Haws Company

Review: Right before Christmas of this year 2013 my heating element went out in my American Standard H/P I called HAWSCO HEATING & COOLING and asked if someone could come out and look at my unit and give me an estimate. A young man possibly in his mid-twenties came out; "from the first time I called this company I stated I need an estimate." The young man went into the attic then came down went outside and then came back inside up to the attic again and then back to the outside. It was at this 3rd or 4th time that he started filling the outside unit with freon. I was not given an estimate, he just filled the unit (in the winter months) with 3 to 4 pounds of freon. After this was done he came into the house and said you owe me $ 350.00. I was furious, this was my Christmas money, I have a child with a severe Auto immune disorder and I am also disabled, this was outright robbery. I paid the bill. Then in june of this year my air conditioner was not working to cool the house adequately; on a 100 degree day it would only cool off to 75 at the most. So, I called, [redacted] and [redacted] at their Kennewick, WA. office. They sent out a technician who informed me after checking out my unit that he was going to have to remove 3 to lbs of freon from my unit that it had been over pressurized and way overcharged by the(HAWSCO) Technician and this person should have known, that per the manufactures requirements that you never under any circumstances fill a unit with freon in the Winter months. After he released the over pressurized/overcharged unit and checked everything else out the unit started putting out cold air and was not making horrible noises trying to make the system work.Desired Settlement: I am very angry that the HAWSCO Tech was unaware of the manufactures instructions that the H/P units not be filled with freon in the winter.The other tech knew that this was not right. What I am requesting is a refund on the money, that I had to pay the [redacted] and [redacted] Company to discharge the freon in order for my unit to work.I am a disabled mom taking care of a child with severe auto immune disorder and praying on us during Christmas time is not good PR on their part! $219.85 [redacted] &

Business

Response:

[redacted],

I've received your letter via the Revdex.com and am a little surprised that you did not contact me directly. There is information in your letter that is not complete, accurate, or relevant. It is true that I was informed at the time of service that my tech had failed to give you an adequate estimate before doing the repairs an I apologize now, as I did then. But you fail to mention that I offered you the option of paying at a time in the future at your convenience.

As to "outright robbery". Your system, both the heat pump and the auxiliary (electric) heat were inoperable. The safeties had failed to the elements, which were replaced, and the heat pump was nearly empty of refrigerant. My tech repaired a leak and weighed in a charged of five pounds to the system. The price we charged for these necessary repairs was very reasonable. The actual bill was 303.00 for the repairs plus tax for a total of 328.00.

"Never under any circumstances". I don't know what manufacture he is quoting but to say that a heat pump low on charge cannot be repaired until summer seems a bit ridiculous to me. But having said that I know that there is a very real risk of overcharging in cold temperatures. Some techs may feel that risk is too much and wish to return later, but that requires the cost of an another service call. So consider the cost Jacob and Rhodes charged, over 200.00 for a service call to just come out and remove, what they estimate, was 3 lbs. Our service call rate is, with tax, about 75.00.

The bottom line is that I would be willing to work with you, one on one, to resolve this matter, we did overcharge the system, but if you continue trying to represent this in a public forum as something it is not, then good luck.

As to your daughters condition. I'm very sorry, having a child with special needs can be very difficult. Our handicapped child turned 35 this year and our Down syndrome grandson just turned 3.

[redacted], I look forward to speaking with you about this matter to negotiate a refund.

Sincerely [redacted]

owner HawsCo Heating and Cooling