ComplaintsforPatrick Heating, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  05/02/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My mother an elderly lady of 76 yo was ripped off by Patrick's Heating. The furnace was not working. They claimed it needed a new motor . I was with her when they removed our brand new motor and replaced it w/ a very old rusty looking motor. They took $789 and asked her to use her bank card. The furnace was still not working they claimed it needed a new pressure switch. They didn't show up to replace it and claimed they needed to order a new pressure switch so we waited 1 week. We found a guy who saw the furnace and replaced the filter 2 days prior to us calling Patrick's heating. He came and looked at it says the furnace was perfect, didn't need a pressure switch and when he looked at our original motor it was brand new compared to the old 1 they installed. He says coz we are not white Americans they ripped us off. That's the money you pay for a brand new furnace, he found dead birds in the pipes/ tubes and removed it cleaned it out and the heater started working perfectly. Patrick's heating guy just removed 1 dead bird but there were more, that's why the furnace still did not work. I am asking my elderly mother for them to refund $400. Thank you, ******

  Business response

  05/23/2022

  As per our conversation today, below is an explanation of the events that occurred between my company (Patrick Heating) and customer ***** ***** **** for a furnace service call that began on Saturday 4/16/22. 4/16/22 We received a phone call on our business answering service on Saturday April 16th. The message was delivered to my cell phone. I returned the call immediately. Ms. **** did not answer. We played phone tag for a while. After an hour and a half, I received a phone call directly on my cell from a similar phone number. During this time, I was at another customer's home in the basement and did not have cell service. I had received 14 missed calls from this phone number. After finally connecting with *****, she was shocked that we charge extra for weekend emergency service calls. She then requested an appointment on Monday 4/18/22. 4/18/22 Our technician Ben was dispatched to Ms. ****'s home at *** **** **** ****** ***** (we believe is a second home). This location is 29 miles one way and approximately 45 min drive time. When our tech arrived, he inspected the furnace and was told the furnace had not worked in 3 months. Ben found the inducer motor was seized up and needed to be replaced. The motor was replaced with a brand new one. Just after replacing the motor, he received a pressure switch code which indicated further inspection of the furnace was needed. Ben discovered there was blockage in the vent pipe which caused part of the failure. Since the vent goes through roof and cannot be seen from inside, Ben safely used a ladder to access the roof. He used a coat hanger and was able to push the blockage down the pipe. Ben then proceeded to go back to the furnace room and cleared the blockage. The blockage debris was a large nasty decayed bird with about 3 gallons of nasty dirty water. This would explain why the furnace would fail in many ways. The technician got the furnace working but the pressure switch needed to be replaced. Since it was not an item that was readily available on his truck, he explained to the customer he would have to order the part and return as soon as the part came in. In the meantime, as required by company policy, he charged the customer for a service fee, hourly rate and the new inducer motor. The customer explained she would not be back to this home and she would have her neighbor unlock the door for us since they had a key. 4/19/22 ***** called the office very upset and stating we overcharged her. She spoke with my father, David Patrick, and became irate with him. To console her my father agreed we would not charge her a second service fee. She still was not happy and pressured my father until he finally agreed to not charge her for the new pressure switch. We confirmed her neighbor would be home and had the key. Ben was again dispatched later that afternoon. He drove 45 mins and there was no neighbor available. We immediately contacted ***** but we were not able to reach her. Our tech had to continue on with his workload. Patrick Heating just wasted 1.5 hours of our business time and money. Our vehicles have GPS tracking so proof of the travel can be confirmed. 4/20/22 ***** called our office and gave us a new phone number to call. She still wanted part installed. 4/25/22 ***** called the office and spoke with Dave Patrick. Once again, she was irate and belligerent on the phone. Complaining how we charge too much. Dave proceeded to let her know that we were no longer going to return with the part and she can contact another company. 4/26/22 ***** called the office and spoke with Dave. After much thought and a huge heart, Dave agreed we would go back with the part as soon as we were available. 4/28/22 ***** called the office to state she had someone else come and repair the furnace. She claimed we ripped her off by putting in a used motor and based on this other company's observation, she did not need a new pressure switch. She demanded a full refund. As a company we pride ourselves on doing our best for each individual customer, whether they are a returning customer or a brand new one. We tried everything we could to please her. We now have a part that we paid for that is no longer needed plus many man hours. If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact me at the office ###-###-#### Sincerely, Shaun Patrick Vice President 

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