Coastal Plumbing Supply

[redacted], we are truly sorry for the less-than-stellar experience you had with your Comfort-Aire air conditioning unit purchased from our [redacted] branch. Coastal stands 100% behind the products that we sell and the service we provide to our customers and we do our best to go...

above and beyond their expectations to see that every transaction is a positive and valuable experience. In order to be a profitable business, we do, however, have to work within the manufacturer’s stated warranty policies, and occasionally these situations can lead to dissatisfaction with the warranty process.
Please allow me to cite the testimony of [redacted], Branch [redacted] of our [redacted] branch, who was referenced in your complaint, as he recalls the events leading up to this point:
October **, 2013
[redacted] of [redacted], the contractor on the job, purchased material on Order # [redacted]. As is our standard procedure to ensure quality, the material was opened and inspected by the contractor upon delivery to [redacted] and there was no damage to the equipment. 
[redacted] called us back about 2 hours after his delivery stating that the suction and liquid line valves were completely mangled and he demanded a new unit. I explained to him that the unit was inspected and there was absolutely no damage when the unit was dropped off, inspected by him. I told him to come in and we would replace the 2 valves. 
October **, 2013
[redacted] came in the next day with the 2 valves that needed to be replaced and I personally swapped them out FREE OF CHARGE, despite the fact that they were not “completely mangled”, rather they were brazed in with soft solder which is a major no-no in the HVAC field. Additionally, he demanded a labor allowance and I explained to him that I cannot just give out free money for a potentially faulty installation, as the manufacturer would not authorize such a claim. He became furious.
[redacted] called Comfort Aire Heat Controller directly and demanded a labor allowance. He spoke with [redacted]. According to [redacted], [redacted] called and left him numerous messages demanding money back for his labor. [redacted] called me and I explained the story to him. Being that Heat Controller stands by their product and the representative [redacted] wanted to satisfy an irate installer, Heat Controller credited Coastal Plumbing Supply $350.00 for the incident on an Invoice dated 11/**/13. A credit allowance order was generated for [redacted] on 11/**/13 (order # [redacted]).
March *, 2014
[redacted] came back into the store to purchase a boiler part on order [redacted], totaling $416.15. The $350 dollar credit was utilized, and [redacted] paid out the difference in cash.
May **, 2014
[redacted] came to the [redacted] counter to purchase material. He told sales rep [redacted] that he had $800 credit from Comfort Aire he would like to use pay out his $26.81 order [redacted] with the credit. [redacted] said he did not see any open credit in the system, though due to the fact that I ([redacted]) was out of the office, and the customer was very adamant, asst. [redacted] authorized the order to be suspended without collecting payment. [redacted] left the store, although he was yelling, acting unruly, and generally nasty towards our staff.
Upon my return to the branch around 11:00am, I was informed of the events that transpired that morning. Before I even had a chance to pick up the phone and speak with [redacted], he returned to the store. He started the conversation by saying that he has a burnt out compressor and he needs to order it for a Comfort Aire unit. I told him no problem; our company policy is you pay for the compressor, return the defective part back, we send it back to the vendor for warranty approval, and once they credit us, we in turn credit our customer. He flipped out, stating this is the same exact unit that already had parts replaced back in October. I politely explained this is the policy, if you cannot respect the policy I cannot help you. He said fine I have a $800 credit in the system from Comfort Aire that should cover the cost of this compressor. I already had printed out the credit allowance order and his order which the credit was previously used toward. I explained that Comfort Air e only credited us $350 for your labor and that is what you received from us, showing him the orders. He went crazy and said they told me they were crediting me $800.Then he began the insults, calling me a scam artist, liar, he was yelling and screaming, cursing, telling me to come outside he wanted to fight me, relentlessly. This went on for over an hour in the presence of customer and Coastal staff. The only words that came out of my mouth were please leave my property before the cops are called. [redacted] then told me that “you don’t know what I am capable of, I will put a bullet in your head, and when you on the floor bleeding, I will smash you head in with a hammer.” When asked if he was joking around with that statement he giggled. I then asked him was that a threat? He responded “100%” and stormed out the door. I immediately called 911 and had the cops come down to file a report. The Police filed Claim # [redacted] which is available wi th the NYPD, if needed.
Later that afternoon, [redacted] called me, though with the events that transpired, I did not get a chance to speak with him.
May **, 2014
The next morning we spoke, and he first wanted to apologize for [redacted]’s actions, stating that he is no longer doing work for him and [redacted] is hiring a new contractor. I explained that I will try with all my power to get him a brand new unit to remedy the situation, and that I would call him later. I called [redacted] over at Comfort Aire and he immediately authorized us to swap the entire unit out, and that [redacted] already had left him 7 voicemails about this situation in the last 2 hours. I called [redacted] back that same morning to tell him that he will be receiving a brand new unit at no-charge, and he couldn’t have been any nicer and was very thankful. We scheduled order [redacted] with delivery date of 5/**/14 at 8:00am, and everything went off without a hitch. We have not since heard anything negative.
As you can see, the nature of the complaint filed is somewhat confusing to us, as there was little to no interaction with the complainant directly until very recently, and from that point on the situation was resolved quickly and decisively. All of the controversy surrounded the contractor facilitating the installation and his unprofessionalism in handling matters relating to this job.
Coastal will continue to proudly serve the Staten Island market with honesty and integrity, and we will admit that we are not perfect at everything we do, but will continue to strive for perfection. We are glad to discuss the incident in more detail if needed, or to further assist in setting things right with the customer.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Review: On Oct **, 2013, I purchased and air-conditioning unit from Coastal Plumbing. When my contractor opened the box to the outside AC compressor unit it was damaged. He called Coastal and they said they would not replace the unit, he would have to come in, get the parts and fix the unit. I was not happy, but, agreed. The unit was repaired by my contractor. Being that the unit was purchase late in the Fall, there was no need to use the AC till May [redacted], 2014. when I turned on the AC the unit didn't work. I call the contractor and he came over and told me the compressor was defective and needed to be replaced. He went to Coastal to explain that I wanted a new unit. They told him it was his problem. I called Coastal and the [redacted] hung up on me as soon as I said, who I was. The company does not return calls and [redacted] will not speak to me. The [redacted]s name is [redacted]. This unit is clearly a lemon and needs to be replaced.Desired Settlement: I wan't the unit replaced and the contractor compensated for his time.

