Allen's Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc.

The first thing I would like to point out is that Allen’s performs somewhere between 8000 and 9000 service and/or sales consulting visits to client’s homes each year.  So, in a 3-year period, which is the time window that the Revdex.com rates companies on, that’s between 24,000 and 27,000 total home...

visits.  And, this is the very FIRST complaint of this nature during that period. If we pressured clients, and committed fraudulent acts regarding financing, as is alleged, we certainly wouldn’t have been able to maintain the type of record and reputation that we have.  In fact, out of those almost 27,.000 home visits, we have only 3 complaints… ALL RESOLVED… before this one.  So, if you are considering Allen’s for your heating & air conditioning needs, and you want to research us carefully, then I would certainly ask that you carefully read the rest of my response.  We have been falsely accused. First off… our goal and our promise is 100% satisfaction or your money back.  And while, this client cancelled her installation BEFORE we performed it… if she had decided that she was unhappy with us on the day after… instead of the day before… I would have given her 100% of her money back.  She was never at risk of losing by doing business with Allen’s. Second, she did pay $69 for the service call on 12/21/16.  And, she also paid $314 for a repair back on 5/16/16.  And I am returning 100% of ALL of those funds back to her ($383), which she has NOT asked for in this complaint.  Once again… I’ll point out that when a client does business with Allen’s they are never at risk.  Along with the refund, I am returning the documents that she has asked for. Of the several elements of this complaint, I’ll address the financing first.  The customer’s claim that the interest rate was 28.9% instead of the 6.9% that is stated on the paperwork that she signed, is NOT correct.  The customer’s financing plan for this system would indeed have been a promotional rate of 6.9%, had she completed the installation with us.  The finance company sends a credit card to the client, after financing approval, that may be used in the future, only for purchases of heating and/or air conditioning services, with a default rate of 28.9%.  A default rate is common with finance plans.  If a client wishes to add something else later on, a promotional rate is typically available.  A simple phone call from the client, to us, would have straightened up this confusion.  There is NO WAY we are telling clients 6.9% and then charging 28%!!  And, to clarify, the rate was 6.9%, not 6% as she has stated.  She signed a document where it clearly shows 6.9%. And I would point out here, as I did in 2 of my other responses to complaints… if you do business with us, and something doesn’t seem right… please just pick up the phone and call.  We live in an imperfect world and confusions come.  Misunderstandings happen.  I will make sure that you are satisfied.  I always do.  It’s the only way we could have maintained the high reputation that we have. I always try to learn from a situation if it doesn’t go well, and regarding the finance company, it does point out an area for us to do a better job… We will be more careful to explain to future clients, not to be alarmed when they get this card in the mail.   And, if they want to make a purchase in the future, we would always be able to obtain another promotional rate for them, as long as their account was in good standing and had available credit line.  They would never encounter the default rate unless they did just that – default -  under the terms of the loan.  I would like to apologize to this client that we didn’t do a better job of explaining that. Regarding the “massive list” that our technician made, I would like to point out a couple of things.  First, this client had service, from us, performed on 5/16/16 on this same system.  At that time, an itemized list was made of recommend repairs, with pricing shown.  If the client had an issue with our “massive list”, our fee structure, or on any particular line item of the list, she could’ve called for explanation, back in May, and if she wasn’t happy with our explanation or pricing, she had 7 months, in between these two calls, to find a different provider.  The list that was made on 5/16 contained nearly every item as the list made on 12/21.   So, it’s somewhat confusing that it “panicked” her. Our philosophy when we provide service on a system is to do our best to prevent future breakdowns and future disasters.  Four of the items listed are safeties that protect the system and protect the home from potential damage – 2 of those are electrical safeties, and 2 of those have to do with preventing water and mold damage in the home.  Four of the items listed were what we refer to as “wear and tear” parts.  These are parts that are still “functioning” at some level, but are showing signs of wear, and on those particular items, if they fail before being replaced, they will potentially damage other major components of the system.  For example, on a car, just because an oil filter or a spark plug is “functioning” doesn’t mean it doesn’t need replacing.  Another item on the list was a semi-major component (a motor leaking oil).  In our opinion, the technician that this client had come in behind us committed “malpractice” if he/she simply made the unit run, and didn’t make this client aware of all of these potential problems. Our experience has been, that once a system reaches the point where there are this many things that need attention, it is in the client’s best interest to at least take a look at replacing the system, instead of pouring money into the old one - especially when considering the lower utility cost available with a new system.  We do, however, still leave it up to the client to make the decision.  And, as I stated in the first paragraph, we don’t pressure clients.   Remember - Almost 27,000 home visits, with 1 complaint of this nature. Regarding us not selling the lower cost models, please let me shed light on that.  In our business, there are systems that are termed “builder” model systems.  These are the models that each manufacturer has on the low-cost end of their product offering, and the term “builder” is as the name implies.  These are the units that builders of new homes typically use.  Not all builders do this, but a majority do.  We have found that, for what we are trying to do for our clients in terms of lower utilities and lower # of breakdowns, that we simply won’t offer these cheaper “builder” model systems.  Some heating & air companies do offer them… we don’t. Once this client found out that we don’t sell the cheaper systems, she stated that she “had no choice” but to buy the better, more expensive unit.  That is ridiculous!  Of course she had a choice.  Instead of signing an agreement with us to have her new high- efficiency, high-grade system installed, she certainly had the choice to get another opinion from a company that sells the lower junk.   Hundreds of the people that did business with us got other opinions first, and then chose to use us anyway.  Some chose not to, and that’s fine.  It’s a free country.  Our particular rep that was out there at her house, is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.  I have numerous compliment letters on him, from clients who decided to have us install systems.  I have had ZERO complaints on him. We certainly wish this client the best with her decision to ignore these recommend additions of safeties and recommended replacement of the “wear and tear” parts.  But it is not now, and will never be what we recommend. Years ago, I had a client scold me harshly for NOT recommending everything that he should have done to bring his system into perfect working order, instead of assuming that he didn’t want to spend the money right now.  I wasn’t thinking enough about his potential future expenses.  I don’t make that mistake anymore, and every once in a while it causes someone to think that I’m just trying to sell stuff. Next, making the statement that we charge $200 for a $20 part is about like complaining that a restaurant charges $10 for breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 sausages, 2 strips of bacon & toast, and a drink, which cost, all together less than $1… for $10?  Obviously, there’s more to it than the cost of the raw materials.  We have an office, with phones, dispatchers, computers, etc., and we send a fully trained diagnostic tech, in a fully stocked truck, to the home, and when he changes a part, he does full integrity testing of wiring harness and all wiring points, makes sure electrical readings are at factory spec level, cycles system multiple times to ensure that everything is working to factory levels, and then we put a full two-year warranty on every repair.  (Most companies give 90 days) In reality, once a person gets upset about one thing, the tendency is to go looking for more.  I believe that’s possibly what happened here.  Once this client thought that we had misled her on the interest rate, I can certainly understand why she might have gotten into this level of upset-ness demonstrated in her complaint.  I certainly wish that she had known that the finance rate really was 6.9%, as stated, and not 28.9%, and once again, my apologies for that. And, as requested, we have completely removed her from all of our mailing lists, along with sending the papers she requested, along with a check for $383 that she didn’t request. Thank you for reading my entire response.  I appreciate it very much.  I hope you decide to give Allen’s a chance.  You can’t lose.  I promise.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]

