Ideal Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning

Complaint against Ideal Mechanical (of New Berlin WI) for Revdex.com Report 1. Original visit from I.M. was a man named *** (?) on Thursday, August 30, 2018 at around 12 PM. … I called I.M. because their name was referenced on a sticker attached to my furnace and AC when they were both installed new about 4 years ago. The call was made because the AC was not functioning correctly and our condo was warm and muggy. 2. Repairman *** told me the problem could be caused by one of two things: a. The AC unit is low on Freon b. The AC unit is dirty (he said this would probably not be the case because this unit is located on the roof of our condo building) 3. When the repairman opened the unit (which is located in a closet down the hallway outside our doorway) there was a chunk of ice over a grid that needed to be melted. He acknowledged that this was typical (commented he had recently used a hairdryer to melt one on a different job). I came out into the hallway with my wife’s hairdryer and volunteered to melt the ice myself (to save him some time). It took me around 30 minutes to melt the ice. 4. Meanwhile (during this period of time) the repairman went up on the roof to examine the AC unit itself. While I was melting the ice, he came down once or twice and indicated that the unit needed Freon. 5. Once the ice was melted and the Freon was added, the AC unit began to function normally once more and the room temperature became more comfortable. 6. *** then presented a bill for his services and the Freon for $390! This, I contend is “price gouging” and taking an unfair advantage of the customer. I have a rental property and I have had the AC unit serviced for years at a cost of $80 to $100 (I have records of such payments) – even when it was necessary to ad Freon. I knew immediately that this price was extremely excessive. When I asked *** why it was so high, he replied, “It’s the labor that gets you.” 7. Two days later, Saturday, September 1, 2018 (Labor Day Week-end – a holiday period), the problem with the AC was back again. Room temperature was again warm and muggy and I could not adjust the AC to solve the problem. I called Ideal Mechanical and an answering service took the call. I reported the problem and I later received a call from another (different) repairman. I told him what had happened and that I wasn’t going to pay any additional cost for them to come back out and fix the problem. At first he asked “Did you say you weren’t going to pay your bill?” And, again I stated that I had already paid $390 and I refused to pay any more for a return visit by one of their repairmen. Finally, he agreed to come out and fix the problem. 8. The repairman came out on Sunday, September 1, and checked the unit again. This time he stated that he did not know what the first repair man was thinking, because “Whenever you have to replace that much Freon it is a clear indication that there is a leak.” That analysis seemed to fit with the shot-term fix the previous repairman had done. After a couple of days, Freon had evidently leaked until the Freon in the AC unit was low again. … Therefore, this repairman checked for, and found a leak, and fixed it. He replaced the Freon once more and finally accomplished the repair. 9. My complaint is: … Ideal Mechanical charged us an exorbitant amount for this service call. I have discussed this with other condo owners in our condo association and also with individuals in the trades (i.e. I called the Hales Corners Heating and Cooling Co. that services my rental unit, a retired master electrician and a carpenter) and all of them have agreed that this was an excessive charge for a service call and adding Freon (remember, my unit is only 4 years old and does not use the older, more expensive Freon). Also, I own a rental property and have paid for the servicing of the AC unit for years. The cost has always been $80 to $100, even when Freon needed to be added. IM charged us $390!!! The fact that the company came back and corrected faulty work has nothing to do with the price they charged initially. It is their problem that their own repairman failed to find a leak and fix it on the first call. That has nothing to do with me and it certainly, in no way, justifies their price-gouging on the first call. 10. I called the company to complain about the excessive cost and initially did not receive a call-back. After a second call … (two weeks later, on September 12, 2018 at 2:24 PM) I finally received a call back from Ideal Mechanical (from a ***. I explained everything mentioned in this document to *** and he said he would need to speak with the repairmen and his boss. Eventually, he called again (after another week, or so) and told me they had decided not to reimburse any funds and that they stand by their excessive billing rates. 11. Up to this point, I had threatened to call the Revdex.com. *** asked me to hold off on this. I had held off (for weeks) until this final refusal. Therefore, I am submitting this report to the Revdex.com in hopes you can act as a defense against unjust prices charged to senior citizens who can ill afford to waste money on such price-gouging, excessive charging companies. Evidently, this company fully intends to continue charging others the same excessive rates. People like us have no one else to defend us. Please help! Thanks for your consideration of this complaint.

We live mobile home and the water pipes froze leaving us with no water. They sent a service man who didn't know what to do other than attach electric clamps to the water pipes and sat in his truck waiting for it to work. It didn't. he said he would come back the next day with gas heaters he should of had when he came the first time the office called the next morning and because I don't have a credit card refused to come out.