Chas Roberts Air Conditioning, Inc.

Review: I called the company to address the failure of my air conditioning unit, I was told that the unit was under warranty and a free estimate would be done and that I wouldn't have to pay anything because it was still under warranty when I gave my address. When [redacted] the service tech arrived he said the part was under warranty for five years and covered. But when the work was completed I was charged $ 113.20 on 05/28/2014 for the labor this wasn't ever mentioned or was I aware, the unit was serviced and checked for any other problems. Less than 48 hours later the air conditioning unit failed, I called to set another appointment now it was the fan for the motor, I told the tech and his boss why wasn't it checked they did a complete diagnosis of the unit. The charge was another $300.00 dollars service parts covered well I said order the part let me know when it arrives. By the end of the week I called to see what was going on the part was given out to someone else and never was reordered for me. When it finally came in I was told the motor was not working, keep in mind this was during the time we had the highest temperatures thus far, and I work Mid nights so I sleep during the day. Well the $113.00 would be credited to the $ 300.00 but the service for the motor was going to be $ 1,700 the Supervisor said for what was going on he would discount it, I cut another check for the amount of $ 690.51 on 06/06/2014 the check was cashed still no working unit. When the motor came in now the air lines were plugged and no cold air was coming I was done when this. It was finally completed on o6/12/2014. After lack of sleep due to the extreme heat during that period also having to be up when I was suppose to be asleep to get this done time after time.Desired Settlement: Complete refund of charges due to negligence, and lack of repair in a timely manner.

Business

Response:

We are in receipt of your complaint regarding concerns related to your services calls at the above-referenced property. I have attached copies of the invoices for May 28th, June 2nd, June 6th, June 10th, and June 12th, 2014. After reviewing your complaint, as we ll as the phone calls that were placed to request service, and the history of this property, we feel that this issue is related to pricing for work that was not covered by your parts warranty.

Regarding the complaint that you were told that the unit was under warranty and that you would not have to pay for anything; after listening to this call it was determined that perhaps there was a misunderstanding, as that is not what was said. When you had called in, you requested an estimate on repairs. The call taker said that there is no trip charge to give an estimate on repairs, but we did not have pricing in the office. You agreed to set up an appointment and asked for information about your warranty. The call taker then gathered your property address and looked in the system to find that you had a 5 year manufacturer's part warranty. She explained that this covered the parts and that service and labor would still be payable at this time. It was at this time that she scheduled an appointment for us to go out on the same day you called, the 28th of May.

On May 28th, 2014, a technician went out to the property to assess the system not cooling. At this time, he noted the run capacitor was bad, so he replaced it. The amount you were charged was for a run capacitor with a parts warranty. At this time, you could have declined to have the repair done, but you did move forward with it. At the time the technician left your property, he had spent over an hour there and left with the system cooling properly.

You had called in again on the 1st of June, indicating that the unit was giving you issues again. Our call taker scheduled you the first available appointment, which was June 2nd. After listening to this phone call, it was determined that again, the call taker said you would not be charged for the trip charge. It is not in our call center's discretion to "waive" the cost of a repair since they are not qualified technicians. If the issue with your system, as you indicated you felt in your phone call, was related to a failed part that had been replaced on the 28th, there would not have been a charge to fix this issue. This was not the case.

On the 2nd,a technician went out to your property and determined that the fan motor was going out. He also let you know that the cost of your prior repair would be deducted from the cost of the motor replacement. You were quoted $190.51, which is the cost to replace a motor with a parts warranty, minus the prior repair of $113.50. It was also noted on the ticket that you were going to contact us when you were ready to move forward with the install of this part. Typically, parts are not ordered until the homeowner is ready to set a date to move forward with the installation of the part. This reduces the chance of purchasing a part that will not be used. We do not give parts to other properties as each part request is completed on the property that it belongs to. This way we can track which property has had what part replaced. At the time of your service call on the 2nd, we were pending confirmation from you to move forward with the part with a scheduled date.

On June 6th, 2014, the same technician went out to replace the fan motor. After replacing the fan motor, he informed you that the compressor was overheating. After waiting for the compressor to cool down, he noted that this was also bad and needed to be replaced. The cost to replace a compressor, with the parts warranty you have, as well as the $500 compressor allowance your builder gave you with the home is $1266.60. The supervisor, understanding your frustration, then authorized this replacement for $500, rather than the $1266.60, that is our flat-rate pricing. At this time, the compressor was ordered.

