ComplaintsforWooldridge Heating, Air & Electrical

• Initial Complaint

  06/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We purchased our unit seven years ago. We had gotten a quote several months prior to purchasing our unit, and when we purchased, there was a sale that was $500 cheaper than the quote. They had me sign the quote sheet acknowledging installation, which had one-year parts and labor, which I didn’t pay attention to since it was an old quote, and my husband remembers them saying that we would have the 10-year parts and labor warranty. However, the invoice I received had the correct amount that I paid and listed a 10-year warranty on parts and labor, which they now don’t want to honor. When we had issues 18 months after the system was installed, we had the same issue. They honored only the parts warranty. After multiple calls, they discounted the labor cost by 50%. They also charged me after-hours fees for my diagnostic visit. Our maintenance plan states 24 hour emergency service, never an overtime charge. When I asked for the $50 extra back, they stated that it was not an emergency. An attorney I consulted said the invoice would stand up in small claims court, which I am considering. It’s just shameful that people don’t have ethical business practices. I would encourage anyone looking for a new unit or service for existing systems to look elsewhere!!!!

  

  Business response

  06/11/2024

  Wooldridge Heating Air & Electrical Inc entered a signed proposal agreement on January 11, 2017, to install a new HVAC system at the stated address for ******* *****. This agreement, signed by both parties, covered the installation of a new Air Handler with heater kit, a new heat pump, a new thermostat, and all the needed materials and workmanship required. On the signed agreement, typed in bold font on the front page, is the warranty information covered and included with this project. This signed document shows the following.1 year labor warranty, 10-year parts warranty, & 10-year compressor warranty In the middle of the contract, you will see marked in green where the customer did not elect the option of the 10-year labor warranty that would have been an additional $475.00 as noted. With the signing of the contract by ***** ***** on January 11, 2017, the system was installed to completion the following day, January 12, 2017. At that time, Wooldridge was running a promotion, and the invoice for the discounted amount was mailed to the *****’s the following day, January 13, 2017. On this mailed document, Invoice ******, one that is created by administrative personnel is the following line.“Warranty – 10 yr parts and labor”These labor warranty differences were formally addressed the following year, on 6/20/2018. At that time the *****’s had an HVAC Service call due to mechanical concerns. It was found, on June 19, 2018, that a refrigerant metering device was failing, and the repair was quoted reflecting only the part being covered under warranty. The *****’s originally declined the repair and reached out to the office to clarify the difference in the two physical documents they have, those being the proposal and the invoice. It was clarified and noted on June 20, 2018 that the signed document would be honored, and that document reflected 10-year Part coverage with 1-year Labor coverage. Due to the typo on the invoice, this quoted repair was discounted. In agreeance with this, the *****’s approved this repair, and it was performed accordingly on June 26, 2018. Since that repair, there has been no communication reflecting concerns or lack of clarity over the labor coverage. To compound that, two more billable repairs have been quoted, approved by the Mount’s, and performed to the system, those repairs are the following.July 29, 2021 – Quote to replace Condenser Fan Motor February 28, 2024 – Quote to replace Electrical FuseAttached is also a copy of the 3rd party registration certificate stating the heat pump system is only registered with ******* manufacturing for 10-year parts completed online 1/18/2017.Lastly, in regard to the concern with the After-Hours Fee and the mentioned Maintenance Plan stating, “Never an Overtime Charge.” The same document also states, “There will be a diagnostic charge on service calls” and “Emergency Service calls will be charged at our prevailing rates...” When taken into perspective, the overtime charges noted refer to the fact that no maintenance member will be subject to being charged elevated Labor rates on quoted repairs, regardless of whether Wooldridge will be paying them to its own employees. The After-Hours Service fee is a diagnostic charge only, and with approval, cover’s the technicians drive time to the home and all necessary time needed to diagnose the issues their client is experiencing. The repairs they quote from that point on for all maintenance plan members will be charged at normal daily rates, thus “Never an overtime charge.” To Date, Wooldridge Heating Air & Electrical has honored each signed, quoted, and agreed upon work order reflecting the *****’s wishes and concerns. Each repair and improvement have been performed on this system with the full acknowledgment and approval of the *****’s, three of which directly reflect their understanding of the 1 Year Labor warranty that is on the signed proposal from January 11, 2017. Additionally, per ***** ****** request we have refunded the customer for the remaining visit on the Energy Savings Agreement. Copy of refund attached. At this point, we have proven by documentation that we as a company have stood by our signed proposal as well as given a discount for the typo on the invoice. They are not entitled to benefits of a warranty they did not purchase or pay for per signed proposal with invoice amount and 3rd party registration proving this fact. 

