CRT Mechanical Heating & Air Conditioning

The charge in question here is the basic charge that all HVAC companies, and for that matter all home service companies charge to come out to your houseThis charge does not cover any repairs that need to be done it only covers the cost of running a truck and technician to a location i.egas, insurance, wear and tear on the truck, technicians salary and the offset of not having that technician available for another callI'm sorry that this customer was under the impression that service companies come to your house free of charge but that just isn't the caseIn most cases in this area companies charge $However my technician did diagnose the problem and made an attempt to rectify it temporarily until a permanent repair could be madeTHERE WAS NO CHARGE FOR THIS SERVICE as there was no way to guarantee how long it would lastIt was just a courtesyMy technician did determine that this unit was still under warranty which begs the question, why didn't the homeowner call the company that installed the unit? With that said the customer now knows what the problem is and that it is under warranty, both of which they did not know before we looked at the unitIf we were an unscrupulous company we could very easily have done the repair and charged them for that repair without ever letting them know it was under warrantyWe did notInstead we tried to give them some temporary satisfaction and peace of mind until the unit could be repaired under warrantyFor this level of commitment to customer satisfaction we had to pay our bank $in returned check charge plus run a truck and technician to there home for free

The charge in question here is the basic charge that all HVAC companies, and for that matter all home service companies charge to come out to your house. This charge does not cover any repairs that need to be done it only covers the cost of running a truck and technician to a location i.e. gas,...

insurance, wear and tear on the truck, technicians salary and the offset of not having that technician available for another call. I'm sorry that this customer was under the impression that service companies come to your house free of charge but that just isn't the case. In most cases in this area companies charge $124.00. However my technician did diagnose the problem and made an attempt to rectify it temporarily until a permanent repair could be made. THERE WAS NO CHARGE FOR THIS SERVICE as there was no way to guarantee how long it would last. It was just a courtesy. My technician did determine that this unit was still under warranty which begs the question, why didn't the homeowner call the company that installed the unit? With that said the customer now knows what the problem is and that it is under warranty, both of which they did not know before we looked at the unit. If we were an unscrupulous company we could very easily have done the repair and charged them for that repair without ever letting them know it was under warranty. We did not. Instead we tried to give them some temporary satisfaction and peace of mind until the unit could be repaired under warranty. For this level of commitment to customer satisfaction we had to pay our bank $12.00 in returned check charge plus run a truck and technician to there home for free.

Review: At 9:00am on 7/17/2013, I called CRT due to AC not blowing cold air/breaker box kicking AC off. I spoke w/rep at CRT who advised someone would be sent our house. I asked for the hourly rate & was told there was a flat rate of $124.00 to diagnose problem, then hourly rate of $100 plus cost of parts. [redacted],CRT owner came to house & diagnosed problem. He told me he had to go to [redacted] for parts. He returned an hour later & spent about an hour fixing electrical issues that were cause of AC not working properly. He brought bill to me, advising he had priced parts according to book. I was shocked at charge of $731.88 which included a $20.00 coupon. I paid w/credit card. a few hours later my regular electrician called. I told him that CRT had fixed issue & told him of amt charged. He was upset & told me that CRT had greatly overcharged me, that the normal charge for this job for the company he works for is $250-$275. I called [redacted] at CRT & he quickly ended my call, saying that he would have his business mgr call me. [redacted], CRT bus mgr called me & when I told him that I had been over charged, he raised his voice & was yelling at me in disagreement. I told [redacted] that I went to [redacted] & priced the parts purchased & the total came to $38.02. [redacted] told me that the 60 AMP Disconnect that I saw at [redacted] for $5.88, they pay $40. I asked why I was charged $346.00 for a part they only paid $40 for? He told me that the parts listed on my bill included labor. I was quoted $100.00 per hour. [redacted] spent one hour at my house. I stopped credit card pymt to CRT & sent a check for $350 along with a ltr, certified, return receipt. No response from CRT, other than sending my bill to collection w/incorrect interest, total owed $1296.88. They padded my bill $72 & change per month, calling it interest. They calculated int 731.88 @ 30% interest divided by 12 monthly payments = $72. So they are trying to collect principal & interest on top of the original bill of 731.88Desired Settlement: I have tried to work with this company to settle this. I was quoted $124.00 to diagnose the problem & $100.00 per hour for labor and cost of parts. I sent them a check for $350.00 last September. They have failed to respond in writing to me or even a phone call. They have not cashed my check, but still hold it in their possession. The $350.00 is more than I calculate they should be paid, based on the rates I was given, but I am trying to be fair and pay them. They would rather try to wreck my credit than to resolve this issue. I would like them to please cash the check sent to them and withdraw this bill from their collection agency, [redacted], [redacted], [redacted], [redacted]. I have written to [redacted], advising them that this bill is currently in dispute. If this is able to be settled, I would appreciate a letter from CRT Mechanical starting that this bill has been paid in full & again withdraw this bill from collection. Regards, [redacted]

Business

Response:

Miss [redacted] called us

out to the house to repair her AC system after another company told her she

would need to replace the system as it was not repairable. [redacted] (the owner)

diagnosed the problem. The whip (the electrical feed from the house to the

unit) had been improperly installed and the flexible conduit that holds the

wires was full of water and had been for some time. The whip was unusually long

and had to be manufactured on-site. Due to the high current draw caused by the

water in the conduit, the disconnect also needed replacement. As a safety measure

[redacted] decided that since the current draw had been excessive he should check

the breaker in the main panel to make sure that it had not been compromised.

