ComplaintsforGalmiche & Sons Heating & Cooling

• Initial Complaint

  12/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Initial bad installation of faulty unit was on or about 1-31-21. On or about 6-23-21, air conditioner was not working, due to improper electric hook-up. Unauthorized work by ******** employee was performed, and I am being billed. I certified-mailed owner, thru USPS, Jeff ********, who never contacted me or had electric plug-in connected. Now this unit furnace does not work, due to bad blower motor. I phoned Jeff ******** on Nov. 27,2023, asking him to call and come for repairs. I did not receive a call so I called again on Nov. 30, 2023, and was told that I am put on "credit hold". I asked for who is in charge and was told, Mike Collins. I asked MIke to call me, but he has not. I still do not have heat from this unit, which has a labor-free 5 year warranty, am charged for something that I did not authorize, and the unit plug-in still is not hooked-up.

  

  Business response

  12/28/2023

       ******** and Sons replaced a unit for Mr. ********** on 1/19/21.  After the installation the unit was tested and everything was working as it should.  On 6/14/21, 5 months later, we received a call that the newly installed unit was not coming on.  ********’s service technician found New power issues to the compressor which made it appear that the compressor had gone bad.  While diagnosing this issue our service technician was instructed by Mr. Armbruster to “fix the other unit” on his roof while we were there.  The other unit was low on refrigerant which our technician added refrigerant to the unit to “Fix It" as instructed.  After Mr. ********** received the bill for this repair on the additional unit he Declined Payment on bill stating that the repairs were not authorized after asking us to fix the unit.  When returning to replace the compressor on the unit we newly installed our additional technician found the compressor to be in good standing and the main power to the unit being the issue.  ********’s service technician informed Mr. Armbruster that he would need an electrician to find the issue in the main power line from the building.  After the Electrician that Mr. ********** hired fixed the power to the unit, the power legs were now switched causing the compressor to run incorrectly.  After a 3rd visit from one of our service technicians (under warranty), we were able to correct the wiring and get the unit running properly again as it did for the prior 5 months.  Per the contract that Mr. ********** signed, the unit came with a (5) year compressor warranty from the manufacturer, a (10) year heat exchanger warranty from the manufacturer, and a (1) labor warranty.  All work that we performed on the newly installed unit was done under these warranties.  The additional work that we performed on the other unit that we were asked to fix, that we did not install, was billed accordingly.  Since Mr. ********** refused to pay this bill, the account was put on credit hold as we had an open invoice and a refusal to pay for the requested services.  If Mr. Armbruster pays for the services he requested we will take his account off of Credit Hold and will perform service work on a COD basis as the new unit is now out of labor warranty for almost 3 years.  ******** and Sons is a 73 year old company that always stands behind its work and the warranties is provides, and will continue to do so.

  Customer response

  01/11/2024

   

  This is my response to Galmich and Sons' response:

  
  

  
  

  Jeff ********

  Owner of ******** and Sons Heating and Cooling

   

  VIA: Certified Mail

   

  Re: improper installation, troubleshooting, and billing at **** ****** ****/ St Louis, MO *****

   

  Jeff:

   

  You assisted me in the bid for this Daikin self-contained rooftop unit model ************* (3ton) phase 90,000BTU, on 1-19-21, after Jim Cross recommended you to me.

  On or about 1-31-2021, your workers installed it.

  When the air conditioner was needed in mid-June, it did not cool. I had to wait for your worker, ****** to troubleshoot.

  He said that it had a bad condensor.

  Since it was very hot, he did wanted to help keep my person inside the building too hot, so he looked at the other rooftop unit. I did not authorize ****** to fill the unit, but he said that he added a pound and a half of refrigerant, to have it run. The unit could have been pressured, to find a leak.

   

  On June 23, 2021, when your worker, ****** came to install a replacement Daikin compressor, he said that the existing compressor was good. He said that it is missing a third leg of power. He said that it was beyond his skill, so I needed to hire an electrician.

  I hired an electrician, who told me that all three legs of 3 phase were there, that the workers hooked up the electricity in the Daikin wrong, making the condensor run backwards.

  The electrician talked to your head staff, to tell them that gauges were need to determine that the condensor was hooked up wrong, making it run backwards. Your staff knew that they could not tell me excuses, that he will send your best commercial worker, **** there.