Business

Response:

[redacted], we are truly sorry for the less-than-stellar experience you had with your Comfort-Aire air conditioning unit purchased from our [redacted] branch. Coastal stands 100% behind the products that we sell and the service we provide to our customers and we do our best to go above and beyond their expectations to see that every transaction is a positive and valuable experience. In order to be a profitable business, we do, however, have to work within the manufacturer’s stated warranty policies, and occasionally these situations can lead to dissatisfaction with the warranty process.

Please allow me to cite the testimony of [redacted], Branch [redacted] of our [redacted] branch, who was referenced in your complaint, as he recalls the events leading up to this point:

October **, 2013

[redacted] of [redacted], the contractor on the job, purchased material on Order # [redacted]. As is our standard procedure to ensure quality, the material was opened and inspected by the contractor upon delivery to [redacted] and there was no damage to the equipment.

[redacted] called us back about 2 hours after his delivery stating that the suction and liquid line valves were completely mangled and he demanded a new unit. I explained to him that the unit was inspected and there was absolutely no damage when the unit was dropped off, inspected by him. I told him to come in and we would replace the 2 valves.

October **, 2013

[redacted] came in the next day with the 2 valves that needed to be replaced and I personally swapped them out FREE OF CHARGE, despite the fact that they were not “completely mangled”, rather they were brazed in with soft solder which is a major no-no in the HVAC field. Additionally, he demanded a labor allowance and I explained to him that I cannot just give out free money for a potentially faulty installation, as the manufacturer would not authorize such a claim. He became furious.

