Bob's Air Repair

On 7/28/2016 Bob's Air Repair arrived at [redacted]'s home at [redacted]. The technician found a bad dual run capacitor. The Technician prior to the repair quoted the customer $260.00 plus tax for the capacitor, Labor, One Year Part Warranty ( as noted on invoice #[redacted]...

along with the customer's signature). Bob's Air Repair always gives upfront flat rate pricing prior to any repair. Upon completed installation of the part Bob's Air Repair found the condensing fan motor running at 1.6 amps and the name plate on the motor states 1.1 amps. Bob's Air Repair then told the customer that the motor is pulling to many amps and would most likely fail soon and could possibly be the cause of the capacitor failing in the first place. (As noted on the signed invoice) Customer chose not to repair the motor at that time. On 8/2/2016 Mr. [redacted] called Bob's Air Repair and stated the a/c unit was not cooling again. Bob's Air Repair office staff asked Mr. [redacted] if he would like us to come out free of charge to check the operation of the unit as there is a one year part warranty on the part installed. Mr. [redacted] stated " he would rather sweat to death then have us come back for free ". After receiving a complaint from B.B.B Bob's Air Repair  has tried to contact Mr. [redacted] several times to try and resolve this situation with no response.

Revdex.com:
I have spoken to the business owner regarding this complaint, and find that our negotiated  resolution is satisfactory to me.

Review: 7/28/2016 Thursday the whole house air conditioning stopped working. Called Bob's Air and they scheduled an appointment and came out. Within seconds of arriving, tech had me sign a $99 service fee agreement. Once tech was diagnosing system, he noted the compressor fan start capacitor looked blown, and replaced it. I was advised the cost for this $15 - $20 generic part was going to be $260! As it was 112 degrees and climbing, I reluctantly agreed and the tech continued. The tech spent an inordinate amount of time on the phone 'talking to Bob'throughout the service call. Right before he left, he advised me the compressor fan motor was "hi-amping", using 1.6 amps of current instead of the rated 1.1 amps. I was never quoted a price to repair it, just given the ominous news prior to the tech's departure. My total bill was $370.62.

Sunday 7/31/2016 - the air conditioning again stopped working. Exact same symptoms as before, the compressor fan stopped running. I called Bob's - told them the issue and they seemed reluctant to warranty their parts and labor - stating the tech had noted (yet didn't repair) the 'bad motor'. I explained I had no more money, that I couldn't pay tenfold prices for parts in addition to diagnostic fees, service call fees, etc.. They said they would "talk to Bob" and let me know what they were willing to do.

I called another HVAC company for service, as my confidence and trust of Bob's Air dropped to zero.

The second company charged me for a service call, diagnosed that the capacitor Bob's installed (made in China) was dead. They replaced the capacitor and the system was once again up and running. I asked the tech to check the current draw from the condenser fan, and it was 0.6 amps - .5 amps under the maximum draw rating.

I feel the problem with the air conditioning was partially misdiagnosed and faulty materials were intentionally used to maximize their profit potential.Desired Settlement: I feel the $260 paid for the ersatz dual run capacitor should be fully refunded as it was essentially junk, lasting only two full days. I believe a portion of the diagnostic fees should also be refunded as we relied on 'expert advice' which was incorrect.

Business

Response:

On 7/28/2016 Bob's Air Repair arrived at [redacted]'s home at [redacted]. The technician found a bad dual run capacitor. The Technician prior to the repair quoted the customer $260.00 plus tax for the capacitor, Labor, One Year Part Warranty ( as noted on invoice #[redacted] along with the customer's signature). Bob's Air Repair always gives upfront flat rate pricing prior to any repair. Upon completed installation of the part Bob's Air Repair found the condensing fan motor running at 1.6 amps and the name plate on the motor states 1.1 amps. Bob's Air Repair then told the customer that the motor is pulling to many amps and would most likely fail soon and could possibly be the cause of the capacitor failing in the first place. (As noted on the signed invoice) Customer chose not to repair the motor at that time. On 8/2/2016 Mr. [redacted] called Bob's Air Repair and stated the a/c unit was not cooling again. Bob's Air Repair office staff asked Mr. [redacted] if he would like us to come out free of charge to check the operation of the unit as there is a one year part warranty on the part installed. Mr. [redacted] stated " he would rather sweat to death then have us come back for free ". After receiving a complaint from B.B.B Bob's Air Repair has tried to contact Mr. [redacted] several times to try and resolve this situation with no response.

