ComplaintsforPolar Express Air Conditioning & Heating LLC

• Initial Complaint

  05/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The original issue was due to the compressor was not running properly. The technicians quickly diagnosed the problem on 4/17 as a faulty capacitor and replaced it. They continued their diagnostics and realized the flow of refrigerant was slower than normal. They noted that the system was fully charged at 105% and had no leaks. They recommended the TXV valve be replaced for $796 to improve the refrigerant flow. I paid the technicians for the capacitor replacement $268 and they ordered the valve. 2 days later (4/19) they returned to replace the valve. The TXV valve that was on my AC unit was originally installed by Polar Express in Aug 2020 and was still under warranty. I don't know why the techs didn't offer to replace the valve under warranty? The TXV valve is installed on the coils by the factory and is intended to last the life of the coils. If they knew the coils were leaking, they would have replaced the coils and the TXV under warranty, but the coils were not leaking at this time. While replacing the valve, the Tech had many issues installing the new valve. It took him over an hour of brazing and soldering to try to connect the valve to the unit. You can still see the scorch marks from his blow torch on my AC unit inside and outside as well as the coils, because he didn't properly protect the unit from his torch while he was brazing. After he finally replaced the valve he pressure tested the system and found at least 3 coil leaks in the exact place that he brazed the valve with an open torch. He tried to claim that the leaks must have been there all along or came from foil insulation inside the unit touching the coils. They offered to replace the coils and the attached TXV under warranty for $500 for labor and refrigerant. Which I agreed to because the AC wouldn't work otherwise. Now, they want me to pay $1296 ($796 for TXV replacement I can't use and $500 for labor and refrigerant to replace the coils). This is not fair nor is it good business.

  

