Overall, a negative experience with Lone Star Heating & Plumbing…
My house had no heat for 7 days during a cold spell this September because Lone Star couldn’t repair the furnace during the first 3-hour appointment. A second appointment couldn’t be scheduled over a one week period. Neither the owner nor the technician was willing to accommodate my schedule and work past 4:30 pm for the second appointment. In the end, Lone Star did not repair my furnace, but they were still paid...$330 for 2 hours labour and a new pressure switch that didn’t fix the problem (and it turns out, didn’t need to be replaced).
Heat was restored...by a DIFFERENT company.
Having to resort to finding another company to do the job gave me a point of comparison and proved there are good companies out there. The other company’s technician got my furnace up and running on the same day I called them (which was the 7th day of getting nowhere with Lone Star). This company’s technician diagnosed the problem within 15 minutes, had the correct part on hand, installed the part quickly, and checked that the furnace was operating correctly. With them, it was same-day service, one-and-a-half hours from beginning to end, at my convenience, and at rates considerably less than Lone Star Plumbing & Heating ($30 PER hour less, in fact).
Things could’ve have gone more positively with Lone Star. They could have accommodated my schedule for the second appointment, which was only necessary because their technician couldn’t solve the problem the first time. Then again, it should’ve been a red flag when the technician commented that he’d never seen this furnace problem before and would consult his “heating guru” the next day. Lone Star Plumbing & Heating can at least try being open to negotiation on mark-up on parts and labour rates, especially if the initial solution fails and the problem can’t be solved in one appointment. Based on this experience, there is much room for improvement in Lone Star’s business practices and customer service.