Five Star Furnace

RE: Submission of Complaint--J** *** To Whom it May Concern, On Friday, November 20th, Mr*** *** Called Five Star Furnace to inquire about the full service air duct cleaning that we offerDuring the conversation, he proceeded to explain to the receptionist that in addition
the having the air ducts cleaned, he wanted to have his furnace cleaned in hopes that it would help the furnace to run more efficientlyMr*** scheduled an appointment for Saturday, November 28th at 9amThe technician arrived at his home on November 28th and performed a full service air duct cleaning with a complimentary sanitizer, as well as a furnace cleaningMr*** was pleased with the service provided as he as he signed an estimate work order contract and remitted payment upon completion of the workFive Star Furnace received a call from Mr*** on Monday December 7th, a mere ten days after initial service was performed, stating that his furnace was not operating properlyThe technician promptly went back to Joe ***'s residence on Monday December 7th at 3pmUpon inspection, the furnace was operating with no issuesThe technician ran the furnace through three cycles to ensure that the furnace was in quality operational conditionMr*** then proceeded to declare that he had an issue with his thermostatAs a courtesy, the technician installed a new thermostat free of chargeMr*** was again pleased with the outcome and signed another work order form stating that the furnace was in fact operating with no issuesOn the morning of December 9th 2015, Joe *** called again stating that his furnace was not working and insisted that we repair the "broken" furnace that two days prior to he signed off on saying that it was workingThe office manager returned his call; making Mr*** aware that all calls are recorded for quality and training purposes; attempted to schedule an appointment to have one of our technicians go back to Mr***'s home as soon as possible to ensure that the situation gets resolved promptly because of the need for a working furnace during these winter monthsHowever, Mr*** hesitated, stating that he would not be available for someone to look at it until December 14th, again a mere five days laterFurthermore he stated that "the furnace may be working when the technician arrives." Contrary to Mr***'s statement in the reported complaint, the office manager then proceeded to offer the contact number to our lead HVAC tech, not the contact information for a different company as stated in his report, in an effort to better assist himMr*** declined this offer as he became very irate, and belligerent, shouting profanities before hanging upFive Star Furnace has made numerous attempts to contact Mr*** with hopes to resolve this issue, but unfortunately have been unsuccessfulSincerely, Jordan C*** Five Star Furnace Broad Ave Belle Vernon PA 1800-865-

We are very sorry for the miscommunication for the services that were providedWe will gladly send the breakdown of the prices but they will be much higher as the technician discounted your services quite a bit to make it affordable for youPlease note all prices were reviewed by husband prior to
any work being completedTechnician was present while wife received call on breakdown and was given the okay to do the workBreakdown will be provided on further request but as noted above it will be much higher than since the technician discounted it down to a more affordable rate From the team at Five Star Furnace

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

DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY. The "air duct cleaning" service was a joke, and now I have a much much bigger mess to clean up. Five Star Furnace came out to my house for the air duct cleaning groupon I purchased. The technician asked about my groupon and stated that was only for a maintenance check on furnaces. I showed him the screen on my phone and he said groupon cuts out the section where they wrote about it only being a maintenance call and that duct cleaning like the groupon shows is extra. He did the duct cleaning anyways as a "favor". This is where the true scam came in. The website explains how they use vacuum pressure and "a series of poles, brushes, pressurized air" however, they just stick a shop vac in through the furnace trunk and use a air compressor to blow into each vent. When blowing air down the vents dust and debris flew everywhere. I am convinced that not dirt in the vents actually made it to the shop vac because blowing air from the top of a vent isn't going to send all the dirt through a 30+ foot vent line. And there is no "negative pressure" in the system when a shop vac is used and all the vents are still open. On top of all this the technician never took his shoes off after multiple trips to and from his truck. Now I wasted money and have a ridiculous mess in the house to clean up. There is nasty debris on every surface of my house. This company gives groupon a horrible reputation and I will never use a groupn again because of it.

Review: Our experience with Five Star Furnace Co was a myriad of bait-and-switch advertising and price gouging.We purchased an online deal from Five Star Furnace through the [redacted] consumer rating website. The deal had the following terms:"...offering air duct cleaning, up to 15 vents, 1 main line, and 1 cold air return for ONLY $111! This service is normally priced at $239, saving [redacted] members $128!This Offer Includes:- Cleaning of 1 forced air unit including up to 15 vents, 1 cold air return, and 1 main trunk line- Cleaning all access panels- Cleaning of up to 15 ventsCoupon is for up to 15 vents, 1 Main, and 1 Cold Air ReturnAdditional fees may apply for furnace components, additional vents ($10), returns ($15), and additional main ducts"On April 29, 2013 a technician from Five Star visited our home to perform the cleaning. Our home has 18 vents and 2 cold air returns. Per the terms of the promotion the additional charges would have been $45. 3 additional vents at $10 and 1 additional return at $15. Five Star wanted an additional $600 to perform the work. Based on the company's own terms the cost should have been $111 (cost of the online deal) plus $45 in add-ons for a total of $156. Five Star wanted more than $700 to perform the work. When we complained about the pricing and asked for clarification the technician used the "let me call my boss line". The price dropped a couple of hundred dollars but it was still well above the terms of the deal.The company attempted to price gouge a stay-at-home mom. Their advertising is misleading and is intended to gain entry into the home so that a salesperson/technician can create massive up charges.Desired Settlement: I would like the Revdex.com to investigate this company and to review their advertising and marketing practices. Five Star is using numerous online deal, group purchase sites in order to bait-and-switch consumers. The terms and pricing listed on their advertising is not honored.

