Olson Energy Service

I called Olson when my furnace failed recently. They arrived promptly and quickly fixed the problem. They charged me $ 884. The charge included $ 561 for a circuit board. I googled the circuit board and found that its available on Amazon for $ 134. It looks like they are marking up their parts to over 4 times what they pay for them.
UPDATE: They contacted me and made a satisfactory adjustment to correct a billing error. I am very happy with their service.

I manage two church buildings, and have had Olson out to work on and replace our heating units. They are always on time, accurate, and professional. Today the heat went out at my house. Since I used them through my job I figured why not give them a call. I gave them a call at 8:00am, its 10:30 now and I have heat. These guys know what they are doing and are very polite. If your looking for a great company to work with commercially or residentially in the Seattle area these are the furnace guys your looking for.

Came out for a $ 125 service appointment, technician apparently decided to do some extra work like clean parts of furnace, air filter etc. Nothing wrong with that except for the fact he did it without letting us know it would be billed for $ 115 extra as «30 min misc labor» and requesting prior approval.
$ 115 for 30 minutes???
Again, we booked a $ 125 service appt that was invoiced at $ 240 at the end, no heads up or questions asked beforehand.
To add to this, the customer service guy on the phone could use some guidance on how to handle customers during phone conversations.
1÷6÷15 — UPDATE
The Owner called and was apologetic about the ordeal and mentioned he had already initiated a deposit back to our checking account for the amount we were charged for 30 minutes of Misc work. Thank you!

I called Olson Energy My AC went out in my office Chris their service Tec arrived on time the next day From the description I gave on the phone He surmised we had either a bad motor or capacitor, Chris had to crawl up in the office attic to access the equipment. He popped out 15 min. later, I asked him if he needed to go for parts He said no its all fixed ! He had the capacitor in his pocket!!!
Awesome service The price was very reasonable Service charge and cost for capacitor plus labor install less than $ 200.00
Chris was amazing and I will recommend Olson Energy to my customers
Brian K. Ballard

Have a gas furnace and water heater that I bought from Olson 13 years ago. Have been on a maintaince contract with them the whole time. Past couple of years they have been finding things wrong with furnace requiring repair. Repair prices seem over priced. Example on today’s annual service call was a replacement capacitor. He wanted $ 60 dollars for the part. I bought same part for $ 7.00. Since there was no additional labor required as the part was already out to be tested and had to be put back in anyway this was probably well over a 10 times markup on their wholesale cost. Unbelievable!
Since water heater is 13 years old I asked them for a phone bid to take out the old and replace with same. They were almost twice as high as next highest bid.
Their service is fine but the markup they want to make seems excessive.

I used Olson Energy for some work in November 2013. They refused to accept any real responsibility for the mistakes they made, which is the real problem. They only offered excuses and tried to deflect blame.
1. They installed gas pipe on the outside of my house when I had explicitly said it should be installed in the wall. I gave the permission to tear open the interior wall for this purpose. I assumed, since I discussed this with their estimator, any cost would be covered in their bid.
2. The venting for the water heater was installed on the street side, where normally it would be installed on the roof facing the back of the house. They gave many excuses why this was done, but in the end they moved it to the back where it belongs, so why all the excuses?
3. They installed the gas feed for the dryer on the left side, where the default should be on the right since new appliances have the doors configured for washer on the left, and dryer on the right. Since this was a new installation, they had the choice and did it wrong.
4. Their work resulted in a gas leak, which was alarming enough to the contractors that they evacuated the house. When Olson came back to address the leak, their «plumber» (using that word is probably an insult to skilled tradesmen the world over) did not provide me with an explanation of the problem and what was done to fix it. The owner explained that is normal procedure.
I think the main problem with them is they don’t ask questions about what the customer wants, they just go ahead with what seems the easiest for them. They should know what the options are for the homeowner, and offer them with appropriate pricing. They didn’t ask nearly enough questions about the work and the desired end result. They are the experts they should know what to ask. They just did what they did, and chose wrong most of the time. Then when there is a mistake, they won’t accept responsibility for it. It seems to me they are used to working on the homes of people who don’t care how the outside of their home looks. If you do, and you use Olson, you better ask a lot of questions and get all the details in writing. They are going to take a lot of your time as you follow them around and keep them from doing the easiest thing for them at every opportunity.
They did do a good job moving our furnace into the attic.

