Deep Blue v Northernair

Summary

Deep Blue Air Conditioning and Northernair are Gold Coast based installation companies who both have more than 20 years of industry experience and knowledge. Through a series of reviews Deep Blue Air Conditioning Review were found to be the top air-conditioning installation company in the Gold Coast with Northernair falling just out of the top 5.

Notably, Northernair performs both service maintenance and repairs for air conditioning systems as well as offering a 24/7 emergency breakdown service. Operating since 1980, they are one of the most established air conditioning installation companies in the Gold Coast. They cover two office locations, in Lismore and Tweed Heads, which allow Northernair to service Northern New South Wales area as well as the Gold Coast. They offer specialist services like air conditioning design advice, scheduled maintenance and emergency repair of a range of air conditioning units. Their pricing range was similar to Deep Blue Air Conditioning, with our review team rating their cost effectiveness highly at 4 out of 5.

Price

While Northernair does not rank as one of our top 5 air conditioning installation companies, when it comes to cost effectiveness they are comparable to them. Like Deep Blue Air Conditioning they offer fairly competitive prices on their installations and repairs, with quotes that can be equal to, or below the market average. This is reflected in the scores they have received with each team being awarded 4 out of 5 stars for cost-effectiveness from our reviewers. This places each team in second for cost-effectiveness when compared to the rest of the Gold Coast installation market.

Deep Blue Air Conditioning does not offer volume discounts, whereas Northernair will consider them. They will, however, offer deals and promotions from their suppliers, which Northernair do not. It is important to note, the lack of special promotions and deals may be due to already low and affordable pricing from the outset. In terms of price matching both teams will consider this with Deep Blue Air Conditioning only doing so if the quotes are like-for-like. Northernair’s price matching is only agreed upon at the discretion of their management. Deep Blue Air Conditioning also does not charge a call out fee, though this is relatively standard in the Gold Coast installation market.

As a whole, the review found these air conditioning installation companies to be genuine and up front about their costs and provide reasonable and affordable quotes.

Customer Service

Both Deep Blue Air Conditioning and Northernair score well in terms of customer service overall. Deep Blue Air Conditioning rate a 4.5 out of 5 for their overall high standard of customer service with Northernair receiving 3.25 out of 5 for theirs, due primarily to a slower response rate.

Via email Deep Blue Air Conditioning was polite and concise, preparing a user-friendly quote that was simple to understand while still being very comprehensive. They then took the time to answer questions and go through the document in detail. This gave them an impressive rating of 9 out of 10 stars for their customer service via email, with a response time of 2-4 days to acknowledge receipt of a quote request, which was then turned around in the same time frame. Deep Blue Air Conditioning also did well via phone and we rated their customer service in this area as an 8 out of 10.

As mentioned, while Northernair offer a high level of customer service, they are let down by their response times via email, for which they received a 6 out of 10 rating, taking more than 4 days to acknowledge a request and then the same amount of time to issue the quote. Via phone their response is immediate and their team always forwarded our requests for specific information to an appropriate technician or team member. They came across with a helpful, friendly and informative manner over the phone, scoring 7 out of 10. We would suggest if you do go for Northernair, a quick follow up call might help speed things along.

Deep Blue Air Conditioning is a warranty agent for brands such as Daikin and Fujitsu, offering up to 5 year warranties on these installations. Northernair, by contrast, only offer a 1 year warranty, despite being a Daikin specialist, and furthermore do not offer financing, meaning customers will need to pay the entire amount at the completion of the installation.

Neither team provide weekend hours, with the exception of Northernair’s 24/7 emergency breakdown services. Due to the weather on the Gold Coast both companies will generally only work on cooling systems appropriate to the climate.

Expertise

While Northernair was established almost 40 years ago to Deep Blue Air Conditioning’s 2012 establishment date, Deep Blue Air Conditioning are backed by a team with 20 years’ experience.

Both companies work on residential and commercial properties to install and repair air conditioning systems. They both display good product knowledge and offer competitive pricing, although Northernair only offer a 1 year warranty to Deep Blue Air Conditioning’s five years. They both possess an ARC tick of approval, a must have for the industry as it gives them a licence to handle refrigerants.

Northernair cover a large area, including the southern end of the Gold Coast in Tweed Heads, with another office in Lismore in Northern New South Wales, servicing anywhere from Tweed Heads to Byron Bay to Surfers Paradise, and can go as far as Brisbane. They also offer a maintenance schedule for their customers, which cover monthly, quarterly, annual or custom maintenance on all domestic and commercial air conditioners.

Both companies deliver on customer service, with their main points of difference being response time and warranty period. Either would make an excellent choice as an instillation company.