ComplaintsforNashoba Air & Boiler Works

• Initial Complaint

  04/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I called ******************************************************************* on March 3, 2022, because I heard a grinding noise coming, I thought from the vents in my bedroom. They sent a technician on March 4, 2022 which was a Friday. There were other issues, no ** concerns, no fumes or noises, no ** alarms (which are all over the house), nothing. My house is only 12 years old, so the system was only 12 years old. The technician (who was reffered to as the "sales person" by the installation crew) came on Friday March 4th, shut off my heat when it was 10 degrees. He told me that I needed to replace my furnace and Hot water heater. He asked for 1/2 the payment that day! Which as approximately $6000. He told me it was code and the law that he had to shut the heat. I could not get a second opinion or do any kind of research or figure out financing. I felt totally helpless and held hostage. If I did not get this done right away then my pipes would have burst as it was 10 degrees. The install crew came of Monday March 7 and installed the new ************* water heater. The technician told me he needs to inspect the 2nd funrance but he would do it after the 1st one was installed in case he needs to shut that one off too. He came again on March 10, 2022 and shut my heat again, They installed the new unit on March 11. Now I have over $17000 in credit card debt. I have never had creditcard debt in my life! I emailed a complained to ******************************************************************* and spoke with ********************* on April 4, 2022. He did not answer my questions about why my heat was shut off in the middle of winter when it was 10 degrees out. I sent ***** another email on April 6 asking him to point me to the code/law that the technician had sighted to shut my heat. He sent me some links to technician training site, AHRI ***************** to some testing procedures but no code or law that states that my heat needed to be shut in the middle of winter. I would like a full refund from *******************************************************************.

  Customer response

  05/02/2022

  I found out that I needed 3 inspections for the furnace. I was told by the building inspector not Nashoba Air & Boilerworks. 1. Electric, 2, Gas, 3. Building. The Electric Inspector came and rejected the work. The Building inspector also rejected the work since the Electric was rejected and no Gas inspection was performed. As of today 5/2, no one can come to fix the issue that the Electric inspector identified and no gas inspection has been performed. It has been almost 2 months since the furnace was installed.

  Customer response

  05/02/2022

  I found out that I needed 3 inspections for the furnace. I was told by the building inspector not Nashoba Air & Boilerworks. 1. Electric, 2, Gas, 3. Building. The Electric Inspector came and rejected the work. The Building inspector also rejected the work since the Electric was rejected and no Gas inspection was performed. As of today 5/2, no one can come to fix the issue that the Electric inspector identified and no gas inspection has been performed. It has been almost 2 months since the furnace was installed.

  Business response

  05/06/2022

  To whom it may concern,
  We received a few phone calls from our client *********************** demanding we give back her full amount of the installation job a month after the installation was completed. Both her heating systems had no maintenance prior to our visit. Our technician found 2 compromised heat exchangers at her home. In our industry you cannot leave a system running with a compromised heat exchanger. See emails below. We at Nashoba Air worked with the building department of the town and the inspectors, forwarded all information and pictures to confirm our findings. The gas inspector for Vinita's town agreed with us at Nashoba Air and confirmed our findings. We feel horrible this client feels this way and we even attempted to ask her to apply for financing after the job to try and help with the total of the job. Please see both emails below. The first which was sent to the client. The second which was sent to the town inspector.
  
  email to the client:
  Hello ******,
  First, I would like to address the term law is inaccurate. Everything we must follow is code requirements. Some of these code requirements change town to town and city to city. Please feel free to reach out to your local inspector to discuss further. I will make sure I pass this email along to them as well. Feel free to do some research on these couple links.
  
