ComplaintsforCARE Heating & Cooling, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  06/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Description: I purchased the semi-annual service plan from CARE several years ago. All was acceptable until this year. I received a call from CARE to schedule my summer season checkup sometime in March, 2023. I was offered three dates over a three month period in which they could do the checkup. None of these dates were acceptable and I told the agent that I could not do any of the dates. This agent's attitude was kind of like, "well tough luck." I decided to shop around for another company. In May I received a call from a manager at CARE and told her why I had not scheduled a checkup. She said that the first agent should have offered Saturday appointments. By that time I was not interested and told her I wanted a refund of my monthly payments. I was only seeking the advance payments that I had made towards the summer checkup. She said it was their "policy" that if a contract was cancelled they would charge their last (winter) checkup at their full rate, and therefore there would be no refund. This "policy" does not appear in their contract. Their contract also states that that purchasers of the semi-annual service plan would receive "priority customer scheduling." I don't call three dates over three months "priority customer scheduling." Obviously they are having the same labor shortage issues that many companies are having, but they want the customer to continue paying despite their insufficient labor.

  

  Business response

  07/13/2023

  This situation has already been resolved with the customer.  We agreed cancel Mr. ******s CARE Plan and release him from his obligation to pay us for it.
  
  Our CARE Plan is a one year maintenance agreement that provides customers with benefits which include two semi-annual tune ups on their home’s heating and cooling equipment.  For convenience and to assure continued coverage of a customer’s HVAC equipment, the CARE Plan automatically renews.  In 2016 Mr. ***** signed up for our CARE Plan, which started on December 1st and ran through November 30th of the next year.  From 2016 to 2022, Mr. *****’s plan renewed each December 1st.  In December of 2022, we performed the furnace tune up for his CARE Plan that ran from December 1st, 2022 through November 30th 2023.  We called Mr. ***** on March 20th, 2023 to schedule his AC tune up and offered several potential dates for the service but none worked for him.  Our notes on the call state that Mr. ***** would call us back to schedule the AC tune up at another time.  On May 12th we called him again and he said that he wanted to cancel his plan.  Our customer service manager spoke with Mr. ***** and explained our cancellation policy which is in the terms and conditions of the plan and reads as follows:
  
  "If customer opts to make monthly payments and decides to cancel the plan for any reason before the current plan is fulfilled, customer is responsible for paying the remaining balance of the plan, or the difference between the retail and discounted value of any performed services under the current CARE Plan, whichever is greater.  No prorated refunds will be given."
  
  Under his current plan, Mr. ***** had received his furnace tune up, a retail value of $129, and made six monthly payments of $16.50, for a total of $99.  Per the terms and conditions of the contract, Mr. ***** owes us $99 which is the remaining balance of the plan.  However, our customer service manager agreed to cancel the current plan and release Mr. ***** from any obligation to pay us.  We apologize for not being able to schedule an appointment that fit Mr. *****’s scheduling needs and hope that we can provide service to him again in the future.

• Initial Complaint

  12/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  In January of 2022 I contacted Care regarding my secondary heat not working. A tech was sent out and it was determined that I needed a new "heat Package" for the furnace at a cost of approximately $1,400. Care was unable to obtain this part and the saga continued for almost 11 months before Care informed me that ***** has discontinued the part and their order had been canceled. The other option offered was to replace the full HVAC system at an approximate cost of $12,000. Thus, I'm left with no secondary heat with winter approaching. I called a second company to come in and give a second opinion and they came in and found that a dip switch setting on the control board had been changed causing the faulty code leading to Care's diagnosis. The second company reset the dip switch and replaced a $30 high limit switch and the furnace was fully functional. Care was the only company to work on the furnace and had to be the source of the moved dip switch

  

  Business response

  12/20/2022

  Prior to receiving this complaint, our service manager had already promised Mr. ****** the refund he is requesting.  A check was mailed out the very same day and was deposited by Mr. ****** on 12/16/22.
  
