HVAC reviews in Durham, North Carolina

My new HVAC system which was installed in September 2025 stopped heating on a cold Friday night. I called on Saturday morning & originally was scheduled for between 2:00-6:00pm. The technician was delayed on the job before mine, so I was rescheduled for 8:00-12:00 Sunday. The technician, Jorge Perez-Rios, arrive before noon, and began to analyze my problem. He found that the auxiliary heating system had not been properly programmed, and he fixed the issue. He was polite, efficient, and knowledgeable. All in all a pleasure to deal with. I am very pleased with the service from ARS. I am not going to downgrade my rating from because of the rescheduling of my appointment, because I know that it’s not until arriving at a call that you can tell the extent of a problem. I appreciate that the technician fixed a problem correctly rather than rushing and having it reoccur. Jorge explained what action he took in my case, and I feel confident that my system is ready to deal with the coming winter cold. I commend ARS on the Excellent service.

Brand new unit installed April of 2025.
Heating handling issues started to show up by December of 2025.
Technician(s) have been out 4 times to "inspect" the issues we as customers have had with our new indoor and outdoor units, and have yet to do anything about the issue. There have been 3 different technicians.
Anytime the outdoor temperature drops below 37 degrees outside ... The new unit runs non stop, and I mean non stop. Sometimes upwards of 30-60 minutes at time. We keep the heat at 68-70 degrees during the winter. Our house has been newly renovated within the last 2 years ... meaning new insulation, new windows, new roof, new walls, new doors, and new seels... etc. There are no drafts of a noticeable level that would cause a unit to run this much. The unit is a 2.5 ton our home is 1,650 Square Feet. If the unit was undersized that would be on ARS and their sale and install technicians not calculating our square footage properly.
The unit enters what technician 1 has called "defrost mode"... Sometimes this mode or cycle starts up in-between the heat running as much as 4 to 6 times an hour, and buzzes loudly while it's doing this cycle for up to a few minutes at time, so loud we can hear the noise across the entire house, and it never fully defrosts anything inside the unit. The unit stays mostly frozen for days at a time. Again we set the unit at 68 to 70 in 37 degrees and below. The unit will run, but the wall thermostat states the indoor temperature is below what we set the temperature to. Which means the unit can't keep up with basic demands. We have a personal thermometer in the house that shows that the temperature is usually 2 to 6 degrees below what the HVAC thermostat is set to. So we get charged electricity for 68 to 70 but the house is actually only 62-68.

Technician - 1 (visits 1 and 4)
Visit 1 - "The unit is in defrost mode, and your such and such wires on the outdoor cooling unit were installed backwards, so I switched those up and everything should be good."
Visit 4 - "The unit is in defrost mode, and your such and such wires on the outdoor cooling unit are backwards, so I switched them up." ... I brought the prior time up that he was here and what he said .... and his response was "I don't remember saying or doing any of that."

Technician - 2 (visit 2)
"I don't have the materials necessary to do the job today, but let's put your unit in emergency heat mode, because it's not keeping up with the outdoor temperature." "It's possible your unit was not properly charged when the company ordered it, and maybe the unit has a leak." At the time that the unit was being looked at it was 37 degrees. Nothing about a defrost mode mentioned. No guarantees on repairs or needed repairs. No work or inspection was complete. Technician just left.

Technician - 3 (visit 3)
"It looks like the control board might not be working right, if it keeps doing it we will have to replace it, oh and your wires inside on the furnace are backwards too."

So we have had technicians switch our wires on the outdoor cooling unit 2 times and we have had our wires switched on the indoor heating unit 1 time. No repairs or updates given. No official diagnosis given. The call lady stated that the first/forth technician same person was brand new. So they aren't fully knowledgeable of ARS protocols. Also mind you that all the above wiring was supposedly inspected by a licensed electrician during the install. No county or city inspector ever came by to inspect the replacement or install even though it was supposed to be involved in the service.

I have called the manager and the number multiple times on recorded lines and no one answers or responds

I am grateful for having such efficient and informative services recently with my HVAC technician Tomasz. He assured me that the company appreciates its' customer base and prides itself on quality service. I will refer others to ARS. I send my sincere thanks to your call center, technicians, and sales personnel. Great Customer Relationship Management processes create revolving doors of success.

Senior repair technician, Ahmed Elreeh is so very knowledgeable and proficient. It took some time before ARS sent over a Senior repairman, but everything fell into place once the Senior repairman was routed to our house. Our system was repaired and now runs like new.

An ARS representative came by to tune our HVAC system. He performed the job assigned and then articulated his findings. He was pleasant, professional, and very knowledgeable. Oh yes, did I leave out thorough? He was all that and more. My units are fine now but I was provided options in the event repairs or replacement are in my immediate future. I would welcome this young man into my home any time. And I got all of the above for a very reasonable price. Thanks ARS!

I went with this company based off testimonials and BBB. However, I just paid the $119. Diagnostic fee and opted oit of the services. They quoted me a little under $1000 to replace a damper motor and tried to add on additional things that were "supposedly" wrong. I called a competitor and they came by to inspect the issue and 75% of the things that were told to me were incorrect. The motor issue was correct and I was able to have it replaced for under $500. I would be very cautious of their pricing tactics. I would chatgpt what the average cost to replace things based off your geographic area. I do understand businesses need to make a profit and willing to pay for something reasonable but not cheat the customer. Beware!!! Highly do not recommend ARS!