Just had a very good experience with Olson Energy Service. I got a flyer in the mail advertising a deal for a gas furnace tune-​up which I had been intending to get done since the start of the year. Was able to make an appointment for the same week I called. The service person showed up exactly on time and seemed very confident and knowledgeable. I’ve never seen someone disassemble a furnace quite so much just to check it out, but he was very careful and thorough. After he had checked and cleaned everything to his satisfaction, he put it back together and put his tester on it. It checked out very well. In addition he fixed a loose wire at no extra charge. I am very pleased with the service and would recommend Olson Energy Service to anyone. This is the first time I’ve used them, but I don’t think it will be the last.

Be aware that as of ten days ago they are under new management and the new owner sounds really committed to offering good, honest service. had a very negative experience with them a couple of weeks ago (details not important), but the new owner called me today to apologize, told me that the dishonest employee no longer works for them, and that they were immediately refunding me the $ 260 we paid for the service call. Can’t ask for better than that.

It’s true they didn’t charge me. I have been waiting in terror for the bill, so I ‘m glad this update from them confirms they aren’t going to, after all. Probably because I was screaming my head off at them when I realized they were charging me $ 125 for a visit to say my air purifier was broken. Thanks for that.

This review is based on a bid I received (no actual work) and interactions with the selling agent.
We were replacing an old oil furnace with a new one and asked for bids. Olson’s gave us a bid for putting up new registers and a very involved ductwork system. When we talked with them we emphasized we wanted to use less ductwork so eventually our basement is livable. Furthermore, our house is small (first floor is ~850 sq ft) so we absolutely don’t need to have registers near the windows. I repeatedly asked for a bid that uses the old register openings rather than cut out new holes into our oldish house and creaking floors. I was told the price would be the same. Overall, I felt they were taking advantage of a me as a client selling me on something more expensive than needed. Needless to say, they didn’t get my business.

NEVER USE THESE GUYS. We used Olson Energy to service our furnace for years. The furnace broke and needed replacing. As it turns out, they had not even looked at the Heatpump portion of our system in over 10 years. Then Chris, their sales rep, came and gave us an estimate. He was condescending to my wife when she told him we were using another company. He said he was going to call me. When he called me, he was rude and hostile. When I asked him why my heatpump hadn’t worked in years and that their crew hadn’t looked at it, he asked me if if I was some sort of «expert». Oddly we talked with a neighbor after this who had an almost identical experience AFTER they had Olson install a system.

Olson Energy just replaced our 100 year old cast iron boiler with an energy efficient boiler. They were consummate professionals in the truest sense of the word. They were fantastic!!!

We had used Olson Energy in the past, with good results. Not this time.
We are doing a remodel/​addition requiring a new heat pump, furnace, and duct work. read big dollars. Chris, the salesman, came to see the property. He was lukewarm, at best. I actually felt it was because I was a woman. He was much better with our contractor. At one point, though, he said «I shouldn’t have wasted my time» (coming out here). He was suppose to have a tech come out to crawl under the house. 5 weeks later, no bid, no nothing. I called Olson, and talked with Jeff, the manager. He promised to call me the next day after talking with Chris. Never heard from him. I called Olson a few days later, and talked with someone who «knew the story». Chris told his boss that our contractor didn’t want to pull a permit, and that is why he made the comment about wasting his time. This was a flat out lie. While I was willing to believe maybe there was some miscommunication, I asked if there was another salesman we could see, but was told that Chris was the only one. I then told Olson Energy that I would take my business elsewhere. They apparently are doing so well that they don’t need to provide good customer service, and are not interested in making some money!
Don’t expect good things from Olson Energy!

They take extreme liberties with a service contract. The first time we wanted oil we called them as they are the service provider. Our first fill was botched. We requested 150 gallons and got nearly 200 at full price. After understanding how inefficient oil heat is we considered other options with our landlords and they agreed to a change so there was no need for a surplus of oil. When we called for more, yes we needed more we requested 50 gallons, luckily my girlfriend was home as the driver was preparing for a full fill to the tune of $ 1,100. Recently the truck was in our area and the driver proceed to fill the take without authorization, even circumventing the lock on our above ground tank! Outraged my girlfriend again had to stop the driver who only gave her a bunch of lip and said that he’d siphon the oil out for 100 bucks. The people in the office were not understanding and some one named Kevin not only gave my girlfriend a hard time but come to discover that he was rude and condescending to our landlords who apparently were the only people that could address the issue even though the oil company has our SSN numbers on the account.

