ComplaintsforUSA Heating, Cooling & Plumbing

• Initial Complaint

  08/10/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Bought a brand new A/C unit from this company in 2017. Has broken 3 times. Their trucks advertise 24 hr service (which is untrue). Initial appointment given for 12 days after call (hot summer days). USA cancelled day of then came out 2 days later. Broken compressor- part was under warranty and we were told the cost for labor would be around $600. We then agreed to proceed with the repair. After completion of work, given **** for $1106.41, significantly higher than quote! Company did not disclose $483.72 refrigerant cost at time of sale. Also, only at time of payment were we told of 5% fee to use credit card. High charge- isn't **** capped at 4%? Owner refused to call us back to discuss, despite leaving multiple messages at the office for him. Unprofessional company. Poor customer service- including voicemail recording that proceeds to then tell you not to leave a message at that number. No accountability. A/C unit is low use, ? lemon. No confidence in this 3rd repair in <4 years.

  

  Business response

  08/12/2021

  Hello,
  As withanything like this, its funny how the customer leaves out several issues thatwere caused by them.  I will answer the complaintin order they were written.
  She claimsthe unit has broken 3 times however we only have record of being out thereonce.  The man of the house, who I didspeak with, said they had other contractors out to look at the unit aswell.  This brings up a couple of issues.  One, *** has no way of knowing what they ***** they could be hacks.  Two, in my opinionthe other contractor may have been the ones to go out there the other twotimes.  I had asked for the paperworkshowing *** was out there, the man said we dont have any paperwork.  I find that interesting, *** doesnt haverecord of it and nor does the customer.  There is no way *** would have been out there and not have paperwork ofthe service call.  For one my Office ********* extremely strict with paperwork.  In addition,no Tech of mine is going to a job and not get paid.  We would have had payroll records, and againwe do not.  So again, my thinking is theyhave *** confused with some other contractor.
  She is also complainingthat our trucks post 24-hour service which is true, however it is foremergency service.  All a customer has todo is call and we will decide if its an emergency or not, I do believe that isour right as this is our business, not theirs.
  As for reschedulingtheir appointment, that unfortunately happens in our business.  Its my call as the owner when things getbusy to prioritize our customers.  Wehave customers that paid *** to be VIP customers and they go to the top of theservice list.  This customer refused thisprogram.
  As for theissue with the compressor.  Thisbreakdown was a result of the customer not having proper maintenance and annualcleaning of the unit.  (Please see photosof dirty condensing unit) When I advised the man that the unit was filthy, hesaid no it wasnt.  I told him I have picturesto which he relied cleaning the unit is not needed.  Not sure where he got this advise but it is ridiculousfor one to think this way.  Thiscompressor replacement under the warranty was a complete gift from mysupplier.  This truly wasnt a warranty issue;it was due to customer neglect. If you look at the invoice she attached to thiscomplaint, you will see I discounted the **** by over $624.00.  We gave them the freon at our VIP pricing(the same program they refused.) So, she states *** is an unprofessional companyand we give poor customer service?  Ihave always stated I dont want all the customers, just the good ones.  Guess what category Im placing them in.
  As for hercredit card complaint, when is the time to tell a customer of a service fee butwhen they want to pay with a credit card.  As you can see, they paid by check, so Im not sure what the problem isother than her wanting to cause a stir, which they told my Tech they plan todo.
  As for hercomplaining I did not return her calls, nor talk to them is just untrue.  I talked to the man of the house when hecalled, I didnt think I needed to follow up with her, theyre husband andwife, I figured theyd talk to each other. Im sorry but with the high temperatureswe were/are very busy and I talked to them when I had the time.
  Id like toalso state that this is a customer that just wants something for nothing.  When the unit was sold to them, they wereoffered an upgrade in labor warranty from a 1 year to a 10 year for a minimalcost, which they refused.  Now that theymade a bad choice then, they are taking it out on ***, instead of themselves forbeing ***** foolish.
  In closing,I have discounted their **** more than I should have and will not lower it anymore.  I also will advertise as I seefit, not them.  I find this case closedand will no longer service their account. ..

  Customer response

  08/15/2021

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

  In reference to ****** response to our complaint, my husband ****** (referred to by **** as the "man of the house") and I do communicate with each other and jointly make decisions.

  We did call one other company for a quote since we were losing confidence in this AC system with it needing 3 repairs in under 4 years. The other company was also able to come out the next day. With the heat wave coming up we wanted quick service since my elderly parents were soon going to be staying at our house for a few days. That company simply diagnosed the problem (same problem that *** found) and never actually did any work for us.

  I also find it strange that we never received any paperwork for the prior occasions that *** came to our house. It has been a total of 3 times- once for the furnace and twice for the *** When the furnace went down, in the winter, the company did not have the 24 hour service for which they advertise on their trucks. I have attached an email from *********************, Operations Manger of the **** Department, which clearly states that he has previously been out to our house. I will admit, that we the customer, should have known better and should have requested paperwork each time. ****** learned on our part. The email clearly shows that **** is lying and that his company has in fact been back out to our house. Other than the quote last month, no other company has been here. 

  I have a problem with being quoted $600 then being charged $1100. In response to "no tech of mine is not getting paid", again, we agreed to pay the labor from the start of the job which was quoted at $600. We still paid him the **** the day of the service. I want other people to be aware of the type of business this is. They were not fair or honest with us. Yes, we did pay with a check, in order to avoid the extravagant fee. This fee must be listed at point of sale. From my research, it needs to be on the door to their office and also clearly stated on their website, which is is not. It should not first be told to a customer as they are in the process of handing over their credit card. Also, from the **** website, the maximum charge is 4%. *** charges 5%. A company legally cannot profit off of the credit card surcharges. 

  Finally, in regards to him calling my husband back, this is untrue. We called multiple times over 3 days, with no return call from ****. We left messages with his office staff to return our calls. Finally got ahold of him on Monday afternoon. He was very unprofessional and used lots of clithes, Like stated in original complaint, the owner is not professional in the way he handles his business. He has lost ours and obviously we cannot recommend him to anyone that asks us. 

  
  Regards,
  
  *********************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