ComplaintsforGreat Lakes Heating, Air Conditioning & Electrical

• Initial Complaint

  02/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Our furnace stopped working Thursday evening Feb. 24th. ****** from Great Lakes arrived the next morning and reset the furnace quickly & got it to re-ignite. After spending some time with the thermostat and the furnace, he wrote a full list of suggested actions which totaled near $1,000. A $185 membership was brought up to help bring the cost down and provide regular maintenance. I explained that I just needed the bare minimum to keep the kids warm and the furnace working. ****** responded that the must do items were all priority and the membership would bring the cost down. So I agreed, and paid a total of $671 dollars to have a sensor cleaned, the burners cleaned, and a filter changed. We were also given a quote for a $300 new thermostat even though ours was only 5 years old (and come to find out later, just needed new batteries). The next day the furnace stopped working again (Saturday Feb. 26) We didnt realize until late when it was getting cold again, so called Great Lakes Sunday morning Feb. 27. **** came in, reset something, which again immediately caused it to light and he left. He was in my home less than 5 minutes. Not fifteen minutes later, the furnace again shut off and did not turn back on. I called a completely different professional not contracted by Great Lakes who arrived at 3:30pm. He checked inside, explained how the manual for the furnace comes with a way to diagnose most issues and pointed at the blinking light and the manual. The manual explained that the flashes meant the low pressure switch was stuck. He easily corrected it, everything he did was done under an hour. The furnace has been working without issue since *** was here. Great Lakes sent two different technicians and neither one properly diagnosed the problem. I spent $671 for services absolutely not required, nor did they fix the issue. I want to cancel the membership I felt coerced into, as I will not work with them again, and I hope they stop taking advantage of their clients.

  

  Business response

  03/18/2022

  While we apologize you felt this way, everything was quoted out by our Service Manager at the time of service, for your approval. Filters should be changed no less than every 6 months and some require every 30 days.  A quick ****** search should turn up that most hvac breakdowns are caused by a lack of maintenance.  Dirty burners impact flame sensors and other parts including pressure switches by causing debris to build up on them.  I apologize they did not diagnose the pressure switch when they were there.  The manual mentioned is not always needed as our technicians often know the codes from their extensive experience. The code also only gives the current and first problem to occur.  In sequence of operation the flame sensor would be the critical issue that would be reported.  Dirty burners go hand in hand with dirty flame sensors.  With a lack of maintenance there is a lot of parts, including the pressure switch, that could be dirty and / or bad.  We would not replace any part on a furnace if the furnace is operating correctly while we are there.  As she stated the furnace was operating when we left.  Our work is guaranteed for 2 years parts and labor for parts and services we performed. We did issue a refund for the ************* on March 3rd. 

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  12/20/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We signed up for a service contract with Great Lakes, sight unseen, and scheduled them in to perform a service on our HVAC system. While they were there they used high pressure tactics to attempt to get us to buy additional overpriced work that was not required. We had a certified home inspector review their quote. 1) They said we needed a thermostat. The thermostat was not needed at all and quoted at $346. A "non internet" thermostat (as we instructed) can be bought at ********** for under $30. 2) They quoted "Pull and clean" blower wheel ($301), our inspector told us this was an unnecessary repair. 3) We were told that the carbon monoxide detectors that you buy at ********** (ours are new) are of a poor quality and do not work. (scare tactic) We had another contractor come in to perform his assessment. We did not inform him of what we were quoted by Great Lakes. He concurred with our home inspector and quoted $300 for the work we needed as opposed to the $1,639 for the total job they quoted. He said that the carbon monoxide detectors in the house are fine. We had him do the work. Obviously we did not have the work done but we did pay them $185 for a service contract. We simply want a refund for the service contract $185 and not have them come to the house in the future

  

  Business response

  12/31/2021

  We received this and are looking into it, we're sorry you didn't receive our five star service, our customer concierge will be handling this directly.

  Customer response

  01/19/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  

  Let me send you what their response was:

   

  "We received this and are looking into it, we're sorry you didn't receive our five star service, our customer concierge will be handling this directly."

   

  This says nothing at all. I did not hear from them. There was no explanation of what the situation was. Nothing. I believe that they conducted their business with less than the ethics I would expect and their answer is "we are sorry you did not get our five star service"? Its like catching someone picking your pocket and they simply say "oops", we will look into it.

  I would like an explanation of what their position is, why we were quoted such outrageous prices and confirmation of a refund of our service contract.  

  Most importantly the case should stand on their BBB file and other consumers should take this experience into consideration.

   

  
  

  

  Business response

  01/26/2022

  We offered a refund for the full price of the ************* Membership (on 12/31/2021 and this amount has been settled through our credit card processing system) even though we already provided a maintenance on the furnace. We called the number on file to notify that this has been done also.  At this point there is nothing more that can be done, we regret that we cannot make you happy.  We do provide pricing upfront so that you can decide if the work should be completed or not, which is what was done in this instance.  Additional work was quoted at the time of maintenance because it was not properly maintained prior to the ************* Membership. That additional work was declined.   

  Customer response

  01/28/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:

  
  

  It does nothing to address the issue which is their tactic of quoting unneeded repairs at "gouging" prices. It is a contention verified in an affidavit by our certified home inspector.

  
  

  Specifically they said : "We do provide pricing upfront so you can decide if the work should be completed or not, which is what we have done in this instance. "

  
  

  As an example, ONE of the repairs quoted was for a thermostat replacement (not needed) at a price of $325 (cost of $27 at **** *****). 

  
  

  Unneeded repairs at unreasonable prices. Someone there should explain this.

  
  

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