Service Charges/Culture

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

I hadn't thought about this until a lady in the office asked me about it.

Now I'm back to full on rage mode. Rethinking about the whole thing, they also said the pump wasn't warrantied because I don't have a maintenance service agreement with them. How the [expletive] am I supposed to have a maintenance agreement with them if they weren't the company that originally installed the pump (or unit)? Am I supposed to follow the company (CHA) that did the work, take note if they are bought out, then contact the company (Airco) that bought them and check to see what is required for Airco to honor the warranty? That seems illegal. Airco came to town a couple years ago and apparently bought out a lot of smaller companies. I guess all the warrranties afforded by the companies they bought can be downright cancelled if Airco's policy is have to have a maintenance agreement for the warranty to be valid. [expletive] [expletive]. It seems like this is a fraudulent way to get out of any warranty any company they bought was liable for, no?

Regardless, I went to google and wrote a review. After looking at other reviews, I see I'm not the first person to have an issue with them honoring warranties. I also see that Airco, in those couple years, have amassed nearly as many reviews as the leader in the industry around here has amassed over decades. Makes me sad. They obviously know how to corner a market using all the things like google SEO, incentivize reviews, etc. And, they're a [expletive] company. [expletive]. Now I'm depressed, America in a nutshell right now.

[Arthur Dent]

The home repair services market is a cess pool because it's filled with buyers who have no good way of knowing who the good providers are. I hate having to call some random company I Googled because I only need this type of service once every 30 years or whatever. The chances that they will try and rip you off are well above 50%, I think. Anything I can possibly repair myself, I do it.

[IMADreamer]

Also: $700 for a condensate pump? Get out of here.

Not to excuse anything, but was the warranty through just a local/regional A/C contractor or through the ac manufacturer?

I guess I largely already assumed warranties from contractors are kind of worthless as who knows if they are going to still be around for any time. If the company was bought out, I would think that would mean that they assume their obligations including warranties, but what do I know? Seems like many places operate on the idea that legal rights mean nothing because actually pursuing a lawsuit makes no sense.

I would hope A/C manufacturer warranties would at least be honored.

I just assume all warranties and most insurance are worthless at this point. Coming from high performance car world they will basically try and void your warranty over any little thing. Then there is the [expletive] show that is insurance. I won't even get into my medical stuff but just on cars it's always a fight. Few years ago a guy backed into the front of my Viper. His insurance company tried to say "well if this were just a regular car this would only cost a few hundred to fix." So at that point I got my insurance involved and they fought it and won. The fix was a $23000 (yes that's the correct amount of zeros) new hood. Plus paint and such. They were pretty much trying to stick me with a $22500 bill for their client backing into my car.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Also: $700 for a condensate pump? Get out of here.

Not to excuse anything, but was the warranty through just a local/regional A/C contractor or through the ac manufacturer?

I guess I largely already assumed warranties from contractors are kind of worthless as who knows if they are going to still be around for any time. If the company was bought out, I would think that would mean that they assume their obligations including warranties, but what do I know? Seems like many places operate on the idea that legal rights mean nothing because actually pursuing a lawsuit makes no sense.

I would hope A/C manufacturer warranties would at least be honored.

I'm not sure the extent of the warranty. I just know the company that installed it warrantied it for 10 years. Rather the company did that or the manufacturer, I'm not sure.

Some of the reviews I read on google address manufacturer warranties and how Airco tries to get around them by charging excessive labor fees....idk. If the parts are warrantied, but the labor is not, it can still cost a boatload to repair a part if the labor is $500/hour. A/C units are not excessively complicated, but there are a lot of parts that can fail while under warranty.

$700 for the pump is correct. All the wiring was there to serve the failed pump. It was literally a three step process:
1. Buy pump.
2. Shut off circuit at the breaker box, unook/remove pump.
3. Install/hook up new pump to existing wiring and piping. Turn circuit back on.

Those pumps cost $50-$100 at home depot or amazon. So....not sure how they got to that quote unless they tape a gold nugget to the top of the pump or something.

[GeddyWrox]

Yeah, it's like they know *most* homeowners are stuck and will agree to pay so they ignore the obligation there. Someone (like me) who isn't mechanically inclined would either have to pay another company, pay the original company or try to go to court to get them to honor the warranty. Most homeowners don't have the time or inclination to fight something like that. It's a calculated risk with very little downside.

If this ever happened to me, I'd just fire that company out of spite and pay my money to a different company. Because I hold grudges, and make decisions off of them. Heh.

[Arthur Dent]

Pro tip: open up the service panel on your A/C outdoor unit and write down the models for the capacitor and the contactor and then buy a spare of each on Amazon or wherever. They're super cheap if you buy them yourself and easy to install if you know how to disconnect power (and verify it is disconnected) and keep track of wires to put on the same terminals when making a swap. Both frequently fail and the service call plus absurd parts mark up is way more annoying than just taking care of it with parts on hand.

[IMADreamer]

Pro tip: open up the service panel on your A/C outdoor unit and write down the models for the capacitor and the contactor and then buy a spare of each on Amazon or wherever. They're super cheap if you buy them yourself and easy to install if you know how to disconnect power (and verify it is disconnected) and keep track of wires to put on the same terminals when making a swap. Both frequently fail and the service call plus absurd parts mark up is way more annoying than just taking care of it with parts on hand.

Is there soldering involved? I literally had a capacitor go back two months ago. I don't remember what it cost me but it was not cheap.

[Arthur Dent]

Pro tip: open up the service panel on your A/C outdoor unit and write down the models for the capacitor and the contactor and then buy a spare of each on Amazon or wherever. They're super cheap if you buy them yourself and easy to install if you know how to disconnect power (and verify it is disconnected) and keep track of wires to put on the same terminals when making a swap. Both frequently fail and the service call plus absurd parts mark up is way more annoying than just taking care of it with parts on hand.

Is there soldering involved? I literally had a capacitor go back two months ago. I don't remember what it cost me but it was not cheap.

No. It's usually just slide connectors on the end of wires you push on to tabs on the components. I just checked, and I paid $11 for the capacitor on Amazon. I think they will try and charge you like $150 plus labor for the same thing. Bought a spare contactor for $30.

[Fat_Bulldog]

Everything is such a hassle and feels like a rip of.

I bought my daughter a new car for college in August. Paid the ridiculous $500.00 processing/doc fee at the dealership...

A month later, the title and paperwork still hasn't arrived so I am forced to pay a late penalty of $25.00 at the DMV. Whatever. So, I go to the DMV title in hand and have everything I need to pay sales tax and license (I've bought so many cars that I always have what I need when I get to the DMV). Anyway, wait about an hour in the DMV to finally get my number called by the clerk. She sees that I have not been put as the "assignee" on the title, it's still the dealer. She was nice enough to tell me if I came back the same day, she wouldn't make me wait again. So, I call the dealership and let them know that I am very upset to have spent an hour at the DMV and now have to make another 1.5 hour roundtrip to them to get them to correct the title. I also remind them that the paperwork was late and told them that I expect a refund for the processing/doc fee.

Their response was that I should have looked at the title prior to going to the DMV. My response was that I should assume incompetence and a hassle because you didn't do your job properly. They acted like I was completely out of line for being upset. I told them to warn the office clerk that I was on my way. They told me that I needed to calm down or they wouldn't correct the title and they would have security there when I arrived.

JFC - is incompetence and being ripped off the new norm?

[CardsofSTL]

Report them to the attorney general and have them declared an enemy of the state.