On June 10th, the technician went out to replace your compressor and noted at that time that the TXV in the system was bad. The cost to replace a TXV, with a 5 year parts warranty is $876.38. You were not charged for this item. At this time, the TXV was ordered for your property.

On June 12th, the technician went out to your property and replaced the TXV at no cost to you. He pressurized the system to check for leaks, added refrigerant, and left with the system operating properly.

Although we understand your frustration given our climate in Arizona, the repairs and charges you received were well within an acceptable time frame and you were more than adequately compensated by the amount you were actually invoiced for the work.

You contacted us initially for an estimate for repairs, you were given an appointment the same day. You contacted us on the 1st of June, and had the first available appointment on the 2nd of June. All the subsequent service calls were related to obtaining the parts to repair your system. Although we have well-stocked trucks, we do not carry all parts on them. The wait time you experienced was in obtaining parts - not due to lack of service or inability to repair your system. In order to fully diagnose a system, one repair must be completed to move forward and look at the rest of the system. At the time of your initial service call, the technician replaced the run capacitor and noted the unit was running correctly. It ran correctly for you, until the 1st, when you contacted us again. The subsequent calls all identified issues, once the prior repair was completed.

Regarding the charges you received, the supervisor did give you an extensive discount. All total, you should have paid $2.333.49 for all the repairs you received, which includes your credit for the run capacitor, as well as your $500 compressor labor allowance. You paid $804.01.

You were informed at the time of your call that you had a 5 year parts warranty, but that labor and service were not covered. There was no surprise with the charges as you were made aware that there was no cost to diagnose, but that service and labor were payable.

Unfortunately, in this industry contractors are sometimes put in a difficult position. Typically, Chas Roberts will go out and diagnose the unit, and find the most cost-effective way to help resolve our customer's issue. We do not make a practice of stacking charges that may or may not be necessary and incur additional financial costs to the customer if unnecessary . If we had recommended to replace all these items up front, and on the off-chance it turned out to be just the run capacitor that was faulty, the customer would not have been pleased.

As an afterthought- your equipment does not have any recorded maintenance checks in our system. This could have potentially identified any issues with your system prior to it going down.

Respectfully,

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I am not satisfied with the outcome because this was not what I was told by the tech, a complete check should have been done which wasn't done and done properly. What I requested was not pushed through by the tech, which I was told by him that the part might be in Tucson or a out of town warehouse, there was no follow up done I had to constantly follow up. This was a inconvenience which took my time for several days all the way into my vacation time. If the unit required a check up nothing was sent or were we made aware of this, for as many times as they had to come to repair the unit it was ridiculous. I haven't received the year warranty that would cover the new parts and labor, so with regret I will follow up a complain to the Registrar of Contractors about the organization which, I assume, was licensed, file a consumer fraud complaint with the Attorney General and the County Attorney. Because the parts were covered by Carrier which at my discretion, I could have chosen to go with someone more reliable and competent.

Regards,

Business

Response:

The technician did provide a complete check of the system. At the initial call, on May 28th,2014, the technician replaced the capacitor, and at the time he left the system was cooling. At the time of this call, there was no further action required.

On the second visit to your property, June 2nd,2014, the technician left with the understanding that you would contact us when you were ready to move forward with the repair- I have attached that invoice for your review. It is also noted that the technician indicated you were going to receive a credit for the prior repair. The price quoted on this invoice, [redacted], reflected the credit of the prior repair on the fan motor. The technician did not order the part at this time because he was under the impression from your conversation that you would contact us when you wanted to move forward.

On June 6th, the technician left your property at 5:03PM. All of Carriers distributing offices close at 4:30 PM. The next business day, Monday, the 9th,the compressor was ordered and you were scheduled to get this replaced on the 10th,the following day. Our Parts scheduler left a message with the phone number on file at 9:35 in the morning on Monday the 9th, to schedule this.

On June 10th,2014, the technician replaced the compressor and determined the TXV needed to be replaced, this was another part that had to be ordered. This part had to be shipped from Phoenix to Tucson. You were contacted on the 11th, of June at 5:05PM to schedule and a voicemail was left. This call was then scheduled for June 12th, 2014.

