ComplaintsforIndoor Comfort Systems Inc

• Initial Complaint

  03/26/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Indoor Comfort System installed a brand new condenser for our new construction home in Tacoma, WA. Unfortunately, the pad was not properly leveled (one corner was clearly lifted off the ground) and the condenser unit was never secured to the underlying pad. With time, the condenser unit began tilting towards the house (see photograph). Approximately 1.5 years after the installation, I contacted the company to see if they could level the pad and properly secure the condenser. We were concerned that further tilting would kink the copper lines and damage the **** system. I spoke to *************************** the Operations Manager who blamed the issue on the builder not providing them with a concrete pad and on the dirt settling. He refused to correct the issue and quoted me over 2k for his company to come out, disconnect the condenser, and level it. I contacted the builder who said this was a bunch of BS and shortly after sent someone out to level it for free (even though we were outside the 1 year builder warranty)... This experience demonstrated that the Indoor Comfort Systems cuts corners and does not care about the customer.

  Business response

  03/28/2022

  Dear **********************,

  It is not the responsibility of the **** contractor to prepare the ground work in order for us to set our equipment.  Typically, the house is back filled and the **** is graded away from the foundation to prepare the ground for sidewalks, driveways, generators, heat pumps etc.  When the contractor calls to set the unit, we will rake the **** level and set the outdoor unit on it.  It is not our job to do a compaction test to prevent any further settling.  Judging from the picture that you sent us, the surrounding rocky **** does not even look like it was properly prepared to receive grass seed.

  Nevertheless, the only reason that your contractor came out to do it for free was two fold.  One, he knows that it is his responsibility to provide  solid ground work for our unit to sit on.  And second, he did this miracle for you by gently lifting up the unit around the edges and leveling it with stones, bricks, or some other landscape materials.  Unless the unit was totally disconnected and the ground prepared correctly, the problem will either come back or the pad will prematurely crack at some point.

  It is a shame that some people feel the need to besmirch a company's name because they did not get their way.  Just because you are a real estate investor,  does not make you an expert in how the steps of the construction process take place or the nature of the construction agreement between the contractor and the subcontractor.  Your contractor never called us concerning this issue.  If he had, we probably at the very least would have gone out to look at it.  But he never did.

  Sincerely,

   

  *********************************

   

• Initial Complaint

  12/17/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Our home was built in 2019, we purchased a entire heating system from this company. Everything was supposed to be new and in working order. After 2 years and many calls to the company the system does not function correctly. Several different tech folks (from their company) have come out to repair/turn on the heat or air conditioner over the past two years. My last call was one week before Thanksgiving and I was placed on their service list. No one has returned my calls and the system still is not functional. I have reached out to another *************** for an appraisal. The new *************** stated that the system was never installed properly, there is water leaking in the furnace, rust on the blower and the thermometer does not work correctly. Also the serial number on the furnace shows that it is a 2017 model and was not new.

  Business response

  12/22/2021

  To whom it may concern,
  
  We purchased the equipment for the ******* residence in April of 2019 and it was new in the box.  The furnace was manufactured in 2017 at the factory.  Typically any equipment is stored in inventory and eventually sent to different distributors throughout the country.  ***** machines are commonly called durable goods and do not get made to order, and the model numbers do not change every year.  In fact, the company still manufactures this same model.  In addition, the manufacturer honors any warranty items from the date it was installed; not the date that it was made.
  
  We have had to go out the ******* residence several times and not all for the same reason.  Once,we had to replace the control board in the outdoor heat pump unit.  We have had several calls that had to do with the thermostat, and on one occasion we even replaced the thermostat.
  
  We have always responded to her calls and we have fixed the problems even though at times we suspected that it was operator error.  Even though our warranty is only one year from the date of installation, we have responded and have not charged her for anything over the last two years.
  
  The last time she called was just before Thanksgiving and we informed her that my service tech would be out for foot surgery for at least a month.  We then told her to turn the system over to emergency so that she could stay warm until I could get the tech out there.  As it turns out, my technician has been out longer than a month, but his doctor has released him to be back to work late next week.  I would like to send him out to the ******* residence when he gets back so we can assess the situation and determine the fix.
  
