Hadi from Toronto

My condo heat pump stopped working this year, so was not cooling when spring arrived. I had Sychem technicians diagnose it (they took it in for service). After some delays, I was told the reversing valve and compressor need replacement, almost $2000 in repairs. It was recommended I replace it ($2700 job). I shopped around and GTA H&A was offering a better price, so decided to go with them. When the technician from GTA H&A came to check out the old unit before going ahead with the replacement, a few tests and 15 minutes later, he said that my unit needs a capacitor, not a reversing valve. Sure, my compressor is 9 years old and aging, but still had lots of life in it. A $200 fix for capacitor and adding more coolant. There was no need for a $2000 repair or a $2700 replacement. I recommend GTA H&A from this experience.

I also posted this review on Yelp. I live in a condo building downtown. Heat pump (heat/AC) stopped cooling at the beginning of the season. My condo property managers recommended I speak with Sychem since they do some work in the building already. The first interaction was great. They were flexible about appointments and fairly quick to send someone. That's when the good stuff end. Technician did not do much diagnostics in the condo, and wanted to take the unit to their shop. Said it would take about a day or so for diagnosis and asked me to call back the next day to get a status on the problem. I couldn't call the next day, so called the day after. The shop has not looked at it yet. I called 2 more days after that (4 days after it was taken in), was told "it was next in line" and that they would call me later to tell me what's wrong. That was Friday, and I got no call back, and no responses to my calls over the weekend. Monday, I called again to inquire, and was told it was finally tested that morning and that it needs a new reversing valve and a new compressor since it's getting weaker (it's 9 years old). The fix is a minimum of $1000 for the valve and about $2000 for new compressor and valve. A new unit is $2700 and was told this is the best option. I decided to replace the whole unit trusting their diagnosis. I shopped around to make sure I was getting a good price for the quote, willing to spend up to $2700. I found other HVAC service providers willing to do the full replacement for $2200-2300, or replace with better units that fit my condo for about $2500. Sychem refused to match or even offer the choice of a better unit (they were adamant that only one model can replace what I have - which is untrue according to my research and other service providers). I decided to get my unit back and have another company do the replacement. The unit came back (now 2.5 weeks after they first took it) on a morning. A technician from the new company (GTA H&A) came to check it out and plan for the replacement. After doing some test (about 15-20 minutes), he came to the conclusion that I actually DO NOT need to replace it. Reversing valve was fine, and the compressor is in good shape for a 9-year old unit (but aging, so will need replacement a few years down the road). The problem was a capacitor that initiates the compressor, as it was blown. A $100 fix. He also topped up coolant. In total, $200 worth of repairs to keep me going for a few years. Sychem totally missed the proper diagnosis - it's either incompetence or they were not truthful to me to get a new unit sold. Would not recommend based on this experience. Of course, Sychem charged me for the "diagnosis".