ComplaintsforAlternative Aire, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  05/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Requested quote for duct replacement/repair. Was told I needed to schedule a "tune-up" that would include the assessment of the ductwork. Did that. "Tuneup" on April 19 resulted in a broken piece (which the technician admitted he likely broke when inspecting) on a unit that had been performing perfectly prior to the "tune-up." Paid an extravagant amount for the "tune-up" and the broken piece, and still (as of May 1) do NOT HAVE A QUOTE that I originally requested for ductwork replacement. Multiple emails, phone calls - no response. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! I feel ripped off.

  Business response

  05/17/2023

  The customer was sent a duct repair estimate on 5/2/23.  We have been extremely busy and short handed.  Sometimes it takes time to get to everything.  Repair quotes are not free and the homeowner did not want a complete replacement quote.  We suggested a tune-up because she would at least get some value for the cost of the site visit.  She was charged $89 for the tune-up, which is below market value.  During the course of the tune-up an electrical terminal broke off an old capacitor.  This was most likely due to metal fatigue.  Instead of charging full price for the replacement capacitor we discounted the normal cost by 50%.  The total bill for the tune-up and repair was $184 + tax which is more than reasonable.  I can not help that we could not immediately provide a repair estimate, we had other customers in front of her.  We in no way charged an unreasonable fee and we did provide the estimate as soon as we could.  The homeowner received a tune-up and even though the capacitor was old and broke while removing it to check values we discounted that repair.  These parts do not break unless they are going bad.  We did not have to charge her less for the repair but did so because it was right.  We in no way ripped this woman off.  She paid a very fair price for the work performed and is upset because it took too long for her to receive her estimate.  We are short handed and can only do what we can do.  Attached is a copy of the estimate which was sent out 5/2/23 and a copy of the paid invoice.  *********** date was 4/19/23.  It took 9 business days to get to her estimate.

  Customer response

  05/19/2023

   
  Complaint: 20004029
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Post this complaint, and reviews on social media platforms, I finallly received a response from Alternative Aire, explaining that they were behind and short of labor needed to respond more quickly. I understand problems with labor and falling behind on projects. I do not understand failure to respond in timely manner to paying customers.  Alternative Aire finally provided a quote for the work requested and offered a small discount.

  In the meantime, I have contacted multiple AC/duct work companies, all of which offered FREE assessments for the problem I originally described that I wanted from Alternative Aire. Alternative Aire states in their response that assessments are not generally free.  This is just not true. The $89 assessment fee that they say is "market competitive" is not at all market competitive. When I originally called, the company said they could do an assessment for $125 fee, but if I wanted, I could get the assessment that I requested for $89 if I combined that request with an annual tune up. So, even though I did not reasonably need a tune up(had just had one 6 months previously), I said OK. 

  And then, got charged an outrageous amount for a supposed "broken" part (which was installed less than 2 years ago), in addition to the service fee, and still did not receive the assessment quote I requested in a timely manner, after multiple calls/emails to Alternative Aire, I filed this complaint.

  I stand by my complaint, think Alternative Aire has engaged in unethical practices, and have given the work to another company.

  Best regards,

   

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

• Initial Complaint

  02/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Alternative Aire came to my residence to work on my HVAC. The first service person was not familiar (9/24/20) with the system so they sent someone else the next day, 9/25/20, named ****** ******. ****** fixed my hvac and decided to comp his services and did not charge me since 2 other companies overcharged me. ****** sent me an invoice for $0 on 9/25/20. I still have the invoice and texts confirming my work was finished 9/25/20 12:45p and that I wasn't charged anything. Today, 2/10/22, they decided to reopen my account and send me a bill saying they forgot to send a bill in 2020. However, they didn't forget, they previously sent me a $0 bill and now they are trying to add on services never rendered. This is unethical.

  Business response

  02/24/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/02/11) */ We came out and my first tech was not familiar with the issue. We sent another tech out who then found the problem, and got her system up and running. We are charging for one service call diagnostic which is $91.38 inc tax. My tech ****** said we were not charging her for both trips out. We can't help that someone else over-charged her. We are a business and it costs us money to send people out. We only charged the diagnostic trip charge because the repair was simple and did not require any parts. For some reason this woman thinks that our service should be free or that we don't deserve to be paid for getting her system up and running. We are only charging this woman a fair price for a service we performed and she has never paid us any money at all. We think it's a fair price for getting her system working. It's not like we are over-charging, we just think we should be paid for the services we performed.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