Sychem Inc.

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".

They have been working on My heating system for 3 weeks, and they couldn't fix it. They have told me that they have to charge me first, but at the end they could not fix my unit and they did not provide any credit. The worse company I have ever worked with.

My furnace broke down during one of the coldest weeks we've had so far. I called a number of different companies and had two consultations and each was saying that the entire unit had to be replaced costing upwards of $3000. After a recommendation for Sychem Inc I had a technician come over almost immediately and they were able to repair the unit and get the heat working again for under $200 which was a huge saving. I greatly appreciate the professionalism and honesty of this company, the quality of their work and the fact that they look out for their customer's best interest and not only the bottomline. Thank you for your prompt and efficient service and I will be sure to refer friends and family to your services in the future.

Our HVAC system stopped working just before a heatwave and we were having difficulties getting our landlord to pay for the repairs.

Sychem was very patient with us through this awkward and difficult situation. I was taken back by the quality of Sychem's customer service from reception to technician, everyone was friendly, knowledgeable and genuinely interested in satisfying our needs.

After a brief conversation with their manager, I quickly realized that Sychem's focus on customer satisfaction is a direct reflection of it's Management. The Manager went above and beyond to ensure Sychem's service was of the utmost quality. He is an intelligent, kind and positive person who made this whole ordeal a lot easier to manage.

It is this kind of service and commitment to customers that sets great companies apart from others.

Our condo building used Sychem for maintenance of AC units. They don't do a very good job. Their main activity was to pull out the AC unit and vacuum the drip tray. 2 small squirts on the coils and away they went, saying it's 'clean.' They didn't tighten all the screws back, so it rattled afterwards. The coils/fins were not clean - two small squirts did nothing. They threw out my new $40 filter and replaced it with a cheap one that filters virtually no dust. They talk the talk about how great their service is, but when it comes to doing a good job, they are clearly pushed for time and don't take care to ensure that the job is complete. I bought my own coil cleaner and fin comb and will do the job myself. At least my filter won't get thrown away until it needs to be replaced.

Sychem did a very good job replacing the insulation on both our A/C units. They weren't cheap. Get a written quote before using these people. Sychem did NOT treat the rust in our units satisfactorily. I've been trying to get a response for over three weeks. Every time they say that they'll phone me back but, so far, no reponse. My advice... use someone else. Be sure to GET A WRITTEN QUOTE!

My AC unit stopped working about 2 years ago and the maintenance guy from another company at the time charged me about $600 to fix the unit and advised me that the quality was poor and i should consider purchasing a new unit. Fast forward to 2012, the unit stops working again and i called Sychem to replace it. Instead of replacing the unit, they adjusted some things and had it working again! instead of the $3000 it would've cost me for a new unit, i only had to pay $70 for the maintenance visit.