  Finally, I do not know who the "other" company is,and I do not know what the problem is with the installation.  However,  I do know that we do a lot of new installations and I have been doing this for over 40 years.  Sometimes, we do encounter situations where the problem is intermittent and tough to track down.  If the problem persists, we will get the manufacturer's tech rep. on site with our man to see if there is something that we are missing.  If he determines that the machine is faulty and needs to be replaced, he will order up a new unit and we will replace it at no cost to the customer.
  
  I am sorry that it has take so long to get there, but we have not forgot about the Tierneys.  They are at the top of the list and I would like to get my technician back out there to get this thing figured out for everyone.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************
  President

  Customer response

  12/23/2021

   
  Complaint: 16377170
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  When I called before Thanksgivings, no one told me the tech would be gone for several weeks due to surgery or to turn on the emergency heat.  Why would they not send out a different tech? I can't change/adjust the thermostatic because it requires a tech password, which I don't have.  Also, the photos show that there is a leak in the furnace which has developed rust on the box.  Why has that not been repaired?  The blower is covered in black sheetrock material which causes the blower to over work, again why has that issue not been resolved?  When the emergency heat is turned on, the fan blows cold air.  The heat pump and furnace has not worked correct from the very beginning and that is why I have called many things over the last 2 years.   
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Customer response

  01/06/2022

  Photo 1

  Business response

  01/13/2022

  To Whom it *** concern,

  We have already spoken to ************************* after we responded to her first complaint.  We informed her that our Tech was back and would be available to come out the following week.  She said that she did not want us out there. We were more than willing to move forward with fixing the problem at no expense to her.  If the ******* technical representative said that the machine should get replaced, the manufacturer would provide the equipment and we would replace it at no charge to her.  However, there are some parts in the machine that *** malfunction only once in a while which makes it difficult to find the problem.  If we were able to find that problem, we would replace it with a new one.  Again at no cost to the homeowner.

  Now, I am not going to get into a bickering contest with the customer.  Our main tech has been out with foot surgery and I was not going to send out a less experienced tech on a job that has had several problems.  I have not seen any photos, but I can tell you that the sheet rock dust in the furnace is the result of using the gas furnace to dry out the house during construction. The fine particles travel from the return air and into the furnace.  The dirtier the filter gets, the blacker the dust gets.  The builder should have been changing the filter regularly during this process.

  Again, the offer still stands that we will come out to solve her problem at no expense to her, but only if she wants us to.

  Sincerely,

  *********************************

  President

  Customer response

  01/14/2022

   
  Complaint: 16377170
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  There is no bickering on my part, there was plenty of time in the last 2 years for the factory rep/company to fix these issues.  Only after I filed this complaint, they want the factory rep to work on the furnace. I posted the photos showing the leaks on this web site.  I would be happy to send the photos directly to the company.  I am asking that this be resolved by refunding me the cost of the equipment. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  01/19/2022

  To Whom it may concern: 

  I have not received any photos on this job whatsoever.  Yes we have been to your job site several times over the last 2 years and not all of the issues have involved the furnace.  The factory rep does not work on the equipment. The rep *********** our service man on the job in order to determine what could be causing the problem.  If it is an unusual problem that has happened before on other jobs, the rep could recommend the appropriate fix or recommend that a new furnace should be installed.  If this were to be the case, the rep would authorize a new furnace be supplied to the **** contractor to do the replacement at no cost to the customer.

  Since the customer does not want anything except money, I can only assume that she has had someone else to do the repair.  However, I have not seen any type of invoice or **** to that effect.  Our offer still stands to repair or replace depending on the recommendation of the factory rep.

  Sincerely,

  *********************************
  

  Customer response

  01/25/2022

   
  Complaint: 16377170
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  I sent several photos directly to ******************* on January 25th, 2022.

  I noticed that on Yelp there were 4 other reviews with the same issues. 

  The original cost for installation and equipment was $7,361.33.  I am requesting a $3,680.66 refund. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  01/31/2022

  To whom it may concern,

  I am in receipt of the last message regarding the photos.  As I have stated before, the sheet rock dust and the black discoloration is due to the furnace being used during construction for dry out.  The furnace has continued to be used for this purpose until the house was finished.  The builder is supposed to change the filter often in order to keep things clean.  However, it rarely happens and the furnace and duct work accumulates all kinds of dust, dirt, and sawdust.  It also causes the furnace to work harder as the filter is plugged up.  This is a builder problem; not an HVAC install problem.