You were scheduled for repair as soon as the part was available to us. Unfortunately, we cannot control where the parts are when we request them from a manufacturer, nor can we control if they are in stock, or back-ordered. This does unfortunately at times place an inconvenience on the homeowner, but this is not the fault of the contractor. The technician would not be aware if the part were in Tucson, or if it were out of town as he submits a request for the part. There are local distributors,which may or may not have the part in stock.

Again, we do not make a habit of ordering additional parts,when they are not yet needed. The technician diagnosed the system and identified the current failure. He then made the repair and determined more work was needed. The TXV could not have been diagnosed at the time the compressor was diagnosed as you cannot diagnose an issue with a TXV when the compressor is not running. It is noted as well that you did not pay any additional cost to complete this work, although only the parts costs were covered through your warranty ,not the labor.

Our internal parts process is extremely refined. We have individuals dedicated to monitoring the status of parts when they are received and ready to be scheduled with the homeowner. As soon as the part is received by our company, these individuals contact the homeowner to schedule a date to install the part. They do not contact homeowners if the part is not available to install. You were contacted each and every time the part needed for your property became available .

Regarding the warranty on the work that was completed, I am attaching the invoice with the warranty verbiage on the back page for your records. This warranty is a Chas Roberts warranty on the work we completed,so any of the repairs we completed will be covered so long as we are the contractor . We will not reimburse for work performed by another contractor under this warranty.

As a consumer ,it is your right to choose any contractor you wish to work with. Given you have a parts warranty through the manufacturer, any licensed contractor can perform this work. We would welcome you to contact several contractors of comparable size and see what the charge would have been for the work we performed at a great discount to you, compared with what they would have charged.

Respectfully,

I felt the pricing for replacing the 8 parts he suggested was very high for a cap customer .I use your heating and cooling service also for a few years. $229 for one and $50 each for the other 7 was too much I feel since he was already there.I have a friend that works for a commercial plumbing company and will have home to that work. I know these parts are not that expensive.
I am however very happy with the heating and cooling part of the company.
Probably will not do the yearly check with the plumbing again.
With my heating and cooling I pay one fee that includes trip charge and all the cleaning etc that [redacted] does.

This was our second visit from Eugene who was here today to service our air conditioners. We find him to be a positive and knowledgeable representative of your company. We plan to request him in the future.

I was very favorably impressed with the young man who came from Chas Roberts to check my A/C unit. He was patient, considerate, polite and informative! If all of your employees are of Marcus M[redacted] caliber, I commend your hiring and training methods.

As usual, your mechanic was prompt, friendly, went right to work doing the annual CAP fall service work...Again, we are very satisfied with the great work & professionalism of your employees & your company in general...

On time, professional, thorough, most pleasant

The service rep was very professional and courteous and knowledgeable very pleased with the service

OUR EXPERIENCE WITH CHAS ROBERTS WAS GREAT. TERESA WAS GREAT ABOUT TAKING OUR INFORMATION AND ARRANGING A SAME DAY APPOINTMENT. JIMMY, THE SERVICE REP WAS SUPER, HAD US UP AND RUNNING WITHIN 20 MINUTES. WHEN YOUR A/C GOES OUT WHEN IT'S A 110 DEGREES, IT'S NICE TO HAVE A COMPANY LIKE CHAS ROBERTS COME TO THE RESCUE. THANK YOU.

