Access Heating & Air Conditioning Inc

To Whom It May Concern,We have received the complaint from *** *** and have thoroughly investigated the claimOnNovember 18, one of our service technicians, Roland was dispatched to Mr***’s home toperform a furnace maintenance.One of the most important parts of a furnace to inspect is
the heat exchangerTo get a little technical,the heat exchanger is a combination of chambers or cells that heats the air in your homeIt is designedas a barrier, its job is to contain a fueled fire, transmit the fire’s heat to your living space, and vent thetoxic exhaust gasses and by-products to the outdoors, without harming you or your family
Your heat exchanger cells are made out of very thin metalWhen the burners ignite, the heat causesthem to expand slightly in every directionWhen cooling off they shrink to their size and shape.The stresses of constantly expanding and contracting, bending and flexing are usually concentrated in asmall areaLike a paper clip, this constant stress of bending back and forth eventually causes the metalto crack
When a heat exchanger cracks, the fuel cannot properly burn completely which, as a result, producescarbon monoxide gasJust like someone smoking in a vehicle who cracks their window, the smokeimmediately is drawn out of the vehicle, the crack in a heat exchanger can cause dangerous carbonmonoxide to be drawn into the airstream and into the home where it is highly toxic to breathe
We follow two industry guidelines when inspecting a heating systemThe first is the International FuelGas Code Annex H, which instructs us to “inspect the heat exchanger for cracks, openings, or excessivecorrosion.” The second is the American Gas Association which states that “any visible crack or holediscovered during this step is reason to require replacement of the heat exchanger or furnace.”Inspecting the heat exchanger thoroughly is not a simple taskIt can often take more time than mostcompanies want to allow their technicians to spend on one callAt Access, we take this danger veryseriouslyWe go to specialized training every year to ensure the safety of ourcustomersThe company that trains us and only a handful of companies in thevalley is a company that is called upon, all over the country as expert witnessesin cases involving carbon monoxide poisoning by faulty heat exchangersUponcompleting this course, we receive a certified card and registration number.In this case, upon inspection Roland clearly found a crack (pictured here) whichis also rustingHe took the time to pull the heat exchanger to ensure theaccuracy of his diagnosis which is required on Mr***’s make and model offurnace.For the protection of our customers and their families and to protect ourselvesfrom liability of injury or death caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, we redtag and shut down the furnaceAs uncomfortable as it is to be the bearer of bad news, we care more for
the safety of our customers so it is our policy to shut it down and do our best to educate customers and
provide them with options to repair or replace.For Mr***, Roland gave him three options for repairing the furnace which would require the fullreplacement of the heat exchanger and three options for replacing the whole furnaceMr*** had ayear old Payne furnace which is an old enough furnace to consider replacing with such a high costrepairWe give our customers options ranging from an immediate fix to a more permanent solution andallow our customers to choose what is right for them and their family
Unfortunately, Mr***’s particular heat exchanger is not a normally stocked item and must beordered and freighted from the factoryOftentimes, certain heat exchangers are built when orderedcausing excessive delay in shipmentNew furnaces are readily available and stocked locallyThedifference in availability of equipment is out of our handsAnd while it is never our intention to cornersomeone into a particular solution, it is our utmost priority to give our customers all the options torestore their heat as quickly as we can make happen.In order to give customers time to consider the options, we leave space heaters so they aren’tcompletely without a source of heatRoland did this for Mr***.We are so confident in our diagnosis of Mr***’s furnace that we offered to pay for a second opinionand if we were wrong, we would install a new furnace, FREE of chargeAt Access, we have not been inbusiness for over years by scamming our customersWhen Mr*** complained over the weekendwe did everything in our power to offer a resolution.The danger of carbon monoxide is realVery few companies send their employees to continuing trainingso we cannot speak to another company going behind us when we do not know their experience oreducationThere is definitely controversy over this issue in the industry and we have chosen to err onthe side of safety for our customers and the safety of the equipment as fire is a potential danger as well.Everyone agrees on the dangers of carbon monoxideEvery industry standard and manufacturer statesthat any crack, hole or corrosion of the heat exchanger is cause to replace.Having no previous experience with our company, it is understandable Mr*** was skeptical and weunderstand his frustrationUnfortunately, he did not want the resolution we offeredMr***’s heatexchanger is definitely cracked and the liability now lies with him and the other company that turned hisgas back onWe would like to reiterate the offer to pay to have another company that is properlytrained to inspect heat exchangers, inspect his furnace and if they do not condemn the furnace as wedid, we will replace the entire furnace for FREEMr***’s safety is more important to us than themoney because we believe, if you take care of your customer’s first, the money will come.Thank you for doing your part to help resolve this matterWe are most appreciative of your service toour community.Sincerely,Shareen N***Quality Control