Frosty's Heating & Cooling, Inc

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
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.  I will accept the reimbursement of $95 - either onto my credit card (which I used to pay) or as a check (mailed to my home address). I will respectfully decline the offer of an additional technical inspection.
PS I called FROSTY'S three times over January-February and left three messages for the manager - I have received zero calls back.. Revdex.com was certainly a more effective way of communicating.
Regards,
[redacted]

Advertise / Sales - Unacceptable/Lied
Product / Customer Service - BAD
In December I purchased two Mitsubishi units for a 280 sq ft room that opens to a 350 sq ft room - total space shaped like an "L". Prior to purchasing I asked Frosty to come out and have an engineer see if the air flow would work - specifically if I'd get the proper temperature for the entire "L". I asked this at least four times and had the salesman (Richard) taker the measurements/shape/description back to discuss with an engineer. I was assured repeatedly that it would work. The installation was sloppily done leaving a half inch of dust covering my entire main floor, but most important, I would turn the fan on the highest setting and temp at 88 and it was still 65 degrees around the turn of the "L" shaped area. We placed three different thermometers in the room and all read the same.
The Frosty salesman came and conducted a systems check; he stood 10 feet in front of the unit, turned the thermostat to 59 and fan on high. Then said it was reading 62 degrees and that was within specs so the system is "fine". I said, my issue has been with the heat -- I haven't even needed the AC yet. He said three more times that the system was within "specs". I told him I wanted them to come remove it. Nobody ever gave me even a courtesy call. I don't want anyone else to fall for their sales lie and even worse customer service. I am considering legal action.

Review: Over the weekend of July 26th, my husband and I noticed that our A/C was unable to cool below 75º. We reside in a condominium at [redacted] Of [redacted] ([redacted]), and about 3-1/2 months ago a major water leak occurred in our building. According to the condominium bylaws, the association is responsible for testing and repair of the HVAC system, and Frosty's was contacted as the association's repair service. As a result, Frosty’s assessed that the unit was operable after repairing the circuit board.

So with the recent development of our A/C’s inability to cool below 75º -- and only residing in the apartment for two weeks after the flooding three months ago -- the problem could likely be related to the flooding, and therefore I decided to contact Frosty’s to recheck our HVAC unit.

The technician left to work on the rooftop where the system valves are located. About 45 minutes later, he returned with a bucket in hand and asked if he could fill his bucket with water. I asked why he needed to fill his bucket with water. He said, “I need to cool down the compressor.”

The rest of the exchange went like this:

“Why do you need to cool down the compressor?”

“Because it’s overheating.”

“Why is it overheating?”

“Because it’s charged wrong.”

“And why is it charged wrong?”

“Because the wrong refrigerant was used.”

At this point I said, “You used the wrong refrigerant?!”

He responded, “I didn’t say that. When did I say that?”

I instructed him to go back to the rooftop, cool the compressor, add the refrigerant and that’s it. Don’t do anything else. I asked if he added the dye, and since he had not, I told him specifically, do not add the red dye and do not to do anything more.

I then called his office manager immediately and told her everything that was occurring and asked if it sounded right to her. She said she couldn’t say because she was not a technician but would call his manager (the owner) and have him call the technician. I then reiterated that I wanted her technician to cool down the compressor, add the refrigerant and to cease from doing anything else. Do not apply the red dye. I called back ten minutes later to tell her to have the owner call me.

At 12:42 I received a call from the owner, [redacted] Caramberis, and told him about his technician. His response was that his technician was doing the right thing by cooling down the compressor. He then said that I should not have run it overnight on cool and that was why the compressor overheated.

Well then I said, he had two problems: When I made the appointment, I was instructed by his office manager to, “overnight, turn the fan to ‘on,’ not ‘auto,’ so it won’t be iced over when the technician comes to fix it in the morning.”

He then said she should have said to turn the A/C off.

I told him he may have damaged my compressor and as a manager he should be taking responsibility. He then proceeded to tell me that I was wrong and that his technician did the right thing and he could not have used the wrong refrigerant because there are only two refrigerants. I replied, “Well maybe he used the wrong one.”

I told him to call me back later to let me know how he plans to resolve this. His response was that if I was expecting him to pay for anything, he’s not responsible and there is nothing wrong; the compressor is fine.

I told him if he damaged my compressor he would be hearing from me. And again, his final words were that the compressor was fine, and the compressor is not damaged.

The next day, I called another HVAC company to check my A/C. First, he was surprised that the Frosty’s technician said there was a leak before checking the rooftop. The only way of knowing if there is a leak is to check the system on the rooftop.

To make a long story short, the HVAC technician reported red dye covering the system valves on the rooftop and the proof was all over his hands.