Business

Response:

Our company five star furnace, arrived at mr [redacted] home and did a walk through evaluation with the customer. We then write an estimate for anything that is not included in the [redacted] coupon they had purchased and present it to them, by doing so we leave all pricing options and work to be performed solely in the customers hands. All of which is labeled on the coupon, on [redacted] and is verbally spoken to the customer when they physically call and schedule. . Mr and mrs [redacted] recieved only an estimate at no charge and no work was completed and [redacted] actually refunded there original purchase price.

Review: At the end of Nov. I had five star furnace clean my furnace and air ducts and since that time my furnace has not worked properly. My furnace was working properly prior to cleaning by this company. What happens is that the motor will kick on and continue to run blowing cold air and then the furnace will shut down and restart the process again this time the pilot light and burner plate will ignite and I will have warm air coming out of my room vents instead of cold air. When I called five star about my problem they did send a tech to look at my problem but he stated to me that my furnace was old and then he replaced the thermostat to see if that would fix the problem. He also told me NOT to use the filter I had in the furnace, which was one that you wash off with warm water and it can be used again. When this didn't work I called five star furnace again to request someone come out to seeif the problem could be resolved.

I received a call from the office manager and what the conversations came down to was that he accused me of trying to get the furnace fixed at the company expense. What I mean by that is that he is saying that the furnace was not working properly prior to the cleaning and I was going back on them. The office manager was very rude, dis-respectful, and ignorant on the phone during several of the calls we had on Dec. 14. Mid way thru our conversations I was informed that the calls were being recorded; not at the beginning of the calls as other companies normally make you aware the calls are being recorded. I was even told by the manager that he would give me that number of the HVAC company he was dealing with and I could make arrangements myself to have them come out to look at my problem. Why should I be working with another company when five star caused the problem ?Desired Settlement: All I want is my furnace to work properly the way it did before I got the cleaning. With the cold weather approaching I really don't to have to get another company in to fix the problem five star furnace caused.

Business

Response:

RE: Submission of Complaint--J[redacted] To Whom it May Concern, On Friday, November 20th, Mr. [redacted] Called Five Star Furnace to inquire about the full service air duct cleaning that we offer. During the conversation, he proceeded to explain to the receptionist that in addition the having the air ducts cleaned, he wanted to have his furnace cleaned in hopes that it would help the furnace to run more efficiently. Mr. [redacted] scheduled an appointment for Saturday, November 28th at 9am. The technician arrived at his home on November 28th and performed a full service air duct cleaning with a complimentary sanitizer, as well as a furnace cleaning. Mr. [redacted] was pleased with the service provided as he as he signed an estimate work order contract and remitted payment upon completion of the work. Five Star Furnace received a call from Mr. [redacted] on Monday December 7th, a mere ten days after initial service was performed, stating that his furnace was not operating properly. The technician promptly went back to Joe [redacted]'s residence on Monday December 7th at 3pm. Upon inspection, the furnace was operating normal with no issues. The technician ran the furnace through three cycles to ensure that the furnace was in quality operational condition. Mr. [redacted] then proceeded to declare that he had an issue with his thermostat. As a courtesy, the technician installed a new thermostat free of charge. Mr. [redacted] was again pleased with the outcome and signed another work order form stating that the furnace was in fact operating with no issues. On the morning of December 9th 2015, Joe [redacted] called again stating that his furnace was not working and insisted that we repair the "broken" furnace that two days prior to he signed off on saying that it was working. The office manager returned his call; making Mr. [redacted] aware that all calls are recorded for quality and training purposes; attempted to schedule an appointment to have one of our technicians go back to Mr. [redacted]'s home as soon as possible to ensure that the situation gets resolved promptly because of the need for a working furnace during these winter months. However, Mr. [redacted] hesitated, stating that he would not be available for someone to look at it until December 14th, again a mere five days later. Furthermore he stated that "the furnace may be working when the technician arrives." Contrary to Mr. [redacted]'s statement in the reported complaint, the office manager then proceeded to offer the contact number to our lead HVAC tech, not the contact information for a different company as stated in his report, in an effort to better assist him. Mr. [redacted] declined this offer as he became very irate, and belligerent, shouting profanities before hanging up. Five Star Furnace has made numerous attempts to contact Mr. [redacted] with hopes to resolve this issue, but unfortunately have been unsuccessful. Sincerely, Jordan C[redacted] Five Star Furnace 607 Broad Ave Belle Vernon PA 15012 1800-865-3828

Consumer

Response: