The Otis Elevator Company is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment.
Otis Elevator (otis.com) has a 1.2 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 74 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Construction & Manufacturing and its reputation is poor. 93% of reviews are 1 star, a relatively high share; The business has not yet replied to negative reviews; 18 of them were added in the last 12 months. Last updated 2026-08-31.
Otis is a company which doesn’t know one word and that’s service. The ‘helpdesk’ finds it normal you have to wait more than 24 hours after the call that the elevator is not working in a building where also 80 year olds are living. It is more than 25 hours later and nothing has been done yet. I would suggest take a contract with another company.
Poor Service, Poor Communication and No Technical Solution from OTIS South Africa. We are the owners of a commercial office park in Johannesburg, South Africa, with three OTIS lifts installed across our properties. As a customer with multiple OTIS lifts under our ownership, we expected a high standard of technical expertise, professionalism and customer service from a company with OTIS's international reputation. Unfortunately, our experience over the past 10 months has been extremely disappointing. The lift in question had been fully operational for many years. After the previous tenant breached the lease agreement, the Sheriff took possession of the premises and disconnected the building's electricity supply, leaving the lift out of service. When our new tenant occupied the building approximately 10 months ago, we immediately contacted OTIS South Africa to recommission the lift. From the outset, Basil Eksten and his manager, Johan Kleynhans, were responsible for handling this matter. Throughout the process, communication has been extremely poor. Both Basil Eksten and Johan Kleynhans have been extremely difficult to contact, and obtaining updates has required constant follow-up from our side. We have often been left without any meaningful feedback for extended periods. Initially, we were advised that the piston seal was leaking. We approved repairs of approximately R20,000 after being assured that the lift would be fully operational once the repair had been completed. After the repair, the lift was still not operational. We were then advised that the motor needed to be rewound. A short time later, we were informed that the motor did not require rewinding after all. Basil Eksten also removed components from the lift, but after months of delays, changing diagnoses and very little feedback, we were ultimately told that the only solution was to replace the entire lift. At one stage, the lift operated for one day before shutting down again while making a loud mechanical noise. Instead of identifying the source of the noise and determining which component had failed, OTIS continued recommending that we replace the entire lift. Even more concerning, Basil Eksten suggested that we consider installing another manufacturer's lift instead of an OTIS lift. We found this recommendation surprising coming from an OTIS representative. After almost 10 months, we still have not received a detailed technical report identifying the exact faulty component or explaining why the lift cannot be repaired. We cannot accept a recommendation to replace an entire lift without first establishing the actual cause of the fault. We were also disappointed that Basil Eksten discussed the condition of the lift directly with our tenant instead of communicating with us as the property owner. We believe all technical findings and recommendations should have been communicated to us first. This experience has fallen well below the standard we expected from a global company such as OTIS. We have experienced poor communication, inconsistent technical advice, repeated delays and no satisfactory technical solution. If this matter is not addressed by senior management, we will have no alternative but to escalate our concerns to OTIS International. We have given OTIS South Africa almost 10 months to resolve this matter professionally. Unfortunately, our confidence in their customer service, communication and technical support has been significantly diminished. We sincerely hope this review prompts OTIS management to investigate this matter properly, identify the root cause of the lift failure through a competent technical assessment, and provide the level of service that customers should expect from a company of OTIS's international reputation.
Worst service brand. Comprehensive AMC but no service saying parts not available.
Otis Elevator repaired the elevator in my office building (with four stories)about two months ago. My office is on the fourth floor, and I have a bad ankle. They flushed the hydraulics to the elevator, and put in new fluid. They charged a little less than $50,000 for this. About two weeks ago, the elevator broke again. We found out today that the reason the elevator broke is that they installed a bad elevator seal, so all the hydraulic fluid leaked, so the elevator stopped working!!!! Shouldn't they know the seal is bad? Shouldn't they stand behind their parts? Shouldn't it take less than two weeks to repair a broken elevator? They didn't even come to look at it until late last week. It was 94 degrees here yesterday. This is how pathetic the service repairmen are, and how poor the the quality of the parts of Otis Elevator are. DO NOT BUY ELEVATORS FROM THESE CLOWNS AND DO NOT HIRE THEM TO REPAIR ELEVATORS!!!