  In January, one of our service technicians went out for a no heat call. Through his diagnostics and the error he was getting on the board of the air handler he decided the whole heat kit needed to be replaced. *****, the manufacturer of the equipment, said the part was on backorder which has been an unfortunately common occurrence over the last 2 years. In June, ***** told us they had ordered the wrong part and sent us a different heat kit that they had in stock. In August, we sent a technician to Mr. ******** home with the part and he determined it wasn’t the right one and the original heat kit that was on backorder was the part we needed. That part was still out of stock, so ***** placed several orders for the heat kit from different supply houses to try to expedite getting the part that were unsuccessful. In November, our service manager **** noticed that the air handler was no longer produced by ***** and thought that the heat kit might be discontinued as a result. **** reached out to ***** and was told that indeed the air handler had been discontinued but the part is still in their catalog. The very next week ***** told **** that the part had been marked legacy, was discontinued, and our order was cancelled. **** told ***** that this was unacceptable with how long we had been working with this customer. ***** escalated the issue to a corporate employee who said they would look into options including manufacturing a custom heat kit just for this customer.  A week later, ***** informed **** they found a heat kit in a warehouse in California which would be compatible with Mr. ******** equipment after some minor field modifications. When **** called Mr. ****** to give him the news he said another company give him a second opinion and that they found the issue was just the high limit, not the whole heat kit. **** apologized and promised a refund of all fees Mr. ****** had paid to us, which were a service call fee and a maintenance agreement.  Mr. ****** told **** he would be filling complaints with the BBB, Ohio Attorney General, and leaving CARE a 1-star Google review.

  Customer response

  12/21/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I accept the business's response to resolve this complaint.
  Regards,
  
  ****** ******

• Initial Complaint

  10/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  After the company's first service call for my furnace, the technician said I needed a new pressure switch. On the second service call (to install the switch), they said it was not the pressure switch, but I needed a new induction motor. They gave me a quote for $804.69 for parts and labor for the motor, which I agreed to because I still trusted them at the time. On the third service call (October 6 in the afternoon), they installed the motor, but the furnace still wasn't working. The technician showed me a picture on his phone of a "crack" in the heat exchanger and said that was likely the problem, and he needed to check to see if it was still under warranty. I called the next morning (October 7), and the company's representative told me that the heat exchanger was not under warranty because the warranty was non-transferable (I purchased the house in 2019 and the furnace was installed in 2012 by the prior owner). That sounded wrong to me, but she assured me it was not covered. She then asked if I wanted them to replace the heat exchanger for over $3000 or buy a new furnace. I told her I would get back to her. I checked the terms of the warranty that came with the installation of the furnace, which expressly state that the heat exchanger has a 20-year warranty that is transferable to new homeowners. I called the manufacturer directly to confirm that was true, and the representative said it "absolutely" was true and was surprised that Care was not honoring the warranty. Now that this has happened, I doubt whether the induction motor needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, the technician took the old one away when he installed the new one, so I cannot have it inspected. I would like to confirm the induction motor actually needed to be replaced. I have attached copies of (1) emails exchanged with the company (with pictures of the "crack" and the warranty terms), (2) the serial number of the furnace, and (3) the invoice for the induction motor.

  

  Business response

  10/20/2022

  In this situation, our service department ultimately diagnosed a defective heat exchanger in Mr. ********* furnace.  This diagnosis was confirmed using an inspection camera and pictures of the damage to the heat exchanger were sent to Mr. ********  At this time, our company has only charged Mr. ******* a $95.00 service call fee.  We did not charge him for repairs to the pressure switch or inducer motor, both of which were malfunctioning because of the underlying problem with the heat exchanger.
  
  When ordering parts for a repair, our operating procedure is to confirm with the equipment manufacturer if the unit needing repairs has an active warranty.  In this case, one of our office staff members placed a phone call to our local ****** ***** **** warehouse and was told that Mr. ********* furnace had no warranty on the heat exchanger.  Our office staff informed Mr. ******* of this via email and received a reply from him which stated:
  
  “Thank you. I just spoke to the manufacturer who confirmed that the heat exchanger is, in fact, still covered under the basic limited lifetime warranty which, unlike the extended warranty, is transferrable to new home owners. What he told me on the phone is consistent with the terms of the warranty itself (see attached). I will be contacting another company to perform the installation and will be reporting your company to the Better Business Bureau and leaving a one-star Google review.”
  
  Upon receiving this email from Mr. *******, our office staff member escalated the situation to our management team.  We realized the error that had occurred and reached back out to Mr. ******* to apologize, explain the situation, and offer to complete his repairs under our warranty pricing.  Details of ******** error can all be confirmed with ***** ****** *** ******* ******* ** ******.  We are very frustrated that an employee of Lennox would give us incorrect information about the warranty status that has resulted in our apparent loss of Mr. ********* business and this BBB complaint.
  
