Arizona Refrigeration Service, Inc.

This unit was installed by us on 9/6/13.  The calls for service in the last year are as follows: 4/12/16 we were called by the customer saying that there was no cooling.  When we arrived, the unit was working well.  6/3/16 we were called by the customer saying that the unit wasn't...

cooling, and asking to talk with a manager.  Our manager called her back (he was in the field) and told the customer that we would get a technician out to check it.  She wanted to know what was wrong with her unit, and he said he wouldn't know until the technician arrived.  He was not rude in any way.  The customer was frustrated, and posted a negative review on [redacted] (which we were aware of) and filed this complaint as well (which we weren't aware of), before we got to the home and could assess the issue.Our technician arrived, found the problem, and repaired it.  Our manager called her afterwards, and she apologized to him (stating that she had been frustrated).  She then changed her negative [redacted] review to a positive review.  I would hope that occurs here as well.

Mr. [redacted] called for service with a few items that needed to be addressed before his home closed escrow. He was offered a coupon for $50.00 off repairs by our CSR over the phone (he did not have, nor had he seen the coupon). The coupon states that "some restrictions apply, ask dealer for...

details". This coupon does apply on repairs that are $50.00 or greater. The repair performed at the [redacted]'s home totaled $40.00, and our technician informed the customer that the coupon would not apply. There was no false advertising involved. 

Our Service Manager called the customer after receiving your correspondence. Mr. [redacted] was unaware that Mrs. [redacted] had filed a complaint. As a courtesy, we offered to send a check to the [redacted]s' for $40.00 (which was the cost of the repair, not $50.00 as Mrs. [redacted]'s complaint requested) to resolve the matter. The check was mailed to their new home in Maine.

We consider this matter resolved.

I called Arizona Refrigeration at 7am and got a call back around 8:18am on Sunday July 31st. I was told that they could be out between 10A-12N to look at my air conditioning unit that isn't working. I told them my 84 year old parent lives in the house and she must have a/c. They had a job before mine so I understood and was elated they would be able to come out on a Sunday. It's now 3PM and they still aren't here. I called once around 2pm and was told they I've put another call into another air conditioning company that said they would send someone out right away. House is now 83 degrees and a LOT OF TIME has been wasted. Don't believe Stefanie when she tells you they will be out between 10A-12N. There's no way one repair job takes from 10A to 3PM or whenever they're finished.

We received your complaint.  Mr. [redacted] attempted to call the complaintant, [redacted], and left a message on her phone to call him back at our office number or on his cell phone.  We will provided a more detailed response once [redacted] calls Mr. [redacted].

I had my Air Conditioner start malfunctioning a few a days, I called Arizona Refrigeration Service, Inc. because of its Revdex.com rating and low chargers complaints thinking they might be a honest company. boy I was wrong. I called for service as I noticed there was no extra charges for weekend call I got that from their website. they told me they would charge 59.95 for diagnostic instead of the regular 89.95 for being a new customer. after being on my roof 5 minutes Leroy the Tech said it would be 627.00 to replace and install the part. I hesitated but told him to do it. after finishing up I asked for the old parts as I wanted to make sure I was not getting ripped off. so Leroy gave me an opened new box with the supposed old motor. the work was done and the total bill was $668.95. before he left he stated concerns on my AC unit that I need some maintenance done. and it would cost another 200.00 some out dollars. after he left I read the receipt further as it didn't match up with what he told me. the receipt says he replace a condenser for motor. but he gave me a box with a motor. the box contained a part number to the new motor to which I search all over the internet and found the cost for this new motor price was from 90.00 to 150.00. so I'm being charged 4 times as must for the install that took 15 minutes or so.

On 6/4/16 I called To have my AC repaired. They came out in about 4hrs.

They gave me a price of $180.00 for the part, a compressor capacitor. I felt that was high but, at 110 deg. what can I say, I wanted it fixed. I used the part # to check with AC supply stores and the lowest price I could find was $8.79 the highest was just over $52.00. I also paid $79.95 for a service call. I should have paid for the service call and sent him on his way. Ordered the part and installed it myself.

Arizona Refrigeration installed two [redacted] HVAC units in my home nearly five years ago. The installation and service have been excellent. However, on a recent service call I was charged $79.95 for diagnosis and $120 for a fuse. The fuse (Littelfuse FLNR-30) sells for $3.18 at [redacted], $3.00 at [redacted], $7.99 at [redacted], or about $16 for two equivalent fuses at [redacted]. Charging $120 for a $5 fuse is INSANE! That's nearly a 3,000% markup - and on top of the service call fee. Because of the EXORBITANT parts markup, my experience has gone from positive to neutral. I will have to rethink using Arizona Refrigeration in the future.

Review: I requested service by AZ Refrigeration and was told we could use a $50 off coupon from the phone book for repairs - after service was complete we were told that the repairs would have to be more than $50 in order to use the coupon - the coupon did not disclose this limitationDesired Settlement: I would like a $50 refund sent via check.

Business

Response:

Mr. [redacted] called for service with a few items that needed to be addressed before his home closed escrow. He was offered a coupon for $50.00 off repairs by our CSR over the phone (he did not have, nor had he seen the coupon). The coupon states that "some restrictions apply, ask dealer for details". This coupon does apply on repairs that are $50.00 or greater. The repair performed at the [redacted]'s home totaled $40.00, and our technician informed the customer that the coupon would not apply. There was no false advertising involved.