Review: I took advantage of a sale at [redacted] for a pre-summer sale for air conditioning service for $39.00. [redacted] contracted with Chas Roberts, which I accepted because my air conditioner is a Chas Robert unit originally installed with the house. The technician came on 2/16/2016 and 'serviced' the unit. Nothing was found to be wrong and the unit was full of freon. The technician recommended changing my air intake filters (which I did) and tried to sell me an expensive wi-fi thermostat which I declined. The AC was not used until two weeks later. On 4/2/2016 I turned the AC unit on and it would not come on. Air would blow, but the AC unit itself would not come on. I called Chaz Roberts back and they sent the same technician back to my house. He inspected the AC unit and informed me there was no freon in the unit. I asked him what happened since the unit was fine when he left and we had not used it since. He told me they could break at any time. He then asked me to sign a work authorization for a Leak Search and 2 lbs of freon, which I did. After inspecting the unit outside and in the attic, he told me the 'travel valve' on the outside unit was leaking freon and the coils in the attic were leaking freon as well. He then tried to sell me a new AC unit. I asked him again how they could suddenly start leaking when we have never had a problem and there was no leak when he left from the original service call and we had not used the unit. He again claimed that these units could break at any time. I asked him to show me the valve that was leaking on the AC unit and he did and it was leaking. I asked him if he used that valve to hook his gauges to and he said no. That valve was used by the factory to fill the unit with freon and then ship for installation. I asked him again why it suddenly started leaking and he repeated again that it could break at any time. I then declined any more 'work' and asked him to leave. I was charged $328.00 for the leak search and freon.Desired Settlement: I hired another AC contractor ([redacted]) the next day. [redacted] inspected the unit and found no leaks other than the 'travel valve'. They told me the 'travel valve' was unseated halfway allowing freon to escape. The valve was reseated (tightened) and the leak stopped. [redacted] refilled 16 lbs of freon and the unit has worked fine since. [redacted] charged me $766.00 for the freon and service call and I want that amount added to my refund. Either through incompetence or outright deception the 'travel valve' was loosened allowing all me freon to escape forcing me to pay of total of $1133.86 for repairs for a unit that was not broken in the first place. I am seeking a refund for all money paid I also believe the original 'service' was a scam to get me to buy a new AC unit. For reference: Chaz Roberts Invoice [redacted]. Technician 742, Istvan G[redacted]

Chase Roberts technician (Marcus) completed my preventative check for the fall season. He was very professional, polite, and applied booties which I appreciated because my 11 month old daughter crawls all over the floor. He explained each finding, showed me the readings he determined, advised me about beneficial upgrades, and answered all of my questions. He addressed particular concerns I had and replaced parts that he felt were likely to fail in the near future which I also appreciated. Chas Roberts has serviced my AC units for 3 years and techs like Marcus are the reason why I plan to continue using this company in the future.

On 8/14, one of our a/c units quit working and required service. Since Chas Roberts did the initial installation of our unit, we contacted them to repair the unit. Our serviceman, Chuck, came out as promised and performed the repair quickly and efficiently. He was very thorough and professional in his approach and advised us on possible future issues due to our climate here in Arizona. Based on his advice, we had our second unit serviced as well based on his diagnostics and recommendations. We very much appreciated his insights and experience and would recommend Chas Roberts to anyone needing a/c repairs.

[redacted] was awesome. He not only took the time to make sure we got the right unit he also follow thru to make sure we were 100% satisfied with install. [redacted] and his partner also did a great job and were very friendly.

Spending thousands of dollars on home repairs is never fun but these guys made it less painful.

my A/C service today 11. 16. 2015 was perfect the same like always.
Thanks

The service was very good and will always use there service for my ac.

Istvan is always professional, friendly, and thorough while explaining what he will do and what he has done to service our A/C-Heating System.

PROMPT , FRIENDLY SERVICE FROM "JEFFY" . (10/19/15).

BOB AND ROSIE HARRISON

Great service provided by Steve, technician at Chaz Roberts.

He was timely, courteous, and went above and beyond to get parts for air conditioner that was broken.

Thank you Steve!

We have used Chas Roberts Air Conditioning, Inc. for eleven years and have had a C.A.P. contract with them for about ten years. I have never been so grateful for that fact until last night. Our air conditioner made an awful noise; I contacted Chas Roberts who had Raul R[redacted] at our home within one hour. Mr. R[redacted] had diagnosed the problem and fixed it within a short amount of time. I can't speak highly enough of the Company and Mr. R[redacted]; the service is outstanding.

Technician was efficient and friendly. Cleaned dropped insulation and wiped surface surrounding the entry to the attic after he was finished. I was pleased with his service.

The Chas Roberts technicians called ahead of time to let me know when they would be arriving. They arrived earlier than the time that was originally set up. It took them a very short time to determine the problem. Once that was done, they told me what was needed and picked up a new part at the supplier. The time spent getting the part was shorter than what they thought it would be. They completed the service call and cleaned up after themselves. Both technicians were polite and did a great job.

We've been clients of Chas Roberts for 14 years and have always received quality service. Well done!