ComplaintsforLee's Air Conditioning Co.

• Initial Complaint

  08/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I bought a home from a lady who used Lee’s to install a AC unit 2 years before I bought it. When the home inspection was complete we found the unit in extreme poor maintenance condition even though she used Lee’s to service the unit regularly. We also found that they did not seal the interior closet area or door frame, install the proper drip pan, and other issues with the installation. After speaking to lees their excuse for the poor maintenance & installation was that they had “new” techs completing jobs. But would not fix their mess ups. The day before we purchased the house, Lee’s did a “full maintenance” on the coils and unit. Which was still left partially dirty when we did a final inspection of the home. I was not happy with this company. The next day (a Saturday) the house was HOT. So I called Lees to come out & explained the situation, house was newly purchased, unit was under warranty & that lees was just out day prior to maintenance the unit. She told it it would cost me $200+ per hour for someone to come check it out even though they were just out the day prior and even though the unit was under warranty I had a trusted licensed AC company come out for 1/3 of the price ( a company I’ve used for years and never had a issue with) Turned out that lees not only had damaged the fans during the cleaning BUT also had left a Freon leak unattended This “full” service/maintenance was not done correctly. I called Lees and they refuse to pay for the damages they caused to the unit. It cost me $700 to repair their work not including the cost to properly insulate and seal the interior unit Lees is also removing their warranty on the unit since another company touched it. Which is fine because lees will never touch my AC unit again after my experience with them. They are not friendly & very unprofessional. Attached is the invoice from the company who actually fixed my AC unit. Lees needs to pay for the damages & cost to repair the unit

  

  Business response

  08/09/2023

  All our calls are recorded and the Operations Manager was able to listen to the phone where she requested service. 
  
  On July 29th, a call came into our answering service.   She had wanted a service tech to come to her home because her unit was not cooling.   The answering service is taught to ask for the customer’s name and address.  When the answering service could not find her by her name, she gave them her address.  When the answering service found the address, the address was for another customer.  She had mentioned that you just purchased the home and she was the new owner and that her unit was under warranty, which is incorrect.  Once a home is sold the manufacturer warranty drops down from 10 years to 5 years.  The previous owner did have a 2-year labor warranty, but that expired. 
  
  Our answer service is required to let all customers and future customers know the diagnostic charge.  In her statement she mentioned that we charged $200 per hour when in fact the price is for us to go out and diagnose the problem is not $200.  Additionally, if this takes an hour great, but if it takes longer than that you are not responsible to pay anything additional. 
  
  Our answering service is just a service that is working for Lee’s as a message service, like a doctor’s office.  Our answering service does not and would not have answers to any hypothetical questions.  She was getting very upset with the answering service and before they could tell her that they could have a manager give her a call back she said she would get someone else out and hung up on her. 
  
  One-week later Monday, August 7th Lee’s received a phone call from her aunt.  She called to discuss this and for Lee’s to pay the other company’s invoice.   She said that Lee’s did not want to go to your home, which is not true, Lee’s was not giving a chance to. 
  
  In her statement, she mentions that Lee’s said we are removing the warranty on her unit.  What was said, was Lee’s would not warranty another company’s work.  A manufacturer warranty is not coming from Lee’s it is coming from the manufacturer of the equipment.  She states that she had another A/C company come out for 1/3 of the price.  How does she know what our price would be to make the required repairs if we were not able to come to her home?  She has provided an invoice, but where are the pictures to prove the issues were actual issues?  She mentions that the coils were left partially dirty and she noticed this during the final inspection.  Why did she not call before Saturday, July 29th?  She also mentioned that she paid $700 to repair our work, but we do not see that amount on the invoice.  We do not feel that we owe this customer for services that another company provided them?
  

  Customer response

  08/10/2023

   
  Complaint: 20433700
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  Lee's was contacted on 7/29/23 and not prior was because the home was not purchased until 7/28/23. I was not in the home until 7/29/23 when the cooling problem was noticed. 
  On 7/16/23, Lee's had conducted a maintenance on the home before the inspection was completed on 7/17/23. I've attached photos from the inspection report showing the condition of the unit. 
  After seeing the original condition of the unit, I was quickly unsatisfied with Lee's. The owner of the home was told to have the unit fully serviced again and have the coils taken part & cleaned. 
  This cleaning was completed until 7/27/23. The service that was done looks as if the work was fraudulent or whom was sent to clean and service the unit did inadequate work. If the service was properly and thoroughly completed and the unit would of been pressured and inspected and the AC would not be in the condition it was in on 7/29/23. There was damages to the fan and a leaking freon line which caused the improper cooling. 
  
