John Betlem Heating, Cooling and Electrical

They have been to our home twice this week including yesterday afternoon to fix an HVAC system they installed 6 years ago. The tech today got it working again and said it needed some parts replaced and he was going to reach out to his superior for “permission” to order the parts. No time frame on the parts. Why they don’t have parts for systems that they install is beyond me. Of course the heater broke again at 1am. It is winter in Rochester NY. We have a 2 year old. We are cold. I call this morning and the dispatcher (not the answering service) who could not have been more rude told me that someone could come by today at “some point”, but it’s 5-7 days for the part to even come in and then someone will reach out to schedule it. This was stunning news to receive at 430 am with no heat, in the winter, in Rochester. The dispatcher then said that this was explained to me over the phone… Yet no one called me and told me anything and no phone call ever occurred. So I guess they got permission to order the parts?? The dispatcher said that they would note that I wanted to talk to a service manager. That is the understatement of the year.

It is unacceptable that the plan here is for us to freeze for the next week+ because they don’t have parts for a system that they install, that no one communicated we’re looking at a week+ just to get the part in, and that the dispatcher was irritated to be scheduling another tech. What HVAC company doesn’t have parts and has no plan to get parts sent out ASAP for a broken furnace in the winter that they installed?!?!

John Betlem worked with us to replace our heat pump and furnace in a very reasonable timeframe. Team was professional and clean. We are happy with our new unit which runs more efficiently and is more quiet.

We ended up choosing John Betlem to install a new furnace, AC, and thermostat. The sales person (Mike Petrella) was friendly and knowledgeable, and the people who did the installation were great. We will be contacting them again when it's time for maintenance.

We had a phenomenal experience with Leslie--he was efficient, kind and thoughtful in explaining how our system worked. He help me set up the app and even explained how to change the filter. Thanks so much, Leslie!! Highly recommend!

Colin Baker had to clean an 8 year Gas Tankless Hot Water Heater {NAVIEN] He is very nice young man.

John Betlem installed my new Carrier furnace 12 yrs ago. They were back to do an inspection. The inspection showed I had bad heat exchangers. Page 2 of the Carrier furnace manual states a 20 year warranty on the heat exchangers.The options I was given was: Option 1) new heat exchangers for the price of $1200 + tx =$1296 PLUS burners, AND PLUS MISCELLANEOUS parts, PLUS sealers for both primary and secondary heat exchangers. If you can find someone that knows what they are doing, this is a 3 hr job from beginning to finish. $1200 for even 4 hrs of labor is $300 an hour. Note my last statement mentioned there's a 20 yr warranty on the heat exchangers. Option 2) was a new furnace: What?! A new furnace already?! I was not ready to buy a new furnace again and yet there was no reason to buy new already. I was given the "goldilocks" of prices for a new furnace prices(low, med and high prices) including the sugar on top; a trade-in of my current furnace! I was waiting for the option of: "Hey, your heat exchangers are under warranty - so we will need to charge you labor for the job". Nope! Never happened. Instead I was offered from being a loyal John Betlem customer: a finance plan with the most crooked bank in the world: Wells Fargo.! Yea, that's a hard pass for me. This company CLEARLY wanted to take advantage of me. Red tag my furnace so I have to It's not like the furnace had stickers from other companies! So buyer beware! Please read the first couple of pages of your manual and arm yourself with some knowledge and stick to your guns. Do NOT agree to pay for parts that come with a warranty!
Big sales techniques were at hand and I must have had the word "Gullible" tattooed on my forehead. I am sharing my experience in hopes none of you will have the pleasure of such an experience and I hope no one has gone through this already. Always keep your owners' manual, check your Warranty! (On top of all that a Jr technician made a huge mistake by allowing my whole house to smell of gas! He did apologize many times but just not a good experience overall.)

Diagnosed the problem, took extra time to update the furnace control and change batteries. Explained every step, offered other services offered by John Betlam like Efficiency Assessment. He is a great asset to John Betlam Heating and Cooling.

The service tech called ahead to advise of arrival time. He was courteous, efficient and did a good job. Very informative with any/all questions I asked.

Tom came on time, completed the work, helped me change the furnace filter and explained everything. Great job.

Arrived earlier than expected which was a plus. Courteous, respectful. I just bought this house and have no history with this furnace. He showed me how to change the filter, recommended a better filter and showed me why, and said my furnace is in good shape. He changed the batteries in the thermostat (I didn’t even know there were batteries to replace) and he put me at ease with my furnace. Yes, Betlam is my choice for furnace anything.

Many years ago, I bought a furnace from someone else. They came every year to clean it - 20 minutes in and out. And they missed that part of the furnace was leaking. Realizing something was wrong, I called Betlam who replaced the heat exchange, I think it was called. From that point on, it was always Betlam. Now that I’m a homeowner again, it’s Betlam again.