I manage rental properties and recommended ARS to a homeowner expecting accurate diagnostics and fair pricing.

Our tenant reported no heat. ARS diagnosed a failed control board and quoted approximately $2,700 for replacement. Even at face value, $2,700 for a control board replacement is an extremely high price in most residential HVAC situations.

Because of the cost, we sought a second opinion. The second technician identified the actual issue: a failed damper motor causing restricted airflow and a tripped high limit switch. The system was repaired for about $500 and has been working properly since.

The original diagnosis did not identify the airflow issue that caused the shutdown. Replacing the control board would not have addressed the root cause.

As someone who refers vendors to homeowners, accuracy and reasonable pricing matter. A $2,700 recommendation that turns out to be unnecessary creates real reputational risk for those of us who rely on trusted service partners.

If you receive a large repair quote, I strongly recommend getting a second opinion. I'm still out the diagnostic fee for a mis-diagnosis. Service was performed on or around 2/24/26. Consumer beware.

Tech Ahmed Abdalla Elreech was very friendly, detailed and knowlegeable when explaining the details of the pre-maintainence job along with pictures while explaining. We have used ARS since 2020 and Ahmed did the best job of all techs that have serviced our unit. Best cleaning job I've ever seen! Her kept smile and gave us great customer service ! We will request him in the future! Thank you

I have seen the ARS vehicles on the road and I have received their promotional offers in the mail. But it was not until an ARS representative stopped me at Home Depot did I decide to try them to service my HVAC units. The service call was scheduled and completed in less than 24 hours. Gilberto was professional, thorough was able to advise me about options to repair or replace a 30 year old unit. That same day a comfort advisor, Tevin, came out and provided an estimate to replace the older unit. Tevin reviewed all replacement options with prices. He was able to answer all my questions from nuts to bolts, literally. No high pressure sales pitch, just the information. And after conducting my own research I felt confident ARS was the best option for a new furnace based on quality of service, company expertise and a fair price. Pre-install and install coordination was very good. However post install calls and emails to Tevin Page, the comfort advisor, and the main office have gone unanswered. As a result I lowered my overall rating.

On 1/27/25 I was contacted by ARS about a $9 Lowes promo to service my gaspack. On 1/28 at 9:09 ARS calls. I tell the rep I have no heat will it be $9. She confirmed price will not change and my appt.was locked in for 10 am. 2 min later I get a call from a different rep saying it will be a few days b/c my appt. is a tune up and not no heat. I ask how can I keep my appt.? Rep says the call will be changed from tune up to no heat. ARS tech comes out at 11 am est. and performed the worse diagnostic exam possible. He only removed 2 side panels to locate the model #. He touched some wires and.sticks a camera in the side and tells me the furnace is locked b/c my heat exchage is rusted out preventing heat. He quotes a $6500 repair and offers a free quote for a new unit tomorow. Same day I had a 2nd diagnostic performed on my unit it was much more detailed than what was performed by the ARS technician. ARS tech did not remove the top of the unit to get a good look at the heat exchange but diagnosed a $6500 repair. 2nd diagnostic had No rust found the part is in good working condition. The issue was a $600 Drive motor. This is predatory and unprofessional service for customers trusting ARS to perfor.m services with INTEGRITY not minimum neccessary. Also, after agreeing to a tune-up call the day before, it is crazy to be upcharged from a tune-up to a no heat call after speaking w/ dispatch on 1/28. $9 to $119 is crazy.

Reliable, timely, and very efficient

Great group of guys who are looking to take care of the customer!

I have used this service for the past 4 years and they have always delivered what they said and the prices were very fair!!

Best HVAC company around!

Colby came out quickly and was able to address the issue immediately. We will certainly be using him moving forward!

Ricky came out after another HVAC company was called out by the rental company, he looked at the system and the other company hadn’t done anything!! He pulled a plastic bag out of the inside of the system and saved the day!!!

This man name Jeremy from here came to my house to do a pre-heating check for the winter. This is my first home and I thought that I was doing the right thing by doing this, nothing was wrong my house or anything prior to this man coming out to my house. This man came out and did nothing that he was suppose to do and now my thermostats do not work, there is no heat in my home right now. This man was too worried about getting tattoos and other stuff that he was at my house for like 10 minutes and did something to my heat and AC and now it does not work. This is absolutely ridiculous.

We have used Ricky for many years both at our home and our business. Ricky is always honest and upfront with costs and time frames. We would recommend to anyone!

I have used Shepherd Heating & Air for my business and my home for over 20 years. Ricky the owner has always been professional, courteous and reasonable. His response time is amazing and the quality of his work is exceptional.

Recently had Ricky Shepherd come out to get me a quote to replace our failed A/C system for our home. Scheduled and visited within 1 day. Just now, almost 30 days later we receive the invoice for the trip, along with the quote to replace an A/C system that needs to be replaced.

Having already replaced the system, using other companies quotes and work, I called and questioned why I would receive this now, and if he would consider reducing the price, since I paid for a service I didn't receive for 30 days.

He seemed far from apologetic and said "if you don't want to pay it, don't pay it, won't hurt me none."

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Shepherd Heating & Air Conditioning is the top HVAC company in the area! Ricky and Colby are both professional, knowledgable, and are always willing to help in emergencies! If there is a problem, it will be fixed in a quick and timely manner, every time!