Bentley's Heating & Air

My husband called Michael Bentley at Bentley heating, and air to tell him our heat wasnt working, and ask him if he could check it. I am cold intolerance so it was real cold in the house to me. Michael Bentley sent someone to check my unit. The man that came out was very nice, and professional. He had my heat fixed in no time at all thank goodness. I would highly recommend Bentley' Heating, and Air to anyone. Thank you for coming out so quickly, and getting my home warm again.

Bentley’s is the best! Attentive, Knowledgeable and highly trained staff!

UPDATE: Reflective of poor character, after posting this review, even though Mike has never been a client of mine, he (and an employee of his) posted a 1-star review FOR MY BUSINESS. Just petty & vindictive, which should tell you all you need to know about doing business with this company.

Original Review:
Sadly, cannot recommend this Company in any capacity ...

In 2014, we did major renovations to our home. Our contractor recommended Bentley (1) to replace the main HVAC unit & duct work, & (2) add a ductless unit in new room above the garage.

On the main unit, Bentley recommended Rheem. I later learned this brand has a comparatively high failure rate. Within 3 years, the unit had a major failure. The part was covered, but the repairs costs over $800.00 between the 2 service calls. A high expense for a new unit.

As to the ductless unit, Bentley recommended and installed a unit that was manufactured 2 years before the date of install (ie, obviously a unit he had on the shelf and needed to get rid of.) [Turns out, this unit has a high failure rate. I would never have purchased, but for Bentley's recommendation].

That unit had a major malfunction at 2.75 years. Originally, Bentley told me the part was not covered by the 3 year parts warranty [I later learned that Bentley had entered the incorrect installation date when registering the product with the manufacturer]. Bentley's position was, "oh well, I guess you're responsible for everything." Only because I personally tracked down the information with the manufacturer, was I able to get the part covered. The repair itself still cost me over $500.00 for a unit less than 3 years old.

Within a year, the product had another major failure. It was going to cost $1,500.00 to repair. So within 3.5 years, a unit which costs $3,400.00 had incurred over $2,000.00 in repair bills.

At that point, I decided to cut my losses. I switched to another local HVAC group which recommended a completely different manufacturer. I have had no problems with the replacement unit.

Up to this point, I would give Bentley "3 Stars" - attributing the unfortunate outcomes to recommended sub-standard products - rather than sub-standard service.

However, when Bentley's group came to make repairs to the main HVAC unit (mentioned above), the workers turned the valve off to the furnace and forgot to turn it back on. After they completed repairs, I tested the unit. The HVAC worked; but the furnace was suddenly not working.

I immediately called Bentley and relayed the furnace was no longer working. He explained that perhaps the control unit had coincidentally gone bad and needed to be replaced. This seemed dubious because the furnace worked perfectly before his workers laid their hands on it and suddenly it was not functioning.

I went under the house to inspect myself. It appeared that the unit was no longer getting natural gas. I was not comfortable turning valves for gas lines.

Having lost complete trust and faith in Bentley's, I contacted another HVAC company to inspect the unit. Sure enough - the gas supply had been turned off, but not turned back on.

This service call cost me $85.00 to correct the problem Bentley's had created. I sent the bill to Bentley, asking to be reimbursed for the cost. Bentley adamantly denied his people had turned the valve off EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE THE ONLY PEOPLE EVER UNDER THE HOUSE WHO WOULD HAVE TOUCHED IT and it worked perfectly before they did their repairs to the unit.

Literally, they were the only ones under the house and acknowledge the valve has to be manually turned with a wrench - but adamantly denied they were the ones who did it.

Perhaps it was elves, or a highly evolved species of uber-possum, I don't know.

But what I do know is that I have spent 30% more after original installation on subsequent repairs for brand new units. More importantly, I have a company what will not accept responsibility for its mistakes.

The latter of which is unforgivable.

As a retired marketing/ad guy I spent most of my career worrying about product and customer satisfaction. Seldom have I found a company/product/vendor as committed to customer satisfaction as Mike Bentley and his crew. Outstanding response and service; way beyond anything in my normal experience. Started with a new AC/heat pump. They were the low bid out of four.... thousands less than the high bid. They installed a new Honeywell thermostat that had just been released. This thermostat had problems and Mike, himself, spent about five hours trying to get it to work. When it couldn't be fixed he contacted Honeywell, who not only replaced it with a proven and more expensive product, they hired him, as an expert, to report on the product problems. Called him the other day to get a recommendation on a plumber to replace water heater and he surprised me when he said he could replace. Once again he was the low bid... more than $500 less than the high bid. Installing tomorrow. Also, asked for an electrician recommendation and he recommended another winner. Can't say enough. Don't look for a new AC or heat pump without contacting them. FIVE STARS!

