17-month old unit. The Evaporator distributor rubbed together, now the original installer wants to charge me 40% of the original SYSTEM cost to fix. Here is my letter to the Corp HQ.

After reading, would you buy this unit? Let me kow: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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I am writing to express a complaint about Apple Comfort's One Hour Heating and Cooling of 123 North Main Street, Dublin, PA 18917.

This is a complaint that will be broadly expressed across every channel possible, as long as I am living.

In November 2008, One Hour Heating and Cooling installed a heating unit in my residential property. All was fine until the air conditioning unit stopped working in April 2010. A phone call went to them on April 4th 2010 that the air conditioner was not working, and requested them to come to our home to find the problem. Bill, the office manager, presented himself in a very condescending manner to my wife stating that we had not purchased a service plan, and it doesn’t surprise him that the unit was experiencing problems, as it hasn’t been properly serviced (first sign that dollars and cents were more important to Bill than customer service). Bill scheduled an appointment for a technician to come to our home and informed us that a $99 diagnostic fee would be charged. We felt that the fee of $99 was fair in order to understand the problem.

They sent a very young technician, Jason, to my home, but he was unable to identify the problem. Rather he informed us that an additional $460 was going to have to be paid to perform more diagnostics. He struggled with explaining why the additional costs were going to be charged, and stated that the office requires him to charge these fees. He explained the situation to me, and I informed him that we were told $99 WAS for the diagnosis, and they hadn’t diagnosed a problem. He couldn’t provide answers to me that gave me confidence to allow him to continue working the problem, and I asked him to leave, and called the office directly.

I spoke with Bill, the office manager, and Bill conducted himself in a very questionable business style (yet again). He was all business and it was all about the service fees with no concern for getting the customer's problem resolved. He had no sympathy nor did he seem to care that this unit that THEY had installed less than 18 months ago was defective and now I was being told that we needed to pay nearly $500 just to FIND OUT what the problem was and then we would pay whatever additional fees to FIX the problem. I told him that no problem had been diagnosed for the original $99 we had paid, and he stated, “yes, the coolant was low.” Needless to say, I was irate, and fit to be tied. We agreed to discuss again on Monday, 4/12/2010.

Bill and I connected mid morning on Monday. I again expressed my complete disappointment with them wanting to charge such an astronomical fee (over 10% of the total cost of the unit) just to diagnose the problem. I told him that the risks are simply too great, because at the end of the day, I have no idea what they would charge to then resolve the problem that should be under warranty. Bill told me directly, that they have standard fees to diagnose problems, and if the unit is deemed defective, the absolute maximum I would have to pay is $600, because the unit was still under warranty. However, he wouldn’t even be able to do that if they can’t diagnose the problem. I said, OK, send out your tech, and let’s get it diagnosed.

Friday 4/16/2010 they sent the President, Rodney out to assess the situation. Rodney was one of the individuals who installed the unit. He, unlike his counterparts, does instill a sense of confidence and integrity. Rodney arrived at 10:30 in the morning; performed his diagnostics until noon, when he broke for his hour lunch break. He was perplexed with the problem. When he couldn’t find a resolution, he put gauges on the line, isolating the inside from the outside. He used an “$800 gauge to pressure test the lines”, and concluded that the problem was in the outside unit, as he was certain that the inside tested tight. He stated that he would fill until full with coolant, and charged me an additional $404. The system was blowing 47 degrees, and he was very pleased with that, but he wanted to put dye in the lines to understand where the leak might be, presumably the external unit. He didn’t have the dye on him, so he was going to “swing by the following week, when he as working another job in the area.” I told him that sounded like a solid plan. Rodney looked me square in the eye and stated “I stand behind my work, and I want to make this right”. This was the attitude and mentality I was attracted to when I bought the unit.

