CHICAGO — In a city where winter furnace failures and summer AC breakdowns can shift from inconvenience to crisis in a matter of hours, homeowners face a critical question: Which company can they trust when their home's comfort and safety hang in the balance?
For Four Seasons Heating, Air ConditioningCooling, Plumbing and Electric, the answer came through the Better Business Bureau’s highest honor. The company recently captured its second BBB Torch Award for Ethics, a decade after its first win in 2015, becoming the only heating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical company in Illinois to earn the distinction twice.
The recognition marks another milestone in a story that began in 1971 with a single man and a single truck on Chicago’s South Side. Five decades later, Four Seasons has grown into one of the region’s largest home services providers, employing more than 800 people and operating a fleet of over 400 trucks across Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. The company has also been named a Chicago Tribune Top Workplace, reflecting its emphasis on culture, training and ethical leadership.
The award carries particular weight in an industry where homeowners often face price gouging, unnecessary repairs and high-pressure sales tactics. Anyone who has scrambled to find a technician during a freezing January night or a sweltering July afternoon understands how vulnerable emergency service calls can feel. Four Seasons has intentionally built its reputation on refusing to exploit those moments. The company offers 24-hour repair service with no extra charge for nights, weekends or holidays, staffs a live customer support center around the clock and backs every job with a two-year satisfaction guarantee.
“For over 50 years, we’ve built our business on honesty and trust,” said Dave Musial, CEO. “This award is a reflection of our team’s dedication to doing right by our customers every single day.”
The BBB Torch Award celebrates companies that go beyond basic compliance, recognizing organizations that demonstrate leadership, accountability and a positive impact on customers, employees and the communities they serve. At Four Seasons, those values guide every repair, installation and customer interaction.
The home services industry has long struggled with uneven standards. Families often face confusing diagnoses, surprise fees and a lack of transparency that leaves homeowners unsure whether they are receiving honest recommendations or being upsold in a vulnerable moment. These gaps in accountability are exactly why independent oversight, such as the BBB Torch Award for Ethics, carries real weight for consumers.
Four Seasons earned the honor by demonstrating what ethical service looks like in practice, not just in policy. The company emphasizes character at every level, beginning with clear codes of conduct and customer-first principles that guide technicians, office staff and leadership alike. Employees receive ongoing education that reinforces honest communication, HVAC safety and ethical decision-making.
Four Seasons also stands out for its culture of openness. The company maintains a true “open door” policy, encouraging employees to raise concerns, share feedback and report mistakes immediately. Managers are expected to elevate customer insights to leadership, ensuring real experiences shape company decisions.
The BBB Torch Award for Ethics represents the Bureau's most prestigious recognition, awarded to businesses that demonstrate exceptional commitment to ethical practices in their marketplace. Unlike customer service awards or sales achievements, the Torch Award specifically evaluates how companies conduct business when no one is watching, including their transparency, accountability and integrity in day-to-day operations.
To win requires more than satisfied customers or resolved complaints. The BBB examines documented policies, employee training programs, community involvement, pricing transparency and response to problems. Winners must show a sustained, organization-wide commitment to ethical conduct that permeates every level of the business.
For consumers, the award serves as a beacon in industries where trust can be hard to establish. In home services in particular, where technical knowledge gaps leave homeowners dependent on expert recommendations, the Torch Award signals a company that has proven it will not recommend a $5,000 furnace replacement when a $200 repair will suffice.
Four Seasons was honored thanks to transparent pricing policies, more than 44,000 customer reviews, documented employee development programs, community support initiatives and responsive complaint resolution. The company maintains an A+ BBB rating alongside more than 30,000 five-star Google reviews.
Four Seasons didn't start as an industry giant. For more than five decades, the family-focused, locally operated business has grown alongside the communities it serves across Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. Through economic ups and downs, harsh winters and scorching summers, the company has maintained its founding commitment: doing what is right for customers, employees and neighbors.
That philosophy gets tested regularly in an industry where emergency calls can mean premium pricing and where homeowners often lack the technical knowledge to question recommendations.
Four Seasons has built its model on guarantees that remove those pressure points: price matching, same-day service and no extra charges for nights, weekends or holidays, precisely when families most need help and feel most vulnerable to inflated pricing.
"Our business is about satisfying the customer," the company states in its guiding principles. "Without the customer, we would not exist. Therefore, at all times employees are to make total customer satisfaction their top priority."
This is not mere corporate speak. The company’s “No Hidden Fees” guarantee, Low-Price Guarantee and Client C.A.R.E. Team demonstrate systems designed to prevent the billing surprises and communication breakdowns that generate most home services complaints.
At Four Seasons, ethical leadership begins with the executive team, which prioritizes open communication, accountability and humility. They actively seek feedback from employees, customers and industry partners to drive continuous improvement.
The commitment flows through every organizational level. Regular all-staff updates keep employees informed about company priorities, challenges and successes. Managers are encouraged to share customer insights upward, ensuring leadership decisions remain connected to the experiences of both field technicians and the families they serve.
Clear codes of conduct and customer-first policies establish expectations, but the company backs them with action. Every employee participates in onboarding and continuing education emphasizing not only technical excellence but ethical business practices, respectful communication and problem-solving with fairness.
Field technicians are empowered to make on-the-spot decisions prioritizing customer satisfaction rather than waiting for approvals. This trust strengthens customer relationships while reinforcing pride and accountability among team members. When mistakes occur, both customers and supervisors are notified immediately.
Four Seasons views its role as extending beyond fixing furnaces and repairing pipes. As a locally based company, leadership sees responsibility to give back to communities that have supported them for more than 50 years.
The company creates stable, skilled trade careers with training and advancement opportunities at 10 Chicagoland and Indiana locations. Partnerships with local vendors and contractors reinvest in the regional economy. Flexible financing ensures families of all budgets can afford critical repairs, which is especially important in a region where a failed furnace in February is not optional.
Education and workforce development programs promote careers in the trades, offering apprenticeships and encouraging continuous learning and certifications. Tuition reimbursement and the Earn and Learn Program help employees advance professionally while addressing the skilled trades shortage affecting the entire industry.
For Chicagoland homeowners navigating an often-confusing marketplace of service providers, the company’s second Torch Award offers validation. It signals a trusted name that has proven its commitment to ethics not just in words but through policies, practices and five decades of keeping homes safe, healthy and comfortable.
In an industry where one bad actor can leave a family without heat in winter or air conditioning in summer, and significantly poorer, that distinction matters. Four Seasons’ twice-earned Torch Award signals a company that views every service call not as a transaction, but as a commitment to doing right by neighbors who trust them with their homes and families.
“Winning this honor twice means our team shows up with integrity every single day,” said a Four Seasons Heating & Cooling spokesperson. “When someone lets us into their home, they trust us with their comfort and their safety. We take that responsibility seriously, and we believe ethical service is the only kind of service worth providing.”