  The first is where we send most of our technicians to be trained what to look for when inspecting heating systems. There is a manual you may purchase to do some research.
  https://www.heatexchangerexperts.com/manual/
  
  This link is the **** guideline within our industry of HVAC
  https://www.ahrinet.org/App_Content/ahri/files/Guidelines/****_Guideline_X_2009.pdf
  2009 Guideline for Induced Draft Furnace Heat Exchanger Inspection - ahrinet.org
  4.2 ********** levels in the Airstream1.After the Furnace has run for at least five minutes, measure the CO level in the return airstream near the Furnace and record the value. Then measure the CO level in the supply airstream at a location in the
  www.ahrinet.org
  
  
  and here is a third party blog we point some homeowners to with an easy breakdown of testing procedures
  https://www.icsny.com/blog/how-do-i-know-if-my-furnace-heat-exchanger-is-bad
  
  
  Also I remember you saying you would have liked to finance some of this project. We would be more than happy to try and assist you to get financing if that is what you would like to do. Let me know if you would like to go this route.
  
  email to the inspector:
  To whom it may concern,
  My name is *********************, Service manager at Nashoba Air out of Littleton. We recently did a job for a customer ****** ****, ***************************************. ****** came to us a month after her installation took place to ask for half the installation cost back, which is $8,000, because she is upset and doesn't think the proper steps were taken for her installation. Attached are the notes from the technician that went to the home. ****** also told me on the phone she thinks a 14 year old furnace is not considered old and someone from another company told her they don't require maintenance because they are natural gas.
  
  Also attached are some pictures on the day the technician was there to diagnose what's going on with the system. Clearly you can see the system was not in good condition which resulted in the estimate to replace the systems which were out of warranty of any parts and labor. All pictures and descriptions of what was going on were presented to the homeowner, which she acknowledged to me, but stated this is something I know nothing about. I tried to be sympathetic to the degree of explaining and going through everything the technician discussed prior to us installing the two new furnaces. Long story short I told ******, Nashoba Air is not responsible for crediting back money just because she now was unsure of the installation. I even said to this customer we could try and help get her financing and credit back the credit card charge.
  
  The reason I am writing this to you is because she mentioned this was brought up to the inspector so I directed her to consult with her local inspectors seeing her and I could not come to a resolution. We do a lot of work in ***** and pull permits on everything we do and I want to keep a good name in town with residents as well as inspectors.
  
  Attached are pictures of her furnaces and heat exchangers in the link below as well as our technicians notes and the email between the customer and myself. Please reach out with any questions. Thank you!!!
  
  Heat exchanger and furnace pictures.
  https://app.companycam.com/galleries/VCoTQmUx
  
  Nashoba Air **** Shared a ********** Gallery
  Check out these images that Nashoba Air **** shared using ********** - a must have app for contractors.
  app.companycam.com
  
  
  Tech notes March 4th:
  
  **** ToVinita ***** $0.00 New ****************************************************************** USAService LocationVinita *********************************************************************************** ***
  Invoice SummaryCall for heating system making weird grinding and getting alerts from the nest thermostat, that it was taking a while to reach set temperature.
  Customer has a 90% gas furnace. System is about 14 years old. System is zone...1st floor and right side on the 2nd floor. Customer has another furnace in the attic servicing the left side of the 2nd floor.
  Inspected the basement furnace...cycled the system a couple of times, system wasn't making any noise. Inspected inside the furnace...rusted water stains on the bottom of furnace...inducer draft motor section...leaking a little bit of water. Inspected the flames and flames had a lot of movement, flickering, and orange. Checked the temperatures...supply temperature was around 98*. Filter was a little dirty...duct work dirty and blower wheel was caked with dust. No maintenance has been done on the system. Customer has been feeling sleepy when heating system runs. Inspected the heat exchanger with camera and found that the heat exchanger had alot of weak spots and some of the tubes has cracks on it. MADE CUSTOMER AWARE THAT I WAS GOING TO BE TURNING OFF THE *** AND POWER TO THE FURNACE ONLY. SYSTEM IS NOT SAFE TO OPERATE.
  Customer has a 2nd unit on the attic. Went over with her, that if that system is not safe to run too then she won't have any heat. She would like to have us inspected after the basement unit gets replaced.
  Also customer has a ***** gas power vented water heater that's dripping water from the pressure relief valve. Water heater is about 12 years old.
  Customer would like estimates on replacing the basement furnace and water heater.
  Went over the estimates with the homeowner.
  Returned to inspect the 2nd furnace up on the attic. Customer has an 80% gas furnace...system is about 13 years old. Inspected the heat exchanger with camera found a lot of weak spots, heat exchanger does have some cracks, and the back fume box was all burnt out. Showed the customer the pictures...and let her know that the system is not safe to run. System needs replacement. Also adjusted the shower valve for the customer...water was only coming out at 110*...adjusted to around 125*
  Provided the homeowner with estimate on replacing the furnace up on the attic. Customer approved the estimate. The office will reach out to customer to confirm the installation. Collected half of furnace replacement.
  

