ComplaintsforAir-Tech Brazos Valley A/C & Heating Service, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  05/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In mid-April, I asked my landlord, *****************, if he knows of a company who does HV** repair that could give me an estimate to replace my unit at Classy Nails. My landlord sent an email to *************************, a representative at Air Tech Brazos Valley A/C & Heating Services, ***** on 4/14/2022 stating "HV** unit not working **** S ** ave ***** Suite **** ************. Please go check out the unit as they a another company telling them they need another new unit." On 4/15, a technician arrived at my business and said he was here to check the ** I said yes, please take a look. A few weeks later my landlord said Air Tech sent an invoice for $308.51 for work that was done during the visit and that I am responsible for the charges. I don't agree with this charges because there was no approval for the work to be done. I would have expected the technician to look at my unit, tell me how much it would cost to fix the issue, and get my approval to see if I wanted the work. Instead, the work was done without prior approval and now I'm stuck with an invoice for work I didn't authorize. If this had been a $1,000 invoice, would they have expected me to be okay with paying this. On 5/4/2022, I sent Air Tech an email explaining my issue and offered to pay $125 of the $308.51. I believe that is a fair amount that would be charged for the technician time and effort to come look at my unit. I haven't heard back so I followed up again on 5/10 and still haven't received a reply from Air Tech. Due to their lack of response in helping solve this matter in a timely manner, I now demand a full refund of $308.51. I do not think it was fair business practice to make customers pay for work they didn't authorize. I have attached the email chain to document all the communication that took place as well as the invoice.

  

  Business response

  05/20/2022

  Air-Tech has had a long time relationship with Oldham ******* as a property management company. From our experience with *****************, anytime he has requested a service call he wants us to get the tenant cooling ASAP. If the repair is under $600 he doesn't question what needs to be done and he doesn't want us to wait around. He wants us to do what we can for a reasonable amount and get the ** working for the tenant. In this case, he told us to have a tech look at the unit, another company had told them they need to replace it. In our experience, we have been on many calls, not just for Oldham *******, where a company says the unit needs to be replaced and when we check the unit it's something simple we can do to get them cooling and possibly repaired inexpensively with out having to incur the cost of a new unit. In this case, the tech found the unit 1lb low on refrigerant. He was unable to reach **** at that moment, but knowing **** wants it cooling for the customer, our tech charged the unit with 1lb of R22. Later that evening **** did respond to our tech and said yes charge the unit. We have never been told to communicate issues with the tenants at any of the Oldham ******* locations, which is why he tried to contact ****. While on site our tech did gather information so we could send a replacement quote like they wanted. We did send **** a quote. When the tenant emailed us asking for a refund and saying she was upset with the service being performed, I told her I would speak with ****, who always expects us to get the ** cooling, which is what we did. I emailed **** telling him the tenant notified me and was upset about the invoice. **** replied it was a good **** and we did as we were told. 

  Customer response

  05/23/2022

  Complaint: 17198814
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I don't believe that Air Tech has made effort to settle this dispute fairly.  My landlord is a multi-million dollar business so of course they don't care if the charges is $600.  I am a small business owner and paying $300 for something I didn't agree to or need is a bigger deal.  As evidenced by the attached email chain, I don't believe Air Tech did what was requested which was to provide an estimate.  They are the company performing the work, so I believe the onus is on them to get the proper approval.  

  I have made an attempt to settle this with Air Tech have been unsuccessful.  I hope other tenants will learn from my incident and not get into this situation.  $600 to a multi-million company is nothing but it's a much bigger deal for a small business owner.  Also, I ******** Tech realizes that the tenants are the one responsible for charges not *****************/****** Group so the decision of whether the work should be done or not should be made by the tenant.  

  Regards,
  
  ***************** Le

  

  Business response

  05/24/2022

  It is obvious that ***************** Le has not read the emails and timeline associated with the emails nor the invoice. Air-Tech was not working for Classy Nails. Air-Tech was working for *********************. Air-Tech is not aware of lease agreements between landlords and tenants.  

  ********************* has since paid their **** and has back charged Classy Nails.

  "Monday, May 2, 2022 1:50 PM To: ********************* Subject: RE: HVAC unit not working **** S ** ave ***** Suite **** ************

   

  "It is a good **** he wanted the ac working."

   

  Are you getting me a price on a new unit and how fast to get it it?Thank you,*****************"

   

  The analogy of taking a vehicle to a repair shop doesn't play out in this instance as Classy Nails did not request the repair ********************* made the request, they are Air-Tech's customer. Our history with ***************** is if the system can be repaired for under $600.00 is "get it done now", over that amount requires a quote. Again ********************* is our customer at this point not Classy Nails

  Customer response

  05/24/2022

  Complaint: 17198814
  
  What's even more obvious is that Air-Tech didn't do what was asked of them:

  From: ********************* <*****************************************************>
  Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2022 12:30 PM
  To: ***************** <*******************************>
  Subject: RE: HVAC unit not working **** S ** ave ***** Suite **** ************
  
  I will get this on the schedule as soon as we can. Possibly tomorrow.
  
  
  From: ***************** <***********************************>
  Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2022 12:06 PM
  To: ********************* <*****************************************************>
  Subject: HVAC unit not working **** S ** ave ***** Suite **** ************
  
  Please go check out the unit as they a another company telling them they need another new unit.
  
  We had no idea of the arrangement between Air Tech and ****Ware/************.  Of course **** would not have an issue with the invoice as it is not him who is paying it.  It is very convenient and beneficial for Air Tech to claim that ************ is their customer because they can show up and perform work without approval from the party liable for the charges.  

  This dispute with AirTech can be closed as we are getting no where.  I have already wasted $308 and there is no point in wasting anymore of my time.  

  
  Regards,
  
  ***************** Le

*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. ↩