[redacted] called Comfort Aire Heat Controller directly and demanded a labor allowance. He spoke with [redacted]. According to [redacted] called and left him numerous messages demanding money back for his labor. [redacted] called me and I explained the story to him. Being that Heat Controller stands by their product and the representative [redacted] wanted to satisfy an irate installer, Heat Controller credited Coastal Plumbing Supply $350.00 for the incident on an Invoice dated 11/**/13. A credit allowance order was generated for [redacted] on 11/**/13 (order # [redacted]).

March *, 2014

[redacted] came back into the store to purchase a boiler part on order [redacted], totaling $416.15. The $350 dollar credit was utilized, and [redacted] paid out the difference in cash.

May **, 2014

[redacted] came to the [redacted] counter to purchase material. He told sales rep [redacted] that he had $800 credit from Comfort Aire he would like to use pay out his $26.81 order [redacted] with the credit. [redacted] said he did not see any open credit in the system, though due to the fact that I ([redacted]) was out of the office, and the customer was very adamant, asst. [redacted] authorized the order to be suspended without collecting payment. [redacted] left the store, although he was yelling, acting unruly, and generally nasty towards our staff.

Upon my return to the branch around 11:00am, I was informed of the events that transpired that morning. Before I even had a chance to pick up the phone and speak with [redacted], he returned to the store. He started the conversation by saying that he has a burnt out compressor and he needs to order it for a Comfort Aire unit. I told him no problem; our company policy is you pay for the compressor, return the defective part back, we send it back to the vendor for warranty approval, and once they credit us, we in turn credit our customer. He flipped out, stating this is the same exact unit that already had parts replaced back in October. I politely explained this is the policy, if you cannot respect the policy I cannot help you. He said fine I have a $800 credit in the system from Comfort Aire that should cover the cost of this compressor. I already had printed out the credit allowance order and his order which the credit was previously used toward. I explained that Comfort Air e only credited us $350 for your labor and that is what you received from us, showing him the orders. He went crazy and said they told me they were crediting me $800.Then he began the insults, calling me a scam artist, liar, he was yelling and screaming, cursing, telling me to come outside he wanted to fight me, relentlessly. This went on for over an hour in the presence of customer and Coastal staff. The only words that came out of my mouth were please leave my property before the cops are called. [redacted] then told me that “you don’t know what I am capable of, I will put a bullet in your head, and when you on the floor bleeding, I will smash you head in with a hammer.” When asked if he was joking around with that statement he giggled. I then asked him was that a threat? He responded “100%” and stormed out the door. I immediately called 911 and had the cops come down to file a report. The Police filed Claim # [redacted] which is available wi th the NYPD, if needed.

Later that afternoon, [redacted] called me, though with the events that transpired, I did not get a chance to speak with him.

May **, 2014

The next morning we spoke, and he first wanted to apologize for [redacted]’s actions, stating that he is no longer doing work for him and [redacted] is hiring a new contractor. I explained that I will try with all my power to get him a brand new unit to remedy the situation, and that I would call him later. I called [redacted] over at Comfort Aire and he immediately authorized us to swap the entire unit out, and that [redacted] already had left him 7 voicemails about this situation in the last 2 hours. I called [redacted] back that same morning to tell him that he will be receiving a brand new unit at no-charge, and he couldn’t have been any nicer and was very thankful. We scheduled order [redacted] with delivery date of 5/**/14 at 8:00am, and everything went off without a hitch. We have not since heard anything negative.

As you can see, the nature of the complaint filed is somewhat confusing to us, as there was little to no interaction with the complainant directly until very recently, and from that point on the situation was resolved quickly and decisively. All of the controversy surrounded the contractor facilitating the installation and his unprofessionalism in handling matters relating to this job.

Coastal will continue to proudly serve the Staten Island market with honesty and integrity, and we will admit that we are not perfect at everything we do, but will continue to strive for perfection. We are glad to discuss the incident in more detail if needed, or to further assist in setting things right with the customer.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,