Penland Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc.

Promised rebate has not been received from Penland. Penland is not responding to our inquiries.In the process of replacing our HVAC system, we got quotes from several vendors. In each case, we inquired about the possibility of rebates from our electric power company for the installation of energy efficient systems.We made our selection of Penland Heating and AC, whose installation cost was acceptable once the rebate was taken into consideration.Penland installed the system on October 19, 2015. On October 20, Penland sent us the Smart Saver rebate form for us to complete. We completed our portion of the rebate form and returned it to Penland via email attachment on October 21.On November 6, we inquired via email whether the rebate had been filed and how long it would take to get it. After not getting a response, we asked again by telephone on November 20 when we could expect the rebate. We received an email response from Penland indicating that they had filed the rebate on October 21 and that it could take up to 45 business days to receive it.As a result of subsequent contact with Penland to follow up on other items, we received an email from Penland on December 21 informing us that we were not eligible for the Duke Energy Smart Saver program since we are a Duke Progress customer. Penland's email further stated that Penland was compensating us for the rebate and that a check for $200 had already been sent out on Friday (December 18). The exact quote from the email is: "A check from Penland Heating and AC for $200 was sent out on Friday to compensate you for the Smart Saver discount that we agreed to provide you."Two weeks later (January 3, 2016), we had not received the check so we inquired via email as to the status. We received no response to the January 3 inquiry and so we inquired again via email on January 10. We have received no response from Penland to either of these inquiries. Furthermore, we have not received the promised compensation.At this point, it seems that Penland does not intend to respond to us. It now seems evident that the check that they claimed that they sent on December 18 was never sent. Furthermore, it appears that they do not intend to send the compensation that they promised.Desired SettlementCompensation of $200 for the Smart Saver discount that Penland agreed to provide to us.Business Response There is no contract stating that Penland Heating and AC will pay a $200 discount in the event that Duke Energy does not pay the customer. This customer was provided everything in the contract. We also provided and installed a new condensate pump and condensate line that was not included in the proposal at no extra charge. The HVAC System that was quoted and installed per the contract has had no issues.If Penland Heating and AC chooses to reimburse this customer for the $200 that they did not receive from Duke Energy then it does so at its own leisure and not per any contract.More info from the consumer:As stated in the original complaint, we selected Penland based on a combination of contract price and availability of a rebate. We would not have selected Penland if the rebate had not been available since without the rebate, their quote was not competitive with quotes from other vendors.We did not ask that the rebate be written into the contract since we assumed that Penland was competent, honest and customer oriented. As it turned out, these assumptions were incorrect.Long after the work was done and Penland had been paid in full, they informed us that the rebate was not available. At that time Penland sent an email stating that they would reimburse use for the amount of the rebate. In fact, Penland's email stated that a check had already been sent. When we did not receive a check within two weeks, we emailed and inquired as to the status of the check. We did not receive a response. A week later we again emailed asking about the status of the check. We again did not receive a response.Since Penland would not respond to our inquiries, we filed this complaint so that anyone considering Penland as a contractor would be aware that:- Penland stated that a rebate was available when it was not.- Penland stated that they would reimburse us for the amount of the rebate but did not.- Penland stated that they had sent a check for the amount of the rebate when they had not.- Penland refused to respond to inquiries on the status of the check that they claimed that they had sent. Even a simple "I changed my mind and don't intend to reimburse you" would have been preferable to being ignored.The first item above addresses Penland's lack of competence. The second and third items address Penland's lack of honesty. The fourth item addresses Penland's lack of customer orientationmore info from consumer: 2/07We had Penland Heating and Air Conditioning install an HVAC system in the fall of 2015. Two major issues arose in our dealings with Penland:1) Penland indicated that a rebate was available on the system that we chose. However, after being paid for the job, Penland informed us that no rebate was available and although Penland indicated they would compensate us for the rebate, they did not.2) Subsequent to the installation by Penland, we had another contractor replace our thermostat. In the process of verifying the wiring for the new thermostat, this second contractor found multiple code violations with Penland's installation of the HVAC system.Item 1 was addressed in our initial complaint. Item 2 is new information that was discovered after the initial complaint was filed and is being submitted as an amendment to the initial complaint.Code Violations with Penland's installation-------------------------------------------------The contractor that installed the new thermostat provided an email that discussed the code violations in Penland's installation. Quotes from the second contractor's email are: "The auxiliary heat indicator sticker had been improperly marked, indicating it was a 10KW 3-phase kit. It in fact was a 10KW single-phase kit. This has resulted in your breaker being changed from a 60 AMP to a 45 AMP, when it should in fact be a 60 AMP. We also found that the wire size going from the disconnect box to the air handler is only a #10 wire, and needs to be a #6 wire that is rated for 60 AMPS. We also found the air handler was not wired properly, with only half of the auxiliary heat working. We did not connect this to be operational because the wiring is not properly sized for 10KW." "There is no outdoor thermostat to keep the auxiliary heat from working when the outside temperature is above 45 degrees. The Energy Code did change several years back and this is mandatory to protect you from excessive energy bills. We recommend installing this component as well."We spent about $400 to have the second contractor rectify these code violations and bring the system up to code.We filed this complaint so that anyone considering Penland as a contractor would be aware that:- The HVAC system that Penland installed had multiple code violations, one of which was a serious safety issue.- Penland stated that a rebate was available when it was not.- Penland stated that they would reimburse us for the amount of the rebate but did not.- Penland stated that they had sent a check for the amount of the rebate when they had not.- Penland refused to respond to inquiries on the status of the check that they claimed that they had sent. Even a simple "I changed my mind and don't intend to reimburse you" would have been preferable to being ignored.