Air Max Heating & Cooling

Review: In 2013, I purchased a basic contract coverage home warranty plan in connection with my primary residence, [redacted]. Problem developed with the air conditioning (A/C) system. I then contacted the home warranty company that provided coverage and notified them about the failure of A/C System. On July 12, 2013, I received a voicemail message from [redacted], Air Max Heating and Cooling (Air-Max) stating that I call and confirm the service appointment for 7/22/13. The service appointment was confirmed.On July 22, 2013, [redacted], a service technician from Air-Max came to my house. After few minutes of inspection, [redacted] notified me that the air condition unit is not repairable; therefore, it should be replaced. When asked about as to why my unit is not working, he stated that he is not sure. He also stated that there is no Freon in the system. When asked if he checked for leaks, he told me he does not have to. Don told me he had another appointment and did not do a good job. On July 29, 2013, I contacted Air-Max to inquire about the technicians finding. [redacted], who claimed to be the owner, told me the problem is due to no Freon (R-22) in the unit. She also stated that the electrical wires were chewed out by mouse. On August 1, 2013, I received a claim denial from the home warranty company. The home warranty company concluded that the problem with the A/C was preexisting and therefore was not covered by the warranty agreement. The decision was based on the technicians report. Subsequently, on September 6, 2013, I hired Sierra Pacific Home Comfort (SPHC). The inspection by SPHC revealed that the problem with the A/C unit has nothing to do with electrical wires.The technician made three errors. First error, the technician from Air-Max was not knowledgeable. Second error, the technician failed to do a good inspection. Third error, the technician made the wrong recommendation to the home warranty company. As a result, the claim was denied.Desired Settlement: I would like Air-Max to revise their recommendation to home warranty company reflecting the correct problem.

Business

Response:

Airmax responded to a service request from a home warranty company for Mr. [redacted]. the service call was for his a/c system. Mr. [redacted] purchased the homewarranty plan on 7/11/13. He placed a claim on 7/12/13. upon arrival to the home [redacted] the technician on site did a diagnosis of the system. The findings were as follows : severe rat infestation in the furnace closet area as well as under the house. Rat feces and a strong urine odor permeated the closet. A visual inspection revealed chewed control wiring and a very poorly maintained furnace . After turning on the A/c nothing happened. After checking the A/c out it was determined that the system had no Freon at all and no signal from the thermostat wires going to the a/c. The wires at the a/c unit also had severe chew marks on them from the rodent infestation. The a/c unit had spider webs and debris in it indicating it had not ran for some time. In our opinion the system was in very poor condition and obviously had not been maintained or worked properly for quite some time certainly longer than the 1 day the policy was in effect. The claim was denied for pre-existing conditions. As for sierra pacific being unprofessional in telling the homeowner that Dan was not knowledgeable the fact of the matter is that Dan has been a service tech for 20 years servicing thousands of systems .[redacted] is the owner/contractor and Has been successfully in business for 14 years. In our opinion the claim was properly and rightly denied by the warranty company and we have absolutely no intention of changing our diagnosis or making any further recommendations to the warranty company