Arista Air Conditioning

I pay over $5,000 a year for Arista’s maintenance contract covering 9 HVAC units in my home. That includes twice-annual maintenance — which I assumed meant quality and accountability. After routine maintenance earlier this year, one of my units began making a loud whistling noise. The cause? A wire had been pushed behind the unit during reinstallation and was vibrating against the frame — a direct result of how the unit was put back after Arista’s work. During the routine maintenance, they told me that I needed schedule an additional service to clean that unit — at a cost of $1,500, which I paid. At that follow up cleaning visit, I asked the technician to address the whistling. He told me I’d need to submit a separate service request. So I did. Arista sent two technicians who spent over three hours “moving insulation” and failed to fix anything — and then billed me $1,600 for it. I called back and specifically requested the one technician who consistently does quality work. He came, identified the wire issue immediately, and fixed it in under 10 minutes. Arista billed me another $600. When I pointed out that this entire problem stemmed from their own maintenance — which I already pay thousands for annually — they agreed to cancel the $600 bill but are still demanding payment for the $1,600 failed visit. The service manager has not responded to a single phone call or email. And as a final example of the level of care involved here: last year Arista mistakenly billed me for $30,000 of work done at someone else’s home — including that customer’s full name and address. They didn’t notice the error until I pointed it out to them. I hired Arista based on a recommendation. It has been a frustrating and expensive mistake. I will not be renewing my contract, and I strongly urge others to think twice before signing one

— Shira Jaffe

We hired Arista to repair our residential HVAC. The first technician found a cracked pan and tried to patch it but failed, declaring the pan would need to be replaced. We were charged 3 1/2 hours plus travel time. Arista then provided a $4,000+ estimate and ordered the part. When it arrived several weeks later a new tech examined the situation and declared the part could not be installed without major structural work beyond the scope of the order. Fortunately he was able to patch the original pan. This took about 3 hours. When the invoice arrived it billed for the entire estimate of the original repair, which was not performed, including the unused part, 8 hours of work and additional hours for an assistant who arrived 2 hours late and was not needed. After a few weeks and repeated complaints they reduced the charge but still overcharged for labor not performed. Very unsatisfactory experience.

— Andrew Frank

My Organization has an annual contract with Arista and I must say how delighted I am with their service team. When service is needed, I always request Dominick I. He is very professional and takes pride in his work. His work never has to be questioned. Adding, he is personable and always have a smile. Overall he's just a great technician. I value him and hope Arista sees how valuable he is to their company. Best

— Irving Smalls