M.E. Flow

I need to retract my original review of M.E. Flow… they have proven themselves to be a very capable and trustworthy company. They have gone out of their way to find the cause of my breakdown… even bringing in technical advisors from Mitsubishi Electric. They have extended my warranty an additional year and they have regained my trust.
I also found out that it was an internet error that they had somehow dropped off of the Diamond Dealer status. AND… not only are they a Diamond Dealer for Mitsubishi… they are the PREFERRED Diamond Dealer in Northern Virginia.

I used M.E. Flow for a very simple plumbing job in order to gauge their prices. The work was very simple (required no new parts, just tightening existing plumbing connections). This very basic job cost twice as much as the competitors I have used. The only reason I went with them this one time (and one time only) is that I was already on the hook to pay them $ 75 for showing up to determine the issue (even though my property manager had already done so). Normally, I would suggest shopping around for the best price. But in this case, because of the $ 75 you are on the line to pay just for them to show up, I would recommend skipping them completely.

If I could give this zero stars I would. company calls and says its time for our heating inspection. Then, three months later sends me a bill saying it is overdue and I need to pay for it. They gave a FALSE impression that it was covered under my existing contract. The gal on the phone, I think her name was Kendal, needs to find a new job. She lectured me about how they were absolutely due the money because she has my name, address and phone number. I’m not sure how that entitles someone to get paid. Of course you have my name, address and phone number. I WAS your customer, but I will never be again! I will make sure that I post this everywhere I can.

We had ME Flow out to the house end of Nov. Our system — Comfortmaker — was flashing 3 greenlights. We would shut the system down for a few hours then turn it back on and it would work, then they same thing would happen. ME Flow was able to come out quickly and the technician stated that the system seemed to be working fine, everything checked out and he thought maybe the pressure gauge was causing the issues. The system is less than 3 years old installed so the part was covered by warranty but not the labor. We paid just under 400 dollars and the technician returned Dec 3 and installed the pressure gauge. Jan 7, the same issue occurred, the system stopped working and 3 greenlights were flashing in succession. We were able to reset it and it worked till Jan 12. The weather has been unseasonably warm — in the 60’s and 70’s so we had not been running the heat since the pressure gauge was changed out. Once again ME Flow was able to come out quickly, Jan 13 technician was present for 3 hours (245 – 545)and could not resolve the issue. He stated he had to call ComfortMaker and run a test in the morning and the cost of the visit was 171.99. I did not pay it since the heat was still not working and there was no resolution regarding next steps. I called their office to let them know and they stated a service manager would call me. The service manager called the morning of Jan 15. He stated that they would remove the original charge and knew what was wrong with the system and would be able to do all the work for 171.99. By this time we had called another company who came in and immediately knew what was wrong with the system, able to diagnose it in 10 minutes as there is a recall bulletin Comfort Maker put out regarding other reports of customers having the same issue. We are very frustrated and wondering: was this bulletin not available Nov/​Dec when we replaced a pressure gauge for almost 400 dollars on a system that is less than 3 years old especially since the same issue occurred again within 1 week of the system being in use.

We have had them for over 15 years as our techs and have had a variety of service experiences, good and bad. First, they have good equipment and I think they provide what they say can. My biggest problem is not all technicians are consistent with their work. Some are overly chatty and waste time when you just want them to get the work done so you can return to work (or whatever – after all you reserve a «window» and your time is valuable even though they get paid by the hour I am not sure all their techs respect your time). I think they have a very qualified staff and they receive training so I recommend them but give yourself plenty of time for scheduling. I can never get them ASAP even with a service contract.

I scheduled an appointment with ME Flow for a quote on a new HVAC system after seeing something in valpak. John Tomlinson, the comfort advisor, came and was on time, etc. He took some measurements and then started asking about signing a contract that day before offering pricing. I explained that I had a few appointments for which I was waiting on the quotes and had received only one quote thus far. He insisted on seeing the other quote which I refused. I did have my hands full with other things going on so he then decided that he would wait until I had the other quotes and then come and sit down with me and give me more information and I assume pricing. It appeared to me that the whole thing was shady– he didn’t want to provide any information or pricing until I showed him all the competing pricing. I ended up getting quotes from 4 other vendors and none asked me for the quotes for another, one even offered to match pricing of another vendor, without seeing the quote, (McCarthy Home Services).
I received an e-​mail from Tara Araya a few days later asking me if I was ready to move forward. I explained that I had not even gotten a quote and a summary of what happened. 3 days later and I still haven’t heard an apology or gotten a quote.

