5 Investigates Tests A/C Companies
 The Valley's been experiencing record breaking heat and those high temperatures can do a number on your air conditioner.
But who do you call when it stops working?
5 Investigates put some local companies to the test.
Do your research, ask for references, and work with somebody you trust. One company may say you need to shell out $5,000 for a new unit when $200 in repairs may keep you plenty cool for now.
5 Investigates borrowed a house to test some local air conditioning companies. First, though, we had to make sure the A/C unit at the house was up to snuff.
We paid Dial One Mears Air Conditioning to check it out. Scott Mears told us many A/C contractors are honest, but others will try to take advantage of you by selling parts you don't need. Or at least, parts you don't need right now.
Mears said, "There's a lot of scare tactics that you're going to be without heating and cooling for weeks if you don't do these repairs immediately."
In our case, Dial One and a second company, Donley, determined that we needed a few minor repairs: a contactor for $120, a capacitor for about $65, and the coil cleaning, which was basically included in the service charge.
We knew what was wrong, and we were ready to roll the undercover cameras.
The first company we called was Ace Air Conditioning. The technician told us the coils were dirty, noted that the contactor was burnt, and suggested going on a maintenance program. But he did not hard-sell us anything or insist we had to do anything right away. And he only charged $40.
The second company was American Home Maintenance. The technician hit the nail on the head, suggesting we replace the capacitor, the contactor, and have the coils cleaned.
But our experts thought he pushed the capacitor too hard.
The American Home Maintenance technician said, "So if you don't change that today, that blower motor could burn out. And that would be 800 bucks. The longer he waits on the capacitor the motor is just going to be dead, if it's not dead already."
He also told us, "The motor should be around 400, 450, depending on the job."
Both our experts felt the tech was kind of pushing it.
Donley's Joe Mazzarella said, "Well, it's still working, isn't it?"
Mark Stoltz, the General Manager of American Home Maintenance, told 5 Investigates, "Our technician inspected the unit and his diagnosis was 100 percent correct. The technician's opinion was that the capacitor should be replaced sooner rather than later to avoid future expense."
During our investigation, four of the companies we called were no shows, at least at first: Super Cool, Schmidt's, Consolidated Mechanical and Al-Tech. None of them called to warn us, and Super Cool never called us at all.
Eventually Consolidated Mechanical and Al-Tech showed up to check out the A/C unit.
The Al-Tech repairman said, "System is cooling, it's working okay."
He noted that on his invoice and pointed out that the air conditioner was 11 years old.
He said, "It's just a matter of time before things decide they want to quit."
But he also wrote that an expensive crucial part, the compressor, was drawing high amperage. And he started a conversation about eventually replacing the entire unit.
The repairman said, "Once the compressor, which is the heart and soul of whole conditioner, when that decides to go down and it goes out, all the money you put into replacing all the other stuff isn't going to mean anything."
Our experts agreed with him on one point: if an expensive part breaks on a old air conditioner, you're probably better off buying a whole new unit. But a new compressor?
Mazzarella said, "The compressor is running fine, the amps weren't over excessive."
5 Investigates' Jon Baird said, "In this situation, you didn't tell us you need to look at a new compressor, a new unit."
Mazzarella replied, "I think it's too soon."
Al-Tech's GM, Lee Reardon, told us the company stands behind the technician's diagnosis and said the technician didn't actually recommend a new unit. He also noted that "nobody has a crystal ball" when it comes to parts failing.
Yet minutes after the technician left, he came back with a refund because he said there was nothing wrong with the Trane A/C unit.
That's pretty much what another company told us one hour later.
The technician said, "Yeah, it's running good. It's a Trane. 'It's hard to stop a Trane,' right?"
Technicians may have different opinions, and some may cost more than others.
Our advice: don't wait until summer for a check-up. That's a low priority for a repair company when they have customers with no air conditioning.
Also, get a second opinion. If you're going to spend $1,000 on a repair, you might as well spend an extra $50 to be sure you need the work.
Copyright 2007 by KPHO.com. All rights reserved.
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