ComplaintsforHill's Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  02/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On January 26, 2024, I called Hill Heating in Baldwinsville, NY, for a problem with my gas furnace not firing. A technician came over on a service call and misdiagnosed the problem, with the furnace still not working properly. Hill Heating charged me $145.50 for a service call. I called Hill Heating again and stated the furnace was still not operating properly. They sent over another technician and he diagnosed the problem as a bad circuit control board. He ordered the board and in January 31, 2024 he installed the new circuit control board. Hill heating charged me $378.73. On February 6, 2024, my furnace began malfunctioning by not firing, only the blower motor can on then shutoff. I called Hill Heating and explained problem and the representative told me he would send a technician over. I asked him if there would be a service charge to which he answered yes. I replied no I don’t want your company I’ll get another one. I want Hill Heating to finish the job of repairing my furnace since it is winter time and my family and I need heat to stay warm and healthy.

  Business response

  02/07/2024

  We received a service request for Mr. **** on 1/19/2024 for no heat  from his furnace. We had no prior interaction from this customer. He was explained the service rates, as well told that payment was due at the completion of the service call. The furnace was running at the time of arrival with no indication of an issue present. The service technician checked all safety controls and operation of the unit multiple times as well as performed some maintenance tasks and billed the customer for our minimum 30 minute fee as we had previously quoted to him. (Invoice number *****) Mr. **** wrote us a check and asked for it to be held until the end of the month. We allowed this exception of policy for him in good faith. On 1/20/2024 Mr. **** called again with a no heat situation. We dispatched a service technician who found a connection on the control board was not making good contact with the terminal. When it was secured, the system ran correctly and was cycled and checked. Mr. **** was informed that the repair would get him heat for now, but we recommended a replacement control board as the connection at the board was the cause for the intermittent issue. The customer was not charged for this call as a courtesy as we had been there within a few days. Mr. **** was contacted by the parts Department to quote him the replacement control board as well as labor to install it. He agreed and parts were ordered for him.On 1/23/2024 we dispatched a service technician with the replacement board. It was installed and checked for proper operation. At completion of the repair Mr. **** was billed for the agreed upon price of the part and labor. (Invoice number *****) Mr. **** refused to pay at that time. Mr. **** called on 1/31/2024 and did pay the total by credit card. On 2/6/2024 Mr **** called Hills and reported he thought something was not  right with the furnace although his heat was working. He was explained that we could send a technician right away and it would be a chargeable service call at the reduced continuation rate. He was told that if there was an issue related to the part replacement from 7 days before, that the technician would let us know and we would make a decision based on that information related to the bill. Mr. **** declined to schedule a service call. We have decided due to the payment problems and overall interaction we will no longer accept any repair or installation work for this customer, and we will make no contact with Mr. **** in the future.
  

• Initial Complaint

  01/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I contracted with Hill's Heating to install an Electronic Air Cleaner. In researching the product manufacturer's website this seemed like a good product. What was not clear on the Website was the amount of Ozone the unit produced while removing duct and contaminants from the air. After the unit was installed and working, the level of ozone gas became unbearable. I researched further on EPA and like sites and determined that this machine most likely only maintained the maximum level permissible by the EPA. After two days of it operating my eyes were extremely irritated and I believe I had some irritation in my throat and lungs. At that point, I shut the product off. For 5 days I was putting Visine drops in my eyes a number of times a day to help with the irritation. It has been about 1 1/2 weeks and I think my eyes are pretty much back to normal. This EAC is not appropriate for me. This EAC causes health problems for me. The attached email details the conversation back and forth between Hill's and myself. At the end of the day, it seems their policy is they don't take returns. And for the last week and a half I have not heard from them. I could possibly understand their business policy except when it causes harm to people.

  Business response

  01/20/2022

  In response to complaint ID: ******** 
  To whom it may concern, 
  Mr. ******* contacted Hill's Heating and Air Conditioning, INC. and requested a quote to install an electronic air cleaner. He provided the model he was interested in and he was referred to the sales department for pricing including installation and received a quote. Mr. ******* approved the quote and the installation was completed on December 15, 2021. On December 18, 2021, Mr. ******* contacted us by email and praised the good job we had done and asked some general questions. On December 21st 2021 Mr. ******* emailed and made note of a discomfort that he thought was related to the installed product and informed us that he had turned the unit off. Hill's Heating and Air Conditioning responded on December 22, 2021 and told Mr. ******* that the next course of action was to have the service manager visit the house and verify that the unit was working as designed, or diagnose an issue at no cost to him. He was informed that our schedule was very full and we would get back with him to schedule as soon as we could make the technician available. I received the BBB complaint in the mail on January 11, 2022. I made contact with Mr. ******* on January 14, 2022 and apologized for the delay and offered again to schedule the service technician to make a home visit free of charge. Mr. *******, while admitting that we had fulfilled the contract to install the component of his choosing, declined and requested that we remove and replace the unit at no cost to him. As it is an air cleaning device, the unit is not able to be reused or resold. Without a technician diagnosing a problem with the equipment, we have no recourse with the manufacture to dispute the operation of the unit or verify if indeed there was a problem with it. In conclusion, Mr. ******* has declined the follow up service and does not wish to have a further business relationship with Hill's Heating and Air Conditioning, INC. We have removed his contact from our mailing and expect no further contact with him. 
  Aaron F***** 
  

  
  

  Customer response

  01/24/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  I don't believe there will ever be a resolution on this complaint with this company. My only hope right now is to publicize through you my experience so that other consumers can make an informed decision as to whether they want to contract with Hill's Heating.
  Attached are the email communications that I received from Jim and Aaron at Hills both at the time the concern happened and after they received the letter from the BBB. Please note that the email that I received from Aaron on 1/14 does not include the complete correspondence between Jim and I. What he did not include was the depth of information that I provided to Jim about solutions or my health concerns. Since I had no irritation of my eyes before the unit was installed, the severe irritation that I have felt for two weeks after one day of the EAC's use and the ongoing slight irritation that I experience about every other day for now is a direct correlation to the Ozone produced by the EAC. I believe at this point Hills is interested in sales and revenue but not customer service or satisfaction. When I wrote them on Dec 18th about the performance of the EAC and my health concerns it took Aaron a letter from the BBB and 23 days for him to respond. I just paid them ~$2000.00 for equipment and installation. What business keeps a customer waiting 23 days before taking care of a customer complaint about a product they just installed. Note that Jim had told me they never sell these. So what faith do I have that the Service Manager would know if it were working correctly? Also, I recommended that when he came to inspect the unit that he has an Ozone Meter to actually determine the level of Ozone. We are talking Parts Per Billion. I don't know of any human being who can determine anything at those levels. I also never declined the "free" inspection of the unit. But I never excepted it either. Aaron states that I requested the unit be removed and replaced. I never made this request. I did say that they can keep the ~$2000 but I would like them to remove the unit and install the standard filter slot which had previously been in place. His suggestions were that they could give me a quote to remove the unit or if I measured the EAC perhaps some filters would simply fit in the unit. Note also that this sale included two charcoal pre-filters. On the day of installation, they only brought one. I had to remind Jim about the second one which he said is now on order. However, I have never received it. Therefore they have not completely fulfilled the contract. Lastly, I indicated to Aaron that once this matter is resolved we can end the business relationship. The problem has not been resolved but it seems Hill's has ended our business relationship. 
  
  Thank you for your help. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* *******
   
  

*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. ↩