I visited with Mr. [redacted], and we had a very pleasant visit.  I offered, as is our standard, a complete 100% refund if he desired that course of action.  We discussed the matter, and we agreed on a refund amount that he indicated he would be happy with.  The matter was resolved to...

Mr.[redacted]'s satisfaction.  We have issued him a credit back on his credit card account.  Mr. [redacted] indicated that he still wishes to do an estimate for some additional repairs/modifications at his home, and I took that to mean that he would be comfortable doing business with us in the future, bases on our response to this complaint. - [redacted]

At Allen's we always strive for 100% client satisfaction.  In fact, our guarantee is stated that way..."100% satisfaction or your money back".  We urge clients to contact us first if there is an issue.  We will resolve it immediately.
We were not aware that Mr. [redacted] was unhappy with...

our service until the Revdex.com notified us about it.  Of course, immediately upon that notification, we contacted Mr. [redacted].  We immediately agreed to send the $406 back on the sequencer, and we are allowing Mr. [redacted] to keep the sequencer.  We were willing to send 100% of the money back, including the $69 diagnostic fee, but after our conversation, Mr. [redacted] agreed that he would still pay the diagnostic fee of $69, and mentioned that our technician was very nice.  We would have handled the situation exactly the same had we been contacted first.
The internet can be confusing when it comes to service pricing.  Since we guarantee our repairs for 2 FULL years, we use an upgraded level of quality parts, which costs more.  And, of course, our repair pricing includes much more than just the mark-up on the parts.  It includes having a seasoned, diagnostic trained technician perform the installation of the part, including all of the technical testing & checking that should always go along with changing a part, and it includes us putting our 2-year warranty on the repair.
 
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