Maxey Heating & Air Conditioning

We were grossly over charged for a HVAC service call and repair.On 7-6-2013 we called **.[redacted] because our air was out. He came out on 7-7-13 and stated that our circuit board was bad and would need to be replaced. He left our house to go get the board and came back and installed it. The air started working and he gave us a bill for $965.00! That night the HVAC unit started rattling to the point that we had to turn it off. The next day we had no air again. He suggested to my husband that the fuse might be blown in the C.Board so we bought fuses and every time we would put one in it would blow. I hired another company to come out and see what was wrong. They told me the C.Board was blown and they would replace it. They left and came back the next day, spent 30 minutes at our house and got the air working perfectly. They charged me $250.00. We compared boards and they were exact same boards. We have had air and no problems since. I called **.[redacted] and questioned him about his charges. He would not tell me how much he actually paid for the board(He charged us $625.00 for that) he charged us for a service call(75.00) 80/5 Cap?(95.00)Travel time (75.00) AC cleaning$75.00,btw my husband takes meticulous care in the cleaning of our HVAC) Coil clean(20.00) He was very irate when I started questioning him. I told him I felt like he owed us at least $400.00 back. He said he would send me a check for $200.00 because he was a nice and honest guy. I said if you were a nice honest guy you would refund us at least $400.00 because you know in your mind and heart **.[redacted] that you took advantage of us. He hung up the phone.Desired SettlementI have no problem with someone working hard and making a living, but when you gouge someone that is not right and **.[redacted] saw an opportunity to do just that to us. I would like a refund of $465.00 giving **.[redacted] a nice couple of hours paycheck of $500.00. I have dealt with HVAC now for over twenty years, hiring,invoicing etc. I know legitimate charges and these were above any reasonable ones I have EVER seen.Business' Initial Response I disagree with [redacted] complaint.Maxey Heating and Air Conditioning takes pride in the fact that after 22 yrs. of business this is the first complaint we are aware of filed with the Revdex.com. I [redacted] personally ran this call. This is what happened.I arrived at 11:45 a.m. on 7/7/2013. Previous job was in Frayser. Approx. 50 min. drive. So our billable time started at 10:55 a.m.Upon diagnosis I found the unit main circuit board was bad with damage to line voltage wiring as well. I called **. [redacted] and informed him that we bill all repairs using a FLAT RATE METHOD. In this way there will be no guessing what the price will be. We do not charge customers by the hour on any repairs. I informed him the circuit board would be 525.00 INSTALLED and this would include a 1 yr. warranty on parts and labor. This is the case ONLY if no one else works on the unit or parts we replace. The main line voltage pig tail and internal wiring needed to be replaced as well. That was an additional 100.00. This brought the total to 625.00 for the board in high voltage wiring.I told him I could not be sure that is all that is wrong until I get the unit up and running after making the above repairs. I also told him I would have to get the parts from the supplier and it would more than likely cost 800 or 900 for the total repairs. That is if I don't find anything else wrong such as low Freon etc.. He agreed to the price and gave me a verbal OK to do the work. I spoke to him by phone because he was at work. Their daughter met me at the house.After a 45 min drive each direction, total travel time 1.5 hrs. I returned with the parts and made the needed repairs. Upon replacing the circuit board, burned wiring and line voltage pig tail the system came to life. I now can check system operation. By putting Freon gauges on the outdoor unit I noticed it was running high head pressure and the condenser coil needed to be professionally cleaned from the inside out using condenser coil cleaner. This can only be achieved by partially dismantling the outdoor unit.So this is what I did and the head pressure lowered by 60 psi. Which is GREAT!I also found loose wire connections on the contactor and dual capacitor. **. [redacted] informed me he had the capacitor replaced every yr. in the past. This is very unusual. Loose wiring could cause this problem.So I checked with the manufacturer to make sure the correct size was being used and also checked to see if the existing capacitor was bad. It was reading low but within 10%.This is questionable. So I had to make a judgment call on whether to replace it or not. To help prevent the possibility of a call back and due to what info. he had shared with me concerning the history I thought it wise to replace the Capacitor as well. At this point[redacted] arrived at the home and I gave him a break down on everything I had found wrong with the system and what I had done so far. He seemed pleased and asked me how does the Freon level look. I told him after I cleaned the coil the Freon looked to be OK and None was needed at this time. I asked him if he had noticed the Furnace shaking abnormally? Which it was I found out after getting the system running. He said yes that just before it stopped working the decorations on the mantel under the furnace were shaking badly due to the vibration. I asked if he wanted me to make that repair as well. I informed him I would have to come back tomorrow if so and would have to get back with him later that evening on the cost. I did as I said I would and after giving him a quote for the additional repairs he said he needed to get back with me on that. I said OK.After a few days he called me and stated nothing was working. I asked him a few questions