A/C unit went out and had to be replaced in SUMMER! Bentley's was out, reviewed the issue and gave us a terrific price and installation of a new unit within three days after the initial call. Thanks and we'll be back if needed!

Called today to schedule a maintenance appointment and they were able to come same day! Travis arrived and checked everything and even went above and beyond! He made us aware of several things and even removed our vent screen so we could clean it and put it back up for us! Will definitely refer to others.

*****
12-26-2020 another 5 star review

GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! He have BENTLEYS for our bi-annual hvac checks. But, furnace ignitor broke Christmas Eve morningand Robbie was willing to come out to fix it, but, i had to jump thru all the hoops of my home warranty. (They are not with warranty company. i got to choose them because the warranty choice companies weren’t available Christmas Eve) Robbie was kind enough to call first thing on the 26th, patient while i jumped thru more hoops on phone with warranty people, then promptly fixed our furnace! I highly recommend BENTLEYS! Thank you Robbie for helping us!

Middle of July, temps reaching almost 100, come home from work on a Monday to no AC. I have a home warranty so they sent out a company three days(!!!!) later. Jump to Thursday - The guy comes in for literally 2 minutes and says "Oh, it's frozen so I'll have to come back but our next appointment isn't until Monday." I wanted to cry in my 87 degree house standing in front of a fan that was blowing hot air. I figured out that my warranty would only pay for $10/pound of Freon. So, I did what any woman standing in her living room sweating, throwing an adult temper tantrum and trying to keep a dog cool would do, said screw it, I'm paying whatever I have to pay. I googled AC near Taylors and Bentley Heating and Air was the first one that popped up. I'm a review reading nut but who has time for that when it's 51754 degrees outside and even hotter inside - thank you humidity. I called and they said they can come out tomorrow (Friday). Perfect. Only one more day, I can do this. Then a few hours later at almost 5pm I get a call from one of the sweet girls in the office saying that one of their techs has some availability tonight. I said well, the other guy said it has to be off to unfreeze (I don't know if that is the proper AC term, go with it) for 24 hours. She insists that she will send someone out now and if it's not, they can just come back tomorrow. The tech showed up at 5:30 and immediately got to work. Turns out, it wasn't frozen. It was something in the motor that he was able to fix within 30 minutes. I walked into my home and heard that glorious sound of AC and I wanted to kiss the man, I was so happy! Long story short, not only did they save me a ton of money, they also heard that desperation in my voice and made the point to reach back out for an earlier time. Wonderful company, wonderful people. My warranty is out the window as far as I'm concerned, I will ONLY be calling Bentley Heating and Air here on out.

Very nice people, but problems with units that were recommended & installed.

Maybe just unfortunate coincidences, but ...

When we were completely renovating our house, we replaced the main unit for the house. We also a room above the garage that we wanted to segregate from the rest of the HVAC (logistically not make sense to run ducts to that room). Bentley recommended a Rheem unit for the main part of the house and a Samsung wall unit for the room above the garage. We went with Bentley's recommendation based upon blind trust, and they did the install.

The Rheem unit had a coil leak within 2 seasons of use. The part was covered; but the labor on repair cost me about $500.00 ($750.00 when including the service call to diagnose the problem). I have since learned that Rheems are not the most reliable of units.

Where I am really miffed though is the Samsung unit. I found out this unit was manufactured in 2012 - even it was not installed in my house until 2014. The first time there was a problem (I believe a bearing failed), originally Bentley told me that the product was out of warranty and I would be responsible for parts and labor - which was estimated to be $800.00.

Only after I made direct contact with the manufacture and provided the install date, was I successful in getting the part covered. The repair was still $500.00.

Just this week, the condenser on the unit failed (part is not covered). Cost of repair - over $1,000.00. So within 3 years, I will have spent more than 50% of the cost of the unit (including install) just to keep it running.

I have decided to scrap the entire system and go with another manufacturer from another vendor.

It may be that I have just had bad luck with two (2) units - but it is difficult to believe that I paid such good money to put everything in and have had to spend this much more in such a short period of time.

Really love Bentleys! There's a reason why they've won Best of the Upstate 3 times in a row!

Had Bentley's install a replacement Trane package unit, couldn't ask for better service and support. They did a great, efficient, professional job.