  Business response

  08/02/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2022/06/02) */ From: [email protected] Date: Thu, Jun 2, 2022 at 5:30 PM Subject: Re: BBB Complaint Case# ****************************************** To: Better Business Bureau ********************** Hi ******** Thanks for reaching out regarding this BBB complaint (Complaint ID#: ******** Consumer: ****** ******). We reviewed the submitted complaint. Mr. ****** contacted our office requesting a diagnostic call. He described his concern that his condensing unit outside wasn't running and requested a technician to come and diagnose the system. We dispatched a Multi certified Master Technician in April 18thwho diagnosed a very common minor component failure at the capacitor. The diagnosis was presented to Mr. ****** with pricing to replace the capacitor during that visit, which he approved, and that requested repair was completed for the agreed upon total. At that time, the technician followed our operating procedures to run a startup test and observe the system while operating after this repair to see if there are any underlying issues. When a capacitor fails and the system cannot run, a comprehensive assessment cannot be made until the system is operational again. During this assessment, the technician found a restriction at the Thermal Expansion Valve on the Evaporator coil at the indoor unit. This can happen for several reasons; in this case the valve was sticking. When this happen, the valve needs to be replaced to repair system operation. Mr. ****** explained he had no warranty on the system itself, that it had expired previously. He said he had the coil replaced not long before that, and so we verified that the coil itself was still within it's own warranty with the manufacturer. The TXV failed, but an electronic leak detection did not reveal any leaks in the coils at that time. While electronic leak detection is very useful in this trade, a negative reading is not a definitive certification that the system is free of leaks or restrictions as some issues can present intermittently, and some leaks are very small and cannot be picked up with an electronic tester. Without indications of a leak, and without any other issues presenting with that coil, the manufacturer warranty does not allow for a replacement of the entire coil, only the failed component. An estimate was presented to Mr. ****** for his charges for this repair. The price presented to him was $796.14 to include the necessary parts, materials and labor as well as a 1-year part warranty from the manufacturer and a 60 day labor warranty from our company. While the price was all inclusive for this repair, there were no parts charged for the warrantied TXV. The filter dryer and refrigerant, as well as braising materials, diagnostics and labor are not covered by the manufacturer warranty and are the responsibility of the customer. Without that warranty, his estimate would have been on average, between an additional $200-$375. Mr. ****** requested this repair and authorized the charges for it (see signed estimate attached). The TXV was ordered that day. The Master tech returned on April 20th to replace the TXV. The TXV is a valve that is braised to one connection on the coil. When soldering, a torch is used. It is only used at the connection to braise it, and seal it. Sealing that connection is critical and can be tedious work. Our Senior technicians are very skilled and experienced in this work. It is because of this we also run a high-pressure test on the system after refrigeration component repairs, to make sure there are no leaks at our connection. Once we confirm the repair is holding, we charge the system with refrigerant and balance the pressures to manufacturer specifications. It was during the high-pressure test that the system was found to not be holding. The leak, however, was not at our connection. There are micro leaks within the coil. These are not at the connection or the TXV, but in the coil itself which was never braised. The only braise was made at the connections. Unfortunately, we do see these periodically, and they are often undiagnosed unless a high-pressure test is performed. An undetected micro leak can expand with a fluctuation in operating pressures, such as when a system has gone from a low charge to a full charge or is under high pressure. These leaks are often not detected by Electronic Leak testers and without a courtesy pressure test after this repair, the leak would likely not have been found. Through our quality assurance procedures, we determined that the evaporator coil was not holding refrigerant properly and Mr. ****** was notified immediately. With a confirmed leak diagnosed, we were able to obtain warranty confirmation for the evaporator coil. The GM spoke to Mr. ****** to advise that an evaporator coil could be available to complete the repair within the week. The GM told Mr. ****** that this was a major repair that is usually quite a bit more costly, but we understood the initial invoice for the TXV repair in addition to the full amount billable for a warrantied evaporator coil replacement (Average $900-$1750 with refrigerant) which he'd already had to pay for less than 3 years before, would be a financial burden after a series of unfortunate previous experiences he described. He was directly advised by our GM that we would further discount the Coil replacement to $500, and we would be happy to assist and advocate where we could with the manufacturer on his behalf if he wanted to request a labor credit from them. He was provided with their phone number on his estimate for that repair (see attached) and he approved that estimate within the same conversation and the repair was scheduled at his request. It was also clearly communicated that our payment terms are COD and not contingent on any manufacturer's decision, that his warranty terms with them, his payment terms with us and our dealer agreement with them were all separate matters. Our GM explained transparently that the manufacturers will rarely authorize those requests, and that we make them as a courtesy when we feel they are appropriate but cannot force them to change the terms of their warranty coverage. The GM also reached out to our rep at the manufacturer to provide Mr. ****** with a phone number to reach them directly and discuss further which we included on the copy of the estimate that was emailed to him when he scheduled this repair. Additionally, we allowed payment for the TXV replacement to be deferred until the system was operating to manufacturer specs again. The coil was ordered at the request of this customer. We do not have an option to order a coil without a valve. Valves cannot be returned once installed and cannot be warrantied in another unit once uninstalled. They are not charged to the customer as a billable item when warrantied. There cannot be a credit issued for a part that was not billed for by the manufacturer, nor the contractor. We did, however, honor the discount offered on the coil replacement. On April 22nd, our