  Mr. ******* has not contacted us again, so we assume at this point he has followed through with hiring another company as he stated in his email.  Given that Mr. ******* has only paid us for our service call fee to diagnose his equipment, no refund is warranted in this situation.

• Initial Complaint

  08/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We have had the same issue with our air conditioning system all summer. We have had techs our 4-5 times over 2.5 months. The techs that were sent out all checked one thing and didn't bother to investigate further as the problem continued. They recommended we replace a part in an 18 month old unit. When asked how they know the part is bad they stated we don't but they couldn't think whatever else it could be. We agreed to pay $383.54 for the portion not under warranty. The part was installed and the problem continued. We demanded a senior tech and the service manager was sent out. He was the first tech to actually test various parts of our system. He stated the other techs didn't note anything, didn't have an explanation on file as to why the $383.54 fix was recommended and never tested any of the things he found. He did find an issue and fixed it but we are still waiting to see if that was the only issue. We are out the money for a part that wasn't needed with no reasoning for the replacement. We asked for a higher up manager from the service manager and he stated he was the highest and the owners don't talk to customers. When asked about what they plan to do about the money we wasted we weren't given a straight answer.

  

  Business response

  08/23/2022

  A refund for $383.54 will be sent to Mrs. ****** per her request.  
  
  The $383.54 charge was for a blower motor replacement.  Our technicians ran multiple service calls where the air conditioner was frozen.  Among other issues, they found the blower was cycling off during the operation of the air conditioner, which would have caused the unit to freeze.  The blower motor was a contributing factor to the overall issues with the system, it was not an unnecessary repair.  However, given the circumstances of the situation, we will honor Mrs. ****** refund request.

• Initial Complaint

  05/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  A new Lennox furnace (and an air conditioner) which I was told was 97% efficient was installed July 2020. In Aug,21, I contacted the gas company regarding my large bills. I was told since my installation I was using twice as much gas as I had previously. CARE said they had neglected to change the settings so that was done 9/14.. Small change so they came on Jan 25 , used my Lennox manual to make sure settings were correct. i had gas co. change the meter on 1/31, Slight improvement but not as efficient as the Lennox advertisement says it should be. Nothing in my household has changed, I have reports for several years from the gas company on my usage. I also have reports from them showing my usage is in the "fair" range when compared to other houses in the area with similar square footage. I feel I have a "lemon" or at least a non-efficient furnace, not what I was sold!

  

  Business response

  05/11/2022

  On July 23rd, 2020 CARE installed a furnace and air conditioner for Mrs. **********.  The furnace installed was a Lennox model EL196UH070XE36B, which is rated at 96% Annualized Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE).  The AFUE rating of a furnace measures its efficiency.  A furnace rated at 96% AFUE will turn 96% of its fuel into useable heat.  The furnace we removed from Mrs. **********’s home was a Carrier model 58mcb060-10116.  Specifications from Carrier available online show this furnace was rated at 92.3% AFUE.  The new Lennox furnace we installed is rated 3.7% AFUE higher than the old Carrier furnace we removed.  While this is slightly more efficient, assuming the same operating conditions, we would not expect to see a significant difference in the overall amount of natural gas used to heat the home.
  
  On March 1st, 2021, CARE performed a tune up on the new furnace.  Our technician documented that the furnace was working properly.  Every time CARE works on a gas furnace, our technicians use a digital combustion analyzer.  This tool helps our technicians diagnose issues related to carbon monoxide, and it also measures the efficiency of the furnace.  During the tune up on March 1st, 2021 our combustion analyzer measured the efficiency of the furnace as 97.3%.  This measurement is slightly higher than the furnace’s AFUE rating of 96%.  AFUE ratings are established by testing the equipment under a strict set guidelines.  The actual performance of the equipment when installed in a home will vary slightly from the AFUE rating, both higher and lower, so it is not abnormal for our combustion analyzer to measure the efficiency at 97.3%.
  
  On September 14th, 2021, at Mrs. **********’s request we inspected the furnace and made some adjustments to the gas pressure and blower speed in an effort to make the system operate more efficiently.  Our technician tested the gas line for leaks and found none.  Overall, the system was operating properly during this inspection.
  
