Aiello Home Services

We were foolish enough to pay for a «membership» type thing with Aiello. It is like a bribe — «pay us a yearly fee and when you have an emergency, we will place you near the top of the list.» We got nothing for it. We replaced our hot water heater and they screwed up the installation, causing oil to leak all over the floor and then had the gall to keep sending me emails asking me to go online and write about how great their service is. (I also found out later that we only needed the tank changed, not the burner. We used to never run out of hot water, now we run out on a regular basis.) Thanks, Aiello!

This company absolutely PRICE GAUGED us. $ 465 for a drain snake and $ 49 fee to show up. What a joke. Over $ 500 to clear a drain. Huge lesson learned. The only good thing about this business is their customer service. Do yourself a favor, look elsewhere. Totally not worth it.

Seriously $ 510 to snake a drain? That is beyond ridiculous. I understand skilled labor and I’m happy to pay it, but snaking a drain is not worth $ 510 an hour. Do business with Aiello at your own risk.

We have been repeat Aiello customers over the past few years including replacing our A/​C system 5 and half years ago. This spring our fan unit would not start. We called for a service and I was told by the technician, Jason, that the blower motor was shot and the warranty period from Lennox was only for 1 year. The cost to replace would be over $ 1,100 and the technician was pushy. He made me feel like I had to make an impulse decision on a Friday afternoon when the replacement had to be ordered and the repair wouldn’t be done until the following Wednesday. He also bordered on rude when I indicated that I thought the amount was outrageous and he responded «what do you think should be done». I responded that I thought a pro rated warranty or discount seemed appropriate. I also indicated that I didn’t think he would be authorized to offer a discount but felt he should have spoken to someone who could. I then called and asked to speak with the Service Manager. The Service Manager, Steve was not in and I left a voicemail. He never returned my call. I called another HVAC company and they quoted me a price that was ~$ 350 less. In the past, the Service Technicians were helpful and would advocate for us as customers. We have never questioned Aiello’s service or prices in the past but that will not be the case in the future.

About 7 years ago (before I knew about Unilocal) we called Aiello to fix a leak on the connection to the faucet on the utility sink. We were new to the area and saw their ad on TV. They said they would be right there, and 2 hours later showed up. Gave me a 2 hr estimate and fixed the leak in 5 minutes. After checking, we were grossly over charged. Though I can’t prove it, I think the plumber charged me for his personal time. I had to take the estimate because there was a min charge just for coming to our house.
I will never call them again. I have now a wonderful plumber that I use. I will never recommend them. I advise folks to find someone else.

The problem was fixed. Company followed up to negotiate better rate post hoc.

I should have known better to have done a little research on this company prior to calling them in a panic time of need. I have pasted the email I sent and received from this company after the service tech visited my property. To date I have not received a follow up from the service manager as stated below. If you are considering calling this company for service I would suggest you search for yourself and you will find reviews similar to mine and also they have had to pay large fines to the State of Connecticut for their actions.
So I learned a $ 69 lesson, which is what it cost me to have Aiello come out to tell me my thermostat was in need of replacement at a cost of $ 262. There was nothing wrong with the thermostat, just needed to be re-​connected.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — –
From: R
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2016 9:08 AM
To: Katie
Subject: RE: Authorization for services at Manchester, CT 6 040
Hi Katie — Could you please send me a copy of the invoice for the service call yesterday for my records?
Also, I was not impressed with what happened with your technician. He stated that the thermostat was in need of replacement and the total charge including the service call would be $ 262. In my opinion I felt it was too high for what’s involved and did not authorize the repair. Within 15 minutes later I received a phone call from my tenant stating that her nephew had noticed a loose wire on the thermostat, reconnected it and the heat was working.
So my question to you is did AHS send an unqualified technician to my property or a qualified technician that was attempting to sell me something that was not needed?
Sincerely,
R
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
From: Katie 1÷27÷16
I do apologize for what happened with our technician. I forwarded this email with your concern to our service manager and will have him follow up with you after speaking to the technician. Also, attached to this email is a copy of the invoice from that service call. Please feel free to email me directly, or call the office at any time if you have any other questions or concerns. Thank you
Katie
Customer Service Representative
Aiello Home Services/​Charter Oak Oil Co., Inc.
P.O. Box 548
Windsor Locks, CT. 6 096