technician returned to complete the requested and authorized repair. Once the technician closed out the repair successfully, Mr. ****** expressed he had some questions and concerns. Our GM called him to discuss these, listened to his concerns and reviewed his job notes and photos. It was determined the leaking coil did have micro leaks, that the connection to the TXV was installed correctly and sealed properly, and that these leaks were not discovered by the previous electronic testing done as a courtesy, likely due to their size. It took substantial time to identify them because they were so small. The options would have been to leave the leaking coil in the system which would void any other warranties or replace it. The recommendation was made, the pricing and scheduling offered, and the work was requested by Mr. ****** with agreement to pricing. His questions and concerns were reviewed and addressed promptly and with priority. Mr. ****** expressed concern for paying twice for a part that he was never charged for. He has requested work, agreeing to payment terms, after a clear discussion that his payment terms were COD and not contingent on any decision from the Manufacturer regarding labor credits, and then declined to pay the invoice telling the GM that he would like for us to void out the TXV invoice and only charge him the already substantially discounted coil replacement charge even after he acknowledged that the trouble he was experiencing was not due to a workmanship or service related issue, but a major component failure in his system. With a manufacturer warranty, without these discounts Mr. ******'s repairs would have totaled closer to $2,500. He has been invoiced a total of $1,565.09 over three visits and two invoices. To date, Mr. ****** has submitted $268.95 in payment and is now 33 days past due for the remaining $1,296.14. Up to now, Mr. ****** was offered courtesy diag Consumer Response /* (3000, 12, 2022/06/15) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The respondent continues to deny that their technicians damaged my AC unit with their faulty workmanship. PolarExpress is the only AC company that has serviced my AC units for over 4 years. I am attaching a photo from outside of the unit in question where you can see visible burn marks from the torch used by the technician. There are burn marks inside and outside of the unit. Proper brazing should not cause any burn marks on the AC if it is protected properly, which this unit obviously was not. The 'microleaks' that were detected are coincidentally right next to the brazing of the faulty TXV valve. No other leaks were detected on any other coils except for the ones with burns right next to TXV coil. The respondent has never even looked at the unit or the coils to see the burn marks on my unit. And regarding the comment that payment is due upon completion. They installed the TXV valve, realized they damaged the coils and I received a call saying they would correct the coil issue, that they created, for only $500. There was no request for payment for the faulty TXV repair, no invoice, no mention of a cost of $795 + $500 repair, just the $500 to correct the issue. I only declined to pay when they completed the coil install 3 days later and told me the repair wasn't $500 it was $1300. When I called the manufacture they even questioned if I received OEM parts, because they don't offer a 2 year warranty on their coils. When I told the respondent about this, she said the manufacturer was wrong. I asked for the part numbers of the coils to validate the warranty and she wouldn't give them to me. This seems like a scam to me. Repair a $250 capacitor problem and leave 5 days later repairing leaks that didn't exist for $1,565. I know the leaks didn't exist because the technicians told me the unit was 100% charged and the heating season creates high pressure in the unit that would have shown leaks if they existed. This story that leaks can occur does not hold up. The coils that are leaking are the new ones they replace 18 months prior. New coils don't start leaking that fast unless they are damaged. My coils held 100% of the refrigerant before they took a blow torch to it and they want me to pay for their mistake. After I paid them $265 for the capacitor, I told them I would pay $500 for the additional repairs as a good gesture on my part for their time and diagnostic work, as we agreed to over the phone, but not both invoices. They should take responsibility for damaging my AC coils from their faulty workmanship. Business Response /* (4000, 14, 2022/06/30) */ From: [email protected] Date: Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 2:37 PM Subject: Re: BBB Complaint To: **************************************** Hi *******! I'm having some trouble getting the emails to load on the hot spot, I was trying to send this to *******. Can I forward it to you here instead? Ms. ********* thank you again for the follow up call. We'd like to respond with the following: We very sincerely empathize with the struggles this customer has shared with us that he's experienced in the years prior to his service with our team. It's partly because of this that we have made every reasonable effort to resolve this matter, even putting collections on hold in good faith hoping to clear this up. At this point, the statements being made are simply untrue and we will not engage further than standing firm with our previous response. We are happy that this customer is cooling well and that we were able to resolve his HVAC concerns so thoroughly. We are very sorry for Mr.*******'s confusion, however that does not mitigate the fact that this work was requested and authorized by Mr. ******, with the charges being made fully clear. At no point was there any discussion regarding further discounts, voided invoices or requests for such. We don't even order replacement parts until we've received customer approval to move forward. We very carefully document every job we do, including job photos/video when appropriate. We went as far as to offer this client a completely void invoice if he was uncomfortable, or not confident in the services provided to him by our team, and return his original parts to his system at no charge to him. This customer not only declined this, but acknowledged that he understood that these microleaks were pre-existing and only discovered due to our thorough quality assurance procedures when completing refrigerant based repairs. This client had every opportunity to revoke his authorization and not be charged a penny. He declined this. At this time, we are happy to accept payment in full to rectify the delinquent balance. Without that, our only option will be to proceed with escalating efforts to collect this debt. We do hope to avoid this and will be happy to accept payment within the next 10 business days before proceeding with escalation. Best Regards, Heather K***** General Manager / Co-Owner Polar Express A/C & Heating LLC (321) 263-1351 www.PolarExpressAC.com

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