  When **** came, the condensor was running backwards, because the wrong leg of power was installed in the wrong place. At the thermostat, wires were hooked up wrong. The liquid line trap was not hooked up, to prevent it from flapping in the wind. The yellow wire was disconnected to the control, probably by ****** on 6-23-21 for safety.

  **** told me these are stupid mistakes.

   

  When ***** found out about refrigerant being added to the other unit, he sent me a bill for $1.385.50.

  On 6-25-21, I called you personally, early. *** took note and e-mailed you, saying she was sure you would call me. I called again at 6am on July 9 to talk to you.

  The plug-in outlet on the outside of the Daikin is not hooked up with electricity.

   

  This is considered guarantee work, and there is no fee, at all.

  If your workers installing the unit, or troubleshooting on two days did not know what they were doing,

  why were they sent?

  Act in good faith, and delete all balance due, please. I am not happy.

  Thank you.

  

  Business response

  01/12/2024

  ******** installed and tested the unit upon installation.  The unit was working as it should after the installation and the following 5 months after.  Per the contract, ******** and Sons connected to the existing Gas and Electric that was provided on the roof.  ******** is not responsible for the unfortunate electrical issues that arose 5 months after the installation was completed.  Mr. ********** DID give us the OK to "Fix" the other unit on the roof to give cooling to his tenants.  He expressed in his complaint that we should have pressurized the unit to find the leak prior to adding refrigerant to bring it to proper pressure.  What would he like us to pressurize the unit with? Something besides refrigerant? Unfortunately there is no other way to pressurize a unit that already has refrigerant in it beside adding more refrigerant, unless he would like us to damage the compressor and subsequent coils that were already leaking.  It sounds like after Mr. ********** gave our technicians the OK to "FIX" the unit as instructed, he was unaware of what he asked out service technician to do, as the only immediate "FIX" that he asked for is to add more refrigerant to bring the unit pressure where it need to be.  His only option on the other unit that he owes ******** for "Fixing" is to replace the condenser coil, which would have been 10x the cost of what was charged to get his tenant cooling as he instructed. 

  Customer response

  01/19/2024

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I had the correct electric supplying the old rooftop unit, but ******** employes had not correctly hooked up the electric, costing me the service of an electrician to tell me.   It was not working correctly, when installed, and only found out when air conditioning was needed to run months later.  His employee even said so.

  The advice that the other air conditioner could have been tested by pressure, came from a prior Gas Co. employee, who worked with these type of units.  I did not authorize the refrigerant to be added, and do not owe.

  ******** did not hook up the outlet on the new unit to this day, and should have.
  

  
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** **********

  

  Business response

  01/22/2024

  ******** and Sons installed the unit properly and worked properly for 5 months until Mr. **********'s building has a main power issue.  This issue is outside of the contract as we hooked our unit to the existing Gas and Electric on the roof per the contract and standard industry practice.  ******** employees are not allowed to add freon to units without approval from building/homeowners.  After Mr. ********** instructed our technician to "Fix" the additional unit he was unhappy with the cost to do so once receiving the invoice and decided he was not going to pay for the requested fix.  ******** ran warranty service after his building had a main power issue.  ******** honored the warranty on these service calls that were 5 months after the initial installation even though the work was technically not in our scope of work, since this was a main power issue at the panel, as a courtesy for Mr. **********.
  

  
  ******** installed and tested the unit upon installation.  The unit was working as it should after the installation and the following 5 months after.  Per the contract, ******** and Sons connected to the existing Gas and Electric that was provided on the roof.  ******** is not responsible for the unfortunate electrical issues that arose 5 months after the installation was completed.  Mr. ********** DID give us the OK to "Fix" the other unit on the roof to give cooling to his tenants.  He expressed in his complaint that we should have pressurized the unit to find the leak prior to adding refrigerant to bring it to proper pressure.  What would he like us to pressurize the unit with? Something besides refrigerant? Unfortunately there is no other way to pressurize a unit that already has refrigerant in it beside adding more refrigerant, unless he would like us to damage the compressor and subsequent coils that were already leaking.  It sounds like after Mr. ********** gave our technicians the OK to "FIX" the unit as instructed, he was unaware of what he asked out service technician to do, as the only immediate "FIX" that he asked for is to add more refrigerant to bring the unit pressure where it need to be.  His only option on the other unit that he owes ******** for "Fixing" is to replace the condenser coil, which would have been 10x the cost of what was charged to get his tenant cooling as he instructed. 