  On 7/29/23, I was told the service was $200 a hour even though Lee's had just serviced the unit 2 days prior. The calling service company is used to represent Lee's so it is not my responsibility to know what I am being told is incorrect information. I would of potentially let Lee's come back to my home to redeem themselves from the negative engagements Ive had in the past, but after hearing that it would be $200 a hour, Lee's had lost my business for good. I already was dissatisfied with their past "maintenance and cleaning" and to witness that Lee's once again did not complete their services adequately and were to charge ME $200 a hour was enough. 
  
  I understand that Lee's will not warranty another company's work (fixing the leak in the freon line & fixing the fan) I did not expect them to insure another company's work. 
  BUT I do expect that Lee's company to pay for the damages/repairs to the unit. 
  
   I do not have any more room on this file to attach additional photos showing Lee's invoice from 7/27/23 or photos of the unit, but if needing I can send those.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Jayme ******

  Customer response

  08/21/2023

  July 13th inspection date (Lees went out 7/12 to clean AC)

   

  Came out again July 27th to take apart unit for cleaning

  Closed on house July 28th

   

  I want to express that I am not trying to get Lees to pay for anything that happened from July 13th- July 26th.

   

  What I am wanting is for Lees to pay for the damages found to the unit on July 29th (fan & Freon leak)

  I am using the prior experiences to show why after being told it was $200 a hour why I went down a different path and chose another company to look at my unit (since I had bad experiences with them prior)

   

  Let me know what else is needed on my end to get this resolved

   

  I do believe since Lees damaged the unit, they would need to cover the cost of fixing the unit

   

  Attached video and additional photos.
  

  

  Business response

  08/29/2023

  Thank you for providing this video.  As you can see in this video, the area where he found the leak was not were we soldered the copper line into the evaporator coil.  I have provided a picture and circled the copper line to show how close it is to the evaporator coil.  I also am providing you a picture in color so you can see it a bit better.  We did not damage the unit and feel that we are not responsible for the invoice.  

  Customer response

  08/29/2023

  
  Complaint: 20433700
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I don’t believe my complaints towards Lees are being understood. When Lees did a cleaning/maintenance to the unit, the damaged fan and copper line should have been noticed if Lees had done a proper inspection on the unit after putting it back together. The unit should have been pressurized. If this would have been done, the leak would have been found. 
  ex: you buy a car, the oil filter is dirty. You bring it in to be cleaned/replaced and maintained. Is the company not also liable to ensure everything is sealed and flowing properly? Or do you believe they should only slap parts back together and call it a day? 
  if that’s the case, then this company (Lees) has poor morals and business ethics which is the case I am presenting. 
  

  secondly, the next issue is stating I should of asked to speak with a manager when I was being told the cost associated with Lees coming out to look at the unit on Saturday. 
  

  i personally manage a business and when my staff tells a customer incorrect information, I am liable for coming up with a solution. 
  it is not the customer whom is at fault (which makes me question the morals of this company) 

  if I am told it is $200 a hour by a individual whom represents your company, I can only evaluate my next steps with the information I am given. 
  Which lead to my decision of choosing another company  to fix the line that should of been pressured at the cleaning/maintenance  and to fix the fan that should of been noticed during a full inspection of the unit (which didn’t happen) 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  Jayme ******

  

  Business response

  08/30/2023

  We are sending a check To Jayme ****** to reimburse her for Work Order #: 30729144111.  This is the invoice that she is seeking payment for. 

  Customer response

  09/02/2023

  Better Business Bureau:

  I am accepting the payment from Lees AC for the Xtreme AC invoice. 

  I would like to reject the offer of Arbitration for complaint ID 20433700.

   

   

  Sincerely,

  Jayme ******

• Initial Complaint

  03/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Today, 3/27/2023 I had Lee's come out and perform their regular maintenance check which they do each year for a fee of 170. per year. During their check the technician said that my freon was low according to his gauge. He performed some test's with his meter but could not find a leak with that tool. He called his boss, Andre and told him that the freon was low but could not find a leak and saw no visual signs of any leakage. Then he tells me that there would be a charge to top off the freon because it wasn't covered under the plan. I called and spoke with Andre, guessing it was his supervisor and he told me that he could send another technician to try and find the leak. I asked him why you need to do that when you have a 8 year veteran tech here. He said that he hasn't worked here that long, (not what he told me). I asked what I am paying for the plan for if you're not going to cover the maintenance. Andre, the supervisor argued with me on the phone after I told him that I could chose from many other company's to perform my service repair. I told him that I would contact the BBB if you cannot if you could not resolve my issue. His response was you can call them all you want, I don't care!! Wow, As of tonight, all he wanted to do is argue with me on the phone, he even said he would have the technician, Billy make good on it but I wont because your of how I acted. I pay for a maintenance plan each year and they need to uphold that. Andre even offered another technician to come check in which I refused because I have to miss work, I told him you just had a tech here and what, is his diagnostic not good enough? Andre refused to answer that question.

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