Essex Mechanical Services

I am rejecting this response because: Response provided by business is incorrect and misleading.What the Factory rep stated was that the replacement of the relay should not cause the failure, but since the failure happened upon restart of the system after replacement, the relay was obviously at fault either from incorrect or poor installation.At no time has Essex offered a reduced replacement option - actually they have never given me a quote to replace the compressor, even though I have asked for it repeatedlyAnd certainly the offer to replace for free with proof was never offered.Since I have not been able to get any response from Essex I have brought in another firm to evaluate the problemThey were able to fire the system up and make it runThe compressor is NOT fried as Essex lead me to believeI can only surmise this is to force me into buying equipment I don't needThe new company did find several issues with the system that Essex may or may not have caused or missed in their evaluationWe are working through those issues now

On 6/17/my technician found the a/c unit locked out and giving a diagnostic code indicating a defective start relay.We ordered the factory specified part and replaced itUpon start up of the system the compressor ran for a short time and failedThis system was 11years old at this timeMost a/c
systems have a average life expectancy of yearsThis system according to the owner already had at least compressor failure in its past along with other componentsThere are many factors that can cause this type of failureThis system was reported to the owner in to have louder than noise from the compressor , indicating some type of internal abnormalityThe owner states that the service manager said that just a relay replacement would not cause the compressor to fail, and he is rightThat is the only work Essex preformed on this systemThe owner also states in a previous email to me that he know the difference between a mechanical sound problem and the electrical short that caused his failure and there is no relationshipThis is incorrectIn a hermetically sealed a/c compressor of this type there is a direct relationship between the mechanical parts of the compressor and the motorAny type of metal, moisture, acid or other impurities circulating in the system wears away the insulation covering the motor windings and eventually allows the winding to short electricity to the housing causing the burn outThis is a unfortunate but not uncommon occurrence in a/c systemsWe see on average 5-compressor failure of this type each summerThis owner has had many more problems than he should have with systemHe told me it has given him problems almost from the time another contractor put it inAgain this is unfortunate , but this failure was not caused in any way from the work that Essex preformedI do not believe that the factory service repsaid we caused this burn out and that we should replace it for free.If the owner gets a notarized affidavit from this service repthat he spoke to stating exactly as he has quoted then we will replace his compressor for freeIf this doesn't happen then Essex also will offer a reduced rate for a complete system replacement to help with the customers problem*** Essex Mechanical

Review: In Mid-June our AC unit stopped working. Essex was called in to fix the issue. Turned out to be a faulty relay. They replaced the relay and upon starting the unit back up fried the compressor. They have refused to replace the compressor and only offered the solution of replacing the entire unit at about $10,000. They even sent me a bill for the repair!I spoke with Carrier (AC Unit brand) about warranty replacement and was denied. During the conversation their regional service manager informed me that the changing of a relay would not cause the compressor to short out. He suggested that Essex should be replacing the compressor at no-charge or at least a reduced charge as it was their fault.Essex has repeatedly ignored requests via phone and mail to deal with the issue.Desired Settlement: Since the unit is used I have offered to work out a deal on the replacement parts. I don't feel I should shoulder the full cost to fix their mistake. They have not responded to this offer in any way.

Business

Response:

On 6/17/15 my technician found the a/c unit locked out and giving a diagnostic code indicating a defective start relay.We ordered the factory specified part and replaced it. Upon start up of the system the compressor ran for a short time and failed. This system was 11years old at this time. Most a/c systems have a average life expectancy of 15 years. This system according to the owner already had at least 1 compressor failure in its past along with other components. There are many factors that can cause this type of failure. This system was reported to the owner in 2011 to have louder than normal noise from the compressor , indicating some type of internal abnormality. The owner states that the service manager said that just a relay replacement would not cause the compressor to fail, and he is right. That is the only work Essex preformed on this system. The owner also states in a previous email to me that he know the difference between a mechanical sound problem and the electrical short that caused his failure and there is no relationship. This is incorrect. In a hermetically sealed a/c compressor of this type there is a direct relationship between the mechanical parts of the compressor and the motor. Any type of metal, moisture, acid or other impurities circulating in the system wears away the insulation covering the motor windings and eventually allows the winding to short electricity to the housing causing the burn out. This is a unfortunate but not uncommon occurrence in a/c systems. We see on average 5-10 compressor failure of this type each summer. This owner has had many more problems than he should have with system. He told me it has given him problems almost from the time another contractor put it in. Again this is unfortunate , but this failure was not caused in any way from the work that Essex preformed. I do not believe that the factory service rep. said we caused this burn out and that we should replace it for free.If the owner gets a notarized affidavit from this service rep. that he spoke to stating exactly as he has quoted then we will replace his compressor for free. If this doesn't happen then Essex also will offer a reduced rate for a complete system replacement to help with the customers problem. [redacted] Essex Mechanical

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: Response provided by business is incorrect and misleading.What the Factory rep stated was that the replacement of the relay should not cause the failure, but since the failure happened upon restart of the system after replacement, the relay was obviously at fault either from incorrect or poor installation.At no time has Essex offered a reduced replacement option - actually they have never given me a quote to replace the compressor, even though I have asked for it repeatedly. And certainly the offer to replace for free with proof was never offered.Since I have not been able to get any response from Essex I have brought in another firm to evaluate the problem. They were able to fire the system up and make it run. The compressor is NOT fried as Essex lead me to believe. I can only surmise this is to force me into buying equipment I don't need. The new company did find several issues with the system that Essex may or may not have caused or missed in their evaluation. We are working through those issues now.