ComplaintsforJ.F. Sobieski Mechanical Contractors Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  12/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Sobieski as the new service company for Home depot was called to upgrade our HVAC system to Natural Gas last year. A few weeks ago our system started sending an alarm about ignition lockout. We called Sobieski and their technician finds out that the gaz was never turned on on the unit when the upgrade was done, which had been using electricity all this time, costing us more money. I paid the technician after he finally turned on the gaz. Since then I have been calling Sobieski 3 times asking to talk toa manager and explaining to their phone agents what is the problem was about. None of my calls were ever returned.

  

  Business response

  12/22/2022

  December 22,2022
  The Better Business Bureau
  60 Reads Way
  New Castle, DE19720
  RE: Case lD 18569271
  To Whom it May Concern:
  This letter is in response to the above-referenced case lD filed by Sobieski's client **** ******** located at
  
  According to our notes, our technician was dispatched to the client's home on April 26, 2022, and he noted
  that the client was converting from propane to natural gas, and we provided a quote for a new gas valve and
  orifices. The client did not schedule us to complete the installation of parts. We charged our client the dispatch
  fee and fuel charge for that site visit.
  On December 6,2022, a second technician was dispatched to the client's home when he called our office
  stating he was receiving an error code on his equipment. Upon inspection, our technician noted that the gas
  valve was left off when the propane was converted to natural gas by a third party. We corrected the issues
  and charged our standard dispatch fee and fuel charge.
  At this time, we cannot find anything in the customer's file that would indicate Sobieski is responsible for the
  electric charges the client incurred due to the gas valve not being turned on. We request that this case be
  closed.
  Kind regards,
  
  Residential Services
  Division Manager
  
  

  Customer response

  12/29/2022

  Better Business Bureau:

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

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  
  
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 18569271

   

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  08/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  8/9/2022 - contacted Ryan Homes to resolve a central ac problem. They contacted Sobieski and they scheduled a visit for Aug 23. The initial problem was that the ac kept tripping the circuit. Today we called them back to escalate the problem because we had water draining down the drywall to the floor from the boiler room. Went to investigate and the one duct is very expanded and water continued to flow down the wall. It took 2 hours and 5 phone calls to get them to understand it was more than just an electrical problem and said they’d escalate it but no further communication to inform us how they will resolve the issues. We have a family situation we need to deal with in PA and need to leave as soon as possible but can’t leave this problem until we get an answer as to how and when they will resolve this. My concern is if we go to PA is the issue ok to leave it a few weeks till they come to fix it. No one is answering that question.

  

  Business response

  08/11/2022

  Customer’s Statement of the Problem:
  
  8/9/2022 - contacted Ryan Homes to resolve a central ac problem. They contacted Sobieski and they scheduled a visit for Aug 23. The initial problem was that the ac kept tripping the circuit. Today we called them back to escalate the problem because we had water draining down the drywall to the floor from the boiler room. Went to investigate and the one duct is very expanded and water continued to flow down the wall. It took 2 hours and 5 phone calls to get them to understand it was more than just an electrical problem and said they’d escalate it but no further communication to inform us how they will resolve the issues. We have a family situation we need to deal with in PA and need to leave as soon as possible but can’t leave this problem until we get an answer as to how and when they will resolve this. My concern is if we go to PA is the issue ok to leave it a few weeks till they come to fix it. No one is answering that question.
  
  
  
  Customer’s account is correct – Monday 8/8 a Work Order came from Ryan Homes for a Circuit Breaker tripping; our team created a work order immediately and sent it over to our dispatch group to schedule. As we are in the middle of an extended heat wave and have many No AC calls, a tripping circuit breaker took a lower priority as it can be reset. That date was 8/23. Builder was also advised that an Electrician would need to address the Breaker.
  
  Tuesday – 8/9 the escalation work order came in from Ryan Homes in the afternoon. We went out to the residence Wednesday morning 8/10 and diagnosed a frozen Coil and bad TXV. The Parts have been ordered and the customer has given Ryan homes access for us to complete the repairs when the parts come in.
  
  I am sorry for any confusion, but with multiple Work Orders passing between 2 companies there can be some confusion at the start – we did get out in a very timely manner from the escalation (1/2 day) and I’m not sure that this warrants a BBB complaint. If I am missing something, please let me know.
  
  Thank you
  EdR

  Customer response

  08/30/2022

  Better Business Bureau:

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

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  Someone from Sobieski did call on the 23 rd but we missed the call and NO message was left. Ed called us on 8/25 to explain what happened. I feel that negligence on their part to be unacceptable. Ed said he’d schedule 8/31 or 9/1 IF the part came in. No one has confirmed the part has arrived. perhaps he feels a BBB complaint wasn’t warranted, but I’m sorry, In our eyes the fact that no one bothered to give a courtesy call in a timely manner does warrant a complaint in my book. I’m not concerned with the volume of service calls they receive during peak times, I’m concerned about no one taking the time to acknowledge a concern accurately. 
  
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 17694726

   

   

   

  

  Business response

  09/26/2022

  Of course we always strive for a 5 Star experience with every customer and I acknowledge that we did not live up to it in your experience. We can and will continue to improve our procedures and processes and we will do better and use this as a learning experience. Thank you, Ed

  Sobieski Team

• Initial Complaint

  07/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This issue has to do with the HVAC Unit that was installed at our house in Delaware at ** ******* ********** ***** ** - 19701. The equipment was defective even when it was installed - it was leaking refrigerant from day 1. Below is the timeline for the events that occurred from the day the equipment was installed. Jan 13 2021: Installed brand new Lennox HVAC May 24 2021: Called Sobieski because the AC wasn’t cooling. Refrigerant was low. **** filled the refrigerant. Jan 10 2022: Sobieski completed HVAC inspection - No issues found. May 15 2022: Called Sobieski because the AC wasn’t cooling. Refrigerant was low. **** filled the refrigerant. **** also confirmed that there is a leak. May 17 2022: Technician identified the leak (see attached picture). Unit was leaking at the filter drive where the braze is. I was told they will need to return to rebraze the leak, pressure test, pull vacuum and test. June 3 2022 - Technician fixed the leak but found another issue. He said we need replace a gauge because it is stuck. He also confirmed that the 2nd issue was caused by the leak. I was quoted $1400 even though this issue was caused by the leak which occurred right after installation in Jan 2021. June 8 2022 - I called to schedule follow up but was told dispatch will call - waiting for the part to arrive. June 17 2022 - I called again to follow up on replacing the part and was told we would follow up before end of day on June 17 or latest by end of day Monday June 19. Sobieski hasn’t returned my call yet. July 7 2022 - I called again to follow up on replacing the part. I was told the part had arrived and now the appointment to replace the part has been scheduled for Friday July 15. Attached are copies of contract and image of the leak. E-mail was sent to Robert Sobieski with the details but i received no response from the company. ******* ****** (Sobieski Technician) confirmed that issue (leak and part failure) was caused due to incorrect installation.

  

  Business response

  07/15/2022

  Hello Mr. *****,

   

  We do sincerely apologize for the amount of reschedules that have happened during this repair. The leak was a small / slow leak at the braise and the Refrigerant did hold for each season. Now that the Braise leak has been corrected your tenant does have AC which is part of the reason for the reschedules... we have been making people with No AC at all a priority. So please accept our whole hearted apology on that side.  

   

  I spoke to a Senior Tech and the technician on-site during the Braise repair. A leak at a braise joint Cannot Cause a TXV to get stuck. The bad TXV is a coincidence, not a result of a leak at a braise joint.

   

  Thank you

  Ed

  Sobieski Team

  Customer response

  07/21/2022

  Better Business Bureau:

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

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  
  Hi - I disagree with Sobieski's explanation that "a leak at the braise joint cannot cause a TXV to fail." 

   

  A TXV valve can fail if it’s too open and overfeeding or too closed (underfeeding). A TXV may fail either too far open or too far closed. Too far open is also called “overfeeding,” meaning that boiling refrigerant is being fed too far through the evaporator coil; this would show up in low superheat. If the TXV fails closed, it can be said to be “underfeeding,” which means that not enough boiling refrigerant is fed through the evaporator coil; superheat will be too high at the evaporator outlet. 

   

  The fact that HVAC was low on refrigerant twice proves that it was "underfeeding" which caused the TXV to fail. After the Technician fixed the braised leak and filled the refrigerant the 3rd time - he realized that the TXV had failed. 
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 17555944

   

   

   

  

  Business response

  08/11/2022

  I have spoken to a different Sr. Tech and he tells me that the information/research you have done is not wrong. Technically nothing can be proven as to why the TXV failed, however a low refrigerant level can over time decay the workings and make it fail. Therefore I will not dispute your findings. Please reach out to me on my Cell and I will reach out to you as well. We can work out a solution together. Thank you EdR

• Initial Complaint

  07/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 7/18/12 we purchased a Lennox Hybrid a/c system w/heat pump from Sobieski Services. Lennox offered a 5 year parts,1 year labor warranty.The salesman sold us their 10 Year Extended parts & labor Warranty as long as we maintained annual service plan which we did. At 4/20/22 Spring service tech informed us of leak in evaporator coil which would be covered by warranty after checking w/his office. Since then we’ve made/rec’d 20+ calls, for cancelled/scheduled appts for the work. Finally on 7/7 techs arrived to install new coil. 2 hrs into job got call from mgr stating work not covered and tried to sell us a new unit which they were prepared to install. From beginning of this project we were informed the repairs were covered by our warranty. It seems they had no intention of performing repairs and techs were expecting to install new unit.We feel this was deceitful and unethical. We believe our warranty should cover the repairs we need w/o a new unit. We hope there was just confusion within the company and that Sobieski will honor the 10 year Extended Warranty which we purchased. We have pages of detailed notes indicating dates, times, names & content of all calls if needed. We hope for a speedy resolution to this problem.

  

  Business response

  07/13/2022

   

  
  We installed an Outdoor Unit, new Thermostat and TXV on existing indoor Coil in 2012. Coil had a leak as of April 2022 – We did not install the indoor coil. Due to indoor coil being an old R22 – there is no replacement as those units were discontinued when the industry moved to 410A. The only way to “fix” would be to install a new 410A AC system because the equipment from 2012 is obsolete – any manufacturer warranty is void.

  
  We ordered a new coil (wrong one 410A – R22 is obsolete)

  
  Sobieski offered to sell her a new system and give her the Coil for free (good faith) $3,200.00 credit
  Average price for a new system for that home would be around $10k less 3k = around 7k and customer still not happy with our offer. 

  Customer response

  07/19/2022

  Better Business Bureau:

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

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.

   

   There was no offer made by the company. My response follows below.

   

  Our question to Sobieski is “why did not one person in their company reach out to us when this issue began on April 20, 2022,  to explain the information now contained in their July 18, 2022 response to our complaint of July 11, 2022?  Was it not  the responsibility of this company to inform us of this information before scheduling the July 7th service?   If Sobieski was a company with any professionalism or integrity, everything that occurred between April 20th and July 7th could have been avoided with a simple phone call from them.  Instead, we were strung along and apparently lied to for 3 months concluding with the service appointment on July 7th which we believe was set up for the sole purpose of selling us and installing  a new system.   This appears to have been intentional and is a deceitful business practice.  
  We have since discovered the repair could be made by replacing the coil in the existing unit without needing an entirely new system for a small fraction of what we were quoted by one of their managers on July 7th.  
  
  

   

   

  
  
  
  
  
  Regards,

   

  John Konopka

  Complaint ID: 17551017

   

   

   

  

  Business response

  08/12/2022

  There was no deceit on our side. There was a Mistake and mistakes happen. We advised that we could change the Coil, however we were wrong. Due to your equipment being R22 and there being no way to connect 410A to an R22 system. The R22 systems have been discontinued and they are not manufactured any longer, therefore the only Coil we could acquire is 410A – therefore we could only make the offer of a new system.
  
  If you found someone to replace just the Coil, it must be an old or used Coil that they had access to, we only procure newly manufactured equipment.
  
  Once again, we are sorry that this happened, sorry about any confusion – but we were not being deceitful at all.

• Initial Complaint

  07/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I signed a Residential Partner Plan Agreement on September 18, 2021 for Heater & AC preventative maintenance in the amount of $191 for 1 year. In October 2021 Sobieski maintained my heating system with no issues. In early May 2022, I scheduled the maintenance on my AC for June 14th between 8a - 12p. At 8:20a on June 14th I received a text from ****** at Sobieski that stated in part “Due to the overflow on No AC emergencies we have received, we must reschedule your maintenance appointment for a later date.” I immediately phoned the office as requested in the text and they told me they were scheduling AC maintenance appointments for mid to late August. I sent an email to Sobieski requesting a refund of half of my unused contract in the amount of $95.50. I received a call from Sobieski at 12:31p on 6/14 and they left a message. I called back and left a message. I never received a call or message back. On June 22, I sent another request to cancel the unused portion of my contract due to their inability to service my equipment and to date, I have not received a refund, return phone call or response to my email.

  

  Business response

  07/07/2022

  After some phone tag, made contact with the customer discussed issues and complaints. Sobieski had made some errors in word choice when rescheduling calls - advising August as a reschedule date - when in fact it was an internal date to place the work orders not an actual reschedule date. Customer would like half of her SPP Plan refunded for services not rendered. Initiating same.

  Customer response

  07/12/2022

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me when I receive the refund of $95.50 that was promised to me on July 7, 2022. As of today, the refund is not reflected on my Chase credit card account. I will monitor my account and if does not appear in the next couple of days I will submit another complaint.

• Initial Complaint

  06/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  The HVAC system in my Wilkinson built home has been installed incorrectly. In early March I lost heat. I have been told by Sobieski employees that the system is not receiving enough air and needs to be fixed. Bill, the supervisor is supposed to come and figure out how to fix it. No one has been here since March and Bill is dodging my calls. I have spent weeks leaving messages for him. I have received one call on my cell phone when I asked them to please use my land line. I called last week and was told that a dispatcher would contact me by yesterday at the latest. No call

  

  Business response

  06/06/2022

  We have spoken to and scheduled service with this customer. There will be 2 Production Supervisors going out to make the corrections

  Customer response

  06/12/2022

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 

  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 17299411
  

   

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  03/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The transaction occurred on 2/21/2022 for $1998.80. I asked for the money back for the Gold Membership plan (at least, I would’ve wanted more back since they didn’t fix the issue but I assumed that wouldn’t happen) since we won’t be using the company again and we pre paid it in advance for this coming year. Sobieski initially said they would look into the matter and get back to me about reimbursing it. Once we decided to take our business elsewhere, they refused to speak to us any further and have ignored any communication. They stated they gave discounts on the work but that is not accurate. They’re keeping money for services that we won’t be getting in this coming year for maintenance checks on the unit. This is unethical to do and we deserve our money back as they also did not properly diagnose or fix the issue with our unit. It’s sickening how much we paid and what the outcome has been.

  

  Business response

  03/28/2022

  Hi *****
  
  Our technicians came out to your house and diagnosed the first issue, they repaired that and found there was a deeper issue behind the Control board. You received over $400 in savings by using the membership which cost less than half of what you saved, which was the reason that we could not refund you for the contract. All of this was explained to you. You chose to not finish the repairs or replacement with us and chose to go with a family friend. We are truly sorry that things did not work out between us, and wish you all the best with your repairs and/or replacement.

  Customer response

  03/29/2022

  Better Business Bureau:

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

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
   am not able to go back in and add comments on the website under my login, however, I wanted to in reference to Sobieski's comment back so the BBB has additional information on a response from me.

  
  

  I am looking to receive reimbursement for the Gold Membership in the amount of $238.80 that was pre-paid in advance for this coming year to the company.  Sobieski charged a total of $1998.80 for the repairs AND the membership.  They are claiming we received discounts for having the membership, however, the membership was including maintenance checks and any additional help we'd possibly need for the coming year of the system that we will not be using now.  Sobieski also mentioned that they were going to look into reimbursing that money back, however, they are now backtracking on it when we took our business elsewhere.  If it was something that was not refundable, why wouldn't they have initially told us that when we were still doing business with them at the time?  They were very unprofessional with us and have completely ignored our correspondence when we tried to speak to someone higher to get this resolved.  They misdiagnosed the issue without taking the necessary steps to make sure everything was checked in the beginning.  The other company told us things could have been done on the initial visit to find out more, but Sobieski failed to do this and now they want to keep the money for our membership as well.  They ensured us it was fixed the first time and the next morning our heater was still not working.  We ended up having to get a new system, Sobieski wanted an additional 3k to fix the issue and stated "it's going to be bad, it's going to be expensive."

  
  

  Thank you for your time with this matter,

  
  
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 16945694

   

   

   

  

  Business response

  03/30/2022

  Ms *********

   

  As we have explained multiple times, we have offered to work with you and provide you with credits toward work/replacement. We have given you over $400 in discounts on work already performed, those discounts were/are because of the Gold Plan. If we refund the Gold Plan we have to take back the discounts we have given you...  that would end up costing you more money. We believe that it is better to leave it as it is.

   

  Thank you once again for your time.

• Initial Complaint

  11/10/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  ON 11/25/2021, on the advice of Ryan Home, I called Sobieski regarding a warranty repair( 5 years remaining) to my Goodman heating system as Sobieski had installed it when new. I had confirmed the issue to be the PCB board and Goodman had supplied the part number of its latest version. I supplied the Technician with model/serial/part number to the warranty covered board and clearly stated No need to come out if you don't have this part number with you. He should have ordered the part and called me when it came in. His supervisor directed him to come out and Bait&Switch to an aftermarket controller at a greatly inflated cost of over $789 dollars. Chopping up my wire harness and Voiding my Goodman Warranty. I declined the work and was billed $89 for what is an attempt to rip me off. I requested a refund of my money and basically told to pound sand. I've paid $89 to explain to a Sobieski tech what is wrong then be pitched a raw deal that,no one should fall for. With warranty exchange for the board .25hr labor should have cost $125-$130.No work was preformed, just an attempt to overcharge a sick old senior citizen. I don't blame the technician,seamed like a fine young man. The management at Sobieski is the problem, they know nothing,demand there workers Rip the public off! Shameful at best

  

  Business response

  11/21/2021

  Mr. ****
  Our Service Fee to come out to the home is $89.00. We send our Technician there to diagnose the issue and to offer solutions. We do not order parts without first coming to the house to verify what the problem is. You did say that you confirmed the PCB board was the issue, however we need to verify that with a licensed and trained HVAC Technician. Once we diagnose the issue, we present different options – one is wait for the Factory board, which while under warranty is not free – the warranty repair price is $430 plus the $89 service fee, another option is to utilize a Universal Board – these boards are direct replacements and do not require chopping up the harness. The manufacturer of the Universal Board is the same manufacturer of the factory board and does not void the warranty. The cost for the Universal board is $789.00 and could be done right away as it is on the truck. Both options are presented and the customer chooses which – if any – option they prefer.

  Customer response

  11/29/2021

  Better Business Bureau:

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

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  Thank you ** for your reply, May I ask if your carrying OEM replacement boards,could you share the part number? I acquired the OEM superseded replacement through Amazon for $65 delivered,due to holiday&weekend.I was without heat for 7 days.Changing the PCB board took 10 minuets from start to finish. Ryan bought thousands of these units for homes in my local area.Sobieski has no less then Ten stickers stuck to my equipment. Reputable HVAC service company's apply their service fees to services preformed, I see Sobieski does not. The service offered is in complete disregard of the Goodman warranty. Sobieski labor rate is vastly inflated and unsubstantiated. I respectfully request the return of my $89 as this is a totally unacceptable situation.       
  
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 16121013

   

   

   

  

  Business response

  01/05/2022

  Hi *******

   

  We don't stock or carry OEM  parts. We do use Universal Boards from various manufacturers or can order the specific board to that unit. The process is for the licensed/trained Tech to go out and inspect the unit ($89.00 Svc Fee) diagnose and offer different options as solutions. One being to order the part, another being a product off the truck. There is no bait and switch, there is no unprofessional activity at all. We cannot order the part without going out and doing an inspection so a Tech will never arrive on a first call with a part you asked for - what if your diagnosis is wrong? That is what the service fee is for. Thank you for your time and we hope this explains everything satisfactorily. 

• Initial Complaint

  09/14/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We purchased a new home in 2011, Sobieski installed the HVAC system. For the past 9 years we have had a service contract. A technician visited the home twice each year; once for summer service/maintenance and once for winter service/maintenance. On Saturday, September 4 we noticed a water stain on the upstairs bedroom ceiling coming from the corner of the attic entrance. No one has been in the attic other than a Sobieski technician, and there is no water leak/damage coming from the roof. We also noticed the corner of the HVAC attic unit pan was separated and there was putty, which was dried out, in the corner. Accordingly, it appeared as though a technician noticed the separation of the pan and placed putty rather than properly screwing the corner and sealing it with silicone. Friday, September 10 a technician visited the home and instructed that the drain may have clogged, and he installed a float in the drain ($330 with the service call). I spoke with a manager (Ed ****) who

  

  Business response

  09/21/2021

  Hello *******

  The overflow pan is supposed to collect condensation and other droplets of water that may otherwise effect your property. It is not designed to hold large quantities of water nor is it a spec'd or coded product, simply there as an extra precaution. If you had an excess of water in the pan that is pointing to some other issue or problem. We did send a Technician out to your home to diagnose whether or not you had anything wrong with your HVAC unit that may indicate an issue and be leading to an excess of water in the overflow pan. He did not find anything that would lead us to that conclusion. The water stain on your ceiling may have come from a variety of reasons and/or places - we did not find that the HVAC unit was causing this. We are terribly sorry for any miscommunication and do not wish to lose you as a customer, but we could not find any fault in the HVAC unit that would lead us to think something was consistently leaking into your ceiling. 

  Thank you for your understanding,

  Sobieski Team

  Customer response

  09/23/2021

  Better Business Bureau:

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

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  We find this response typical of a business not living up to their responsibility to insure their work product.  I also find this deceptive as the manager on the phone when I called that Saturday morning, after sending pictures, instructed me not to use a contractor but that the business had contractors in the area who they would contact.  There was no miscommunication.  Other than the pan filling with water from the unit, there is no plausible explanation of how water would accumulate in the pan.  As the pictures clearly prove, the pan was separated at the corner and a sloppy attempt to fill it with putty that dried was their solution.  While the pan may not have filled, due to the water running through the separated corner, it is clear water was leaking from the unit onto the pan and onto the attic floor, causing the damage to the ceiling.  
  While the business maintains the position that it “should not accumulate water”, the fact is, there was water from the unit running on the pan.  The technician did review the unit and the fact that he cleaned  the drain and installed a float device (costing $330) to further prevent an overflow, leads to the fact drain that caused water in the pan.  And, if it were not for the faulty repair the water would have accumulated in the pan and not run onto the floor causing damage to the ceiling.
  
  
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 15864242

   

   

   

  

  Business response

  10/27/2021

  The pan is there to minimize the damage, all the material was spec'd by the builder, same as any drain safety's / pan safety's - yearly maintenance is required to minimize the risk, however there are great accessories that can minimize the risk of water damage.  Pans are not a 100% failsafe. You haven't had an issue in 9 years, because the pan is not taking on much water, when the tech came out that is what he did by putting in a float switch - minimizing the risk.  Whatever event caused the water to accumulate in the pan is the issue - not the pan itself. If there was freezng and thawing in the coil, then you would want to do a leak search, the pan is never meant to be full of water, so you would want to resolve whatever issue caused the event. The pan itself is just there to minimize damage to the home by keeping normal drips and condensation off of the floor.  Tell us why here...

• Initial Complaint

  07/27/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  A new HVAC system was installed in November 2020 for $12808. The air conditioner did not work the following spring. On May 22, a technician fixed a leak near the compressor. The air conditioner broke down in early July. On July 12, the same technician found another leak on the inside near the evaporator coil and tightened a loose connection. The air conditioner again broke down less than week later. A different technician came on July 19 and found two leaks where the previous repairs were done. He explained that the seals were bad in the parts from overheating during the install or running the air conditioner. Two parts were ordered with an indication that a callback would occur to schedule installation in one to three days. After the three days were up, I tried calling three business days in a row (July 22, 23, and 26). Each time was promised a callback with information from the parts department or supervisor with what is happening. I have never received a call back..

  

  Business response

  07/30/2021

  Sobieski has been out to repair this unit a few times. The last repair was completed yesterday - a new TXV valve was put in. The old TXV had an issue with the o-rings inside and leaks w found, part ordered and repair completed. We hope this rectifies the issues reported.

  Customer response

  08/06/2021

  Better Business Bureau:

  Sobieski became responsive after getting the BBB complaint. They came and repaired the air conditioner, and it is still working as of now. The issue was the Sobieski installer in November 2020 failed to install a Teflon O ring in the refrigerant line, causing a leak.

  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 15698773
  

   

   

   

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