CWJ Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.

I was billed for this company sabatoging my air condition system.On June 30, I came home to a warm house. The air system was working but was not cooling the inside of the home. I went outside behind my home the system was working & the fan was turning. I went inside, looked at the thermostat; it read a temp of 80 degrees. I immediately went to the vent to feel the air coming out of the system. When feeling the air it was blowing but it was not cool as it normally has been. I immediately turned the system off. The temperature quickly rose to about 90 degrees inside the home. I had used this company CWJ for my repair needs before & thought I could have them look at my system as my suspicion was that the system needed Freon. I placed a call & left a message on the CWJ answering machine. The next day, July 1, I placed another call to CWJ & spoke with a gentleman & explained to him the system was not cooling the home. I also stated at some point in the future I would be interested in getting an estimate for new system. He stated the technician was headed out to my home next after he finished his call around 11am. I stated to him that my adult son would be there. I received a text message from my son stating the technician had arrived & left. My son stated the technician stated to him the system just needed Freon & he had turned the power off outside to the system. A short time later I received a call from a representative from CWJ who was calling from the office. The gentleman stated in order to fix the system it would cost $2000 & in order to replace the system it would cost $5558. I inquired about the repairs he stated the system was out of Freon, compressor &the fan were not working & it needed a condenser. He stated it would cost $2000 to fix the system & besides it was over 20 years old. I explained to him I did not have the funds at this time to repair the system or replace the system & so it would have to sit. About 5 minutes later I called back. CWJ was asked if there was anything that could be done to get through the season & replace the system at a later time. I stated again I currently did not have the funds to replace the system &have a medical condition aggravated by heat. He stated the system was old & it would be $2000 or $5558 to replace the system. I thanked him & stated I would have to get back with him when it was time to do something & hung up. On July 2, I called another company to look at the system. The company came to check the system. The company turned the power on to the system. When the system came on the fan was not turning. The technician stated the fan was not working, the Freon was out but the compressor was working. He stated the system was old but it could be repaired but I would need to be saving for a new system. He quoted a price to repair the system of $1750 LESS than the price quoted by CWJ. When the technician opened up the portion to replace the fan he discovered there had been tape placed on the fan to prevent it from operating properly. Immediately when the tape was removed the fan began to operate. The technician stated it appeared someone had placed the tape on the system so the fan would not turn. The words he used were the machine had been "sabotaged". After his statements I explained to him another company had been out to check the machine. The technician stated that he would not put a new condenser fan motor as it was not needed but he would replace the Freon. Once the technician began putting Freon in the system within a few moments the air coming out of the vents was cool air. Since this service, I received on 7/7/2015 an invoice for $99.50. I do not plan to pay this invoice as I believe it is criminal to tamper with someone's machine. I feel this was an attempt by CWJ to make me purchase a new system or pay for unnecessary charges!!!!Desired SettlementThis company was dishonest and wrong to bill me for trying to make me pay more for services and then I had to call another company to do what they should have done the first time. Business Response I, [redacted],President/Co-owner of CWJ Heating and AC Inc. in response to comments and accusations: Yes- we were requested to check the operation of the AC system at the Ms. [redacted] residence at [redacted] Yes- we found there was no AC operation in this [redacted] unit due to the following facts. 1-Faulty condenser fan motor 2-No Refrigerant R-22 (Freon)charge in the system due to a failed evaporator coil.. At that point, CWJ's practice is to advise the consumer of the problem and cost of repair or replacement if repair cost exceeds justifiable repair cost. The cost of repair was $1830, not $2000 as stated. Yes- I did quote a new system $5558 Yes- I did have a phone conversation with Ms. [redacted] to discuss what was wrong with her existing system and the cost of repair and Replacement. NO- my service technician [redacted] (employed by CWJ for 5 yrs.) did not put tape on the fan motor to so call "Sabotage" the system.....I do not know which company responded but I feel they were not truthful in what they stated to Ms. [redacted]....Reason: 1-If they did not test the motor, the motor will run, but after a period of time it will stop again due to high running Amps 2- If they did put refrigerant into leaking evaporator coil without testing for leaks and repairing those leaks or replacing the evaporator coil, it will operate for a period of time, but will leak out. I have owned CWJ since 1990 and this is the 1st time ever CWJ has been accused of "sabotaging" a system in order to sell a new system...During that time of service to Ms. [redacted] it was the hottest and busiest time in our cooling season and our work load was more than abundant to even consider doing practices that are not ethical...I am disgusted that the consumer can make such untrue accusations but I can understand if misled by others how these come about. However, CWJ was requested to come to Ms. [redacted] home for service and the $99.50 Service fee is still owed and will be treated as a past due if not paid......If you are in need of further information I will be glad to assist you.[redacted]CWJ Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.NC Lic.# [redacted] Consumer Response I do not believe we are going to come to an agreeable resolution. The same equipment that was on the system the day the CWJ technician came is still currently on the system, so definitely if the condenser fan motor was faulty why is it currently working? I only conversed to Mr. [redacted] to my knowledge when I called to request CWJ to come out for the initial call. Each time I called after, the individual who answered the phone (he never identified himself) put me on the phone with the technician or stated he would put me on with the technician. The prices I quoted the first time were the prices that were quoted to me. The technician from the other company at no time spoke against CWJ, I never stated to that company when they came another company had even looked at the system until I was informed tape had been put on the fan. It was not until I stated another company had looked at it did sabotage become part of the conversation since recently it was a [redacted] story about HVAC companies charging for repairs that were not needed. I still never stated to the other company who came out for the initial call. The other company has no desire to take any business from CWJ. If the other company was trying to take advantage they could have elected to give me the similar quotes for their service and replacement but they elected to provide the service that was needed. On the call when I spoke with the CWJ technician, I stated to the technician, the fan was operating the day I came home and it was not cooling the house, the air was just coming out warm; his statement to me was "well the fans not working now". I know for fact the fan was operating when I turned the system off the night before, I turned the system off because it was not cooling so why would I not believe the technician when he says the fan is in fact operational and I see it is working? Mr. [redacted] states the other company is not truthful, well if for some reason someone else tampered with the machine, why did CWJ not detect the tape? I have lived in this home for 13 years and anytime I have ever had issues with my system I have ALWAYS called CWJ for my heating/cooling needs, even my grandmother did business with them for years before her death, so I have been with this company for a long time. My usual technician's name was [redacted] and he was always professional and I never had an issue like this in the past. With every service from CWJ, I have always paid my bill as promptly as possible, so why now would I be electing to not pay a bill with them, because I believe there to be something unjust about this. I'm very disappointed of the outcome of this business to a loyal customer and apparently $99.50 is important enough in their business that they would not value the years I've done business with them. It is no secret at some point I will have to purchase a new system simply due to the age of the system, but it appears now CWJ will NOT be an option. CWJ does not value its customer and neither is the customer always right. This honestly has never been about a service fee, it is about integrity and how this business is done. Thank you Revdex.com, for taking the time to address this matter and I hate it could not have come to a better resolution from this company. Final Business Response My name is [redacted].....Thank you for your past service and wish you well with your new HVAC service provider... I will apologize for this experience and credit your account of the 99.50.....I still know that we are not in the wrong with this issue and wish there was another result