Dowd Mechanical Heating & Air Conditioning

We were concerned about our not so new heating system. The technician was on time (he called to let us know he was on his way), listened to our concerns and spent a good deal of time checking over our heater. He assured us that everything was in order, which was a relief. Dowd came highly recommended through a friend in the HVAC field. We are happy to have a reliable company to service our heater and AC.

Howard has been performing our semiannual HVAC preventive maintenance for over seven years now. During the most recent visit, he also cleaned our gas dryer vent. He has always provided excellent and friendly service.

Responsive to an issue I was experiencing with my heating system which was installed by Dowd about 10 years ago. Spent the time to make sure everything was working properly before they left.

Scott F. came out to provide me with an estimate and answered all of my questions. There was never any pressure to sign any papers or go with a certain brand or model furnace/ac unit. I wasn't in a big hurry to have my system replaced as my 27 year old Carrier system was working fine, but it was on borrowed time. However, I think I decided to move forward on a Wednesday and the following Monday everything was installed.

Terence and Ish came out to do the install and Ish (This guy is a warrior) was installing the AC unit outside in near blizzard conditions while Terence took care of business inside installing the furnace. I had a whole house humidifier installed also and so far everything is working just fine. As a matter of fact, the furnace made a suspicious noise the first time it started up which went away almost immediately and I was fine with it, but Terence ordered a new inducer motor and had it replaced the next day just to be sure. These guys definitely want to make sure that the customer is satisfied and aren't happy unless you have a solid working system in your home. A+ from me for Dowd Mechanical.

Where to start...let’s start with the 3 hour maintenance visit I endured last week. Well, the last thing you want to do is clean your carpet after an air conditioning check up appointment, but that is exactly what we had to do after the kid they sent tracked mud through the house after spraying out the two outdoor units forever (something that has never had to be done in the prior 8 years I’ve been dealing with this firm). Let’s see, what else - oh, well clearly he can roll a hose, moved our storage box onto our shrubbery and left it there, and then didn’t even put the AC disconnect back in operational mode...forget off or on, he just yanked it and left it sitting atop the box.

Fast forward a week...this morning I get an email from the owner Joe Dowd that he doesn’t want to do business with me because I questioned an 88.7% increase to the labor cost on replacing an under warranty evaporator coil. I was emailing with someone (no signatures given) in the Dowd office yesterday to confirm an appointment for the repair and simply asked if “an increase in labor cost” was the extent of the explanation on the increase from 2016 when I did this last time with Dowd...on a unit they recommended and sold me 8 years ago, by the way. I went on to say that I haven’t seen those kinds of increases in my salary in the past 5 years and that Dowd must be good to their employees if labor is up that much. That simple.

Joe (and whoever else is behind the emails from the office) takes offense to it and he writes me to tell me to find another firm to do the work as I was not being collaborative so he didn’t want to work with me. So I called, cuz ya know things can be taken out of context in emails. He went on to tell me how everything has gone up in price and he was tired of customers questioning him...and then started to quote the increases in lumber and chicken wings...I didn’t ask him to build me anything, or to go to lunch...just to replace the coils on units he sold me, and to explain how it had gone up that much in such a short period of time. Inflation be damned, I think anyone seeing those kinds of increases is going to ask about it if they are an informed consumer. But he called my email questions the equivalent of “throwing rocks at his front door”.

So if you are a Dowd customer, don’t question price - he’ll just send you packing. And don’t expect him to stand behind the systems he sells you, “call the manufacturer, I don’t make them” he said. So he WILL take his profit on selling you a system, and he WILL make money replacing under warranty parts, but don’t ask for reasonable explanations on price or sharing in the cost pain of fixing AC units that he sold you (talk about collaboration).

Beware existing and potential Dowd customers, Joe’s on the warpath!!!
So the next time someone asks me for an AC recommendation, or I see one of those Dowd banners at the little league fields, I’ll just chuckle and say, “have I got a story for you...” Way to treat an almost decade long customer Joe.

Update - See folks - still not answering the question on WHY the huge increase from the last time I had to have this same repair done by Dowd in the owner response.

We have a Goodman heat pump manufactured and installed in 2019 (new construction). Have had issues three months after purchasing the home. Fast forward this year, A/C was running but not cooling. Then heat stopped working in the Fall. Contacted Dowd and technician John came out. He fixed the issue and was professional, intelligent, and kind. Seems like a nice and honest man. No complaints. The office ladies are also pleasant when you call. Thank you very much.

Dowd was recommended to me by a co-worker. Our heater fan stopped working. Even though I was not an existing customer of theirs they came out quickly order the part and made the repair quickly. I did check and their rates were fair. Ever since they have been doing regular maintenance on our system. They are always informative prompt and very polite. I would highly recommend them to anyone in need of any service they offer.
Elaine Slook

I had to quickly problem solve a cooling issue for my tenant. Dowd was prompt, diagnosed the issue the same day, and completed the work in the quoted time frame. Much thanks

We used Dowd to install a new heater, AC unit and hot water heater. They offered 0% financing with a credit card company which was an easy process. This allowed us to space out the payments with no interest.
The installers were very clean and took their time to create as little mess to our property when rerouting duct work and Installing the new location of our equipment. They were very knowledgeable and explained everything on detail.
It’s been over a year and we have since signed up for the maintenance contract with Dowd and they are always on time, friendly and professional.
I have referred them to friends and family that have used them for everything for service to heater replacement.
We had our senior citizen parents use them so that should tell you how highly we think of the company.

We started using Dowd about 7 years ago after moving into our new home. A co-worker recommended them and we have not been disappointed. Our system was old even then, but they were able to do repairs as needed over the years. This year we decided to replace the system before it went out, and after getting estimates, we chose Dowd to do the replacement. Everyone we spoke and worked with was professional and courteous - from setting up the initial estimate to the installation (which they were able to schedule right before another heat wave hit). The team showed up bright and early, and by about 4pm everything was up and running. They went over the new system, the new thermostat, all the paperwork, and answered every random question. They even went room to room to make sure cool air was coming out of all the vents. I highly recommend Dowd for any of your heating and cooling needs.