  Customer response

  01/24/2024

  The warranty is covering the new Daikin unit.  The heater is not working, due to a bad blower motor. I was sold an inferior unit. ******** covering the replacement has nothing to do with another AC unit.  I appreciate the worker looking at the other unit to have that functioning, while the new Daikin unit was not correctly installed, and inside it was hot.  But this is changing the subject.  I did not authorize the work to be done.

  The way to have that old AC unit worked on first would have been to add refrigerant stop leak.  That is not costly.  If that does not help, add leak detector and look for leaks with a black light.  That is inexpensive.  If that does not work, pressurize it with nitrogen. It is not advisable to add refrigerant as the ******** worker did.

  ******** had the electricity ready for the workers to hook up to the new unit, but they were unskilled, not knowing how to hook up the electricity.  That costed me to hire an electrician to do their work. 
  

  ******** installed the rooftop unit when it was cold outside, and ran the heater.  They thought they tested the air conditioning but it was running backwards, not cooling, and this bad workmanship was discovered when air conditioning was needed.

  The Daikin GFI outlet is still not hooked up.  The ******** workers just attached the GFI box to the body of the unit without hooking up electricity to it.
  

• Initial Complaint

  03/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On March 11, 2022, I received a text message from my tenant in apartment # 3 reporting that his furnace was not working again. Galmiche and Sons worked on that unit on February 8, 2022 and reported on that day it was a "dirty flame sensor" and charged me 138.50, which I was grateful for. On today's date, at approximately 3:50 p.m. I called the office # and spoke with an unknown male. He immediately reported this was a union shop and all his guys except 2 techs were already at home. You could tell that he was upset about the lateness of my call and did not want the job! When I informed him that there company had recently worked on that same apartments furnace he became upset. He then became verbally abusive and started cursing at me saying that I was yelling at him. He also stated he had seen a flame sensor get dirty in a week's time as to blame me or my tenant for the reason they have to come back out. He gave me the rates of an after hours trip charge and the working increments time charge which I thought were unreasonable and excessive due to them being out working on that unit within a months time. I told him that in my career I wish someone would pay me a trip charge and the time for doing my job!! He also stated that he expected payment at the time of service which upset me because I have always PAID them upon job completion. After he began yelling and cursing at me an argument between us began to which I then stopped because I knew the conversation was no longer going to productive. I then asked to speak with the owner due to me being a customer for several years. The way the male on the phone responded to that request I knew he was not going to ask the owner to call me back. I feel as though because I am a woman that males in this industry think they can treat me disrespectfully and have no consequences. I immediately called another HVAC company in the area and was given excellent service, made a hassle free appointment with reasonable rates!!!

  

  Business response

  03/15/2022

  On March 11, 2022 Ms. ********** called into Galmiche and Sons’s Service Department regarding an issue at one of her properties.  As she stated we were at the property prior where we cleaned the flame sensor on her furnace.  When Ms. ********** called in, our Service Dispatcher informed her that our service team was booked up on regular time for the day and any service calls would run on Overtime due to the time of day.  After going over the rates for the overtime service calls, our service dispatcher also informed her that for overtime service calls we collect these charges upon arrival due to the differences in charges from standard service.  After hearing this, Ms. ********** became very irate and started yelling at our service dispatcher about how she has always paid her bill, which she always has, and never was accused of not paying.  As she went on for minutes yelling and cursing at our service dispatcher about the process for overtime calls, he finally had to raise his voice to overcome the yelling and accusations that were being hurled at him to cut the conversation off.  Galmiche and Sons has every right to set our rates on service and the process on which we collect the fees due.  As Ms. ********** stated that “She wished someone would pay her a trip charge and charge time for doing her job,” that in fact is an industry standard that we charge a “trip charge” and we run on a flat rate system for service repairs which was explained to her.  The accusations of her being a woman in a male dominated industry toward our company is very unfortunate.  Galmiche and Sons has been a family business for 72 years who employs multiple women within our company.  Galmiche and Sons treats everyone with respect no matter who they are or what they look like.  We stand behind our work and honor all our customers with respect and gratitude that they all well deserve. 

• Initial Complaint

  09/02/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In January 2013 , Galmiche & Sons installed a new air conditioning unit in my attic. The company last serviced the unit in May 2021. As my general contractor was remodeling a bathroom underneath the unit last week, he noticed several problems with the unit. He called Awtrey Heating and Air Conditioning, and their technician confirmed the following: 1. The unit appears to have been leaking for some time, causing mold to grow on the ceiling and the wood on which the unit sits to rot. The leaking was due to the unit and pan being out of level and inclined away from the shut-off switch. 2. The filter was filthy and had not been replaced since November 2020. 3. The door was off the unit. 4. The entire system was poorly installed in the attic in the first place, leading to poor airflow and more risks of leakage. Galmiche and Sons should reimburse me for the full cost of reinstalling the unit: raising it off the wood beams, leveling it, and correcting the connections to the vents.

