Optima vs Surrey Air

Summary

Surrey Air has impressively been in operation for over 35 years, with Optima just a few years younger with 30+ years of experience. Surrey Air’s co-owners present as experienced in air conditioning, with over 66 years of combined industry service between them. This extensive industry experience is reflected in the services they offer, the standards they hold and the quality of service they provide. In our Surrey Air review, they were rated as being just outside our top 5 Melbourne-based air conditioning installation companies, based on a range of factors considered necessary in a company’s success.

In comparison Optima currently provides the best value for customers in the Melbourne installation industry. They offer a comprehensive range of products and services, competitive prices, and many years of knowledge and experience.

Price

Our Surrey Air review found that their pricing is generally comparable to the average market prices, awarding the company a strong score of 4 out of 5 for this criterion. They are upfront and genuine regarding costs when compared to other air conditioning installation companies in Melbourne. This indicated in their pricing and service packages being displayed on their website for potential customers to see. Such transparency is unusual and refreshing.

Comparatively Optima’s prices are also very competitive, generally lower or equal to other providers leading them to be tied with another provider for most cost-effectiveness overall. In the price area Optima scored a 5 out of 5 despite not offering volume discounts, promotions or price matching. Price matching is not an option for Optima due to quotes not always being ‘like for like’. Instead of relying on discounts, Optima tend to offer fair prices, giving a realistic and competitive quote from the beginning, to avoid “hidden” costs.

Both Optima and Surrey Air are considered above average for cost-effectiveness with Surrey Air being the only one of the two to offer deals and promotions. Putting their prices on the Surrey Air website allows customers to make a decision before approaching the company to see if they are within budget. It would also indicate that Surrey Air are comfortable with their pricing and stand by it. They can also provide a more accurate quote when supplied with the measurements of the area requiring heating or cooling.

Customer Service

While Surrey Air has received a low customer service rating of 2.5 due to their slow response times, they conveniently, have a call back feature on their website, where a customer can request a call back from staff members.

Optima’s customer service score is an overall 4.5 out of 5, performing strongly and efficiently over both service via phone and email. In these areas Optima’s quick response times saw them score 8 out of 10 for customer service via phone and 9 out of 10 for service via email. Surrey Air’s slower responses gave them a score of 5 out of 10 in both phone and email contact. This is not to say that their staff isn’t helpful and friendly. Surry Air’s staff are particularly knowledgeable, ask pertinent questions and are able to provide genuine and direct specific responses to questions, even on an initial phone enquiry. Their email responses to quotes are also simple, clear and easy to understand, the main difference being in the slower response time. Optima’s representatives responded to queries in a prompt and friendly manner, either immediately or within a couple of hours whereas Surrey Air took over 4 days.

Neither Optima nor Surrey Air review provide any formal financing solutions nor instalment payments, like some other Melbourne-based air conditioning companies. Surrey Air requires payment for installation services to be submitted upfront. They also prefer to stick with set pricing and packages, as listed on their website, with set pricing for installation, repairs and maintenance.

Over the phone Surrey Air displayed professionalism and experience. Their team members showed a high level of knowledge and technical experience and were able to answer questions clearly but with direct and simple information. Comparatively Optima’s sales representatives have a good understanding of Optima’s products and services, conveying knowledge in a manner that is polite and helpful, without being pushy. They also deliver great efficiency regarding response times.

Expertise

Both Surrey Air and Optima have strong technical expertise and experience coming from 30+ years in the industry, with knowledgeable technicians who ask relevant and probing questions to find the best product to suit each customer’s needs, with Surrey Air specifically asking for the room dimensions before giving a quote.

Each offer a 6 year installation warranty, which is more than the standard 5 year ones offered by most other Melbourne based air conditioning companies. Both Surrey Air and Optima have the industry standard in the ARC tick.
Surrey Air offer an impressive number of unique features for potential customers, such as standardised pricing and service packages as well as a same day emergency breakdown service. Despite slow response times Surrey Air received an overall Compare Air Conditioning Rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, a good competitive score that ranks Surrey Air as just outside our top 5 air conditioning installation companies in the Melbourne region. Our Optima review team gave them a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5, ranking them the best value Melbourne-based air conditioning installation company.

Optima and Surrey Air each have positive reasons to use them for your installation needs. And while Optima may the best value for the Melbourne market, having access to Surrey’s same day emergency breakdown service, transparent pricing and weekend hours may be more appealing to some customers.