Consumer

Response:

I have spoken to the business owner regarding this complaint, and find that our negotiated resolution is satisfactory to me.

Thank you for coming out and fixing our A/C unit. The service tech was very thorough and it was nice knowing how much it would cost for repairs... No surprises. I have a bad heart and have to stay in the air conditioning during the day. We called every a/c repair shops and they said they would have to schedule us in, which ranged from 3 days to 2 weeks. They didn't care about any health conditions. We called you and it was no problem and the service we received can't be beat. The next time we have any problems, we are going to call you for a new unit installation. Thank you so much! Ed and Kim O[redacted]

Found Bob's to be not professional. The first time I hired them everything went well. The second time, I gave clear direction but the repair person said he did not think I authorized work and came back the second day. I paid for the first day of over $500, and he left the bill of over $300 to be sent in. Twenty days later a person showed up saying that they were going to send me to collections because I had not sent the second payment in. I told him I would pay by the end of the week. When I spoke with Bob, he said the person told him that I said to send me to collections which I did not. The following week I had another job that was urgent at a business ten miles further up the road which I clearly stated when I called. I was quoted $108 for the first hour and $70 per hour. The next day they said that they could get up there but it would be $135 for the first hour and $110 for each hour afterwards because of the extra difference. I thought their work was good but they are to flaky to deal with.

Review: Bob's air repair sent a technician to my house and before he touched a single thing he had me sign a form. He performed a 2 minute visual inspection and told me I needed a new unit and the cost would be 7000 dollars.I told him I would not pay 7000 dollars and Bob's air repair charged me 1100 dollars for a "'re-stocking"fee without ever even trying to figure out what was wrong with my unit. My son contacted them and they sent 3 techs to my house and wanted me to sign one of their forms again and the cost would be 79 dollars. My son told the techs to please wait a minute while he called their office and the 3 techs walked right out the door and got in their vans and left. I am 74 years old and Bob's air repair has left me with no air conditioning for 2 years now. I would like to know how a company can charge 1100 hundred dollars and not do a single thing. The owner "Bob" has refused to return any of my son's phone calls. This is my only recourse to try and make this company to fix my air conditioning. I've already given them 1100 dollars and they have done absolutely nothing.I hope the Revdex.com helps me resolve this issue and looks into the past practices of this company. I am totally amazed that they can get away with this.Desired Settlement: I want my money back. I wouldn't trust that company to work on a blender.

Business

Response:

8/23/13 Approximately2 years ago Bob’s Air Repair received a call from [redacted] for us to come toher house for a bid to replace her a/c unit. On 8/23/13 [redacted] signed an agreement for a new Air Conditioner to beinstalled, she gave us 10% down, andinitialed a spot on the contract that a (20%) restocking fee on all parts andequipment shall be in effect if [redacted] cancelled the equipment order. (This isstandard contract for Bob’s Air Repair). [redacted] was very aware of the re-stockingfee. On 8/23/13 Bob’s Air Repair ordered [redacted]’s equipment. On 8/26/13 we called[redacted] to let her know we received her equipment and asked her what a good daywould be for the installation. At this time [redacted] said “something else has comeup and I need to use the money for something different”. At this time Bobreminded her about the 20% re-stocking fee that she initialed on the contract.[redacted] said “I understand this but I don’t want to install the equipment rightnow and I will pay the re-stocking fee”. She then gave Bob her Credit card info to putthe re-stocking fee remainder on it. We only charged 17% restocking fee as acourtesy. We received a call from her son on 5/14/2015 he said his mom’s unitwasn’t working and why did we charge her $1,100 and didn’t fix it. Afterreviewing his mom’s contract and situation we then explained to him that shecalled us for a bid to replace her unit only and not to repair it and adiagnoses was never performed and that equipment was ordered and that his momhad cancelled the equipment. At this time we asked him would she like it todiagnosed. He said “yes come out andfind out what’s wrong with it”. We scheduled a diagnostic on 5/19/15 for $79.00.When the 3 techs arrived her son got really hostile used bad language. Neither [redacted] nor her son wanted to sign theinvoice for the diagnostic fee even though they both agreed to the $79.00 feeearlier in the day. As a result we were not able to diagnose herequipment. The 3 tech’s left theproperty, there wasn’t a charge even after driving 85.4 miles for the trip.