Terri's Country Stylist

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Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me
Regards,
*** ***

We regret the aggravation and inconvenience Mrs*** has experienced with this situationSterling always has our customer’s best interests at heart, and it is our policy when they need a repair to provide them with the options available, at the best price we can give, and never to use high pressure tacticsUnfortunately, we have a difficult situation in that the *** evaporator coil we installed, which should have lasted between and years, failed after only two due to a manufacturing defect. The failure was not due to any installation measures used by our companyPremature and frequent failure of evaporator coils is a major issue across all manufacturer’s in the industry as they change process to increase efficiency, and cause unforeseen problems along the way. While they provide a replacement coil, the cost to diagnose the leak, and to install a replacement is much greater than that, and unfortunately must be reflected in the price we quote to install a replacement. I have reviewed all of the information in Mrs***’s case. When we diagnosed the leak, 15lbs of refrigerant had to be added to her system to fully charge it, because all of the refrigerant had leaked outThe system was completely empty due to a manufacturer’s defect. There is no way to know if the system would hold onto most if not all of that refrigerant for a week or more or lose it all completely in the next few hoursOur prices are generally flat rate, and have to take into consideration a worst case scenario. In this case, worst case would be all of the refrigerant recently added would be lost, and we would have to add another lbs. We stand by our price, and the price we charge for refrigerantThe cost of refrigerant is more than $a bottleThat amount doesn’t include sales tax, or delivery, or the certifications necessary to handle the refrigerant, or the record keeping necessary to track its usage, and many other costs. Our prices for refrigerant are actually lower than many other contractors in the area. However, since we only had to add additional lbs at the time of replacement, we are offering to refund the costs of the 13lbs of refrigerant at $each, less her 10% discount, plus 7% sales tax or a total of $ We hope that Mrs*** feels this is a fair and reasonable resolution of the matterIf so, we will put a check in the mail immediately*** ** *** Sterling Heating and Air Conditioning PO Box 60, N.White Horse Pike, Magnolia, NJ Voice*** I Fax*** www.sterlingheating.com

We appreciate that Mrs*** has been a long term customer of ours, and we sympathize with her frustration with the current situation We replaced Mrs***’s air conditioning system in June of 2014, and our proposal clearly stated that the equipment had a ten-year parts warranty from the
manufacturer, and a one year labor warranty from SterlingThen while doing her routine seasonal inspection this spring we found her system was empty of refrigerant We scheduled a follow up appointment and began the process of looking for the leakYes, there was an incident where a technician did not show up for a scheduled appointment due to a personal matter and did not call Mrs*** or the office and let us know. This was completely contrary to our company policy, so the employee was reprimanded, and our apologies were given to Mrs***Yes, it took several visits to find the source of the leakThis is one of the most challenging tasks in our industry, and we are equally frustrated when numerous visits are need to find the defect in the coilIt is especially challenging during cool weather when the system does not run, and the dye that is added does not circulate sufficiently through the system By the time we were finally able to confirm that the leak was in the coil, we had incurred over hours of labor cost, plus the cost of dye and lbs of refrigerant; and Mrs*** had only been quoted $for our standard leak check fee, which includes the 1st lbof refrigerant, the dye, and one return visitIn addition, because of the number of visits it took, we had assured her that we did not expect payment until we had, in fact, found the source of the leakWe were finally able to confirm that the evaporator coil was the source of the leak, and that it would need to be replacedThe manufacturer would supply a replacement at no cost; however, the labor was not covered. We quoted her $1600, which included labor and related materials including additional refrigerant needed to install the replacement coilThe $for the leak search has been waived We would never take ‘advantage of a senior living alone’ or ‘threaten' anyone with no service; however, good business practice dictates that we don’t knowing provide service and materials to an individual who has indicated they don’t want to pay for themMrs*** had the discretion to pay for the replacement or notToday, she agreed to pay for the coil replacement, and the work has been completed and payment receivedWhile we understand that $is a lot of money to pay to have a coil that is only two years old replaced, we hope that Mrs*** understands that we always want to do our best by her, and that the cause of the leak was due to a defect in the coil from the manufacturer, and not from the installation process completed by Sterling