about what was going on. He stated his son in law had tried to make the repairs to the blower assembly which was making the furnace vibrate. He stated shortly after he attempted to make the repairs the unit stopped working. I told him it sounds like he pulled on the low voltage wiring while getting to the blower assembly which is located behind the circuit board I had replaced. Even though I was not pleased by the fact a novice went behind me to make repairs and now the units not working I tried to help by asking him if the fuse on the circuit board was blown. It was. I suggest he go to [redacted] to get a fuse and replace it after making sure no wires were chaffed or touching anything grounded. This is only 24 volts not 110. He wanted to save the cost of me coming out and fixing someone else's mistake. They had voided any warranty with Maxey Heating and Air on labor by allowing another to cause this problem. He did as I suggested but the fuse continued to blow. He asked if I could come back out and take a look it. I said yes, I would call him tomorrow between 10 and 12 when I'm in route so he could meet me at the house. He said OK. I called at 11:00 the next day and got his voice mail. I left a message but didn't hear back from him. This caused me to loose another customer because I set aside 4 hrs. for him.The next thing I know, [redacted] is calling me a couple to days later accusing me of being dishonest. Until this point I had never spoken to her. I don't understand why **. [redacted] didn't call since he is who I had been dealing with all along? She informed me some man she knew came out and replaced the board which I had replaced. This is an individual not a licensed contractor I don't believe. She told me his name was [redacted]. I'm not aware of any company by that name.I told [redacted] I called her husband and had scheduled to come out and see what the problem was. But I was unable to make contact him. FYI if the fuse was blowing on the board that indicates a shorted wire from the low voltage side. Not the high voltage side which was the only problem when I replaced the board. So, the replacement of the board a second time is an incorrect diagnosis. Apparently the person she called found the shorted wire, repaired it and then replaced a good circuit board or the story she it telling me is fabricated. I did not over charge them. I was honest and fair in all that I did. They did not handle this situation the way they should have. I should have been the one to look at the problem they were having after my repair. Also they should not have used their son in law to make any repairs. I would have made any repairs needed under warranty if they had not voided the warranty.Here is a break down of cost for repairs I made.100,000 btu main circuit board INSTALLED. 525.00Replace damaged high voltage wiring from receptacle to Circuit board INSTALLED. 100.0080/5 mfd dual capacitor ISTALLED. 95.001.5 HRS travel time to get parts. 75.00A/C clean and check tune up. 75.00Condenser coil cleaner 1/2 Gal. 20.00Total cost of repairs 965.00I finished up close to 3:30 p.m and startedas I said previously at 10:55 a.m. Not that we bill by the hour but by FLAT RATE [redacted]suggestion that we were only there a couple hrs.is incorrect. Please let me know if you need anything else from us.Sincerely,[redacted] owner Maxey Heating and Air ConditioningI failed to include our service call charge which is 75.00 in our original response. Please add this amount for the correct total. Thanks,[redacted], Owner Consumer's Final Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)See attatchments below August 27, 2013In response to **. [redacted]) response. I initially replaced the capacitor, which had been the problem in the past. When this did not solve the problem I contacted **. [redacted]) on 8/6/2013. He did arrive around 11:45 on the 7th of August, not 7/72013 as stated in his response. **. [redacted]) called me and said the circuit board needed to be replaced and he would have to get a new board at a supplier in Memphis. He did inform me that the board would be 625 dollars. So as it stood, I would be paying a total of $700.00 **. [redacted]) never mentioned on the phone anything of a "main line voltage pigtail and internal wiring" needing to be replaced, which is not reflected on the invoice. All he said was the circuit board needed to be replaced. When informed of his "flat rate" I understood that would be the initial 75 dollar service call, circuit board and labor. When I arrived at my home the system was running. This was GREAT being it is August and not a good time to be without air conditioning and get into questioning the person working on your system. So it is my fault for not questioning the vague charges on the invoice.Most of the things in his response were never relayed to me the day of the service call. The loose wiring on capacitor was nonexistent because I crimped the connections after connecting wires. Yes he made a judgment call and replaced a new capacitor that was still good because he gave it to me to keep as a spare. So basically I was charged 95 dollars to replace a new capacitor that didn't need to be replaced. Yes I asked about Freon and was told if it was blowing cold air, there was no need to check it.He never mentioned anything about the vibration coming from the unit upstairs until I asked about it, which he responded that he went in and "tightened some things up". All I was told was he did not know if I wanted him to dig into it any further. This must have been another "judgment call". Nothing was discussed about coming back the next day. As far as him getting back to me later that evening, that never happened. I did not have any contact with **. [redacted]) until the 9th, 2 days later when the vibration in the inside unit got worse. I called and asked for a quote to repair or replace the blower and motor and he called me back with a quote of 985 dollars, stating that he replaces the blower and motor as 1 unit. My son-in-law who had done heating and air and is not a "novice", could not believe what I paid for the first trip out and no way should I pay 985 dollars for the motor and blower to be replaced. I did not call **. [redacted]) back.