The following week, Rodney stopped by, and inserted the dye. It took approximately 20-minutes, and he stated that they will need to come back in 7-10 days to determine where the leak was coming from after it had run through the system. On Wednesday, 4/28/2010, Bill, after reading the invoice, called my wife to inform her that they were not coming back until the weather changed and the unit was running, so call them back when it gets warmer (which is contrast to what was stated on the invoice per Rodney)

Friday 4/30/2010, the outside temperature rose to the upper 80’s, and the unit lost its effectiveness in the evening, where the house reached 79 degrees. Saturday and Sunday, the temperature rose to the upper 80’s, and the unit was inoperable. Monday 5/3/2010 my wife called One Hour Heating and Cooling to let them know the unit was not working. Bill voiced an annoyed response asking my wife to check all of the obvious items, like the fan and the breaker switch, which she had already done. Bill stated that they would send out a tech Tuesday afternoon between 2:00 to 5:00. The tech arrived at 1:00, and concluded that the problem was not outside (which is in contrast to Rodney's diagnosis), but rather inside in the air exchanger, specifically the “evaporator distributors had rubbed together causing a leak”. Jason, the tech, told my wife that it wouldn’t cost anything to repair because it was still under warranty, but that it was going to take two weeks or so, as the “office was going to have to go back and forth with Amana to figure out the warranty issues, and that could take a couple of weeks, at which point they would order the part and that could be a couples of weeks more ” (in other words, 4 more weeks to get this problem fixed).

Apparently upon Jason’s return to the office, Bill disagreed with Jason’s commitments to us, and called my wife immediately to inform her that while the coils are in fact under warranty, the services, installation, nitrogen recovery, installation and disposal would cost $1,100.

I called Bill back to understand the cost break-down, and I reminded him of his commitment that I wouldn't be out of pocket any more than $600. He reluctantly admitted to saying "the max the bill would cost was $600, and I wouldn't lie about that " (I remember thinking to myself, wow, can't believe you would even considered lying about that. It sure solidifies a flaw in integrity and business ethics). He told me that he was willing to work with me, kind of negotiating. I told him that the $600 maximum cost was what we had agreed upon, and that I would like for him to sleep on his original commitment, discuss within the organization and give me a call back in the morning. At 8:30 5/5/2010, I spoke with Bill again regarding the position of One Hour Heating and Cooling. He stated that the best he can do is $910. That price takes into consideration discounts and coupons. I told him that my threshold was $600, as that was his verbal commitment originally. I told him that I will not have him do the work. One Hour Heating and Cooling has breached my confidence, and I informed him that I will ensure that this experience is broadcast across as many channels as could be conceived.

Now, I bring this to the Franchise organization. I question the ethical behavior, conduct and business practices experienced. Rodney looked me square in the eye and told me that “he would make this right”. There were multiple pricing swapping activities, and deceptive service delivery, bate and switching, misrepresentation of service costs and the principle of charging me 40% of the original price to resolve a problem that was still under warranty. This isn’t a 5, 10 or 15 year unit. It is 17 months old one with only one summer of cooling. How can that be my liability? I do not call this “making it right”.

To resolve the problem, I would like for the warrantied part to be ordered and delivered to my home, I would like to obtain 3-separate quotes for installation, and I would like for my diagnostic fees of $406 reimbursed. You see, it was made very clear on the Celebrity Apprentice show on Sunday 5/2/2010 that your business model is to perform the diagnostic, and to provide an estimate to fix the problem. That was not the business model exhibited in our case, and this would be viewed by the FCC as fraud, false advertising and misrepresentation of products and services. It was pure and simple “price gouging”, where the technicians tell you one thing, and the office tells you another. I will also seek every channel possible to make sure the consumers in the Delaware Valley and our future home in Northern Virginia are fully aware of the business practices exhibited by One Hour Heating and Cooling. The company that misrepresents themselves beginning with their name—ONE HOUR Heating and Cooling, it takes days to get there, and then a window of arrival is provided.

I look forward to hearing from you, as I will be formally filling a complaint to the FCC and SEC, Better Business Bureau, local media channels that love investigative reports on consumer fraud and Angie's List at noon 5/14/2010. Furthermore, I will be posting to blogs and social network avenues. At this point, I am operating on principles, not dollars and cents.