I later discovered on the internet that the distributor offered the pump for $114.44. I complained to he owner, Craig Iwai, that since the pump did not require any work to install, their markup was un...
moreI later discovered on the internet that the distributor offered the pump for $114.44. I complained to he owner, Craig Iwai, that since the pump did not require any work to install, their markup was unreasonable. He replied that he charged less than most companies, but to his credit,he said that he wanted to keep me happy and agreed to lower the price for the unit. As the tech was completing his tuneup he noticed that water was seeping out of two places in the AC/furnace/blower unit. He diagnosed the problem as a cracked condensate drip pan, and told me that it would cost $875.00 to replace, which price included a $100.00 discount. I expressed my unhappiness at that news and told him to go ahead and do the repairs. He told me that I would get a call from someone at the company right away. I did not hear from anyone that day or the next. I then called them and told them to fix the air conditioning ASAP, as we are in the midst of a heat wave. What followed was two weeks of frustration. The part did not arrive, promised phone calls were not made, and often when I called the company at the two numbers I had, the calls went to voice mail, which announced that the boxes were full and would not accept any more messages. When I succeeded in speaking with Craig, he did apologize and admitted that they were overwhelmed by the amount of business they had.. That caused me to give them additional time to get the work done. At the end of two weeks, I had had it and sent them an e-mail cancelling our contract and relating that I would have someone else do the repairs. A company should not accept orders that it does not reasonably believe it can perform within a reasonable period of time. More important yet, they should ensure that communications, both to and from the customer, exist. This was not a happy experience for me. But it would have been at least tolerable, if such communications had existed.UPDATE:I called Jeff of Jeff Dedrich Heating & A/C off of Angie's List, explained the situation and asked how long it would take to get the parts & complete the job. After looking at the unit, he said he doubted that the problem was a cracked condensate drip pan, because the unit was too new (installed in 2005) and was not installed in a stressed position. He opened the line leading from the drip pan, saw solid debris, removed it with a thin rod--a five minute job--and opined that that would likely fix the problem. He said to run the unit for a few hours, and if there was any water drippage visible to call him. I offered to pay him then, but he refused, saying that he would send me a bill. It turns out that he was right. There has been no water drippage since then.A few days later his bill arrived, for a total of eighty-two dollars, the cost of a service call.WOW!!! Now that is an honest and competent serviceman.
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