I recently had an issue with my outdoor condenser coil leaking and decided to go with Nortec HVAC after some research. Here’s how it went: Affordable Services: One of the first things that stood out to me was how affordable Nortec is. Unlike the bigger companies, they don’t hit you with excessive fees for things like emergency calls or just coming out to diagnose the problem. I initially asked them to repair the leaking spots to save some money, but after a thorough inspection, it turned out that the coil had too many holes for a simple repair to be effective. Reasonable Replacement Costs: With the repair being out of the question, I decided to replace the entire outdoor condenser unit. The quote I received was very reasonable, covering everything from the unit price to labor, parts, and refrigerant charges. What impressed me was that they didn’t try to upsell me on replacing the furnace or anything else unnecessary, which I’ve experienced with other companies. Follow-up Support: After the installation, Nortec followed up to ensure the AC was working properly. This gave me peace of mind, knowing that if any issues came up, I wouldn’t be hit with extra fees for a follow-up visit. Now, there is one thing to be aware of: Communication and Timing: Their communication isn’t the fastest, and their visit timing can be a bit broad, often spanning an entire afternoon. However, this is understandable since they’re a small team, which probably helps keep their costs lower than other companies. Overall, if you’re a homeowner who’s mindful of budget and can be a little patient, I highly recommend Nortec HVAC. Their service is affordable, and they offer reliable support even after the job is done.
Be aware of Diagnosis Scam charge!! I have contacted this company after contacting a couple of other refrigeration companies, which they were not able to service a refrigerant recharging. I told Nortech the issue that the other companies diagnosis found out and asked them to come out if they are able to recharge the refrigerant type that our freezer takes. They were very good until they charge the diagnosis $225 and disappear mentioning that they have to wait for their boss approval of an estimate, which is incredibly unbelievable. This is very unethical and unprofessional experience.
My gas furnace kept blowing cold air because the igniter kept burning out out; of course this happened to occur on Easter, however when I called I still got an answer and was able to get serviced the next day. The technicians came to my home and had excellent communication about when they were on their way, they quickly diagnosed the problem, provided me with a quote before doing any work so I could make an informed decision and after giving the thumbs up, they, they fixed the issue in no time. I give Nortech Services 5 Stars for excellent customer service from both the owner and the technicians, prompt appoint availability with flexible times, thorough diagnostics, clear communication regarding pricing and quick repair.
Visit 2 Review: I upgraded the star rating from 2 to 4 because of follow up service provided yesterday, 01/31/2024. 1) Ice maker is now working. 2) Ice exit flap closes much better. Problem 1) was the stated reason I called Nortech, and problem 2) I knew about but did not state but was identified as repairable by the repair tech on his first visit. These two visits / repairs came to $857.75. A lot but much less costly than replacing the refrigerator with a comparable model, especially since our space for a refrigerator is substandard. The repair tech for both visits was Xai, a Vietnamese gentleman with 30 years experience doing appliance repair. He has no shortage of knowledge and skill and is easy to be with. We worked at communicating better this time. He helped me understand some things I misunderstood during his first visit. (See last paragraph of review, “Update”, in square brackets.) The high cost and the first visit difficulties are why I did not upgrade the star rating all the way to 5. I called Nortech because of their Better Business Bureau A+ rating and membership. When Nortech saw my first review, they called me because my review was not good. That call indicated to me they really do care about their reputation and will act to make things right. They care about excellence. Although my star rating is 4, I think the BBB should NOT downgrade Nortech’s A+ rating. ____________________ Cost details: This these two visits / repair came to $857.75. Visit 1 provided only an estimate which came to $214.99. It was stated up front that the home visit would cost $195.00. With sales tax of $19.99 it came to the shown above $214.99. Since there was no sale of parts - it was all labor - I believe under WA state law it was incorrect to charge sales tax. Indeed, Nortech’s invoice format implies this to be the case: o TOTAL MATERIALS line o TAX line o TOTAL LABOR line o Blank line used for service call fee o TOTAL AMOUNT line Note that TAX line is above the TOTAL LABOR line. Visit 2 repaired the ice maker by replacing it as a unit. The unit cost $120. The ice maker exit door replacement kit cost $168. Together the labor came to $275. Sales tax came to $59.76 resulting in a total of $642.76. ____________________ Visit 1 Review: Communication with service tech was weak. [ESL issue] [Xai] found a problem, but not the one that caused me to call Nortech. It was like he never read the repair request. The problem he found and for which there is a (costly) solution seemed to dominate his thinking. I had to tell him and clarify the problem for which I had called. He did finally look into the ice maker unit, but did not believe me that it did not eject ice. He had me check the ice maker the following morning to see if it (miraculously in my view) started working again. No miracle. (Prior to calling Nortech, I’d already done some simple tests suggested by a few YouTube videos.) From [Xai] I did learn how the ice maker senses the ice bin full. It crossed my mind that the sensor system could be the root of the problem, not the ice maker itself. A broken sensor system could indicate the ice bin full even when empty. Full stops the production of ice. I had to coax him to at least test voltage to the sensor beam LED. Voltage was there but that test does not prove the LED itself was working. Left totally untested was whether or not that the sensor beam receiver actually worked. There’s got to be better fault isolation procedures than what the service tech did. [Update: During the second visit, I learned I was totally wrong about this. Chalk it up to poor communication. The ice bin full detection fault isolation was complete. Xai was testing the voltage coming off the photoresistor, not the power to the beam LED. As he blocked and unblocked the beam he could see the voltage change. This demonstrated that both the LED and photoresistor together were working properly.]
Technician was very prompt with work and completed project way ahead of schedule. Installed the tesla charger and made sure it was 100% working before they left. Definitely would not hesitate to call Norman and his guys if me or my family ever need any sort of service.