papaperch
Active member
Wife decided to do a remodel of our one and only bathroom. She hired the best contractor she could find. This guy was aces from the get go. Project done ahead of time and everything was super.
The electrical sub contractor heard me inquire the super guy about getting my central air fixed. Later on he told me " I come over and check it out for you. " I replied nothing to check out I know I need a new one. Anyway he stops by to take a quick look. Lo and behold I need a new one. He gives me a fantastic price ( really low ) and says will only take couple hours to do.
Next phone call price has gone up 250.00 if I wish to proceed. Seems the pricing he was looking at was 3 years old and was "off-season pricing ". I replied I am going to put this off until fall. Maybe prices will come down a little. Then the HEAT WAVE hits.
Wife says call that guy. She is melting under the oppressive heat. We have fans on and windows open but just plain muggy. Guy comes and gets money. Wife pays for even the labor up front. I feel uneasy at that point. But lo and behold guy shows up with air conditioner. Stores in our garage and two days later shows up to install it. INSTALLALATION DAY two days late but finally all ready to go. Oh no this is wrong that is wrong I hear so much whining. Anyway the couple of hours job has turned into all day debacle. At 745 that night it is ready to and all is good. Air conditioner soon has house feel like north pole.
Next day cold weather comes so central air doesn't come on. Finally about 10days go by and temps start to rise. Central air not cooling very well, by second day not cooling at all. Phone call to this wizard and we get no answer. Have to get a hold of the good guy. The good guy rattles his cage and he comes over finally. He puts gauges on compressor and all the coolant has leaked out. His initial install he failed to install a new vaporizing coil. Which I find out later no reputable dealer would do. He says original installer never put access panel in to do this. There was one installed he was just too dumb to figure out how to open.
He comes over and says how bad he feels. Explains how much a regular cooling guy would charge to fix it. I start to explode and he holds up his hands and says
let me finish. He offers to install the access panel and reset furnace. But now he reveals he can't buy coolant. As he is not licensed to do so. But he has a buddy that is. So for another 600 or so it can be done at 1100 am the very next day. Give him the money for the vapor coil and haven't seen him since. Numerous phone calls and promises by this S.O. B. he still has not return the coil money.
Today a real HVAC guy shows up. This guy is top notch and his rep is well earned. Here is what the doofus did. He hooked up by soldering. Due to high pressures it should have been brazed. He hooked up to a coil that had a different type coolant. So if he did not ruin the compressor completely. He has definitely shortened its expected service life. He showed how easy it was to open access panel. IF you know what you are doing.
Sum it all up I am out 1800 and still no air conditioner. The real HVAC is giving me a quote to replace the whole shooting match tomorrow. Somewhere twixt 2100-2400 but offers a little ray of hope. Unit is made by his main manufacturer he deals with all the time. This particular one was a re-furb and the guarantee on it almost worthless. So maker might give us break on price.
I will be getting my coil money back. The bathroom contractor is going to deduct from his pay.
Reason I am writing this is twofold. One to let off a little steam and two to warn others of these fly by night thieves. In retrospect I should have asked if he was HVAC guy. I let the low quote blind me to the truth. Truth of it is I have to way to re-coup. Small claims court is worthless in these kind of cases. I don't where the guy lives which is probably a good thing. Otherwise I would be sitting in local hoosecow with assault and battery charges. Believe me I would have got my monies worth.
The electrical sub contractor heard me inquire the super guy about getting my central air fixed. Later on he told me " I come over and check it out for you. " I replied nothing to check out I know I need a new one. Anyway he stops by to take a quick look. Lo and behold I need a new one. He gives me a fantastic price ( really low ) and says will only take couple hours to do.
Next phone call price has gone up 250.00 if I wish to proceed. Seems the pricing he was looking at was 3 years old and was "off-season pricing ". I replied I am going to put this off until fall. Maybe prices will come down a little. Then the HEAT WAVE hits.
Wife says call that guy. She is melting under the oppressive heat. We have fans on and windows open but just plain muggy. Guy comes and gets money. Wife pays for even the labor up front. I feel uneasy at that point. But lo and behold guy shows up with air conditioner. Stores in our garage and two days later shows up to install it. INSTALLALATION DAY two days late but finally all ready to go. Oh no this is wrong that is wrong I hear so much whining. Anyway the couple of hours job has turned into all day debacle. At 745 that night it is ready to and all is good. Air conditioner soon has house feel like north pole.
Next day cold weather comes so central air doesn't come on. Finally about 10days go by and temps start to rise. Central air not cooling very well, by second day not cooling at all. Phone call to this wizard and we get no answer. Have to get a hold of the good guy. The good guy rattles his cage and he comes over finally. He puts gauges on compressor and all the coolant has leaked out. His initial install he failed to install a new vaporizing coil. Which I find out later no reputable dealer would do. He says original installer never put access panel in to do this. There was one installed he was just too dumb to figure out how to open.
He comes over and says how bad he feels. Explains how much a regular cooling guy would charge to fix it. I start to explode and he holds up his hands and says
let me finish. He offers to install the access panel and reset furnace. But now he reveals he can't buy coolant. As he is not licensed to do so. But he has a buddy that is. So for another 600 or so it can be done at 1100 am the very next day. Give him the money for the vapor coil and haven't seen him since. Numerous phone calls and promises by this S.O. B. he still has not return the coil money.
Today a real HVAC guy shows up. This guy is top notch and his rep is well earned. Here is what the doofus did. He hooked up by soldering. Due to high pressures it should have been brazed. He hooked up to a coil that had a different type coolant. So if he did not ruin the compressor completely. He has definitely shortened its expected service life. He showed how easy it was to open access panel. IF you know what you are doing.
Sum it all up I am out 1800 and still no air conditioner. The real HVAC is giving me a quote to replace the whole shooting match tomorrow. Somewhere twixt 2100-2400 but offers a little ray of hope. Unit is made by his main manufacturer he deals with all the time. This particular one was a re-furb and the guarantee on it almost worthless. So maker might give us break on price.
I will be getting my coil money back. The bathroom contractor is going to deduct from his pay.
Reason I am writing this is twofold. One to let off a little steam and two to warn others of these fly by night thieves. In retrospect I should have asked if he was HVAC guy. I let the low quote blind me to the truth. Truth of it is I have to way to re-coup. Small claims court is worthless in these kind of cases. I don't where the guy lives which is probably a good thing. Otherwise I would be sitting in local hoosecow with assault and battery charges. Believe me I would have got my monies worth.