• Initial Complaint

  10/20/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My heat pump that I purchased from wooldridge in 2018 quit working, an electrical fire was the cause of this. After contacting wooldridge to fix the issue they told be it was due to my air filter and would not be covered under warranty. I was told that just this repair would not be covered under warranty but I still had my warranty. I called another place had them look at the issue and after calling the warranty company and being told there wasn’t an open claim he started a warranty claim for us. The warranty company called the installer of my unit which is wooldridge to ask about the issue, wooldridge told them that there was a fire caused by the owner working on the unit. The owner did not work on the unit, the owner looked at the unit to determine how much damage was done by the fire. I have asked to have a manager call me but I was told they were too busy and as of this complaint it has been 6 days with no heat and , an 8 year old daughter, a pregnant wife, two dogs and myself. I have been lied to, treated poorly and I’m disgusted in the way that this has been handled and I no longer have trust in any coming from wooldridge

  

  Business response

  10/21/2022

  10/17/2022, Mr. **** ******* called our service department claiming his HVAC unit burned up over the weekend, Customer said he thinks the capacitor is the reason the unit caught on fire? Customer wanted us to see if outdoor unit is repairable or if it will need to be replaced. Customer had not had any maintenance on system since 2020, customer stated he has been doing the maintenance himself. Our technician & Service Manager went on site 10/17/2022: found outdoor unit electrical compartment & components were completely burned.  Service Manager reached out directly to RUUD tech support and emailed pictures of the outdoor unit at that time RUUD Technician support stated this specific claim would not be paid due to lack of maintenance proven in attached photos. It was assigned a claim number of #***** and was denied.10/18/2022: Service Manger contacted Mr. ******* to notify him that RUUD would not cover parts or repair for this specific instance due to lack of maintenance on system.  *Attached are photos showing how indoor unit was found showing the cause of the fire in the outdoor unit**due to window screens being installed over air returns completely stopped up as well as filter in top of indoor unit, this caused over amping in the outdoor unit because of these restrictions** Mr. ******* stated he wanted his money back on his extended warranty as he did not see it being useful since he wasn’t able to use it in this case** On all extended warranty contracts it is stated repairs will not be covered if due to lack of maintenance on unit as well as any operator negligence**10/19/2022: Service Manager contacted Mr. ******* to notify him that the extended warranty is nonrefundable. Our service manager offered to get the indoor unit running in the emergency heat mode which allows the home to have heat without utilizing outdoor unit. Mr. ******* declined this offer for emergency heat. 10/20/2022: Our RUUD Distributor contacted Wooldridge Heating & Air Inc. spoke to our Parts Manager stating that Mr. ******* had another HVAC company working on unit and was attempting to file a warranty on this same outdoor unit again. We have attached our documents & photos with this statement to support our findings, due to no negligence or fault on our part we cannot justify any type of refund from us.

• Initial Complaint

  07/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I installed a new Unico unit 5 years ago and this is the second coil that has leaked and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer supplied the coil at no cost and paid for 4 1/2 hours of labor. The original bill was for $1,624 and I was credited $675 for labor. This leaves a balance of $949. I have requested and itemized bill 3 times so I know what I am paying for. It is not freon because this is recycled. I have been told they can't break it out. I simply want to know what the $949 is for since the manufacturer paid for the part and 4 1/2 hours of labor

  

  Business response

  07/08/2022

  Good Morning,Attached are our 2 documents of invoices of work performed, we replaced the coil in the Unico system that was approved by ****** ******.  She contacted the manufacturer to cover the coil and part of the labor prior to this replacement work being performed.  We deducted that amount covered by Unico off of her final balance owed to us to replace the coil which is documented on invoice attached.  She was invoiced for the balance she approved  to do this replacement. Freon is NOT recycled in the form that we recycle it out of the unit and then put it back in the unit. The old Freon is recovered from the existing unit to by a recovery machine into a recovery tank, this is brought back and shipped back to a vendor. We then replenish the Freon after the replacement with new Freon in the HVAC System. I just wanted to make sure everyone is clear that we don't reuse Freon then charge a customer that is not the procedure. We diagnosed the coil bad, informed ****** ******, we quoted the replacement before the work was performed, she contacted manufacturer in which she did get the coil and partial labor covered. We then deducted that cost off our price to install new coil to reflect balance of repair she approved to be done. She had us complete the work then refused to pay and wanted a break down of pricing, we do flat rate pricing that is quoted we don't do itemized billing. She was quoted the flat rate repair and approved it.  She was given the attached invoice with document work performed as you can view as well.****** ****** has stated she does not want us back on her property and she does not want to pay this invoice. At this point, we would agree to credit her account in full and mark her account that we will no longer service any of her properties. Our stance  at this point its best we go our separate ways and she hire another contractor to service her HVAC & Electrical needs.  I will print her invoice and document on this invoice credit balance in full in which we will mail to her with a company letter dissolving our business relationship going forward.We appreciate your time in reviewing this complaint, please let me know if you have any further questions at ###-###-####.  Sincerely, **** ** **** ***

  Customer response

  07/11/2022

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. Wooldridge says that I agreed to the amount. I did not sign anything. I was thinking that most of the amount was labor since the manufacturer supplied the part. I want to know what I owe $949 more dollars for after the manufacturer paid $675 labor. That is all I am asking. They tried to say it was for freon and I know they pull that out and put it back in. I simply want an itemized bill. Regards, ****** ******

  

  Business response

  07/13/2022

  Good Afternoon,Attached is the document we have on file signed by Ms. ***** ****** that she is stated she did not sign.We will not submit an itemized bill, we are flat rate not time & material billing.We DO NOT take freon out and put it back in, freon is recovered in a tank that it returned to our vendor that is shipped off by them not us. We only put new freon in units.  Her statement is untrue that we put freon back in.We have credited her account in full she does not owe us anything for this bill, I have mailed a copy of the invoice marked zero balance with a letter to her home address . This was mailed Satruday 7/9/2022.The letter stated we have credited her account in full and we are dissolving our business relationship with her. She is making untrue accusations, refuses to pay bill & we have a recorded call from her stated for us not to step foot back on her property.    

  Customer response

  07/19/2022

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved. Regards, ****** ******

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