Almost 15 years ago, I bought my first condo. I knew nothing about anything homeowner-​ish. So of course when my furnace died in the dead of winter just a few months after buying the condo, I was in a panic. I don’t really remember how it came to be that I found Aiello and contacted them to come out. They let me know that the furnace was not worth the cost to repair, and so I did a full system replacement, heating and air conditioning. Because they needed a few days to get the parts in, they were nice enough to bring me space heaters to get me through until installation day. They were not the cheapest in the area, but they were all very nice and professional, and got the job done right. I had a shiny new Trane system installed. I owned that condo for 12 years after the installation, and never had a single problem with my heat or AC.
Fast forward to December 2015. We had been using a different company to do the annual maintenance for our heating and cooling system. They were out a couple days before Christmas and delivered the bad news that our furnace (now 16 — 17 years old) needed costly repairs and we would be better off replacing. We had their sales person come to give a quote, but I also decided I should get a second opinion. So I remembered my past positive experience and gave Aiello a call. A salesman was able to come out same day. He went over our problem areas and thoroughly measured all areas of our house.
Both companies provided quotes. Aiello’s pricing was much better than the pricing of the other company’s pricing when looking at full system replacement (Lennox furnace and AC). Since the condenser is also nearing the end of its useful life, we decided a full system replacement was the way to go, given the package pricing. They offered an extra discount for being a prior customer and for doing the work immediately. But with the holidays we did have to wait a few days for the parts to come in. The Sunday before our installation, when we woke up, our heat wasn’t working at all. The dilemma… call the company who had been servicing our furnace for the last 4 years, or call Aiello. I called Aiello and I’m so glad I did. They have a real live person answer the phone on the weekends! Our old company, you just had to leave a message and hope they’d call you back. The woman in the office communicated with me over the span of a couple hours regarding who would be coming out. They sent a tech out for no charge (on a Sunday!), who patched our system up. Our salesman also stopped by (on a Sunday!) to drop off space heaters just in case. The temporary fix worked and we made it to installation day!
It turned out our condenser wasn’t in yet as of the day of installation. Instead of delaying the whole installation, they were nice enough to split up the installation into two parts, so that we could get a working furnace in as soon as possible. They were professional and courteous. The guys always put on booties before entering the main part of the house. They came up periodically to give me status updates. They answered my numerous questions without being annoyed (or without showing it if they were!) Mike, who was in charge of the installation, managed to solve an existing issue with our zones, that no other tech in the past had been able to solve. At the end of that first day, we still had issues with our upstairs heat and I was a bit frustrated. But I should not have been. They came back two days later to install the condenser and had a solution for our upstairs heating issue. Everything seems to be running well now with the heat. They said our AC should work perfectly in the summer, but if not, they’ll come back out.
We laughed about the paperwork we signed pre-​install, where it said they would leave our house «as clean or cleaner» than they found it. They swept up so nicely downstairs, I know that was some of our dirt in there! What a great job.
With the full system install, we also got two free smart thermostats. We can now control our heat and air conditioning from our phones. That is NEVER going to stop being cool. They offer a full line of smart products, from video cameras to door locks, to water detectors. Definitely something we will be looking into in the future!
I can’t say enough great things about Aiello. From professional employees to quality workmanship, to sticking behind the job to ensure it’s done properly to the end. I would like to give a special shout out to my salesman, Tim Lynch. We figured out that we worked together back at my condo too, which is a coincidence. He was so wonderful, then and now. His dedication to getting the job done right and ensuring that we were satisfied came through in every communication with us. Also, Mike who managed the on site installation process — what a gem! He was so patient with us and definitely went above and beyond to make sure we were satisfied. I hope he knows how much we appreciate that!

Over three hundred dollars for a 10 min job and a 10 dollar part. The service tech was pleasant and there was no problem outside of the price gouging. This will be the last time I ever use this company again.

All in all a very good job. I had well pressure system entirely replaced, two laundry faucets replaced, and a shower water control valve replaced. Everything was perfect except tub spout is not properly sealed to prevent water from entering the hole where the pipe enters tub. Simple fix from Home Depot. I only give three stars due to the price. Very, very expensive. This was an emergency since we needed water to live in the house, otherwise I would of shopped around. But we all know plumbers are expensive and Aiello was able to send out a professional plumber to do the job in short order. So the high price is to be expected.
Woman answering phone and taking the order was exceptional and pleasant to talk to.

Still not right. Several more visits revealed shoddy workmanship (missing a part that was supposed to come with the system, A/​C drain plumbing was stripped when installed so it was leaking, A/​C couldn’t keep up with the demand, and so on). This has been a horrible experience so please save yourself the trouble. Fortunately, Aiello did promise to purchase a parts and labor warranty for me so at least I will be protected over the next several years as this system continues to break.
One positive, and it wouldn’t be fair not to mention it, everyone I speak with continues to be polite, respectful, and I think legitimately trying to help.