Our Service Manager called the customer after receiving your correspondence. Mr. [redacted] was unaware that Mrs. [redacted] had filed a complaint. As a courtesy, we offered to send a check to the [redacted]s' for $40.00 (which was the cost of the repair, not $50.00 as Mrs. [redacted]'s complaint requested) to resolve the matter. The check was mailed to their new home in Maine.

We consider this matter resolved.

Review: My 87-year-old mother purchased a [redacted] split heat pump from Arizona Refrigeration Service in January 2011. It has run fine until April 7 of this year when it stopped cooling. This resulted in the first of 7 visits representatives from Arizona Refrigeration Service made to diagnose/repair problems within 2 months. History is as follows:

4-7-14: Unit stops cooling. Service person comes out - adds Freon, checks for leaks at compressor site outside, says reverse valve was stuck in heating position and that can happen at the start of the season when switching from heat to air [our cost: $201.49)

4-18-14: Unit stops cooling. Different service person comes out. Finds small leak in coil, which he fixes. Also suggests thermostat could be problem, does pan treatment. Says reverse valve is fine [our cost: $541.94]

4-21-14: Unit stops cooling. Same service person comes out. Compressor overheated; fan motor running hot, orders new motor. [no charge]

4-23-14: Same service person installs after-market condenser fan motor and installs new run cap for the motor. [no charge]

5-12-14: Unit stops working. Same service person comes out. Checks meticulously in attic for freon leaks because freon is now low. Finds a leak by fitting. Tightens fittings as he says they are loose - probably from time of installation. Goes back down to add freon. Gets a pressure reading indicating that thermal expansion valve is not opening to let him put in freon.

5-13-14: Different service person replaces thermal expansion valve. [no charge]

7-7-14: Unit stops working. Different service person comes out. No power at wiring by compressor. Checks and says wet switch tripped. Goes up in attic and replaces switch with newer model. Found no moisture and said switch "failed." Also glued insulation. [no charge]

It is clear that this unit is unreliable. This is unacceptable. My elderly mother could literally have died in the 95-degree interior heat which the last service person characterized to his supervisor by phone as "unbearable." She has spent over $700.00 in repairs and replacement items just within this time span, not to mention almost $5,000.00 for the unit itself. Every service person who has come out has questioned how we ended up with this particular unit, whether we received a discount, why we bought a discontinued unit. The last service person questioned to us and his supervisor why it was installed the way it was. The employees, along with us, question the integrity of this unit and installation.

I spoke with [redacted] on more than one occasion and he indicated he would speak to the owner, [redacted]. I attempted to talk with Mr. [redacted] myself to try and work out a mutually agreeable resolution. He could not even give me the courtesy of a return call, communicating through [redacted] only that he would commit to making any "major" repairs on the unit until it is 5 years old. This raises a number of issues:

1. What constitutes "major"?

2. Is he assuming there will be major repairs in the next two years?

3. What happens once the unit is 5 years old? If there is this number of repairs at year 3, how can there not be more at year 5?

4. How does this address the inconvenience and anxiety of not knowing when this unit will fail again and having to suffer with no air conditioning?

Arizona Refrigeration Service sold my mother this product and should be accountable for the fact that it is demonstrably unreliable, resulting not only in discomfort to my mother, but creating a health and safety issue for her. We have no faith in the reliability of this unit.Desired Settlement: We believe the unit is a lemon. It is a discontinued model (not disclosed to my mom at the time of purchase with nothing to this effect stated in the purchase order). We have no faith that this unit will function effectively for anywhere close to the 10 years that a unit should typically last. We would like to replace this unit with a current model at no cost, minus $1,500.00 that we will pay, prorated for the 3 years of effective cooling/heating that we did receive.

Business

Response:

We received your complaint. Mr. [redacted] attempted to call the complaintant, [redacted], and left a message on her phone to call him back at our office number or on his cell phone. We will provided a more detailed response once [redacted] calls Mr. [redacted].

I requested service at my home in the beginning of January. I called in and let the CSR know that I found them in the yellow pages and that I saw their $50 coupon, and would like to have that coupon applied against any repair charges.

The repairman came, gave a quote of $175 (pretax) for the repairs, which I approved, and he did the repairs on the spot.

When he presented his invoice, I asked him to make sure to take the $50 off the invoice, which would make the total pretax bill of $125.

The repairman hesitated and stated that he had already applied $80 credit towards the service call , and that basically, he had waived the $80 service call.

The CSR never stated that there would be a service call charge nor did the repairman when he gave his quote. I feel he made up the "credit and waiver of service charge" excuse to avoid giving me the credit of $50 towards the repair charges. The invoice does not show a service call charge either.

I called the company again to complain. They said that they were charging a service charge of $80 after all. I explained that I was never told of any service call charges in my initial call or when the repairman gave me the quote. In my experience, service call charges are normally waived when the job is accepted. Again, the invoice does not show any service charge, credit towards such service charges, or any trace of it at all. The CSR asked me if I wanted them to waive the $80 service call or apply $50 towards the repair charges. The $50 coupon they printed clearly says "$50 off any repair*... not service charges.

Because the company was completely unwilling to work with me, I had no other choice but to dispute the charges with my credit card company. It is a shame the company could not just handle this from their end before it got to this point.