I called the Alexandria, VA, Penn Daw-​Beacon Hill Office on August 5, 2015 @ 7:30 pm for an Emergency Service Call to an elderly person’s home. They were very prompt and courteous to return my call right away. Communication is awesome from office, dispatch, technician to you. The technician was knowledgeable in diagnosing the problem, thorough, and patient in getting the job done. He fixed the problem with the ac unit and made a 93 year old comfortable in her home again. I can’t thank them enough. I have used this company in the past. It is a great company to do business with. They are an old family traditional company. You can trust them. Again, many thanks.

Terrible Service. I had to reschedule my initial appointment. Then had to wait 5 weeks for the next. It was scheduled between 12 and 4 pm. I called the previous day at 8 am to confirm. They did. The appointment day I called at 2pm and confirmed again. «He will definitely be there BY 4». At 3:55 received a call stating there technician was enroute. At 430 I called again. We don’t schedule 12 – 4, we schedule 12 and after. He should be there. 5 hours waiting for them not to show. Useless.

Melanie,
I wanted to write you and thank you and ME Flow for your help yesterday. I work for a company that does a lot of residential service work and new installations and I understand the homeowners that call in and can be obnoxious wanting all the answers in the world without being able to provide anything close to enough information. I also understand that typically you only hear the negative feedback but it is infrequent that you receive any thanking you. So here is one thanking you!
Yesterday, you took care of my heat issue promptly and were extremely patient and friendly. Your service man was wonderful. Extremely thorough and very personable. The best compliment I can give both of you is from a business perspective if I was still in charge of the shower door department here you are both people I would have wanted working for my company!

David in truck #232 did an outstanding job. He was on-​time, quickly found the problem with our furnace, and was able to repair it with parts he had on his truck. We couldn’t be more pleased! Thanks again guys, you will be our go-​to resource for any future home problems we need help with.

My AC stopped working. After reviewing Unilocal I decided to call ME Flow for the repair. The tech was very professional and he identified the issue quickly. Initially I was expecting an expensive repair bill but the tech was very honest and the bill very reasonable as he only did was needed to get the system up and running. I would highly recommend ME Flow for repairs to your HVAC.

If you like feeling dirty and taken advantage of then this is the right plumber for you. I contacted M E Flow to replace an expansion tank and a pressure regulator valve that were identified on a home inspection report. The parts retail for about $ 150 (on the high side). The technician quoted a price of $ 640 dollars for the work. When I questioned the high cost relative to parts he informed me that the job was to take a few hours as justification for the high price. I reluctantly agreed when I was faced with their $ 75 dollar fee if I didn’t elect to have the service done.
An hour after agreeing to the job he was walking out the door. When I confronted him about how he just told me it was multiple hour job he then pulls out his ‘flat rate book’ to explain they don’t use hours its all flat rate. It was a complete bait and switch. They used hours as justification for the job cost and then turn around and say hours have nothing to do with their pricing.
I reached out to the company to explain my frustration and my feeling of being taken advantage of with their bait and switch sales tactics to which they toted the company line of we are fixed rate and have been for years we are very sorry the technician made it sound like our rates were based on hours. You agreed to the price prior to the work, what does it matter if only took 15 minutes. The fact that the technician lied about the time the job would take in order to secure a signature to perform the work did not seem to phase the manager I spoke with. Basically I just paid $ 150 for parts and $ 490 for an hour of this technician’s time.
I called 2 other plumbers in the NOVA area and was quoted $ 395 and $ 425 for the exact same work. Avoid this company unless you like wasting money.

Full disclosure — I never received service from this company. They are the preferred hvac company for my building so when the AC went out, I called. The one star is because a few hours later, they called back and said the building had been doing maintenance so check with the building manager and he may be able to save me a service call. Turns out they were right and it was a simple fix. Thinking any company that is willing to do this must be more trustworthy than usual, awesome, let’s set up a service appointment for yearly maintenance.
Fast forward — they set me up for a Thursday then called me on Tuesday «the tech is in your building and finishing with his last call, he’ll be at your unit soon» WAIT. It’s Tuesday?! Bob on the phone said something about mixed up communication and could I still make it, well, okay. Last minute work rearranging but made it here in 10 minutes — no tech waiting. Called 10 minutes later and the rep said the tech was already in another unit but she could put me on tomorrow’s schedule. Wait, I was already on the schedule but due to your mixup, I rushed home, now you want me to take up more time?
There was someone knocking on the wrong unit, the same phone they called me on 24 (yes, 24) minutes ago now magically doesn’t work? Yet I’m the one that has to accommodate AGAIN. Not once did anyone apologize (I guess there are no apologies when they won’t acknowledge that they did anything wrong).
Do. Not. Call. This. Company.