**. [redacted]) stated that my son-in-law had tried to make repairs which are not true. I told him my son-in-law told me what to go in and tighten up to stop or reduce the vibration. Other than **. [redacted]), I am the only person to go into the unit at this point. I did contact him on the 12th of August because I came home and the a/c was not working at all. He did tell me that it was probably a fuse on the board and could get replacements at [redacted]. After several fuses blew I was told that he would have to come out the next day and someone would have to meet him at the house as he could not come later in the day. I told him that no one could be there till the next day which would be Wednesday the14th. If I could find someone to meet him Tuesday the 13th I would call him. Nothing was ever set in stone about him coming the next day. So my son-in-law put me in contact with his heating and air guy (who by the way is a certified HVAC company that has been in business for over ten years.) He came out on Tuesday evening, the 13th, determines the motor is shot due to the vibration coming from blower and has probably killed the board. He returns on the 14th, replaces the blower, motor, and circuit board (which he only charged 100 dollars for and it was the EXACT board **. [redacted]) had installed.) and the system is up and going for a grand total of 400 dollars. The only fabrication of stories is coming from **. [redacted]) and not my wife, who I kept fully informed of what was going on from day one and agreed with what everyone else was saying that I was grossly overcharged. My wife was in charge of hiring all HVAC,Plumbers and Steel installers for twelve years for the company she worked for so she is used to invoicing and the practices of these vendors and their charges. So she called to question the charges which **. [redacted]) took offense to and hung up on her. When he hung up on her she filed the Revdex.com complaint. Then he called her back and apologized and said he was upset and to show he's an honest man, he would refund us 200 dollars. I received the check from **. [redacted]) on the 16th and deposited in my account on the 19th. **. [redacted]) put a stop payment on it the 21st. The bank charged me $10.00 for that. I now would like to revise my complaint to $475.00 that we feel we are owed. She has also called several HVAC companies and they do not charge for travel time or $20.00 for cleaner. I clean my own HVAC system inside and out so there was nothing to clean! I cannot understand why someone would purchase a $100.00 circuit board and charge me $625.00 just for it and to install. I cannot understand why someone would charge $75.00 for a service call PLUS $75.00 travel time. I cannot understand why someone would charge $95.00 for a perfectly good capacitor and then hand it to me to use as a spare because nothing is wrong with it. I cannot understand why someone would say $900.00 every time I asked him how much he charged for something. I feel like he saw me as the thousand dollar man. He spoke in length about how nice my home was and I can guarantee you if I had a modest home and income he would have charged me accordingly.By the way, my air is still running cold and we have had no further problems!Thank you,[redacted] and *.[redacted] Business' Final Response I have nothing to add to my previous response. I stand by every word and I told the truth concerning what was said, what **. [redacted] agreed to pay and the scope of work performed. **.and [redacted] are not telling the truth. If you read their previous response and compare it to this one you can see for yourself the price, scope of work they say they had done has changed. In fact **. [redacted] states in his this rebuttal dated 9/3/2013, AND I QUOTE! "So my son-in-law put me in contact with his heating and air guy (who by the way is a certified hvac company that has been in business for over ten yrs.) He came out on Tue. evening, the 13th, determines the motor is shot due to the vibration coming from blower and has probably killed the board." END OF QUOTE!That's not what they stated previously. There was No mention of another company replacing the blower, motor. I had nothing to do with any repairs to the blower wheel or motor. Remember I gave him a quote of 985.00 and he stated they didn't call me back because(as he said), I saw him as the 1000.00 man "because they have a beautiful home" REDICULOUS![redacted] claimed the board was bad a couple days after I left but prior to the other company coming out . Now they say the motor was the cause of the bad circuit board? SO WHICH IS IT **. [redacted]?? That in its self proves they are dishonest and bearing false witness against my company. They live outside the Memphis City limits in Oakland Tn. Matter of fact they are outside Shelby County limit as well. That's why the travel time was assessed to get parts. But in an attempt to please the customer I reimbursed them 200.00. This is how I came up with that figure. 75.00 travel charge.20.00 coil cleaner. 5.00 electrical fittings.100.00 line voltage to circuit board. This is a sincere attempt on my part to resolve this issue.FOR THE RECORD, AFTER SPEAKING WITH MRS.CONNELL ON THE PHONE THE FIRST AND ONLY TIME, I THOUGHT THE ISSUE WAS RESOLVED WHEN I AGREED TO SEND HER THE 200.00 REIMBURSEMENT.Next thing I know approx. 4 days later I receive this complaint from the Revdex.com.Please let me know if you need anything else from me. Thank you,[redacted] ( Maxey Heating and Air Conditioning)