There is an Otis elevator in my office building. My office is on the 4th floor. Since I moved in over 2 years ago, this thing has never worked properly. The 4th floor button has NEVER WORKED PROPERLY AT ALL!! You must press it multiple times, and pray at some point it actually lights up. Some times you must press the third floor first to make the 4th floor button light up. The hydraulics in the elevator have never worked properly-the elevator HAS NEVER GLIDED UP AND DOWN, IT JERKS UP AND DOWN! A couple of months ago, the elevator stopped working, and it was 10 days before it was fixed. Last week, it started running in a veyr jerky motion again. The building's owners paid Otis $48k to refill the hydraulic fluid! Today, the elevator is totally broken again!!!! Who knows when it will be fixed, and I am sure it will not be fixed correctly. NO ONE SHOULD EVER BUY AN ELEVATOR FROM THIS COMPANY AS THE ELEVATORS DO NOT WORK, AND THE TECHNICIANS DO NOT KNOW HOW TO FIX THEM IF THEY BREAK!!!
Do not use this company. The product they selling never work always defekt.
we have otis lift orders for our sites 1844D sector 57 Gurgaon 3381 sector 57 Gurgaon 2433 sector 57 Gurgaon m45 south city-1 Gurgaon 1358p sector 45 Gurgaon from last days we trying to connect Otis manager, coordinator and supervisors for updates on these sites, but no one take in to seriously
The Skokie building I live in had our elevator stop working 2weeks ago. Otis want payment before making the part we need until we paid. And is also mak8ng us wait another 2 weeks to repair the elevator. There are elderly in our building who Otis is holding hostages by doing this.
Absolutely appalling customer service. All outsourced to people who don't know what they are talking about. Had the same issue with them for years with no sign of resolution. Disgusting, please avoid!
My wife and my 9-year-old son were trapped in an elevator for 30 minutes. They called the emergency number, and the operator asked for the elevator reference number in order to send a technician. When my wife tried to provide the reference, the operator said he did not hear it properly the first time. Instead of asking her to repeat it, he simply hung up. After that, he did not answer any further calls. This kind of behavior is completely unacceptable, especially in a situation where people — including a child — are trapped in an elevator and relying on emergency assistance. The level of service provided by Otis in this situation is extremely disappointing and frankly a shame. I would strongly discourage anyone from choosing Otis if other options are available.
this post is from a person who has spoken to several engineers from otis ,and other companys, but it is clear that otis (as other posts say) come out pretty bad, on their dealings with customer requests , and in fact the way they treat their engineers
Their skyrise elevator produce annoy noise to nearby space, it ruins my quiet home. Reported to Otis and still zero improvement. Avoid this elevator if possible
Doug from Otis was AMAZING!! He came on time with the ETA, fixed the elevator in less than 5 minutes, AND fixed other issues that he noticed that we weren't aware about. THANK YOU Doug!
If you value time, integrity, or basic customer service, avoid Otis. What should have been a simple service cancellation has turned into a ten-month circus of incompetence. Summary I cancelled my service agreement in January 2025 after years of paying excessive fees and enduring constant upselling calls that seemed more focused on extracting money than providing genuine maintenance support. Instead of respecting the termination, Otis kept billing us, ignored multiple written notices, and continued sending invoices months later. The timeline that says it all: Jan 2025 – I issued written notice to cancel. The Otis representative repeatedly attempted to sell me another service before eventually accepting the cancellation in writing. Feb–Jul 2025 – Otis continued issuing invoices and taking payments via my property manager despite the termination. Aug 2025 – I contacted Otis again; they apologised but took no corrective action. Sept 2025 – The person assigned to “resolve” my cancellation first tried to deny it, then attempted to sell me another service. Only after further escalation did they admit Otis’ error and agree to refund the overcharges — then proceeded to claim I needed to pay another fee for a compliance certificate they failed to issue back in January. Oct 2025 – Otis issued a “refund invoice”, requested my bank details, and phoned to reconfirm them but the refund was never paid. Nov 2025 – Ten months later, I’m still chasing the refund, now dealing with yet another new contact repeating the same promises. Why I cancelled in the first place: Their service is overpriced for the minimal work performed, and every interaction feels like an attempt to sell, sell, sell, rather than provide genuine serice. When you question charges or try to leave, the “support” disappears and they give you the run-around. A warning to others: Be extremely cautious before signing anything with Otis. Their systems are disorganised, communication is abysmal, and getting resolution on even the simplest issue is exhausting. If this is how a global brand treats a loyal customer, imagine how they’ll handle you once they’ve got your signature.
