Mckinnon Heating Cooling

Poor scheduling and no communication from the owner created a stressful and very unsatisfactory experience. Legal intervention was required in order to complete my installation. The problems had absolutely nothing to do with payment.
I would not recommend this company.

June 25th/2014 I had a new boiler installed. By July 5th, I started having water pressure issues. The boiler was checked and adjusted on July 7th/2014. In September heating issues started-I had no heat.

On October 5th a third call was made to fix the problem. No reply. I sent an email on Oct 9th and finally someone agreed to come out on October 23rd. Two weeks later. The technician came out and had to leave without fixing the boiler. I emailed their office. I was told by the owner I would get a reply on the 27th Of October, almost a month after I had reported my heating problem.

The technician came back on October 30th and spent 3 hours fixing my boiler. On December 1st, the temperature in the house dropped 3 degrees in 3 hours. I had to contact the company three times to get them to send back a technician on December 5th. The technician said parts were missing that should have been installed back in June. They didn't come out to fix the boiler until December 12th.

March 20/2015, water pressure had been weak to non-existent for a few days. I contacted the company three times. March 25th someone came by to check in on the boiler. Again it stopped working. March 27th a technician came by and said the wire in the heat exchanger was loose and needed to be fix. April 2nd, the office emailed to say they had the part and could fix it on April 6th.

I filed a complaint with the BBB in April and it took until August for them to contact the company who suggested I should have called them. The issue was never resolved.

Business we have given McKinnon includes a new boiler and installation, a hot water heater and installation and service calls, for total business approaching $10,000 over 7 years.
In December, a drain valve failed on the boiler. Luckily there was a hose on the valve so there was no flooding. McKinnon's technician came and replaced the valve. With my assistance, we bled the radiators and everything was work well, including third floor radiators that had not previously been giving off heat. The technician noted that there was a part that had to be replaced and that the furnace required cleaning. The technician returned the following week and after replacing the part and cleaning the furnace, he was convinced that there was a leak somewhere in the piping because of the pressure readings he was getting. He suggested to my wife that we start opening up the walls and get a plumber to fix the leaks because McKinnon does not do that kind of work. There were no logical signs of leaks (we had had frozen pipes the previous winter, so we were fully aware of the damage that can ensue with about 2 minutes of leaking - it was only due to luck and foresight that the frozed pipe issue did not absolutely devastate our house, but we know firsthand what damage a one minute leak can cause), and despite my explanations (over the phone) why there could not possibly be a leak (there is an epoxy liner throughout 80% of the piping and the rest was replaced and extensively tested months before), the technician drained the system and left. This was late on a Friday afternoon, so he essentially walked away, leaving us to start making holes in the walls and following up with plumbers, etc. over the weekend.
He us told that the system would work on a limited basis. This was not true, but being trusting, we stayed in the house, relying on gas fireplaces to keep warm.
I filled the system on the following Monday evening and there were no leaks, although there was some steam blowback because the technician had closed a valve on the back of the boiler that I did not know existed. I shut everything back down again.
The technician came back on the Wednesday and started up the system, bleeding the radiators, with my assistance. He replaced a bleeder valve on one of the radiators and the replacement valve requires a special key (rather than a screwdriver) and did not leave a key for us when he left.
The third floor radiators that had come to life after the technician's first visit did not heat up subsequently. He suggested that I bleed that radiator and it should heat up again. After five or six attempts over 2 hours each time, the radiator is still not working.
I received a call from McKinnon informing me that they were unable to process their charges because there was an issue with my credit card, lucky us. I called back, politely suggesting that we be given a break on the charges given our previous customer loyalty and business we had sent their way, and that we had needlessly lost at least one day of work and were inconvenienced being without heat. My suggestions were not well received, McKinnon told me that they had made concessions in not charging us for the technician's second visit. There was no forthcoming sympathy for our unnecessary inconvenience, that I bled half of the radiators, and that the system was not working as well as before it was before the technician's second visit.
We paid the outstanding balance and sent a letter with the remittance, outlining our dissatisfaction, and requesting advice/assistance in getting our third floor radiator working again. Our letter has not been acknowledged.

McKinnon did an amazing job of installing a new Boiler Navien NCB 210
Combination boiler and hot water heater!
Rob, Yasa and Hameed get a 10+++for a job well done! I have rarely seen such pride of workmanship and they did a 3 day job in 1 day by working 13 hours straight and did not leave until I had heat and hot water again!!! I had been without heat for over 2 days in the coldest week of 2015. I called McKinnon at 2:00a.m after dealing with another company who just could not fix my boiler. so clearly I needed some one else who knew what they were doing and as soon as Rob arrived at 3:00a.m. And said I needed a new boiler even though mine was only 7 and a half years old I believed him as he said I would have to replace all the parts and still would have a bad boiler. Not one to throw good money after bad, I said when can you start?
McKinnon started the next day at 11:30a.m. And did not leave until I had both heat and hot water. I cannot explain how happy I was when Rob and Yasa finished and the next day Hameed returned to do follow up to get the boiler running perfectly! He also told me to get the the pipes descaled once a year and complete the registration of the warantee. I would not hesitate to recommend McKinnon especially if you have a boiler or combination boiler in an older home Downtown like me! The guys are all very honest and very hardworking which is a rarity these days!
Bravo Rob, Yasa, and Hameed and all the helpers too on a job well done!!!

Thanks to the friendly techs that took off there shoes going in and out, and doing a great job thanks
I hope I won't see you again unless it's for maintenance .

Our boiler was installed 4 years ago. We had a boiler that failed on us in mid-winter. Had probably been in the home 50 years and worked efficiently and silently for the 15 years we had it. McKinnon sold us a new mid-efficiency (old house - don't need high efficiency). We have had them back 5 times in 4 years to fix our Slant Fin Victory II. They have blown a vent hole in our foundation to bring freezing cold air into our basement all winter to get this thing to run. They have replaced a flow switch 3 or 4 times - $300 + $180/hr labour - payment by CC up front if you please. Apparently we aren't the first unhappy customers.

Our brand new boiler sound like a small airplane taking off in our basement every time it turns on. We were happy with our quiet boiler, preferred it to the noisy forced air in our previous home. Now this thing is louder than our previous forced air system when it comes on.

McKinnon's service team is available at their convenience and they could care less if you are out of heat in the winter. We have spoken directly to the president by this time and it was the worst customer service I have experienced in any company I have dealt with.

Avoid this company at all costs. I will never let them back in our house again.

I discovered I had a bulging hot water tank that had been leaking for a while, I panicked, and asked around, who should I call. Michael from McKinnon came to my house with in a short time of making the call (this was after my first contractor cancelled within 1/2 hr of the scheduled visit). Within 2 hrs McKinnon was at my house addressing the issue, I had decided to go with a Tankless Water which requires retrofitting the supply and exhaust, a lot of work. The McKinnon Men were there to the end, very professional, informative and a great sense of humour. My furnace will also need to be replaced soon and I know who I will call.

Paid 50 % downpayment for boiler - it never worked.
Owner used my credit card to make 50 % final payment
without my permission and before job completed.
Owner promises to show up but doesn't.

We experienced some hiccups during the removal of my water tank and installation of my new tankless model, but Michael was a pro. His team were great and I'm thrilled with the outcome. Thank you McKinnon!