Aiello fixed a problem with our central AC last summer. Aiello called this spring with a special service deal for an AC checkup. I thought it would be good to make sure everything was in working order before the hot weather arrived. About two weeks after the checkup, the hot weather arrived. The AC didn’t work, despite the fact that the compressor was running nonstop. I called Aiello and they told me that I would have to pay a service charge. I protested as they had been there just a few weeks earlier and it should have been taken care of at that time. Aiello agreed to waive the service charge, The unit was low on refrigerant. The technician topped it off, and it worked fine. I asked the technician why this wasn’t caught the first time it was checked, he gave a vague answer that it may have been a cool day and harder to detect, etc… A pressure gauge should have shown this. (But, being a Patriots fan, I don’t want to put too much faith in pressure gauges), Last night, the AC again didn’t work, nothing would come on at all. The technician arrived, replaced a blown fuse, and was out of here in two minutes. No Charge!
Pros: Responsive, professional, quick scheduling (sometimes the same day)
Cons: A little pricey, inconsistent service

Slick… wow! Their quote for my new HVAC system was WAY out of line…(more than double others I had gotten for equivalent equipment) and then, couldn’t get the salesman out of the house… Say NO to Aiello! Don’t let them in your door…

So i decided to contact Aiello to get a quote on a whole house humidifier. I have received several other quotes and was narrowing down the bidders.
When I called, i was told there was a $ 69 quote fee! I told them that i was no longer interested, and they spoke to a manager. I was then told the $ 69 fee would be waived if i went with their service!
Now since i was quoting other companies as well, there was no guarantee i was going with them, and considering the job, as quote by others was only $ 400-​$ 500, paying almost 20% for a quote fee is ridiculous.
So i ended up not going through with the quote through Aiello.
I have heard good things about them, but charging for quote for a project is just bad customer service.

We had a sewage backup in our basement this past weekend and called Aiello. Since we are new homeowners and didn’t know any better we agreed to their $ 125 service call for them to come look at it. The representative was courteous, however that is about all I can say positively about our experience with Aiello. He told us we needed to snake the lateral sewage line to clear blockages, and quoted us $ 850. We had no idea what to expect but something about the price did not feel right. Luckily we decided to wait on the service and get additional quotes. After talking with fellow homeowners they mentioned that we should first call up our local water utility (FYI: turns out this should always be your first step as the utility will send out an emergency crew for no charge to make sure blockage isn’t first in main line). After utility verified that main line was clear they provided an unbiased list of plumbing companies for us to check with. After calling up these plumbing services it became very clear that the quote by Aiello was completely absurd.
I understand that service businesses can justifiably charge different amounts, and had it been within some reasonable range I may not even be writing this review, but the discrepancy here was a factor of 6! We got the lateral line snaked and cleared for $ 140 by another pluming company which by the way took them less than a half an hour of labor. That was nearly the same cost Aiello charged just for the service call.
This type of price gouging is really offensive and after some brief searching I was not surprised to find numerous BBB and consumer protection complaints filed against Aiello. Read more for yourself and confidently skip this company when looking for plumbing work:

Aiello did a good job recently when they came out to clean the furnace. They arrived during the expected one hour time window. I was looking for a little more feedback on the overall system health which I did receive over the phone. Thanks!

I’ve been having a problem with my furnance — the humming of the machine started sounding like a Mack truck idling in my basement. I called Aiello and was able to easily make an appointment for a technician to come out and take a look at the problem. This morning, Stephen S. came to my rescue and fixed the problem in a very quick, efficient, and friendly manner. It was a costly fix requiring a new part, which wasn’t fun, but Stephen explained everything to me in a way that I could easily understand what was going on with my furnace and then showed me as well. I appreciated him taking the time to do this and was very happy with my service. My furnance is now humming along at the appropriate volume as well.

Gave one star since he arrived on time. other than that he quoted me $ 900 to install two bathroom faucets…1/3^rd MORE than the two faucet cost combined!

Aiello came down to replace my ancient gas boiler with an energy-​efficient gas boiler and a hot-​water heater. They also split the zone into two zones. The crew came down early, they worked real hard, great teamwork. Great crew. Now I’m looking forward to the winter!

Aiello quoted me $ 1300 to install a pedestal sink and toilet too. I received several quotes from other plumbers… average? $ 450.