4.5 star review.
After receiving several quotes for a replacement A/​C unit and water heater in our rental unit, we went with ME Flow based on the following:
–Low quote with interest free financing that beat the quote from Costco/​Home Depot’s provider by an astonishing $ 1,600
–Spending time to discuss the problem and possible solutions in a forthright and honest way
–Willingness to repair the drywall
–Replacement/​repair work completed within days from our agreement on terms
–Ultimate responsiveness from Glen via emails and texts, even on weekends
The work was done on time but a faulty part in the replacement equipment meant a return (complimentary) visit. There was also a small issue with financing which led to a delay in charging us — I was okay with this — but it did mean another quick visit with Glen.
As a homeowner and landlord I have dealt with a number of service providers, and this has been one of the better experiences I’ve had. I can’t give them 5 stars because of the hiccups we had; I’m a hard ass like that. But the proof of their solid work and the trust we’ve built is that when something goes awry in my own home, they’re going to be the first business I call.

Trust Unilocal!I’ve been using Unilocal for service reviews for more than a year now. Real or not, with enough sampling, Unilocal has given me good insights on service providers.
I found out about M. E. Flow because of an HVAC replacement estimate in Leesburg. Although I decided to fix the AC instead, the M. E. Flow representative was by far the most professional and sincere. Fast forward six months, I called them to replace a garden faucet. I didn’t get multiple estimates because of their good reputation on Unilocal.
The plumber (Tom) arrived on time, provided an estimate that was just slightly higher that I had expected, but the work was done very professionally (quality of the work was bette than I’d expected). A fair trade-​off.
Overall I’m happy with the experience and I’d use them again.

4.5 star review. I’ve been a customer of ME Flow for 14 years. Although their prices are slightly higher than a big box store (Costco), I have found their technicians to always be polite and professional. Today’s service call was the notification that my heat pump was on its last legs. The technician (Rick) did a great job of explaining our options and never pressured me to make a purchase. Although I may not wind up purchasing the heat pump fix from ME flow, I will continue to use them as my service company. I’ll pay slightly more for excellent service.
(I’d give ME Flow 5 starts, but I have to take into account the price of a full heat pump system. ME Flow can’t compete just on cost alone.)

I used ME Flow last year to service a faulty air conditioner and recently used them again to replace a hot water heater. On both occassions they disptched a service technician to my house within two hours of my call. The A/​C only needed a capacitor replacement. They could have told us something worse, but their honesty gave us reason to use them again. The hot water heater was replaced quickly and without incident. They are a good contractor.

I initially called to receive a quote for duct work and played a little bit of phone tag with Joe Allen. Finally, I reached him late in the week and made an appt for Mon morning between 0730 and 0800. At 0810 on Monday morning, I called the office, said no one had made it out yet, and the woman (Lisa, I think?) said she would contact whoever was supposed to be coming out and call me back. She called back within about five min but said the person wasn’t able to make it out because «something came up.» I told her it would have been nice had they given me some advance notice since I was staying home from work. Finally, she told me Joe would call me back later in the day to reschedule — never happened.

I have read the nice comments about ME Flow here, but I don’t think most people realize just how much the average HVAC repair company rips them off, they’re just so happy to have their problem fixed they don’t realize they are being fleeced. My experience is, they charge a fortune to fix simple problems, and constantly try to upsell you on even more outrageous equipment upgrades. ME Flow is a perfect example of the average HVAC repair company.
I called ME Flow for a rental property of mine when the tenant reported no heat. Never used them before, but I needed someone out in an emergency. They arrived in a timely manner.
The technician, after charging $ 89 for the service call told me I need a new thermostat for $ 199 and a new ignitor for $ 99. I was suspicious so I replaced the thermostat myself for $ 30 in about 10 minutes and still no heat. Then I discovered that it was just dead batteries that was the problem. I came to realize that even the most inexperienced, green technician should know to check batteries first., and the technician had made a point of telling me how experienced he was, so it was obvious that the technician had tried to rip me off. I didn’t need the ignitor either, and I discovered that these are $ 14 on the internet. The tech’s supervisor refused to talk to me and knew all the ins and outs on how to make the credit card charge stick. I don’t feel these people are honest and I will not be using them again, and I recommend that anyone else stay far away from them.

Run, don’t walk, away from a contract with these morons, they lie, they don’t know how to service AC, AND they tell you, «You Americans», you want everything perfect, well sometimes you just can’t have AC that works even though we charge you for a contract!!!
Wow, is all I can say, glad I’m moving away from NV soon… sick of people like this. Double standard lives!