  On January 25th, 2022, our service manager went out with one of our technicians to inspect the furnace, again at Mrs. **********’s request.  Our service manager discussed the situation with our local technical support representative at Lennox.  During this visit, we checked everything that the Lennox representative advised us to look at and found nothing wrong with the furnace.
  
  It is worth pointing out that an increase in the amount of natural gas used by the home does not mean the furnace is defective.  Many other issues can cause an increase in the amount of natural gas to be used by a home, including changes to the temperature the thermostat is set to and changes in weather as the furnace will need to operate longer and use more natural gas the colder it is outside.  Other natural gas appliances in the house may be the cause of an increase as well.
  
  Moving forward, we can offer to schedule a time for our local Lennox technical representative to make a visit with us to Mrs. **********’s home to inspect the furnace.  If anything related to the operation of the furnace is found to be at fault, we will fix the issue.

  Customer response

  08/31/2022

  Description:
  Constituent had new furnace installed 2 years ago, July 2020 during first heating season her budget
  amounts went up drastically. Gas company told her she was using twice as much gas as the old unit.
  The company that installed it has been out two times and made adjustments which made a small
  improvement in the usage. Last visit by supplier was May 19, 2022. She has contacted the BBB and she
  agreed for Lennox and Care representatives to come out to look at the unit, they determined all settings
  are as they should be. She's written to Lennox but has not heard anything from them. Warranty on unit.
  Consumer would like the unit to work as promised and save her money or be replaced with a unit that
  performs properly.
  Care Heating & Cooling
  

  Satisfactory Solution:
  Consumer would like the unit to work as promised and save her money or be replaced with a unit that
  performs properly.
  

  

  Business response

  10/10/2022

  10.10.2022, BBB spoke with Dennis S******* with Care Heating & Cooling. He said a manufacturer representative along with the Care Heating & Cooling Service Manager visited consumer's home and found no problems with the system.

  Customer response

  10/10/2022

  I am rejecting this response because: if everything is "perfect" then I should not be using more than twice as much gas as I had used with my previous 15 year old furnace.  I have written proof from the local gas company that this is true.   I reject the claim that I have been sold a "highly efficient" furnace when I am using so much more gas and my bills have skyrocketed; therefore,  I must have a defective piece of equipment or I have been duped with the claim from the Lennox company and supported by C.A.R.E. that this is an efficient piece of equipment that was correctly installed and sold with the correct size. Where does the proof come that allows these  companies to claim that their product is "high efficient."  
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** **********

• Initial Complaint

  04/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My heat pump stopped working and needed a good company to fix it After hearing Care adds on tv I thought that would be a good company. So I called them and they had an open on Fri April 1st at 12 Pm the service tech call about 12 30 said he was on his way .When he started inspecting the heat pump he called me on the phone and ask if someone had let the freon out of the heat pump and I said no. then he called back and said he found the TXV valve to be defective the pump needed be taken apart to get to the valve the freon needed to be taken out to get to the valve and the cost would be in the $1000 dollar range and needed to schedule a time to have it fixed at that time I said I would get a second opinion Come to find out the board was out nothing he said was right I want my $95.00 back and a apology and the tech to be retrained. Thanks David Heizer

  

  Business response

  04/22/2022

  On 4/1/22 our company did perform a service call for Mr. *******  Our technician found issues with the heat pump that he concluded were the fault of a defective TXV.  CARE did not install this equipment, and our technician’s notes state the customer was going to follow up with the company who did install it in an attempt to have the repairs covered by a warranty.  Mr. ****** never reached out to us after the service call to discuss any discrepancies between our findings and those of another company.  A board replacement would not resolve any of the issues our technician found.  If Mr. ****** has any issues with the equipment again, we would be happy to re-diagnose and quote any needed repairs.  In this case, no refund for our service call fee will be provided.   

  Customer response

  04/27/2022

  The young man needs to be restrained because the diagnosis was totally wrong do you need the paperwork to prove it
  
  

  

  Business response

  05/10/2022

  In the interest of customer service, we will issue Mr. ****** a refund of his $95 service call fee.  The invoice presented from the second company has very little detail and is completely inconsistent with what our technician found.  While it is possible for anyone to make a mistake, we suspect there are further issues with the heat pump that the second company did not fully diagnose.  If Mr. ****** needs service in the future we would be happy to help him.

*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. ↩