  

  Business response

  09/03/2021

  Below is the correspondence between Mr. ******* and myself over the past couple days.  We installed a system back in 2013 for Mr. ******* and have been maintaining his HVAC systems since 2007.  Our last service was on 5/12/2021 (invoice for this service attached) where everything on the system looked good and no water was noted in the pan.  On the invoice that was sent to Mr. ******* it stated he needed to replace his filter for the system which he did not do, therefore his system started to condense water due to lack of air flow.  The unit was installed on top of a safety pan with a safety float switch installed in the pan.  We offered multiple times on the phone and per the correspondence below to come at no cost to Mr. ******* to check on these problems that may have arose over the last 9 years since the install.  As Mr. ******* stated he had a contractor doing remodeling under the unit that we installed that may have caused our pan to fall out of level.  Unfortunately we were not allowed the opportunity to send a service technician to check on the issues.  We have done annual maintenance on Mr. *******’ house since 2007 with no issues or complaints of our work.
  
  Please see below.
  
  Thank you,
  
  Jim Galmiche
  Galmiche and Sons Heating and Cooling
  314-993-1110

   

  Name: Nick *******
  Email: *******@wustl.edu
  Phone: 617-872=2728
  Best Way to Contact: phone,
  Message:
  This is a message for Jim Galmiche: Jim, I'm following up on our phone call regarding your AC installation jobat 38 Broadview in Clayton in January 2013. I learned today that thecity has no record of permits being pulled for the job. I also learnedthat there is mold on the ceiling right under the unit (and nowhereelse), and there is lots of wet installation. The pan is out of leveland inclined away from the switch, so the unit appears to have beenleaking for some time. My contractor and I took plenty of pictures toshow this. Next week I plan to begin pursuing this matter through three routes:1. City of Clayton: I'll file a code violation complaint, and willshow the pictures to the Head Inspector. My next door neighbor,Michelle Harris, is the Mayor of Clayton, and will help make thiscontact. I'll request that she contact other cities to warn them aboutyour poor service.2. I will inform the Better Business Bureau and post appropriatelynegative reviews of your service on as many websites as I can find.3. I will file with Small Claims Court. It's obvious to anyone who looks that your company did a very poorinstallation job and caused damage to my house. This one's ano-brainer. 

  Sincerely,Nick *******(617) 872-2728 (mobile)*******@wustl.edu

  On Sep 2, 2021, at 11:40 AM, Jim Galmiche <[email protected]> wrote:
  
  Mr. *******
  As I said on our phone conversation, I would be more than willing to have our top service technician come and look at the install from back in 2013, I offered to get back in the attic myself to see what was going on with the system.  I show on written on our copy of the original proposal that the secretary in the office took a permit with Clayton.  I do not have a physical copy of the permit because we keep 7 years of that paperwork in our office and destroy the rest since that is all we have room to store.  Unfortunately the secretary at the time who did this has since passed away so I cannot obtain any more information on that.
  Looking back in our service records we have done annual maintenance at your house since 2007, and have done so on the attic system since we installed it in 2013.  Every record we have since the install shows a clean bill of health for the system, including our last service at the house this past May.  I attached the invoice from the last service that we mailed out.  We are more than willing to correct any issues that may have arose over the past 9 years such as the drain pan possibility settling or being knocked out of level.
  We stand behind our work like we have the past 71 years we have been in business, and plan to continue to do so.  We want to continue to be the company that you have trusted with your HVAC work since 2007, including going 8 years beyond the labor warranty to correct any of the issue that may have come about over the past 9 years of the system.  I would make sure our Top service technician would be taking care of any needs at your house such as; releveling the drain pan and mitigate any water/mold issues.
  Please let me know if we are able to get our Top Technician to the house to look at the system and correct anything that may need to be addressed.
  
