ComplaintsforCarolina Climate Control, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  07/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On May 12 Carolina Climate came to service the AC units. There technician accidentally kicked over a drain pipe resulting in water leaking into the home for 6 days. The resulting damage required extensive mold remediation, the tear out and re-sheet rock of an entire bathroom and the replacement of the dining room ceiling. Additional damage to dining room table, chairs and rugs. They admitted on they caused this accident on a recorded phone line however refused to offer any compensation. Damages exceeded $20,000.

  Business response

  07/08/2024

  To whom it may concern,
  
  After reviewing all the pictures and videos from our visits at your home we completed that water damage was not caused by us. I’m going to list a few reasons why we don't accept  responsibility because we weren’t able to get on our phone call. I started to say this is more like a homeowners insurance claim but that’s up to you. 1. The float switch was in a high spot on the pan (yes it works, but it’s pointless if it doesn’t shut the system off with the pan full of water)(see attachments), 2. The primary drain line was running uphill and causing the water to back into the secondary pan (causing it to fill up), 3. When we water tested the drain line during our initial tuneup, there were no leaks at the fitting from that drain line shown in the pictures. I consulted with both my technicians who have worked for me for several years. They both mentioned to me in separate settings that the attic has a lot of plumbing and electrical as well. There is a chance that another trade caused the damage to the primary drain line. Also, I’ll add that our employees all go through a thorough background drug screen testing before they’re hired. I do not hire people who are untrustworthy/criminals. 4. Clark Whetstone was told to contact our office and he did not. I don’t believe we should be held responsible for something we didn’t do and also for the miscommunication of someone that is not in charge of making decisions about the home. I can’t imagine having to deal with that damage and I sympathize with you for having to but I’m not willing to take blame when all evidence points away from us having caused any issues. See below for the timeline of events which we also didn't get to before I was told I was going to be sued.

  A. ***** ******* 5/14/24 Initial visit from Skip (tech) doing a One - Time Tune Up
  B. Mike F. (tech #2) called out 6 days later on 5/20/24 and identified the water leak issue from drain line not being glued & the pan overflowing > emailed the findings to  [email protected] (our email we were given to for invoices to be sent to).
  C. Clark Whetstone texted technician (not office) on 5/23/24 (3 days later) @ 7:56am then again on 5/29/24 (9 days later) @ 4pm about getting water leak resolved. This was 3 days later & then again 9 days later. The office should've been called and that was relayed to Clark.
  D. We did not hear about this again until 6/10/24 (another 12 days had passed) @ 9:14am. This issue kept getting worse as nobody at the home gave it enough attention. The system should've been turned off by the client after we left as instructed by our technicians but that did not happen.

  
  The photo attached was from when Mike F was out on 5/20/24. This should've been the total extent of the damage. The only reason it got worse is because the system was ran against recommendation and we at the office were not given the correct person to get in touch with in regards to making actual decisions on the home. The only way we found out that ***** ******* was the actual homeowner was when he wrote a 1 star google review on 6/21/24. This was a full month later (32 days). Frank sent over a copy of the bill for damages to the sheetrock repair of $7,800 and started to threaten my staff and myself that he will accept no less than $5,000 of the total $7,800 repair bill. It's also very important to note that this drainline was never glued and that was not our fault because we did not install this system, that was the equipment installing contractor error. It's also very important to note that the platform that the secondary pan rested on (which the air handler rests on) is also not level and the float switch is in a high spot rendering it useless. That drain line did not leak when Skip (5/14/24) visited and flushed all the drains on the system.

  The photo of the unit where it shows the pan full of water is proof that this float switch is in a high spot. It should've never got close to reaching that level. It also proves that the drainline is not draining properly and that it has been running up hill. The leveling of the drain line was fixed free of charge just in an effort to help the client. Which at the time we still didn't know ***** ******* was the homeowner. We tried everything we could and due to the negligence of the person that was put in charge of contacting us and not bringing it to the correct person in the beginning, Frank, we can't be held responsible for poor installation practices and poor communication. 

*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. ↩