Then he explained that my compressor was making a grinding noise and it was not starting at the same time as the unit in my apartment. It should be starting simultaneously, but it takes 2-3 turns until it finally catches up to the inside unit. His assessment was that the compressor is not operating properly and could break down at anytime.

I called Frosty’s twice that morning, August 31st, and left two voicemails asking if they could tell me how much the quantity “1” is in the “1 refrigerant” on their invoice. (For your information, this is important for the technician to know if it is 1 pound, or how much refrigerant exactly was put into the system because $389 was way too expensive for one pound.) Frosty’s never returned the call.

For your information, others have had similar experiences with Frosty’s as reported on yelp. Note the 2-1/2 star rating and the owner’s numerous excuses in response to negative reviews: [redacted]Desired Settlement: Compensation for damage done to my HVAC system due to gross negligence.

$1,500.00 for a new compressor. A written report is available.

Business

Response:

Revdex.com of Metro Washington DC and Eastern Pennsylvania 1411 K St. NW, 10th Floor Washington DC 20005

**. [redacted]:

In regards to complaint number [redacted], we completed a service call for [redacted]. [redacted] on Tuesday July 30th, during this visit our technician found that her cooling system was low on refrigerant. This was not covered by the insurance claim [redacted]. [redacted] mentioned as it was not a result of a water leak the building had three months ago.

When [redacted]. [redacted] called to schedule the appointment she told our office that her a/c was not working. As our company policy stipulates she was told to make sure she turned the compressor to the ac off. If it was left on and the unit was frozen or over heated our technicians would not be able to work on the unit. Our normal policy is that if a unit is frozen or overheated we charge a return trip fee as once the unit is able to be worked on we will have to come back out.

When [redacted], our technician arrived he found the compressor still running and overheated. As he had a light schedule that day he took it upon himself to go the extra mile to try and help the customer and cool the unit down. This is why he asked for a bucket of water. He spent an extra hour to do this that would not have been needed had [redacted]. [redacted] followed our request. In turn [redacted]’s efforts at customer service also saved [redacted]. [redacted] the $79 return trip fee. When he came down from the roof to ask [redacted]. [redacted] for the water she asked him why he needed it. He informed her that the unit was over heated because it was “charged incorrectly”. Meaning the refrigerant levels were below manufacturer specifications. As the unit was over heated, he had not yet added any refrigerant so I am not sure why [redacted]. [redacted] thinks our technician used the “wrong refrigerant” other than maybe she misunderstood when he told her it was charged incorrectly.

During the conversation about the compressor being over heated [redacted] recommended adding dye to the unit so that we could perform a leak search and determine if it was low due to a refrigerant leak. [redacted]. [redacted] instructed him not to add the dye but to simply recharge the system with refrigerant. When [redacted] returned to the roof of the building with the water to cool the system, [redacted]. [redacted] called our office and spoke to our office manager [redacted], to express her concerns and question why [redacted] would have needed the water. [redacted] listened to [redacted]. [redacted] concerns however as [redacted] is not a technician she was unfortunately unable to answer most of [redacted]. [redacted] questions. [redacted] did however contact our tech supervisor [redacted] and have him get in contact with [redacted]. [redacted].

[redacted], as requested, contacted [redacted]. [redacted] by telephone. He answered [redacted]. [redacted] questions and told her that [redacted] was doing the right thing. He had the time in his schedule and was going out of his way to help get her some air by cooling the unit down so he could work on it.

After [redacted] finished on the roof and had properly charged the unit to manufacturer specifications he went back to [redacted]. [redacted] to let her know he was done and collect for the service call. The charges were to be $129.95 for the service call and $389 for the refrigerant charge for a total of $518.95. At this time [redacted]. [redacted] had already filled out a check for the $389 and refused to pay for the service call.

The next morning when [redacted] arrived in the office there was a message from [redacted]. [redacted] asking how much “1 refrigerant” that was marked on the invoice was. [redacted] returned her call at 8:05 am and got [redacted]. [redacted] voicemail. [redacted] left a message explaining that we do not charge by the pound we charge a flat rate of $3 89 and that the “ 1 ” was just there for accounting purposes. We have not heard back from [redacted]. [redacted] after that until receiving this complaint. As to the “red dye” that [redacted]. [redacted] says she specifically instructed was not to be inserted. She did in fact as mention instruct that we were not to add any dye. The proof that we did not is we do not use a red dye. The dye that we use for dye leak searches is green that glows an iridescent yellow when it mixes with the refrigerant. With this being the case I can not explain why she feels we added something that she again didn’t pay for and requested that we not do.

Consumer

Response:

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Review: [redacted]

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