  Thank you,
  
  Jim Galmiche
  Galmiche and Sons Heating and Cooling
  O: 314-993-1110
  C: 314-713-0929
  F: 314-993-1120

  Jim,
  
  The fact that your maintenance people kept giving the unit a “clean bill of health”, never noticing the leaking, makes your case worse, not better as your email implies. Also, you’ve given no explanation for why the door was left off in May, and your claim that I agreed to replace the filter myself in what is an attic unit is simply not credible. In all the years we’ve had the unit, I’ve never replaced the filter myself.
  
  I’ll move forward with my efforts to warn others about your poor service.
  
  Sincerely,
  Nick
  
  
  Sent from my iPhone
  
  Two other things struck me about your last email. First, you sell and service systems with 20 year life spans but claim to only keep maintenance records for seven years? Because you “have no room”? How about using Iron Mountain or another one of those business records storage companies? And your excuse that your secretary died? That’s just laughable. Your business practices seem pretty awful. I’ll add this to the list of complaints that I file.
  
  Any more ammunition you’d like to give me?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Mr. *******
  We keep maintenance and install records for as long as our system allows, your records go back to 2007.  We keep additional physical paperwork for the legal timeframe of 7 years.  Unfortunately we did lose our secretary 2 years ago to brain cancer that had been with our company from the beginning, her name was Peggy Tissot if you need verification. 
  I’ve offered everything I can to rectify any issues that may have arose from the system we put in 9 years ago, but without being able to send a service technician to look at the system there is no opportunity for us to be of help.
  
  Thank you,
  
  Jim Galmiche
  Galmiche and Sons Heating and Cooling
  O: 314-993-1110
  C: 314-713-0929
  F: 314-993-1120

   

  
  

  Customer response

  09/03/2021

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  

  1. Mr Galmiche claims that it was understood that I would replace the unit filter, and attached an invoice to that effect. However, in the 9 years I had the unit, I never replaced the filter myself; it was always Galmiche that did this, because my attic unit is difficult to reach. In fact, Galmiche last replaced the filter in November 2020, as indicated on the filter itself. In addition, the invoice he produced was not signed by me. Instead, a mysterious "X" appears on the client signature line. I believe that he produced this invoice after the fact -- i.e.,  fraudulently.

  2. Mr Galmiche tries to blame my remodeling company for putting the AC unit out of level. However, the remodeling that might have affected the unit started just last week, whereas it would have taken much longer for the leaks to cause such significant ceiling mold and rotting wood. 

  
  

  Mr Galmiche's attempts to shift the blame to others for this company's shoddy work are not credible.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******** *******

  

  Business response

  09/03/2021

  After 14 years of annual service at Mr. *******' house with 0 complaints and 0 issues, now our invoices are fraudulent?  Mr. ******* agreed that we were out on 5/12/21 to do service at his house so I'm interested how an invoice for this service can be fraudulent.  The "x" on the signature line means the homeowner did not sign the service technician's tablet at time of service and we are to mail the invoice which standard practice in our organization.  The facts are that Mr. ******* received our invoice from the service that day that states he is to replace his filter.  He failed to replace his filter which is the cause of his issue.  The other fact is that we offered to send our top service technician at no cost to Mr. ******* multiple times to see what issues may have arose and rectify those issues from the install we did 9 years ago.  After repeatedly being denied access to service the equipment there was nothing we could do.  We haven't been in business for 71 years by writing "fraudulent" invoices and not standing behind our work as we always have done.  Galmiche and Sons has the warranty to Mr. *******' equipment and will continue to honor this warranty.  But there is nothing we can do if we are not allowed to fix and or diagnose any issues that may have arose over the past 9 years. 

  Customer response

  09/07/2021

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Mr Galmiche continues to deflect, and still fails to address the core issues in my complaint: (1) the installation was done poorly, with the unit placed directly on now-rotting wood beams, and the duct connections limiting airflow, and (2) maintenance was poor: nothing was done to correct the leakage, the filter was not changed, the door was left off, and a final item I didn't mention earlier: the flue is not to code. In addition, I learned that the City of Clayton has no record of an inspection or permit being issued for the installation, and Mr Galmiche tells me he cannot provide proof of inspection either. There is no signature on his invoice, and therefore no proof that after 9 years of having Galmiche change the filter, I suddenly decided to climb into my small attic and do it myself. 

  I have no doubt that Galmiche has performed well in the past. Indeed, I was a loyal customer from 2008 until this year. This particular job, however, was lousy. Remediation is insufficient. Other contractors tell me that the system needs to be re-installed correctly.

  I attached a proposal from one of these other contractors. I also attached a picture of the mold damage.

  Sincerely,
  
  ******** *******

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