By: Dan I. Cook
Six years ago I bought my AC unit from Air Around the Clock. I’m a huge fan of the Joe Rose Sports Show on WGAM and it was because of Joe’s horrible singing of the ATC song that made me hire these guys. Not really, but the fact they have been around for over 30 years and have a 24/7 operation was the real reason.  Every time I’ve called for any maintenance on my unit, the response time has been prompt, and the service was very professional.
Recently, I noticed that my AC handler was leaking at the base. I figured my drain line was clogged so I called ATC. They came out the next day and I advised them that since I was working my pop, who’s 76, would be at the house. They showed up on time and got to work.
That Dreadful Call
Don’t you hate that call you get from a mechanic working on your car or anything you own that costs lots of money. Well I got that call from the worker Joe. Joe tells me that my coil needs to be cleaned and cleaned badly. He proceeds to tell me it’s $425.00 blah blah blah blah.
Honestly I didn’t hear a word after $425.00. He sounded like all the adults in a Peanuts Cartoon. Â I’m thinking WTF man. I almost called Joe Rose to see if he could work out a deal for me since he turned me on to these dudes. Instead, I called my wife, we discussed it, and decided to get the work done. Mind you I was just taking this dude Joe’s word for it that I needed this work done. ATC has always been straight up with me so I didn’t even call another place to get another quote. Joe makes an appointment to come back the next day to clean the coil and drain pan.
Oh My!
I’m at work again, so my dad meets Joe and they get to business. Joe tells me he will take before and after pictures to show what they did. I didn’t ask him to do that, but it was very professional that he did.
Well folks, I’m embarrassed to even show you the before pictures, but it’s imperative that I do. One word comes to mind: disgusting. I can’t believe my family was breathing the air pumped out by my AC coil.  More importantly, an air conditioner with dirty coils uses almost 40 percent more energy than one with clean coils. With buildup like this, the cooling function can be reduced by 30 percent or more.
The after pictures clearly shows what an excellent job Joe did. I never got to meet him and it wasn’t like it was free but I’m appreciative of him and ATC. That was $425.00 well spent.
The Verdict
This is a great company. I’m not related to anyone who works there or owns it. I will go on the record and say I met Mike Lang (the guy in the ATC commercials) and his wife years ago while eating at the now defunct Gold Coast Grill. This was before he was in the commercials. They are always out and about eating dinner in Coral Springs. They love Big Bear Brewing Company and I’m pretty sure they are fans of The Cook and the Cork too. Anytime I see them I go and say hello, they are really nice people. Mike always told me to call him if I needed something with my AC. Well, I haven’t and I’m here to report that I didn’t need to. The price was fair and the service was excellent. This is another business that I’m proud to say is in Coral Springs. Just never send the New York Jets truck to my house!
Remember to tell Mike Lang that Dan, Joe Rose, and Coral Springs Talk sent you and Stay Frosty!
Author Profile
- A native of Broward, Half-Samoan Half-Irish or Afa Tasi, Food Warrior, Beer Ninja, United States Marine, owner/talent of danicookeatdrink.com. Retired Oakland Park Police Department/BSO Sergeant, DLE.
Related
EatApril 7, 2024Exclusive Sneak Peak of Divieto Ristorante of Coral Springs
EatApril 20, 2023Game Night Arcade Bar & Grill; A Gamer Gem With a 4/20-Inspired Food Menu 
EatNovember 22, 2022Is Ocean One Bar & Grille’s $5.99 Lunch Too Good to Be True? Dan I. Cook Investigates
EatAugust 25, 2022Let’s Taco Bout The Taco Project in Coral Springs
7 comments
Yeah but like any big operation they have high overhead. They push their employees to get upsell service calls and their preventative maitenence is bs they just sell clueless customers parts they dont need since they dont know any better. Your “before” picture is actually not before it is showing the suds of the coil cleaner so you cant really see the actual coil or if there is actually any build up on the fins. Not saying there wasnt but you cant tell from that photo.
Their preventative maintenance does not include selling of parts, just means you agree to a contract that they will come to your house for a certain time period every so many months and “maintain” your a/c. There are technicians who do sell extra “parts”, as you call them, such as filters or air purifiers and they may not be needed in your opinion. If there was no grime on the coil of that air handler there would be no suds, just saying.
I didn’t know the before pic of the coil contained a cleaning solution. Just being honest. I almost fainted when I saw the pic. That guy Joe should have told me that just saying.
Ok after seeing the post about the foam on the AC coils I looked at the pics Joe sent me. The pic that is now posted is the correct “before” pic. I didn’t know what I was looking at and like I said, I wasn’t home to view it. Sorry about the confusion. So that’s my fault, I should have asked what I was looking at.
Ahh yes dan your true before picture the coil doesnt look to bad it certainly wouldnt be losing efficiency from being in that condition. Its hard to say if it really needed cleaning to me it doesnt but in their defense sometimes an overflowing drain pan is the result of algea build up in the pan itself which can only be remedied by pulling out the entire coil and seperating it from the pan to clean it. Usually you will know this when the safety overflow switch is failing to cut off the unit because the water is never even reaching the front of the pan.
Thank you for that information. I wish I could have been there before they cleaned it but I had to work. Next time to be safe I’ll show up to see what’s going on.
LOL, You got ripped off…
I would have cleaned it for $250 and that coil wasn’t even that bad..