed to it. I should have backed out then knowing that there price was bs since they had so much wiggle room to come down on the part price. So in all, replacing the part and doing a tune up only took him 1 hour and 10 minutes. Not worth the heavy price.

My plan was to acquire a/c unit replacement estimates from several local companies. Thompson was the first company I called b/c they just recently replaced my neighbors a/c unit, though I hadn’t checked with my neighbor prior to Thompsons in house estimate. I vaguely recalled the outside a/c Installation in my old house costing around $1700, so was expecting the same or less for a Replacement in my current house. Thompsons first quote was $4500! To replace the outside a/c unit?! Since I'm not familiar with the world of HVAC hardware - i.e. I know a BMW is higher quality, thus much more expensive, than a Daewoo - I figured Thompson must be the BMW of HVAC (Mistake #1: I forgot that a sales organization will use higher prices to lure potential customer into inferring higher quality). The salesman had me sold on the company at that point so I was honest when I told him that I wish I could go with Thompson but I couldn’t pay $4500. He asked ‘what price will it take to sell you this a/c unit tonight?’ (Mistake #2: I dismissed the red flags that shot off when I heard this cliché.) I thought a reasonable price was $1700, but I felt too embarrassed to say it (this was the “BMW of HVAC�? after all – see mistake #1), so I said $3200. The salesman made a call to the office and his manager immediately approved this 29% discount. I bought the a/c at 8pm that night, with the installation coming 8am next morning. Almost immediately that night I felt buyers remorse. Trying to justify the price, I searched for the receipt from my last a/c unit installation hoping that I remembered it wrong and had paid closer to $3000. I found my receipt and discovered I paid only $1479! I could have bought 2 a/c units for the price I paid Thompson. Now I’m awake at 3am the morning before the a/c installation. Yes, I’m actually losing sleep over this costly mistake. Reading the fine print on the contract it appears I may actually have 3 days to change my mind. I’m going to attempt to cancel this contract at 8am, before any work is actually performed, and get estimates from other companies like I originally planned. And now I’ll have a better idea of pricing. In summary, Thompson has effective salesmen and a crafty pricing sheet. I’m not familiar with the quality of the Heil a/c units they install, but I find it hard to believe they’re worth $4500 that Thompson probably gets from most of their customers. I feel like I was taken – they immediately dropped the price by 29% and I bet are still making a huge profit. I no longer trust the company, and based on the other reviews here I don’t think I’m off the mark. FYI…from what I can tell, the best brands are Carrier and Trane. Carrier also makes Bryant and Payne brands, which are not marketed as much/at all but are essentially the same unit with a different sticker.

My mother who is a senior needed a kitchen sink drip fixed. She also needed a new supply hose to the toilet. The Supply hose can be purchased at Lowes for well under $5.00. The gasket kit for the faucet I would be shocked if it ran $20. I did not have time to fix myself so she called Thompson as they have advertised for years on TV so they must be a good co. Boy were we wrong. The repair man came out (she was home alone) and gave her a price of OVER $700. She thought that was high and said so. The repair guy told her that was a $700 faucet she had and would hate to see her replace it with a lower quality one. With that info she said go ahead and fix. I don't remember what I paid for that faucet but on a good day I would never paid over $200 for one. They flat out ripped her off. I asked the plumbing co. I use at work what he would have charged to do that work and his bid came in at $100 but she would receive a senior discount. I called to complain but got no where. Said that was in line. I also tried to file a compliant with the Better business but would not accept a complaint on price as an estimate was given before the work was done. I was telling this story at work and guy I work with said "Oh no not Thompson" He was in a court battle with them about being overcharged. The quality of the work was good. Just way overcharged. Took advantage of a senior.

My 90 year old father called Thompson because his central air was cooling, but not like it used to. The service tech took him to the basement, opened the furnace exposing the A-coil and it was frosting over. He told my Dad that the furnace blower was not big enough and he would need a new one for $1000.00. He hoped he could find one and if he could not my Dad would need a new furnace for several thousand dollars more. This tech called my Dad two days later and said he could not find the right blower, so he would need a new furnace to fix the problem. When I heard about it I went over and discovered the tech had not checked anything including the simplest of all, the filter. I found the filter was extremely clogged and dirty (my Dad's slipping a little) so I changed the filter letting the evaporator transfer more heat out of the house again, and the unit has been running fine ever since! This is an unscrupulous and theft minded company that should be forced out of business.

At the price they would of charged me for a new furnace and ac, I could of got the job done 3 times over. Needless to say, I went elsewhere.

When Thompson visited my house several years back, they sold me on the "Club Membership," which requires a monthly fee for free annual HVAC and plumbing inspections and discounts on repairs. Notably, I have yet to have one of these "free" inspections in which they did not attempt to sell me on something else. In one instance, they tried to convince me that my furnace needed a new part, until I pointed out that that exact part had been replaced by one of their techs only a few months prior. In another instance, their plumbing techs quoted me nearly $400 to replace the innards of the toilet tank. A full toilet repair kit is usually less than $30 at Lowe's, and the repair is about a half hour job. Again, Thompson was quoting me their lower price for members, not their standard price. Thompson is a sales organization, not a service organization. Unless you really enjoy the feeling of buyer's remorse, I recommend looking elsewhere. Needless to say, I've canceled my membership with Thompson and will not be doing business with them again.

Well, I have mixed feelings about this company. We needed a new furnace in our very old, drafty home here in Clifton and we listen to the advertisements on 55KRC to give Thompson a call for our heating needs. So, we did. We had a new sales man come to our house and talk us into a larger model than we really wanted, but it did make sense, with the draftiness of our house. He was pleasant, but obviously new and desperate for a sale. We paid a pretty large sume for the furnace, but wanted it done correctly. The service men came out and were very impressive. They were kind and friendly men. However, they noticed the size of my house and the size of the furnace and said they were surprised that the guy sold me such a small furnace. I told them that is not correct, and we all decided (the service techs and myself) that the sales man either made an honest mistake (which none of us really believed) or he was trying to pull a fast one. The happy ending is that they got the right size, the size I paid for, out to my house within 30 minutes and they installed that for me. So, the installers and the service reps at the home office get five stars from me, but the slaes guy gets a big fat one. Unfortunately, that sales rep is the voice of the company... I called them and they apologized profusely and said it would be taken care of right away.

My father's air-conditioner quit working & we called Thompson. They came out & replaced a part. The air-conditioner quit again & they came out & said we needed a new compressor & it would cost $7000 to replace. I felt this was unreasonable so we cancelled the installation. We called someone else & he had to replace the same part (which was made in 2004 & burned out). He replaced it & the cost was $139. My father is 85 years old & trusted the person that came out & told them fine, do what needs to be done. When I found out, we cancelled the call. I feel they are taking advantage of a senior citizen that trusts what they say to be true & we will never do business with this company again. I am very disappointed with this company.