Complaintsfor1-800-Plumber +Air & Electric

• Initial Complaint

  07/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We purchased a heating/AC. Unit in June 2020. Every summer since then, we have to call them to come check out our air conditioner when the temperatures get extremely hot. They've told us to change out a $280 filter which we did multiple times. In May of this year when the temperature started getting hot, we called 1-800 plumber once again and asked to speak to an owner or someone in charge. We found our original contract that stated we had a 12-year warranty on the unit and parts in labor. We spoke to Chris who wasn't interested in the warranty that we had and said that we would have to put in a new unit at our expense. We are currently still paying for this unit at $165 a month with a balance of $14,000. The original cost of the unit was around $16,000. We decided to get an opinion from another HVAC company he came out and discovered the ducking that was installed was not installed correctly in the Attic. The unit itself was not placed where it should be outside so that outside air would push the hot air away from it. He also discovered the a coil was partially shut off and the ducking was pinched off and constricted. At extreme temperatures of 95° for above the unit will shut itself off and not cool the house. Before shutting off the temperature in the house reaches 80°. The HVAC consultant we contacted to come check the unit out also suggested that too small of a unit condenser was put in in 2020. We have a 3 ton unit and we need a three and a half ton unit or larger

  

  Business response

  07/04/2024

  Mr. Terry, we apologize for your frustration. This will be a fairly long response as I will lay everything out as best I can. First of all I will do a timeline of events according to our records. In June of 2020 we provided an estimate for new hvac system and duct work. The system was installed (in the same location as the existing unit) on 6-5, 6-6, and 6-8. On 6-10 we were called out due to the unit not operating, it was determined to be bad thermostat wire, which was existing, we replaced the wire and this solved the issue. Newer communicating systems are very sensitive to wiring issues, we have since began replacing on all installs. On 10-10-2020, we were called out due to a blank thermostat, we found a broken wire on the safety switch which we replaced, and unit began operating with no further issues. On 7-9-2021 we were called out because the unit was not keeping up. We set the appointment up as the annual maintenance visit and found a dirty filter and dirty condenser coil. We changed the filter and cleaned the coil and the unit began operating correctly. Our next visit was on 7-13-23, upon arrival and evaluation we found a dirty filter and dirty indoor coil. Customer approved the cleaning of the coil and unit began operating correctly. We do not have any other visits on record. 

  On the concern about the location of the unit, this is not a normal unit, it is a side discharge unit and is installed to manufacture approved specifications. On the sizing of the unit, it was sized according to manufacture and code sizing. We installed the unit that was sized for this house based on the load calculation for the home taking into consideration size of home, number of rooms, doors, windows, and insulation. We are not allowed to install oversized units as that would waste energy and shorten the life of the equipment.

  When it comes to the warranty of the system, please refer to the contract signed by the customer. It states that for both our warranty and the manufactures that the system must have annual maintenance (preformed by us for our warranty) performed on the system. This was not done on the system voiding the warranty. Also, the system requires a high quality filter changed on a regular basis (in this case twice a year if proper filter is used). The reason the unit has not been able to keep up has been lack of proper maintenance based on our previous visits. 

  Here is what we are proposing at this time (we will call the customer directly to set up), we will perform a complete and thorough evaluation of the duct system and unit. Checking for constricted ductwork and the blocked A coil. We have pictures of the unit, but not of the duct system. We will make corrections if anything was not installed correctly or has settled incorrectly over the past 4 years. 

  We work very hard to make every customer as happy as possible and will look over the system and If there are any corrections needed we will make them.

  Customer response

  07/10/2024

  I have reviewed the business’ response and accept this resolution.  Chris came out on July 9th 2024. He was very responsive to our request to check the system out. He put new refrigerant in the unit, and he redid some of the ducking in the Attic. We are satisfied with the business response.

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