Schwantes Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/24) */
***,
Steve visited your home due to your air conditioner freezing upAfter testing the system he found that the air conditioner was low on refrigerantYour air conditioner is years oldIf your air conditioner is low on charge then
it has a leakLeaks are generally caused over time by vibrationDue to the nature of how leaks are caused they are also very likely to increase in size over time
As Steve discussed with you and noted on your invoice your air conditioner contains R-refrigerant which is harmful to the environment
Did you know that R-damages the ozone layer and the that it is considered a greenhouse gas? In fact, under the Montreal Protocol this refrigerant is the midst of being phased out by nearly every country in the world
Taking everything into consideration, once you have a leak, it is very important to actually correct the problem and eliminate the leak
There are two ways to accomplish this:
The first is to find the leak, repair the leak, and then refill the systemLeaks can be challenging to find and even after you find them they are most often located in the condenser coil or the a-coilBoth of those items are very expensive to replaceOn a system of this age our opinion is that searching for a leak would not be the best money spentThe simplest example would be to think about how much of a waste it would be to spend say $locating the leak only to find out that it was the compressor, a-coil, or condenser coilAny of those repairs would cost well over half of the cost of a new air conditionerAt that point the money you spent locating the leak would be "out the window."
The second option would be to replace the air conditionerThis option would give you a unit that is more efficient, contains a refrigerant that is more environmentally friendly, and would come with a year warranty
Given the fact that your air conditioner contains R-22, is already years old, and is reaching the end of its life expectancy Steve did not feel that attempting to find the leak would be cost effectiveAs a result, his recommendation to you was to replace the system
In regards to topping the system off I strongly disagree with the other companyDid that company mention to you that R-refrigerant depletes the ozone? Did they mention to you that it is considered a greenhouse gas? Did they mention that your air conditioner will continue to leak even after they top it off? Did they mention that there is no way to know how long topping it off might last?
R-is still available to service units but per EPA Guidelines it is strongly recommended to repair leaky air conditioners before you refill themHere are some quotes from the EPA's website:
"While EPA does not mandate repairing or replacing small systems because of leaks, system leaks can not only harm the environment, but also result in increased operation and maintenance costs."
and another:
"It is important to select a reliable service contractorTechnicians must have EPA certification to service equipment containing R-It is illegal to intentionally vent (release) any refrigerant when making repairsTherefore, technicians are required to use refrigerant recovery equipment during serviceAlso, request that service technicians locate and repair leaks instead of "topping off" leaking systemsThis will help ensure that your system operates at its optimal level, which reduces emissions of refrigerant and saves you money by reducing your household energy use and avoiding additional repairs in the future."
In closing, I stand behind my service technician and his recommendation that your best course of action would be to replace the air conditionerI am also greatly disappointed to hear that one of my competitors is neither concerned about, nor making their customers aware of the environmental and economic pitfalls of topping off a leaking air conditioner
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/08/03) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Thanks for clarifying the issue I had with your companyI'm not calling your place back if we need a new unit because I don't feel your technician did enough to look for the issue of why it wasn't working and the other place was far more thorough

When Joe was out on May 27th he found that the air conditioner was intermittently tripping the breaker.  He tested the amp draws on the compressor and found that occasionally it had high amp draws.  His conclusion was that the compressor was bad.  [redacted] called the office in early...

June and spoke with Scott.  Scott quoted a price for an air conditioner and we installed it on June 15th. When we installed the air conditioner we noted that the breaker was still tripping.  The technician called me and we discussed that the breaker could have been weak from when it was tripping repeatedly with the old air conditioner.  The homeowner indicated that they would have a new breaker installed. On Friday morning, the moment [redacted] called letting me know that the breaker did not correct the situation, I sent Joe directly out to the home.  On this phone call [redacted] noted that he was disappointed that we did not replace the thermostat.  I spoke with Pat (the installer) about this and he said that he told to [redacted] that their current thermostat was only a couple of years old and it was the same thermostat.  [redacted] said not to worry about replacing it.  I have talked to Pat about this and he understands that he should have installed the new thermostat regardless.  When Joe arrived at the home, [redacted]'s dad was there and we disconnected the air conditioner from the electrical.  [redacted]'s dad went in to the house and tried to reset the breaker and it would not reset because it was tripping.  Also, Joe noted that approximately 15-20 feet of wire is buried underground.   The dad also told Joe they had an electrician on the way for a second opinion.  Joe then replaced the thermostat.  Later that day [redacted] called and said that his electrician didn't think it was an electrical problem. He also complained that we didn't include new wiring in the original bid.  I explained that the air conditioner could not be tripping the breaker since it was not connected (the disconnect was pulled).  I also talked to [redacted] about how I suspect when the air conditioner was drawing too many amps when we tested it back in May the wires may have melted.  I suggested that we send an electrician out and [redacted] cussed me out.  At the end of the phone call I told [redacted] I would contact our electrician and get back to him.  I put in a call to my electrician and he said he could come out Tuesday morning 6/21 (today).  I then left [redacted] a message on his phone and I left [redacted] a message at her number.  On these messages I left information that the electrician was available Tuesday morning 6/21 and I left them my cell phone number to contact me since it was Friday afternoon.  Friday [redacted] called back but his phone was breaking up and we got disconnected.  He never returned the phone call.  This morning my electrician was on his way and I called [redacted] and Heather.  At 7:35 [redacted] returned my call from caller ID not knowing who called him.  I told him the electrician was on his way and he told me that he was going "a different direction".  We then lost connection and I called him back with no answer.  I called my electrician and stopped him.  At this point they have not giving me the opportunity to solve their problem. I would like to have my electrician visit their home to correct this problem. Thank you, Dave [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: this is no different than before that he is recommending an electrician at my cost. Already have another electrician out there as at this point do not trust anything coming from this company. He is more than welcome to fit the bill for our electrician but again if deem to be an electrical problem and not the air conditioning that caused will be wanting a full refund or will take legal action. Again the response is unacceptable as they are only referring us to an electrician not providing any service. At this point our current electrician has determined that the installation was not done correctly in which this cost should be on schwantes. At this point no further action will be done until our electrician solves the problem. Again this all should have been taken care of last week at the install.