Service Charges/Culture
Posted: September 18 24, 8:31 am
About a month ago or so my recently (~5 years) installed AC quit working.
Couple things to note. The company that installed it (call them CHA) was awesome. The signed and paid invoice states '10 year warranty'. CHA was bought by a larger company (call them Airco) in the past 5 years. So, I have to deal with Airco now.
Before doing anything, I get under the house at the blower/coil and see a big puddle of condensate. Easy problem to fix, just provide positive flow for the condensate and the AC is running again albeit it dumping condensate into the crawlspace.
When CHA installed the new unit, we discussed rather to pump the condensate about 15' north out of the crawlspace or to keep it a gravity feed hanging from the joists running idk 60-70' south. I told them my preference was gravity drains for obvious reasons. But they did talk me into the pump and said it was covered in the warranty...so, nbd.
Fast forward to when the AC quit working and of course the pump had failed. So, I look up CHA, realize its been bought by Airco, and call Airco. I let them know what was going on, what happened, had my invoice number, etc. The immediate response was okay, we'll send a technician over. It'll be a $100 diagnostic fee and we'll see what the technician says. I was like...uh, no. I don't need a diagnosis. I need a new pump, it's covered under warranty per invoice ###.
The lady says well I can't do that, a technician has to do that. Do you want me to schedule him?
Yes? But, I don't need a diagnosis and I don't want to pay $100.
Okay, I'll schedule him to come over at xyz.
Great.
The technician shows up, I tell him what's going on. He confirms it. Tells me I need a new pump, it'll be $700 or whatever it was and if I do that, they'll waive the diagnosis fee of $100.
And, I about blew a gasket.
In the end, talked to Airco's warranty person: they denied the pump was under warranty...even though I never entered into an agreement with them, she assured me she was right and they weren't going to replace the pump.
Talked to Airco's maintenance manager, he claimed I did need a diagnosis and the fee for it was $100. I said, dude, if I did a project and the project resulted in water in someone's crawlspace, and they called me to tell me they had water in their crawlspace, I wouldn't then charge them again to tell them they had water in their crawlspace, what kind of tomfoolery is this?
After some research, I found out you can add tablets once a year to the condensate lines to keep it from clogging pipes. So, I just ran a pex pipe along the ground the 60' south to daylight and tied it into a drain on the south side of the house. It does hump a little bit, but it has a 2' drop or so at the unit that provides enough head to keep the water flowing without backing up into the unit. Now they're saying they still want the $100 diagnostic fee even though 1) I told them what was wrong before they ever showed up and 2) their recommendation to replace the pump was not the best solution nor taken and 3) they reneged on their warranty.
Am I taking crazy pills?
Couple things to note. The company that installed it (call them CHA) was awesome. The signed and paid invoice states '10 year warranty'. CHA was bought by a larger company (call them Airco) in the past 5 years. So, I have to deal with Airco now.
Before doing anything, I get under the house at the blower/coil and see a big puddle of condensate. Easy problem to fix, just provide positive flow for the condensate and the AC is running again albeit it dumping condensate into the crawlspace.
When CHA installed the new unit, we discussed rather to pump the condensate about 15' north out of the crawlspace or to keep it a gravity feed hanging from the joists running idk 60-70' south. I told them my preference was gravity drains for obvious reasons. But they did talk me into the pump and said it was covered in the warranty...so, nbd.
Fast forward to when the AC quit working and of course the pump had failed. So, I look up CHA, realize its been bought by Airco, and call Airco. I let them know what was going on, what happened, had my invoice number, etc. The immediate response was okay, we'll send a technician over. It'll be a $100 diagnostic fee and we'll see what the technician says. I was like...uh, no. I don't need a diagnosis. I need a new pump, it's covered under warranty per invoice ###.
The lady says well I can't do that, a technician has to do that. Do you want me to schedule him?
Yes? But, I don't need a diagnosis and I don't want to pay $100.
Okay, I'll schedule him to come over at xyz.
Great.
The technician shows up, I tell him what's going on. He confirms it. Tells me I need a new pump, it'll be $700 or whatever it was and if I do that, they'll waive the diagnosis fee of $100.
And, I about blew a gasket.
In the end, talked to Airco's warranty person: they denied the pump was under warranty...even though I never entered into an agreement with them, she assured me she was right and they weren't going to replace the pump.
Talked to Airco's maintenance manager, he claimed I did need a diagnosis and the fee for it was $100. I said, dude, if I did a project and the project resulted in water in someone's crawlspace, and they called me to tell me they had water in their crawlspace, I wouldn't then charge them again to tell them they had water in their crawlspace, what kind of tomfoolery is this?
After some research, I found out you can add tablets once a year to the condensate lines to keep it from clogging pipes. So, I just ran a pex pipe along the ground the 60' south to daylight and tied it into a drain on the south side of the house. It does hump a little bit, but it has a 2' drop or so at the unit that provides enough head to keep the water flowing without backing up into the unit. Now they're saying they still want the $100 diagnostic fee even though 1) I told them what was wrong before they ever showed up and 2) their recommendation to replace the pump was not the best solution nor taken and 3) they reneged on their warranty.
Am I taking crazy pills?