Give me a break...
OK, so yesterday, in my first post, I related how my father, a wonderful man, passed away last month. Well, this evening I"m posting a DRAFT of a letter I've written to a heating and airconditioner company that does business in the Atlanta area. I still have a few blank lines in the letter - I need to have my mother fill them in before sending it. However, please read my letter, and then feel free to let me know if you think I'm off-base. Have you ever been cheated by Snellville Heating and Air (or their commercial entity...ProAire Services, Inc.)?
April 23, 2007
Mr. Tim Matthews
ProAire Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 869
Snellville, GA 30078
Dear Mr. Matthews:
Approximately six years ago, my parents purchased an extremely expensive heating and air conditioning system through your company, Snellville Heating and Air. The system, manufactured by Trane, proved troublesome from the very beginning. Throughout the first two years, your technicians were on-site many, many times in an effort to keep the air conditioner working. I’m happy to report that they eventually seemed to work all of the kinks out. Then, three years ago, the heater failed on a very cold morning. Once again, one of your technicians came out – this time determining that the overflow line was improperly installed too close to the ground, causing it to become stopped up and frozen. But the biggest failure yet occurred a couple of months ago.
Dad’s upstairs heating unit failed on February 4th – he called your company, and the following day one of your technicians came out and determined that another water hose was frozen. After my father pointed out that the sump pump was working correctly, your technician told my parents that, based upon a diagnostic test, that a variable speed motor had failed. He ordered the part and charged my father for the initial diagnostic charge (which my father paid). Three days later, the technician came out to install the new motor. He was joined four hours later by a second technician – apparently the first man couldn’t figure out how to install the part. A short time later, they informed my father that the new motor was not the problem was “most probably” caused by an animal climbing into one of the exhaust pipes, getting stuck, dying, and thereby clogging the exhaust system. I happened to be in the family room at the time, and asked how this could have happened. Your technician told me that Snellville Heating had not placed any type of guard over the exhaust pipes when the system was installed, even though they should have. He went on to tell me that he would be “sawing the pipes up” in order to find the dead animal. Incredulous, I asked him why he couldn’t use some sort of auger to locate it – or failing that, to simply disconnect the exhaust pipe temporarily from the unit. My questions befuddled him – obviously the simple solutions had not occurred to him, and, true to his word, he came back the following day to disassemble and reassemble the pipes. Needless to say, there was no dead animal…and it turned out that the exhaust system was working normally. At this point, your technician supposedly spoke with the experts at Trane, who told them that the problem could only be a cracked heat exchanger.
The following Monday (one week after the initial service call), my father had a phone conversation with you. During the conversation, you confirmed that Trane was positive that the heat exchanger was defective and needed to be replaced. Once again, the part would need to be ordered – but at least you agreed that the part would be covered by the Trane Factory Warranty (only the part, not labor).
Four more days passed before my father finally called you – and was told that the part had arrived and could be installed the following morning.
Two men came out Friday morning to install the part at 9:30. At 2:00, they came upstairs, confident that the furnace was fixed. They were, however, wrong – the heat exchanger was obviously not the problem. At approximately 5:00, after repeated calls to Trane, they decided that the heat inducer was at fault. This is the very part listed on the original work order as being defective!
Finally, twelve days after the initial visit from your technician, a heat inducer was installed…and it took the man less than 90 minutes to do so.
Now I should also tell you that during this time frame, my father was in the final two weeks of chemotherapy and radiation, and was extremely weak and susceptible to cold temperatures. These two weeks also happened to be the two coldest weeks of the year. My father literally went from his bed (under an electric blanket) to his reclining chair next to the fireplace (and under a heating blanket) and back to bed each day. The house was too cold for him to move anywhere else. Your technician was aware of my father’s condition, but repeatedly stated that nothing more could be done.
I should also remind you that the very first work order states that the inducer was the problem. However, instead of replacing it, your technician spent countless hours “diagnosing” the unit, an entire day replacing the PVC exhaust pipes, replaced the “defective” heat exchanger that did not solve the problem, would not leave the heat exchanger with my father, and finally fixed the unit by installing the inducer – the very part that he originally stated was defective!
Further, on March 7th, Bill Roberson of Trane Corporation, called to speak with my father. My mother told him that he had undergone a seven-hour operation a few days earlier to remove the remaining cancerous mass, and would be in the ICU unit of Emory-Crawford Long for at least another week. In addition, because of the type of surgery he had undergone, it would be several more weeks until his voice would be strong enough to converse with him regarding the situation. Bill and my mother discussed the problem with their furnace and how Snellville Heating and Air handled it. Bill was very clear that my parents should not pay the bill of $880.00 because they did not need a new heat exchanger. He went on to tell my mother that your company did not look at the heat inducer as being the problem until he (Bill) insisted on it.
My father passed away two weeks later – but I assure you that he was most upset at the way your company handled the situation from the beginning. I would like to believe that my father spent two of his final weeks of life miserably cold because of the incompetence and stupidity of your technicians – and not because they had questionable motives. However, in hindsight, I’m not so sure.
I will see to it that your company is paid in full, but only after I receive an invoice that accurately reflects the work that needed to be performed – that is, without any charge for multiple service calls that resulted in the furnace not being fixed. Your own original work order clearly states that the inducer was the problem – and it was replaced almost two weeks later – at a total service time of under 90 minutes. With that in mind, I will be happy to settle the debt of 1.5 hours of service time at your prevailing service-call rate.
