Patriot Mechanical & Plumbing

Review: On Friday June 13th, 2014, I called Patriot Mechanical and Plumbing. I spoke with Joe initially. He was going to try and come out that day but probably not before 2pm. He said there would be no charge to come take a look. He did not make it out that day. I called a couple of times in the afternoon to get an update but no answer and no return calls. I called on Saturday and then again Monday and left messages but with no return phone calls. I tried for a couple of days leaving messages asking if there was a reason they were not returning my calls. I even called one of the sites they advertise on but they had the same numbers for patriot that I already had and then gave me the numbers of a few other HVAC places to try.Temperature was not too bad that week so the a/c was not vital and we had the windows open. I was calling around getting pricing. Some gave me pricing of close to $1000 to "we won't know until we get there". I went looking online and found a forum where HVAC specialists gave suggestions. After a couple of days of this it came out that we had an ECM motor and that would probably require a repairman unless a specific part in the controller module was bad. That part wasn't bad so I started calling around to find out who would come out. Temperatures started going up but thankfully my wife and kids had gone to my wife's cousin to stay for a week. Even though Joe had never returned my calls I tried again as he had some decent reviews on [redacted] which I thought was a good sign. I ended up getting a hold of Joe on June 27th, 2 weeks after first phone call. He did not know why I never received return phone calls but would be out that day.When patriot came out on June 27th they looked over the a/c unit and tested the motor and the controller. It was the motor. One of them then called the manufacturer to see if the parts were still under warranty. Since the warranty was only 5 years the answer was no. The parts were 8ish years old. I went up stairs and listened to them while they checked for the part. I heard them say about going down to [redacted] to get the parts. Joe asked [redacted] if he wanted to do it that day since it was getting late in the afternoon or would he rather wait until Monday. [redacted] said to get it done then so we'd have air over the weekend. They then came upstairs to tell me that it was the motor that was bad and that they needed to get a new motor and controller. He told me the price would be $830+/-. I asked if I could give them $400 then and the balance on the following Friday when I got paid. Joe asked for $500 and the $330+/- the following Friday. I said yes and thanked them. They said they were then going down to [redacted] right then to get the parts and would be back. They left and I went out to the bank to get their money.After they came back [redacted] had told me that he could take the old controller module or I could keep it just in case the new one were to ever go bad. He explained that normally it is the controller module that goes bad. He said that the old one might not last long but at least if the new one did stop I could put the old controller module on myself and get the a/c up and running again. just in case. I said that I would keep it since that sounded like a good idea,They then finished up and left.On Sunday morning, June 29th, less than 48 hours later, I realized the a/c had stopped working. Even in the morning it was already in the low 80's outside and with small kids in the house I did not look forward to going without air again. I went downstairs and replaced the controller like [redacted] had said. I did that and the unit started working again immediately. I called their office right afterwards to leave message about the bad part. I was surprised that someone answered the phone, especially based on my previous experience of leaving multiple phone calls and leaving messages with no replies. it was [redacted] that answered and he told me that the controller could be returned and that it would probably save me a couple of hundred dollars. I commented that that was great and we said goodbye to each other and that ended the call. when I left the call I was expecting to hear back from them at some point about the actual cost of the controller so I would know the balance owed. Looking back I realize now that neither or us ever said who would call the other person back and make the next move. in my mind I was waiting for their call. On August 15th Joe called and left a message asking about the final payment. I forgot to call and my wife reminded me a few times but usually late at night or when I was in the middle of work. Joe then called today, august 26th, saying he'd left several messages, and that he wanted his money and he "cannot believe this". A few hours later I had a chance to call him back and I did .I called back patriot mechanical and spoke with Joe. I apologized for not calling him back 2 or 3 weeks ago when he called. I then explained that I had not sent over the balance ($330+/-) as 1. I thought they were originally coming by to get it since I gave them cash, not a check and 2. One of the parts they replaced went bad within 2 days.I told Joe about what [redacted] had said about keeping the old controller module to replace the new one if it should ever go. I also told Joe what [redacted] had said to me on Sunday about how the controller module could be returned and that would save me a couple of hundred dollars. So I waited to hear from them as to how much the controller actually was and for them to arrange to pick it up and return it. They never did Joe then told me that the controller could not be returned. he went on about the part being a custom item. I said how could it be custom if it was in stock and he went and picked it up that same afternoon. He again said it could not be returned and I asked why and he said it was an electrical part and the place had a no rDesired Settlement: I know that there is balance on the work they did of ~$330. I had been told that the part was "a couple of hundred dollars" so I am guessing probably $250 +/-. Since the cost for the new motor, new controller module and their time and labor was around $830 I doubt that the controller module really was over $500 like Joe said on the phone. I was told that the controller module could be returned so I think a fair settlement would be the balance less the cost of the part.