Alamo Heating and Cooling Inc

Alamo provides great service. Jose and his two team members arrived during the timeframe agreed upon and brought our 48-year old A/C back to life. We even got a reasonable quote to install an updated system if we decide to go that route in the near future. Would recommend them to anyone considering HVAC concerns.

I’m very satisfied with the service from Alamo Heating and Cooling Inc. My AC wasn’t blowing cool air, and figured out the issue as a faulty capacitor. I called around 11:00 AM, and they were able to schedule me the same day between 12:00–4:00 PM, which was fantastic. I do hope that this availability is consistent. The technician was professional, transparent about pricing, and not pushy at all about optional fixes. They resolved the problem quickly and efficiently. Highly recommend their service!

The representative diagnosed that the fan motor on the condenser unit was not working, and offered to replace it. He told me that it would be $900 to replace it. I went inside and found the exact replacement on Amazon for $132.00, and when I told him about it, he told me that the $900 would be the price they would charge me including installation. From my inspection of the unit, installation requires removing and replacing a total of four bolts and four screws, removing the watertight conduit and moving it to the new fan motor unit, Moving the fan blades to the new unit, and connecting three wires--hardly $768.00 worth of labor. When I told him I thought he was overcharging, he told me that was the price and that I should just do it myself if I thought I could do it for less. He left, then came back soon after and offered to do it for $680 off the clock. Again, I refused--I believed even THAT was significantly overcharging me. In the end, I paid the $85.00 for the house call, and ordered the part myself from Amazon, and will be certain share with anyone requesting any HVAC referral NOT TO USE Alamo because they will try to overcharge you.

UPDATE: Upon meeting with the owner the following day, and on my request, the owner replaced the capacitor, and the unit functioned fine for several weeks, until September 9, when a wire "came off" the capacitor (it became unplugged from a spade connector oriented upward, with the wire connector plugged onto the spade from above--see attached photos for correct installation and detail of wire connections the day of the initial site visit; I didn't take a photo of the disconnected wire the day it failed). The same wire connector had remained securely connected to capacitors in the unit for at least 23 years, since I have owned the home, yet somehow appeared to have been uncrimped in a manner that resulted in the wire coming off the spade connector on the capacitor within weeks of the maintenance performed by Alamo. I can't conclude that it wasn't merely negligence from pulling the connector off to replace the capacitor, but the coincidence makes it difficult to ignore. The company had previously reversed the charges for the service call on the day of the initial service, and I was able to find and correct the problem with the wire connector that "came off" the capacitor spade and led to the failure September 9, so at least I wasn't out any money. I had offered to pay Alamo for the capacitor and for the house visit, but they have apparently declined.

Update June 26, 2024: The last several days, I started having more issues with the same unit, that led me to suspect the capacitor that Alamo installed last August was failing. A Google search of the symptoms told me that the most likely issue was a failing/failed capacitor--the same "new" part Alamo had put in last August. I ordered a replacement capacitor, matched to the manufacturer's specification for this model (45+5 microfarad +/-5% run capacitor), which was delivered on same-day delivery this afternoon. When I went to change out the presumed failing capacitor, it turned out to be a 35+5 microfarad +/-5% rather than the larger capacity required for this unit by the manufacturer's specification. Nobody has serviced this unit since my interaction with Alamo last year, except to crimp the spade connectors to ensure stable contact with the capacitor, which I did myself. So although I cannot state with 100% certainty that Alamo provided the wrong part, which could have damaged or destroyed the compressor motor, all indications are that this is exactly what happened. The new capacitor I bought and installed today is operating the outdoor unit with normal noise levels--no indication of a failing capacitor. I am uploading a photo of the undersized part that I believe Alamo put into the unit last August, that I removed today. Fortunately, for me and for Alamo, the $15 part failed before the multi-thousand-dollar repair was needed THIS TIME. The undersized capacitor's label is shown in the third photo.