ComplaintsforTom's Heating Service, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  11/04/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Date of transaction: 6/14/2023 HV** system quote provided with cost and specifications after a home inspection.Amount quoted: $9200.00 (minus some money for a full, cash payment)Quote specified: Carrier furnace and ** unit with full install to include a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee.Nature of dispute: system was under-sized and specifications did not take into account home design, environmental conditions required to appropriately size the system, so the ** unit could not cool the home and the furnace was under the same under-sized specs. When confronted with this, the business took the position that the size of the system was correct even after being provided multiple data points contradicting this position (including a quote from a competitor). 100% refund was requested (and approved by Carrier) under the 100% guarantee, but we were only refunded 60% of our money. After we demanded the refund, the business started to "back-pedal" and say that "maybe" they could upsize the **, but the furnace was fine, etc. Note: at this point in time we were already pursuing other options since the business had essentially told us that they would not be up-sizing the system and upcoming winter months was a concern for us.The business has not provided us our 100% refund and we are considering pursuing our case in small claims court. When confronted with the discrepancy that the refund was not 100%, the business told us that the refund did not include labor even though it clearly documents in section 5 of the Carrier Terms and Conditions (attached) that it does cover labor.Account number is simply a quote with our name on it.100% satisfaction guarantee is on their website (pics attached) and on the Carrier Terms and Conditions (copy attached).

  

  Business response

  01/19/2024

  ***'s Heating Service is the only dealer in the nation to receive the Carrier President's ***** for all 18 years that is has been presented. This award is weighted heavily on customer satisfaction. We pride ourselves on customer satisfaction and we are sorry that we could not come to an agreement with this matter. 

  Our Company, along with a certified engineering team, made numerous attempts/offers to this particular homeowner to try to appease his concerns. This home is a total of **** sq. ft. and therefore, should not require more than ****** BTUH of heating and roughly 1.8 Tons of cooling under normal circumstances. There are a few areas of concern with this home, this is why the system that we installed was slightly oversized at ****** BTUH for heating and 2-Tons for cooling. The furnace was a 2-Stage model as well, so that it would be able to run at a lower, more adequate output for most of the season. Another area of concern was the ductwork that was originally installed when the home was built. There is simply not enough to allow proper airflow for an oversized unit and would almost certainly cause issues in the future. 

  One of the recommendations that we made was to have an energy assessment done on the home. These assessments are designed specifically for instances like this and would have helped to identify possible problem areas, and what could be done to correct them. This recommendation, along with a few offers to reluctantly increase the size of the equipment, were denied abruptly by the homeowner. At this point, there was really nothing else we could do to satisfy the matter.

  All of the 100% Guarantee guidelines were followed and verified by Carrier, and the distributer that represents them in our area. We even reimbursed for reusable components that were not included in the guarantee.

  Ultimately, we are disappointed that the advice of over 70 years of proven experience was ignored, and we hope that the homeowner is happy with whatever solution they found.

   

  Customer response

  01/20/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  I am addressing the design specifications of the system and the 100% guarantee as separate topics. Please note that our original complaint is regarding the unfulfilled 100% guarantee. However, since ***'s has chosen to discuss "why" we decided to pursue a refund, then it is required that we address their design specifications.

  1. The design specifications. Square footage is only one factor to be taken into account when calculating the size of a residential **** system and any reputable company that has a "certified engineering staff" should know this. For our home, the ********************** zone, high ceilings, floor to ceiling windows and the lack of an insulated roof (we do not have an attic) are required as design factors for the **** system of our home and the business made their calculations with ONLY square footage and installed a smaller system than the one they replaced. There were multiple visits to my home after I provided evidence (attached) to the business that the ** could not cool my home and I also reviewed the specifications with **** professionals that I work with. All evidence led to an under-sized system. I then offered to pay the difference to size up, but the business was adamant that they would not do this for the furnace, they would only do this for the ** and we would be glad to provide copies of all email communications that prove this. We also did not "abruptly" deny offers to make changes, we were railroaded for months and finally had to get quotes from another business to make sure we had a correctly sized system for winter. As further evidence to ***'s original design specifications being incorrect, the replacement system is properly sized and works perfectly without any changes to our ventilation required. The solution was simple and ***'s Heating (for whatever reason) was simply not supportive of sizing up - and we want to reiterate the point that we were willing to pay the difference.

  2. 100% guarantee. This is our original complaint. We are re-attaching the original evidence provided. ***'s submitted the full amount of the contract $8920.00 to Carrier for the refund, but only provided us an initial $4885.27. There were no receipts or evidence provided (as requested by us multiple times) by ***'s from Carrier regarding why our Homeowner's Refund Registration for $8920.00 was not 100% refunded per the terms and conditions, section 5. 

  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

  

  Business response

  01/31/2024

  As stated in our original response, the 100% Satisfaction Guarantee was more than fulfilled.

  The "Covered Equipment Refund Amount" of $4,194.75 is clearly listed on the Homeowner's Registration Form and is the amount that was approved by the manufacturer. This is the ONLY amount received by ***'s Heating Service, the full installation amount of $8,920.00 was never submitted to anyone.

  The amount of $4,885.27 that was originally refunded to the homeowner is already $690.52 more than was covered. This was simply because there are a few items that can be reused on another installation so we decided to purchase them back.

  On top of this, another $1,320.00 was negotiated by ***'s Heating Service from the local distributer of the equipment. All of this amount was passed on to the Homeowner in the form of a second refund check.

   

  Customer response

  02/01/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  As initially requested from ****, I will only accept resolution that provides documented evidence from Carrier, not Toms.

  Acceptable evidence would be a copy of the financial refund to **** from Carrier, a return material authorization (RMA) from Carrier or ANYTHING from Carrier that supports Toms statements.

  **** continuing unwillingness to provide this type of evidence is the reason I have submitted my complaint and Toms should easily be able to validate their claims with financial transaction documentation.

  Regards,
  
  *****************************

*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. ↩