ComplaintsforCaldera Heating & Air Conditioning

• Initial Complaint

  21/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Our condo Heat Pump gave no warm air and we contacted ***** to come to troubleshoot, diagnose the problem and give us a quotation for repairing. ***** confirmed the inspection fee is $149 flat rate no max ***** he is a licensed ********************* owner. He arrived Mar 13, 23 he figured he needs more time for our machine so he suggested to spend Mar 15, 9:30am - 12:30pm on it. After he opened the machine, removing the connecting pipes etc. he suggested to bring the whole chassis outside like parking lot so he can cut the pipe to pressure test to verify the leak. What he suggested might make the machine worse so I did not agree. He then said he will check with the supplier about the cost of the condenser vs. the whole chassis and he is going to the supplier next so he could also bring the machine with him. I didnt agree preferring to wait until after hearing from the supplier first. He then just pushed the machine back without connecting the pipes nor putting back the machine together just as he started and left at 10:30am. He said he will call so we expect him to come back putting the machine back as it started later.However, he never came back he just texted the quotation of repairing the next day and rejected to put the machine back like he started and sent us an invoice saying he already completed his job. We need BBB to help:1. Talk to ***** he didnt complete his job as he cant make the machine worse than it started and claim he already completed a partial job.2. As he rejected and did not reply us about coming back, we lost confident of him we cant have him to come back putting the machine together. 3. He need to retrieve the invoice he sent us (stop sending us daily reminder) as we need to spend extra to put it back together for another check or we are forced to replace the whole machine ($6K+)4. Advise how could we as consumer can avoid **** *********************** abandoning their job to pressure us even we have not pay them.

  Customer response

  21/03/2023

  Hello ********.

   

  My first and last name is **********************, however, it was not communicated with ***** the **** technician in anyway and I want to protect my privacy that BBB will not publish my name and use it.

  Also, after receiving your email today I found that only 5 out of the 16 files I uploaded is received by your side.  I will upload the rest for your record in full.

  Thank you for helping out.

  Warm regards,

  *****

  Business response

  22/03/2023

  Afternoon,

  my initial response to this notification was to throw my hands up in the air. I had the feeling this customer had already spoken to a contractor and was getting a second opinion but had an issue with the previous contractor. I went to her site and found the system was not accessible and required more time to troubleshoot. I returned and had to remove the air conditioning unit chassis by removing two water hoses in the air handler After removing the hoses the unit was accessible but this unit did not have access ports to connect my gauges. I said to the lady I need to take the chassis to my truck to cut the copper lines open and weld in pressure test ports to complete the troubleshooting. She did not want to allow me to remove the chassis from her suite. I explained that to do any work further I had to be outside to allow for proper and safe ventilation to allow refrigerant recovery and brazing. She declined. I explained my opinion was the condenser was leaking and to complete the repair the condenser would require replacement; this work would also require me to remove the chassis and complete the repair not in her suite. I left site after speaking to the supplier who was going to get me pricing if I had to replace the condenser or the entire unit. If the chassis was to be replaced I could then just bring the new one back to site and replace without any brazing and refrigerant charging. Provided the customer with the price to replace the condenser and to replace the entire chassis which she indicated she would think about over the weekend. Friday she messaged me in the morning asking more questions about the repair at which time she said she would like me to connect the hoses back up. She received my invoice for the investigation and was not willing to pay until the hoses were reconnected. I tried to explain that whichever direction she went with the repair the unit would need to be removed. I said my opinion was that the invoice be paid and when you have made a repair decision I will return. I have over 20 messages from her explaining everything with very detailed information. I cannot control how this person has reacted to this but The fact she asks me Friday 11Am to come back and connect hoses and then files a complaint because I wont show up that same day is madness.

  Customer response

  22/03/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1) The business made his decision based on his feeling but not the standard practice of an inspection appointment in which the technician should open the machine, troubleshoot the machine, make diagnosis, repair suggestion & quotation and put back the machine back to its original state when the technician just arrived.  It was clearly communicated it was a diagnosis appointment before the technician came and it was not expected he left with any parts (hoses and screws) disconnected.

  2) It is his "feeling" of him being the 2nd opinion.  If he thinks he is the 2nd one, he should also see how the machine look when he just arrived everything was connected and didn't get abandoned disconnected like he did.

  3) The machine belongs to the owner it is up to the owner choose what to do after the diagnosis, so regardless the quotation or when she want to get it repaired, the machine should be back to its original shape before it got inspected but not worse than before.

  4) It is because of how the technician left his job that made the owner lack the confident to find him to repair the machine as the fact he left the machine disconnected might reviewed he could not do the repair at all.

  5) Now that he left the machine disconnected we really need a 2nd opinion and get another technician to come to do another troubleshoot and the 2nd technician will need to spend extra time to put the machine together to test to ensure it doesn't work...etc.  It cost more hours and we need to pay extra.

  6) After the technician left, I communicated with the guy who referred him to me, both he and I believed he would come back put the machine back together.  I also communicated with the supplier it is expected the machine should be put back together after the diagnosis/inspection without leaving the hoses disconnected.  It is not a standard practice.

  Because of the above, the business should retrieve the invoice for the job he promised he did not completed.  He should not have used his feeling to decide not to put back the machine together and forget the machine belongs to the owner and it is up to her how many opinion she needs, what and when to do next with it as well.

  Sincerely,
  
  ************

  Business response

  23/03/2023

  *****,

  Please do not contact me any further. 
  You refused to listen to me during this entire process and after your messages Friday it was clear you were not interested in paying for the service provided.  2 working days after demanding I reconnect the hoses you file a complaint through this service? You did not provide adequate time to return to connect the hoses and provided no communication. 

  if the person who referred me to yourself is in fact a real person feel free to have them reach out to me for clarification 
  

  Customer response

  26/03/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1) On the day of inspection/diagonsis (Mar 15), we waited all day the technician did not come back to reconnect the hoses and put back screws so the machine is back to its shape as before the appointment

  2) After clarifying 3 times with the technician 2 days after on (Mar 17), we found that he was not planning to come back to finish his job because he thought it will cost him a lot of time on his part especially if we had not decided to find him to fix the machine.  Even we suggested him 3 times to come back to put the machine back together (including suggesting him to find a good time in the following week) so we could pay, we did not hear back from him after his final rejection.  Below were the 3 text rejections from him deciding not to complete his job properly,

  ** ****** **** ** ***** ** ****** ****** ** **** *** *** ******* *** **** ***** ** *** ******* **** ***** *** **** **** *** ** ******** *** ** **** **** **** ** ** **** **** ** ****** **** ******* **** *** ** ******* *** *** ***** **** ** **** **** **** **** ** ** ****** ** ******** *** *******  ** ** * *** ** **** ** ** ***** *** **** **** ** * *** ** **** **** *** ** ****** ***** ****** **** ******* ******* ******** ***** **** ***** ** **** **** * ***** *** ** ****** **** ***********Technician needs to understand he did not complete his job which was supposed to be on Mar 15, 9:30-12:30pm or the same day.  As he confirmed he was not coming back so he needs to retrieve the invoice.  We could not believe we receive an invoice for a job not planning to be completed.  We could not be sure if technician could put back the machine together anymore as well.  Please retrieve your invoice officially.

  p.s. when technician suggested to cut the pipe for leak check, he did not reply if he would seal back the pipe.  When asked if he actually have a trolley for *****************, he also did not respond. Despite that, it was the incompletion of the inspection job that made us lack the confident to find him to repair.  

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ************

  Business response

  27/03/2023

  *****

  I asked you not to reply to me 

  please leave me out of your ***** 

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