What he found was that every breaker in the main panel had loose connections

which cause excessive heat, equipment failure and even pose a fire risk. At no

additional charge [redacted] took the time to tighten every connection in the panel.

[redacted] went and got the necessary materials and repaired the AC. Miss [redacted] was

delighted as the last company wanted to replace the system. Miss [redacted] was

presented the bill, gave us a credit card number and signed the repair order. A

signed repair order is an agreement to the work done and the price charged. At

this point there was no problem.

When [redacted] got back to

the shop and tried to run the credit card, the card was declined. He immediately

called Miss [redacted] who raised h—l about the bill. I talked to Miss [redacted] in an

attempt to explain the bill, there was no talking to her. She was rude and unreasonable.

She claims that [redacted] stated we charge $100.00 an hour. We do not charge by the

hour as we are a flat rate company, meaning that every price we charge comes

from a flat rate manual which we use so that there is no arbitrary pricing and,

so the customer can see the price for themselves.

In an attempt to

satisfy Miss [redacted] I offered to take $250.00 off of the bill but she refused

and said I’m only going to pay you $350.00. Miss [redacted] stated that I yelled at

her on the phone. That is a complete fabrication, as I understand that in a

negotiation if you raise your voice you have already lost the case. Our

customers are the reason we’re here and we take that very seriously. Our

company slogan as displayed on our trucks states “We specialize in customer

satisfaction” and we live by that. We have built our business almost entirely

on word-of-mouth advertising and our reputation speaks for itself.

Miss [redacted] has proved to be one of the most unreasonable

customers we’ve ever had. Even an offer of $250.00 off of the bill was unacceptable.

As is the normal course of business we began sending monthly statements to Miss

[redacted] with a 10% late fee, which is how her balance got to $1296.88. After no

response from Miss [redacted] for months we turned her over to our collection

agency.

A relevant story. A

giant ship engine failed. The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but

none of them could figure out how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an

old man in his eighties who had been fixing ships since he was a young man. He

carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went

to work. He inspected the engine very carefully from top to bottom. Two of the

ship's owners were there watching this man and hoping he would know what to do.

After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a

small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into

life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the

owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!" So

they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized

bill." The man sent a bill that read: Tapping with a hammer..............

$ 2.00 Knowing where to tap............... $9,998.00 Moral of the story? Effort

is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference!

It seemed to make no difference

to Miss [redacted] that we saved her thousands of dollars over what some unscrupulous

contractor wanted to charge her, or that we offered her a $250.00 discount off

of the price. Fortunately for us and all other businesses, the customer does

not get to decide how much a given product or service should cost.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: CRTS response is entirely inaccurate

To begin with, never have had any other company out to my house to inspect my AC Unit. I do not know where this is coming from. I have seen this response on [redacted] as well from them. This is a complete fabrication on their part. Never ever ever has any other company even looked at my AC or Heating unit for that matter. I'm not sure why [redacted] has said this. I have had only one conversation with [redacted].

I never told [redacted] this either. [redacted] & I had a conversation about the AC unit not reaching my end bedrooms and he made a ridiculous suggestion of putting combination heat/ac units in each bedroom at the cost of almost $1000.00 each. I told him I would never do that, that I would replace my system before I would do something like that. They clearly have me confused with another customer. They were the first and only company ever to come to my house to even look at my AC.

Once again, prior to CRT coming to my house, I asked for prices and the person who answered the phone told me that a service call of $124.00 for them to come to the house and a labor rate of $100.00 per hour, plus parts.

I can only assume that "[redacted]" wrote this response. I never told anyone that I was "delighted" with their service. I never even acted "delighted". In fact I questioned the amount of the bill. [redacted] told me that he billed me the "book price" price on the parts. I clearly did not understand his billing method. And [redacted] never called me about the credit card being declined. I called him and told him myself, the afternoon of July 17th, the same day the service took place. And [redacted] did raise his voice with me in frustration and spoke to me with a condescending tone. This whole response from [redacted] is a complete fabrication of what he believes happened. I only spoke with [redacted] one time and that was after I spoke with [redacted] about the bill. [redacted] asked [redacted] to call me. [redacted] called me the day after the service took place.

I wrote to CRT September 18, 2013. CRT totally ignored my letter written to them about my dissatisfaction. I included a check for $350.00. I sent this letter certified, return receipt requested. I have proof it was received by them. They chose to ignore my letter and instead sent me bills padding it to the tune of 10% of $731.88. I have looked over all paperwork from them & no where does it state what they bill for late charges. I have contacted [redacted] who advised me that this is not legal. Companies are to advise customers of their late fee policy. Again, this is no where to be found on their billing paperwork sent to me.

In addition, in April of this year when I contacted [redacted] Township to see if CRT was in fact licensed to do this type of work, I was advised that CRT was licensed, but never obtained a permit to do this work. The township told me that CRT was in violation & they would send them a warning letter to get the permit or they would impose a $2000.00 fine. CRT did obtain the permit and the inspection was done. Everything checked out fine. [redacted] Township told me that if there had been a fire at my house related to the AC or anything they touched while they were at my house, my insurance company would not have covered my loss. This was a very scary short cut for them to take at my expense.

In closing, I want you to know that I was quoted $100.00 per hour rate by the person who answered their phone after the $124.00 initial diagnostic call. I never had any other company out to my house, that is CRT's "fabrication". I was not delighted with their service or their tricky billing practices. [redacted]'s timeline of events is entirely inaccurate. If anyone has behaved unscrupulously, CRT Mechanic has.

Regards,