I just recently used Olson Energy Service to first inspect my old gas furnace and then to install a new gas furnace and I had an excellent experience with both visits.
The workmen arrived on time, were clean and courteous throughout the entire process and they even completed the work more quickly than expected. I would highly recommend Olson for any of your HVAC needs.

We’ve been suing Olson Energy service for the last four years. The first winter in our house, the old oil furnace died and we had to replace it. I contacted many companies in Seattle for replacement bids. We ended up getting a heat pump and a new furnace from Olson — heating oil was $ 4.25 per gallon at the time and it cost over $ 3,000 for heat in the winter. With the heat pump, our winter heating bills are way down. We used 15 gallons of heating oil last year, and the heat pump costs a maximum of $ 100 extra per month to run. The heat pump is paying for itself — fast!
Our situation was very challenging; due to space issues and then finding a heat pump compatible with the furnace; the guys at Olson kept at it until they were satisfied the units would work together. They gave us a VERY competitive price for purchase and installation.
Installation in this 1929 house was difficult and there were various challenges along the way. The guys at Olson were so wonderful and patient. They showed up here late one Friday afternoon when the system seemed to just stop. Turned out we accidently flipped a safety switch.
When they came for a follow-​up checkup, the tech was unhappy with how the thermostat was performing, so switched it out for free. We didn’t even know there was a problem. BTW, I think a service contract and and yearly checkup is important. The Olson guys, while checking out the system, noticed lint from the dryer vent was getting into the heat pump. They showed me the problem so I could take care of the issue. Had they not come out, we would have inadvertently burned out the heat pump! Now, that would have been expensive.
Fast forward to today. We just had another company come and blow in insulation over the garage. In drilling to blow in insulation, they inadvertantly drilled into the fresh air return and filled it with blow-​in insulation. The insulation company doesn’t have duct cleaning equipment so I was on my own for figuring out how to get my system cleaned out. All the duct cleaning services were scheduled three weeks + out and we don’t want to go without heat for the next 3 weeks. I called Olson and they fit us in today despite being completely booked.
I can’t begin to say how appreciative I am that they are taking care of us on such short notice. This is absolutely consistent with the great customer service we have received all along. Thanks!

This was the worst customer service and dishonest sales experience I have ever had. I even spoke to the owner of the company, who called me after business hours from his cell phone, and said what happened was «not his problem.» If this is not resolved tomorrow, I’ll be making a report with the better business bureau. Do not do business with this company!

Similar experience to other indivduals. Going into the spring we didn’t think we’d need any more heating oil so had informed Olson Energy not to deliver oil unless oil was below 10″ and had received prior authorization. So was very surprised and disappointed to come home today to a $ 750 heating oil bill without any contact from Olson Energy. Called and complained and they agreed they were wrong as there were notes on the account and agreed to some compensation, but am still really frustrated with their lack of communication/​unprofessionalism. Now I have a fuel oil tank that has been filled with the most expenisive rate of the year going into spring .joy!

I want to give Olson a bad rating because I hate paying for oil but that would be unfair, right? When that $ 1000 oil bill is hanging on the doorknob, it’s hard to have warm and fuzzy feelings for them. But that’s not their fault.
I’ve been a customer for years off and on since the early 90s. They’ve been really nice on the phone. They’ve been pretty responsive when I’ve had problems with my furnace. They have even helped me with things that don’t profit them.
And hey, you can’t blame Olson for the pollution problem in our county. We’re all to blame for that. We are using electricity to power our computers (to write Unilocal reviews) and that electricity is likely the result of a polluting technology. Now I feel guilty for writing Unilocal reviews…

I wish I didn’t have to put one star on here.
I also started using this place because of a sticker on the furnace. If you can avoid Olson Energy, please do. In a year and a half of service I have had multiple overflows (meaning I only ordered 100 – 150 gallons and they fill it anyways, leaving a bill of $ 900) and anything else you can think of. Very rude customer service.
Use these guys: Genesee Heating