Please stay away from doing business with Otis. In my experience they were misleading on the phone, did not give accurate information, and never corrected it when I followed up. I was billed an absurd amount of money for a problem that was not fixed, and when I called to complain they were rude, dismissive, and took about a week just to respond.
first of all this time hasn't happened yet. Our location had an early failure of a pump and motor just outside the warranty date of 1-year. this part is not covered in warranty. this is a high dollar cost 40-50 thousand $ I have worked with less costly pump systems that have lasted 30 years plus. If the Otis warranty ran out doesn't manufacture of pump have warranty of their product. Semiens warranty of motor. I will further instruct to anybody looking at Otis elevators for purchase that they would be better off buying a pogo stick
I don’t think it’s wise nor safe for others, for your driver to be driving extremely reckless and fast on the road. Especially when the company’s name is on the vehicle’s. Definitely reported to the bbb. Do better
Three years, still going into next yr. That’s only one building. Tech talks good story all day.
STAY AWAY FROM OTIS MONTREAL – A COMPANY TO AVOID AT ALL COSTS I have been a construction entrepreneur for over 30 years, and I have never dealt with a company as disastrous, incompetent, and arrogant as Otis Montreal. For more than three years, their service has been nothing short of a nightmare: • ZERO communication: calls ignored, emails unanswered, managers completely unreachable. • No reliability whatsoever: broken promises, missed deadlines, no updates, no follow-up. • Total disrespect for clients: even with a contract worth nearly hundreds of thousands of dollars, we get no answers at all. • Unacceptable arrogance: their installation manager treats clients with shocking disrespect. A concrete example: I called one of their managers 13 times in a single day, and it’s been like that since the beginning of the project,Not a single response. This is not an exception—this is how they operate: ignoring clients, no matter the size of the project. Otis Montreal is not just incompetent—they are grossly negligent and show no regard for their contractual obligations. This branch is actively destroying Otis’s reputation in Canada.
As with many other reviewers, if I could rate it 0 I would. I have had a service contract with OTIS for a number of years and over the last few years I had noticed a rapid decline in response from them. Last November (2024) I emailed them to cancel renewal which was due the following February and received no response from them. I emailed them several times with no response, sending it to various emails I could find including the person I had spoken with at time of taking out the contract. I never received a response from anyone, not even a receipt failure. I had received several of their 'field service' notifications and had been suspicious that they had not in fact been on site. I then started checking CCTV to substantiate this to confirm that they had not been there. They had not. I wrote in to complain, but received no response. I tried calling, but due to their automated service could never get through to anyone. I changed the door code so that they would have to call me on arrival to gain entrance. No-one ever did call. I am now with another company who have given the lift a full going over and logged all the failings from OTIS which range from 'filthy - where they should have been cleaning it', 'bolts loose', 'no lubricant' and the list goes on. The engineer I had used to work for OTIS and simply stated they were not surprised. In addition to this, the practices engaged by OTIS are sneaky to say the least. It has a 'closed' monitoring system so that if the button is pressed if you are trapped in there, it ONLY goes to OTIS and they will then charge for the call out. This can not be changed - you have to separately purchase and have installed an OPEN monitoring system to allow the contact number to be changed. My NEW company advised me to send an email with the subject header LEGAL NOTICE!! I did this - low and behold I got an immediate response - the first in over a year. If they are stupid enough to pursue this - bring it on - I know a few judges who would love a case like this with the report I have. OTIS FLAGRANTLY PUT LIVES IN DANGER EVERY SINGLE DAY. SERVICE REPORTS WHICH ARE FICTIONAL, COMPLAINTS WHICH ARE IGNORED AND NO ABILITLY FOR CUSTOMERS WITH REAL ISSUES TO MAKE CONTACT WITH THEM. LEAVING LIFTS IN A CONDITION THAT ARE DANGEROUS WITH THE OWNERS HAVING NO KNOWLEDGE OF THIS - BELIEVING THAT THEY ARE BEING SERVICED WHEN THEY ARE NOT. I am now looking for a class action case against them and will be adding my evidence to it.
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