ComplaintsforWard Heating & Cooling Inc

• Initial Complaint

  08/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The company installed a brand new central air conditioner in my place of business on 5/27/22. It was an insurance claim totaling $6000 including my deductible. On Thursday 8/18 I noticed that the building was not cooling off properly. The thermostat was reading 80 degrees and never moved. On Friday morning when I went to the business the thermostat was still reading 80 degrees. It never dawned on me it was the central air unit malfunctioning. I assumed it was the thermostat. I called someone to come to my business to replace the thermostat. They came on Saturday 8/20, Once there I was informed the thermostat was fine it appeared to be an installation problem. I attempted to call the company but was only able to leave a message. I also sent an email with 2 pictures. One was the thermostat the other was the possible installation problem. This was visible on the outside of the unit. No one attempted to do anything to the unit itself. Yesterday 8/22 a service representative called me from the company talking ridiculous. He stated I should have had the person fix it that came out. He said he was going to charge a service fee as well. There was no resolution. The unit is less than 90 days old. It was brand new & in the box when purchased. Why would I pay anybody anything after spending $6000. I did register the air conditioner & coils for the manufacturer warranty online. It could possibly be a problem with the air conditioner unit itself & not the installation. The company is done talking to me. I have not attempted to call them back because it was evident that customer care was not a priority

  Business response

  08/24/2022

  Mr. ****** was informed before initial installation that installation of this system would include a complete start-up and temperature testing before payment would be issued to **** HVAC. Mr. ****** was also informed that the picture he submitted is not sufficient to diagnose a non-working system. The system was checked for quality control and optimal performance by licensed journeymen at the time of installation. Any installations issues would have been identified and rectified at this point in time. The installation was deemed properly done and the customer was satisfied at the time of installation. The customer also only requested a condensing unit/evaporator coil change, after being informed that the entire system needs replacement. After 90 of the hottest days of the year with no performance interruptions, we would have to diagnose the entire system before understanding why there is no cooling, and if the issue resides within other older equipment in the system, or if the issue is indeed with the installation. 

   

  Mr. ****** was offered a scheduled time for a technician to come and diagnose his system. If the issue stemmed from the initial install, Mr. ****** would have been offered a solution at no cost to him due to the warranty included with his purchased equipment. If the issue was not with the newly installed equipment, we would have happily quoted Mr. ****** a price for repairs/replacement to get his system back cooling. There were several failed attempts to communicate these proposed solutions to Mr. ******. Mr. ****** declined this diagnostic of his system, including the newly installed equipment, demanding that ***** **** come out himself for free to diagnose and rectify an unknown issue.

   

  Customer satisfaction is a top priority here at **** Heating and Cooling. We ensure the quality of our work and we are always happy to assist when there is an issue with our performance. It is unfortunate Mr. ****** has had a different experience with **** HVAC, and we would still like to rectify the issue and get Mr. ******'s A/C back running. 

  Customer response

  08/25/2022

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:I'm open to the company coming to my place of business to look at and resolve the issue with my central air unit.  It should be made clear that the company has not reached out to me several times in an attempt to resolve this issue. I spoke with a service representative on one occasion. The conversation started off with it was going to cost me money for him to come to my establishment to do anything. After $6000 and less than 90 days of having the unit and it not working why would I have to pay any monies. This immediately made me feel like the company anticipated my unit going out and weren't as reparable as I had thought. Why would the first thing I'm told is it's going to cost me money.   Also why would I not want to speak with the owner of the company that is responsible for the installation and seemingly failure of my unit.  I think that would have been great customer service on his part to reach out & reassure the customer of what his intents were to get my unit back up and running. I was not questioning the skill level of the people who installed the unit.  But no matter how skilled a person is at any profession things will happen. Lastly the mention of how many days it was 90 degrees plays no part in this resolution. My shop is only open 3 days a week. If the math is done I've used it approximately a month even though I've had it 90 days.
  

  I feel I have no recourse but for the company to come out and evaluate what the problem is.  I do not want to void any warranties that I have on the unit. I look for**** to the company contacting me with next steps.
  

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

  Business response

  08/25/2022

  Mr. ****** was informed via the contract, which was signed by both parties prior to installation, that calling another HVAC firm to service our installed unit VOIDS all warranty. This is due to the fact that **** HVAC cannot guarantee the integrity of a system in which a technician outside of our firm has serviced. As a result, the standard diagnostic fee would have applied to Mr. ******, whom was requesting a service call. There was an attempt to communicate this policy to Mr. ****** prior to the service call being performed, in an effort to eliminate all confusion, but Mr. ****** continued to object and demanded to speak to the owner of the company who was not in the building at that point in time. Mr. ****** was unwilling to accept assistance from any other readily available **** HVAC official staff member.

  This policy is clearly outlined in the contract which Mr. ****** agreed to and also signed. Our representative attempted to explain this policy to Mr. ******, but he again insisted a free service call. **** HVAC has tried on numerous occasions to express to Mr. ****** that we are willing and happy to further assist his Air Conditioning needs, just that we are unable to do so under the previous warranty agreement which has since been void due to customer actions.

   

  We are still happy to further assist Mr. ****** in any capacity we can.

   

   

  Customer response

  08/26/2022

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: In the prior response I never called anybody in to look at the air conditioning unit. I never thought the unit was the problem.  I was working on the assumption that it was the thermostat. The thermostat has nothing to do with the installation of the unit.  Once I was told it was not the thermostat it was suggested that I may have an installation problem & I needed to call the installer which was your company. At no time did anybody do anything to the unit your company installed.  I was well aware of the terms and conditions which would invalidate my warranty. Therefore I called and emailed you immediately. That's when a service person from your company called and immediately told me about monies to come out and diagnose the problem.  My response to that was why should I pay monies for a $6000 unit I've had less than 90 days that's not working. In all your responses you have continuously stated you have reached out to me several times to come to my business to actually see what the problem is. This is untrue. No one from your business has reached out to me in an attempt to diagnose the problem. I'm still waiting on your company to reach out to me to set up a time and date to honor the warranty that I have.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ******

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