  I also noticed that you had Pacific Air Systems on site to do some kind of work on the machine.  I assume that this was the other company that you had look at the furnace and said that it was installed wrong.  I have yet to hear what that is.  If it is currently working, then that is a good thing and it does not need to be replaced.  I have already explained what the process is to get a new furnace authorized by the factory.  Apparently, you did not want to go that route.  But if you think that I am just going to pay you over $3800 just because you say so, then you are sadly mistaken.  It does not work that way.  Since you have had the furnace worked on by someone else, who by the way is not a ******* Dealer, then you should be able to share what the repair was and how much it cost.
  

  I do not know what you paid for your systems when you built the house.  Only your builder would know that and we work for the builder.  You have never gotten a **** from us.  I am surprised that you did not call your builder because I have not received any calls from him.

  Sincerely,

  *********************************
  

  Customer response

  02/01/2022

   
  Complaint: 16377170
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Thank you for acknowledging the photos, however you had nothing to say about the photo with the leak and rust damage.  What is the explanation of the leaking water and rust damage?
  Pacific Heating was contracted to clean vents because of the construction materials.
  Why did you not offer the new furnace during the 2 years that your repairman did not correct the issues?
  As far as the cost, you know how much you paid the builder for the installation and equipment.  Please present that **** and then we can divide it in half and that is what you owe me.  The builder said that he didnt install the system, your company did, that is why I have reached out to you several times to correct the issues.  And after 2 years of continued issues, I feel that I should receive my money back.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  02/03/2022

  To whom it may concern,

  To begin with, let's be clear.  We did not pay the builder anything for the installation or the equipment.  The builder paid us a quoted price for the installation of each of your systems.  He also paid us for the changes that you wanted after the original installation.

  Second, your warranty began after the house was finished and you moved in.  During that time our furnace was used for dry out and temporary heat up until the time had come to place the heat pump and complete the rest of the installation.  I do not know how long that was, but I do know that the builder was responsible for the operation of that furnace before the trim had occurred.  That is why the furnace was filthy inside and the duct work had construction debris scattered throughout.

  Third, I do not know exactly how the leak or rust damage occurred.  It could have been from a leaking flue pipe because the roofer did not seal the roof flashing when the roof was installed.  This would let water drip down into the furnace and accumulate on that ****** of metal just below the pvc pipe.  Or, one of the metal bands that hold the flue gasket was not tight enough from the factory and condensate dripped onto the metal.  Condensate from the combustion process is slightly acidic and this could have caused the discoloration of that metal piece.  Or, the condensate could have backed up  because the drain was partially blocked or frozen from lower that normal freezing temperatures or snow build up.  It would be difficult to find this problem unless you could spot the water build up while you were there. Nevertheless, The discoloration of this kind is minimal and would not affect the longevity of the equipment.  At this point it is merely cosmetic.

  Fourth, we did not offer the new furnace during the first two years because most of the problems centered around the thermostat and the operation of it.  We felt it was a programming issue with the customer, but we did eventually put a new stat on it.   After that everything seemed to be working fine, but the next time we were called out it appeared that someone attempted to get into the setup program of the stat which should have been accessed by the technician.  After that it appeared to work fine for several months until we received another call.  We then told you that we had our main guy out for surgery and that you would have to put it in emergency heat until he came back.  You were fine with that because you did have heat.  Also, remember, covid has been a real problem with getting personnel back to work for the last two years.  Service appointments are taking longer and it has been a problem getting the field service reps back out in the field to accompany the contractor to the problem service locations.  Even though we did have a problem getting to you, we said that we would be back out to you to resolve your problem at no charge to you. 

  Finally, you decided to call someone else in who said that the furnace was installed wrong.  To date, I have been shown no evidence of that and I have not seen a repair **** from another company.  If you still have the same furnace and it is working fine, then there is no reason to keep having this conversation.  The furnace still has all of it's factory warranties in place and it has not been damaged.  We have not charged you once for coming out for the different services even though we suspected operator error.  Until I see some further evidence of actual damage or someone else's service ticket, then I will consider this issued as being resolved whether you want to accept it or not. 

  We are sorry for your inconvenience, but even though we were able to come back to look at the problem, you refused.  And to date, you have still not said what was wrong with the furnace and why you should receive so much compensation for you inconvenience.
  

   

   

  Customer response

  02/07/2022

   
  Complaint: 16377170
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  You are just repeating yourself.  There are 4 others review that state your company does poor installations.   
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

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