I look forward to receiving another, corrected invoice.
Sincerely,
David J
cc: Bill Roberson
April 23, 2007
Mr. Tim Matthews
ProAire Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 869
Snellville, GA 30078
Dear Mr. Matthews:
Approximately six years ago, my parents purchased an extremely expensive heating and air conditioning system through your company, Snellville Heating and Air. The system, manufactured by Trane, proved troublesome from the very beginning. Throughout the first two years, your technicians were on-site many, many times in an effort to keep the air conditioner working. I’m happy to report that they eventually seemed to work all of the kinks out. Then, three years ago, the heater failed on a very cold morning. Once again, one of your technicians came out – this time determining that the overflow line was improperly installed too close to the ground, causing it to become stopped up and frozen. But the biggest failure yet occurred a couple of months ago.
Dad’s upstairs heating unit failed on February 4th – he called your company, and the following day one of your technicians came out and determined that another water hose was frozen. After my father pointed out that the sump pump was working correctly, your technician told my parents that, based upon a diagnostic test, that a variable speed motor had failed. He ordered the part and charged my father for the initial diagnostic charge (which my father paid). Three days later, the technician came out to install the new motor. He was joined four hours later by a second technician – apparently the first man couldn’t figure out how to install the part. A short time later, they informed my father that the new motor was not the problem was “most probably” caused by an animal climbing into one of the exhaust pipes, getting stuck, dying, and thereby clogging the exhaust system. I happened to be in the family room at the time, and asked how this could have happened. Your technician told me that Snellville Heating had not placed any type of guard over the exhaust pipes when the system was installed, even though they should have. He went on to tell me that he would be “sawing the pipes up” in order to find the dead animal. Incredulous, I asked him why he couldn’t use some sort of auger to locate it – or failing that, to simply disconnect the exhaust pipe temporarily from the unit. My questions befuddled him – obviously the simple solutions had not occurred to him, and, true to his word, he came back the following day to disassemble and reassemble the pipes. Needless to say, there was no dead animal…and it turned out that the exhaust system was working normally. At this point, your technician supposedly spoke with the experts at Trane, who told them that the problem could only be a cracked heat exchanger.
The following Monday (one week after the initial service call), my father had a phone conversation with you. During the conversation, you confirmed that Trane was positive that the heat exchanger was defective and needed to be replaced. Once again, the part would need to be ordered – but at least you agreed that the part would be covered by the Trane Factory Warranty (only the part, not labor).
Four more days passed before my father finally called you – and was told that the part had arrived and could be installed the following morning.
Two men came out Friday morning to install the part at 9:30. At 2:00, they came upstairs, confident that the furnace was fixed. They were, however, wrong – the heat exchanger was obviously not the problem. At approximately 5:00, after repeated calls to Trane, they decided that the heat inducer was at fault. This is the very part listed on the original work order as being defective!
Finally, twelve days after the initial visit from your technician, a heat inducer was installed…and it took the man less than 90 minutes to do so.
Now I should also tell you that during this time frame, my father was in the final two weeks of chemotherapy and radiation, and was extremely weak and susceptible to cold temperatures. These two weeks also happened to be the two coldest weeks of the year. My father literally went from his bed (under an electric blanket) to his reclining chair next to the fireplace (and under a heating blanket) and back to bed each day. The house was too cold for him to move anywhere else. Your technician was aware of my father’s condition, but repeatedly stated that nothing more could be done.
I should also remind you that the very first work order states that the inducer was the problem. However, instead of replacing it, your technician spent countless hours “diagnosing” the unit, an entire day replacing the PVC exhaust pipes, replaced the “defective” heat exchanger that did not solve the problem, would not leave the heat exchanger with my father, and finally fixed the unit by installing the inducer – the very part that he originally stated was defective!
Further, on March 7th, Bill Roberson of Trane Corporation, called to speak with my father. My mother told him that he had undergone a seven-hour operation a few days earlier to remove the remaining cancerous mass, and would be in the ICU unit of Emory-Crawford Long for at least another week. In addition, because of the type of surgery he had undergone, it would be several more weeks until his voice would be strong enough to converse with him regarding the situation. Bill and my mother discussed the problem with their furnace and how Snellville Heating and Air handled it. Bill was very clear that my parents should not pay the bill of $880.00 because they did not need a new heat exchanger. He went on to tell my mother that your company did not look at the heat inducer as being the problem until he (Bill) insisted on it.
My father passed away two weeks later – but I assure you that he was most upset at the way your company handled the situation from the beginning. I would like to believe that my father spent two of his final weeks of life miserably cold because of the incompetence and stupidity of your technicians – and not because they had questionable motives. However, in hindsight, I’m not so sure.
I will see to it that your company is paid in full, but only after I receive an invoice that accurately reflects the work that needed to be performed – that is, without any charge for multiple service calls that resulted in the furnace not being fixed. Your own original work order clearly states that the inducer was the problem – and it was replaced almost two weeks later – at a total service time of under 90 minutes. With that in mind, I will be happy to settle the debt of 1.5 hours of service time at your prevailing service-call rate.
I look forward to receiving another, corrected invoice.
Sincerely,
David J
cc: Bill Roberson
posted by DaveJ at
7:17 PM
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