Southern Maryland Refrigeration, Inc.

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Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
You were the company that my home warranty used -that is correct. You did the work. The tech came and installed a new motor and then we had the problems. We had had NO PREVIOUS problems. The last time the propane company came out to fill our tank before this issue was March 2013. That is how long propane should last not month. The tech admitted to me and other adults that he didn't have time to check everything that day because the installation had taken so long. We asked him if there was some sort of checklist used after a motor is installed to make sure the unit is working properly. He said no there wasn't. We need to be reimbursed for the $worth of propane that we used in month because a valve was open all the way. It was NOT open before your company came. Check our Suburban Propane records you will see that in years we have never had to get that much propane in month EVER!!!!
Regards,
*** ***

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Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because
There are several inaccurate statements First of all we called the technician back after the motor was installed because we smelled gas for a couple of weeks since the last time the technician had first arrivedYes we did first call the propane company and they assured us we did not have a leak in our tankThey advised us to call back Southern Maryland refrigeration and get the problem correctedSo we didThe tech said he saw a valve wide open and put it back to the original factory settingsWell in the years we have lived at this house we had not had any problems with burning too much propane until Southern Maryland Refrigeration came and installed the new motorWe did not have any other heating technicians come in the last 1.5-yearsSo either the manager that initially came out and diagnosed the motor was bad or the install technician from southern Maryland Refrigeration touched the valve inadvertently After the tech closed the valve he assured us all would be wellBut somehow between the motor getting installed the valve opened fully and we went through gallons of propane We did not call the tech back to tighten any bolts as was stated by the managers responseWe never complained about boltsWe complained about a smell of propane that is why he came back and then he closed the valve
Regards,
*** ***

We are not authorized by the customers warranty company to do anymore work. [redacted] had also refused to pay the $45 deductible. This issue is now in the hands of her warranty company.

Please excuse our delay in responding to this matter. Our customer [redacted] has expressed her dissatisfaction with our services and we would like to respond to this claim. As to our customers claim to arriving unannounced this was not the case. Our technician made several appointments with...

one hour windows. These appointments were missed by [redacted] as  she was not home to receive the technician. After our tech. was able to enter the home with the approval of [redacted] he trouble shot her system finding that the refrigeration filter dryer needed to be replaced. This was reported to her insurance company who denied the claim.

We were hired by her warranty company to fix her malfunctioning furnace.  Again, we are not responsible for the customer's propane leak.

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 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:  [redacted] Warranty is stating that the Technician spoke with them stating that there was a noise an nothing else.
Regards,
[redacted]

To whom it may concern:
This letter is to address our customer [redacted] complaint against our company. After reviewing her statement and speaking with...

the technician who performed the work, we have come to the conclusion that we are not to be held responsible for this customers propane usage. Our technician reported the strong smell of gas to [redacted] the moment he arrived at her home. She responded that they had become accustomed to the smell. She also stated that she had contacted the propane company as a precaution. It seems the customers gas leak problem had already been present. The customer also claimed we opened a valve that caused the leak but this information is inaccurate. The technician was there to install an inducer motor. There would of been no need for our technician to open a valve. The technician did say he took his time installing the motor so that it would be installed with precision, which we expect all our technicians to do. We also returned to the customers home as a courtesy to tighten a few loose bolts the customer complained about.
 
In conclusion, the gas leak was not due to our technicians work. 
 
Sincerely,
 
[redacted]
Company President

Review: A gentleman came out from Southern Maryland Refrigeration in Nov of 2013. He said our motor in our heating/hot water system needed to be replaced. So he ordered a new motor and send another tech out to install it. I never imagined it would take so long to replace a motor. Over 6 hours. The tech was really struggling. First he couldn't find one of his tools that he needed. He asked to borrow ours. Apparently ours were not big enough so he kept struggling but finally said he would have to go to a store and buy the tool. Everything took forever. He updated me play by play on everything (which wasn't needed- but oh well). He finally got the new motor installed and left after 6 or more hours.

We had just received a fill up on our propane system the same week he installed the new motor so we figured we were good to go.

A month later we ran out of propane. It usually takes us several months to run out-NEVER 1 month!! We were wondering if something wasn't right because we were smelling an odor out of the heating exhaust valve and neighbors were actually commenting on the odor also. We thought maybe it was just the new motor working itself in or something but when we ran out of propane in 1 month we knew something was wrong.

We called back Southern MD and they sent out the same tech. I didn't really want him because I was unsure of his knowledge with the system. He went and looked at the system and said a valve was open all the way. He said he closed it and put if back to factory settings and all should be fine now. I said well how did the valve get open all the way. He had no idea. I said well we certainly hadn't touched it. He replied it must have been previous techs. Well we haven't had techs come in years so it wasn't them. The only people that had been here was himself and his boss. He said he didn't open it. I insisted that him or his boss who was the first person to come out must have. We had NO problems before they came out. Our last fill up of propane was in March of 2013. He denied all accusations. I said why didn't you check this when you installed the motor. He said, "my boss told me to install a new motor and that's what I did." I still said why didn't you check things to make sure it was working properly? He said, "Well, it took so long and I was here for over 6 hrs and I had to leave when it was done and couldn't check over everything since it took so long." He then said, "if it hadn't taken so long I would've had time to check out more thing's properly."

I couldn't believe his response. My dad was actually visiting that day and heard all of this and asked him if they had some sort of checklist to check over things after they repair a motor. He said no. The tech just insisted he didn't open the valve. But we didn't touch the valve and didn't have ANY problems until his company started working. He or his boss MUST have inadvertently opened the valve at one point.

This mistake of Southern MD cost us $1600 in propane for 1 MONTH!!!!! They need to be responsible to pay for this huge amount of propane usage.Desired Settlement: I feel that this company should reimburse us for the large amount of propane that we consumed in 1 month. We usually burn $250 of propane in 1 month.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

This letter is to address our customer [redacted] complaint against our company. After reviewing her statement and speaking with the technician who performed the work, we have come to the conclusion that we are not to be held responsible for this customers propane usage. Our technician reported the strong smell of gas to [redacted] the moment he arrived at her home. She responded that they had become accustomed to the smell. She also stated that she had contacted the propane company as a precaution. It seems the customers gas leak problem had already been present. The customer also claimed we opened a valve that caused the leak but this information is inaccurate. The technician was there to install an inducer motor. There would of been no need for our technician to open a valve. The technician did say he took his time installing the motor so that it would be installed with precision, which we expect all our technicians to do. We also returned to the customers home as a courtesy to tighten a few loose bolts the customer complained about.

In conclusion, the gas leak was not due to our technicians work.

Sincerely,

Company President

Consumer

Response:

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Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because

There are several inaccurate statements. First of all we called the technician back after the motor was installed because we smelled gas for a couple of weeks since the last time the technician had first arrived. Yes we did first call the propane company and they assured us we did not have a leak in our tank. They advised us to call back Southern Maryland refrigeration and get the problem corrected. So we did. The tech said he saw a valve wide open and put it back to the original factory settings. Well in the 8 years we have lived at this house we had not had any problems with burning too much propane until Southern Maryland Refrigeration came and installed the new motor. We did not have any other heating technicians come in the last 1.5-2 years. So either the manager that initially came out and diagnosed the motor was bad or the install technician from southern Maryland Refrigeration touched the valve inadvertently . After the tech closed the valve he assured us all would be well. But somehow between the motor getting installed the valve opened fully and we went through 500 gallons of propane . We did not call the tech back to tighten any bolts as was stated by the managers response. We never complained about bolts. We complained about a smell of propane that is why he came back and then he closed the valve.

Regards,