  Customer response

  05/10/2022

  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  Hello,
  The response from ************************************************* does not address my concerns, it is just a repetition of what they have already stated taking no responsibility for their actions. Why was my heat shut off in the middle of winter and I was not given any time to do my due diligence? There was absolutely no ** concerns as I have ** detectors all over the house. I was not even given the opportunity to get a second opinion or research other solutions or companies, or figured out financing, etc
  I have met with the ******************* inspectors and the work was rejected by both. They were also surprised that the furnace needed replacement after just 12 years. The gas inspector has not even come for an inspection yet. The units were installed over 2 months ago. If it was so urgent that they shut off my heat at 10 degrees, why is there no urgency to get the work inspected?
  Regards,
  ******

  Business response

  05/31/2022

  Contact Name and Title: *********************, Manager
  Contact Phone: ************
  Contact Email: *********************************
  The response to your concerns is as follows. You had two compromised heat exchangers on your 14 year old systems due to lack of maintenance, the client admitted to. There are two options when you have a compromised heat exchanger: replace the heat exchanger or replace the system. The option of replacement of the furnaces was given to the homeowner who agreed this was the best decision based on the age of the system and being out of warranty and the cost of replacing the heat exchanger. This was all explained to the homeowner who chose to replace the furnaces. See technicians notes below that the customer signed off on from invoice #********:
  Tech notes from invoice ********- " Customer has been feeling sleepy when heating system runs. Inspected the heat exchanger with camera and found that the heat exchanger had alot of weak spots and some of the tubes has cracks on it. MADE CUSTOMER AWARE THAT I WAS GOING TO BE TURNING OFF THE *** AND POWER TO THE FURNACE ONLY. SYSTEM IS NOT SAFE TO OPERATE.
  Customer has a 2nd unit on the attic. Went over with her, that if that system is not safe to run too then she won't have any heat. She would like to have us inspected after the basement unit gets replaced.
  Also customer has a ***** gas power vented water heater that's dripping water from the pressure relief valve. Water heater is about 12 years old.
  Customer would like estimates on replacing the basement furnace and water heater.
  Went over the estimates with the homeowner."
  Options were presented and the homeowner decided a replacement was her best option.
  After the installation was complete the electrical and mechanical inspectors went out and inspected the systems. The gas inspector showed up to the home and no one answered the door. We have reached out 2 times to get the gas re-inspected, with no response from the homeowner. All notes and pictures from the job have been shared with the town inspectors who gave Nashoba Air the clear word that we made the correct decision. The homeowner has stated to me, *********************, a month after the installation was complete, that it put her in credit card debt. I offered for her to finance the system through one of our programs which I have never heard back from the homeowner on. Unfortunately, Nashoba Air cannot make financial decisions that are best for our homeowners and we do feel for our client, however the safety of her equipment was compromised and we made the best decision which the homeowner agreed at the time which was to replace the system.
  

  Customer response

  06/07/2022

   
  Complaint: 17312775
  
  I am rejecting this response because I believe that Nashoba Air and Boilerworks is skewing the truth. First, I did not say that I was feeling sleepy or sick in any way. The technician asked me these questions and I responded with a NO, I never felt sick. Second, They did not give me any options...they just told me that they were going to shut my heat off and I have to replace the system. It was March and the temperature was 10 degrees! They also charged me $6000 which is 50% of the total cost upfront. I feel like like I was pressured and taken advantage of. I was worried that my pipes would freeze and burst. My house was built by the same builder in 2010 as my neighbors' homes.  We all moved in to the homes in 2010. The furnaces were installed by the same company. I have had the company come to my home several times over the past years and was told each time that I did not have to do an annual maintenence as long as I change the filters every 6 months. I have been changing filters every 6 months. In fact, my neighbor just called the company this past month to take a look at her AC unit and asked them again about the furnace mainteence and was told again just change your filters, nothing else is needed.  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

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