The Bradshaw Group

Mr [redacted] called us out for service on Friday, May 8th After diagnosing the system, our technician found that the control board and thermostat were shorted Mr [redacted] had informed our technician that he thought his house or electric pole was hit by lightning There had been storms in the area He said he would contact his home insurance provider to see if they would cover the charges He called back and asked us to order the parts The same technician arrived at his home and installed the parts on Monday, May 11th Once the work was completed, Mr [redacted] paid us directly and asked that we email him copies of the invoices so he could submit to his home insurance Both invoices were emailed After receiving the email, Mr [redacted] called the office, very angry because we did not specifically write on our Invoices that lightening damaged the unit We had no proof that there was actually lightening damage He said our technician was a liar because he claims that our technician said we would write anything he wanted on the Invoice I tried to explain to Mr [redacted] that we had no physical proof that the unit was damaged by lightening, to our knowledge there were no other items damaged in his home I did inform Mr [redacted] that we would be glad to speak to the insurance adjuster and explain what we found Yes, it could have been caused by storms in the area, did we have proof, no Mr [redacted] stated to me over the phone that if we did not change our Invoices to read what he wanted, he would file a complaint against us Mr [redacted] has been a customer since I tried to explain that I couldn’t put information on the invoice that we did not have proof of He wouldn’t let us explain or give us the opportunity to speak with his insurance adjuster Please find copies of the field tickets attached with Mr***’s signatures Please let me know what other information you may need We would like to resolve this in the best manner possible Thank you, [redacted]

WE WERE CALLED OUT TO SERVICE MR***'S A/C SYSTEM ON 07/07/2016. AT THAT TIME, WE FOUND A NON-REPAIRABLE LEAK IN HIS EVAPORATOR COIL. THE COIL ITSELF WAS UNDER MANUFACTURER WARRARNTY. ALL OTHER ITEMS, LABOR, FREIGHT, WELDING, RECOVERY, VACUUM FEE, ETC WERE NOT COVERED.
BECAUSE OF THE SIZE OF THE JOB, WE QUOTED MR*** A FLAT RATE PRICE OF $1,PLUS ANY REQUIRED REFRIGERANT TO INSTALL A NEW EVAPORATOR COIL. MR*** AGREED TO THE PRICE, SIGNED THE INVOICE AND WE MADE AN APPOINTMENT TO RETURN THE MORNING OF 07/12/TO INSTALL THE COIL. MR*** AGREED TO THE FLAT RATE PRICE AND GAVE US PERMISSION TO ORDER THE NEW COIL. WE ARRIVED AT MR***'S RESIDENCE AS PLANNED ON THE MORNING OF 07/12/2016. BECAUSE OF THE SIZE OF THE JOB, IT DID REQUIRE TWO SERVICE TECHNICIANS. ONE TECHNICIAN ARRIVED AT 8:57AM AND THE OTHER AT 8:58AM. UPON ARRIVAL, MR*** DID NOT QUESTION THE PRICE OR SAY THAT HE THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE QUOTED PRICE. THE NEW EVAPORATOR COIL WAS INSTALLED. ONE TECHNICIAN WAS ON SITE UNTIL 12:PM AND THE OTHER ON SITE UNTIL 1:52PM. WE INCURRED A TOTAL OF BILLABLE HOURS ON THE JOB. UPON COMPLETION, THE TECHNICIAN SUBMITTED HIS INVOICE TO MR*** FOR PAYMENT. MR*** BEGAN USING VULGAR LANGUAGE AND SAID THAT HE WAS BEING OVER CHARGED AND THAT WE WERE "SCREWING" HIM. OUR TECHNICIAN EXPLAINED THAT BECAUSE OF THE SIZE OF THE JOB, WE HAD GIVEN HIM A FLAT RATE THAT HE AGREED TO FOR THE WORK TO BE COMPLETED. THE TECHNICIAN, TRYING TO MAKE THE CUSTOMER HAPPY, THEN FIGURED HIS BILL AT A TIME AND MATERIAL RATE. WE WERE WILLING TO GIVE HIM WHICHEVER OPTION WAS CHEAPER. THE TIME/MATERIAL BILLING WAS HIGHER THAN OUR FLAT RATE PRICING AND THE TECHNICIAN ATTEMPTED TO EXPLAIN THAT TO THE CUSTOMER. MR*** DID PAY THE FLAT RATE BILL WITH HIS CREDIT CARD. HE THEN CONTINUED TO BERATE THE TECHNICIAN AND THE COMPANY. A PRICE WAS QUOTED FOR THE JOB PERFORMED. THE PRICE WAS AGREED TO AND THE JOB WAS COMPLETED. WE WOULD LIKE TO RESOVLE THE ISSUE BUT WE DO NOT FEEL THAT A REFUND IS DUE BASED ON AN AGREED PRICE AND THAT A TIME AND MATERIAL TICKET WOULD OF BEEN MUCH HIGHER FOR THE CUSTOMER. PLEASE SEE INVOCIES ATTACHED WHERE THE PRICE IS QUOTED AND AGREED TO BY THE CUSTOMER

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

We have already spoke with the customer before they issued this.  Not sure who [redacted] is, we have dealt with [redacted] and [redacted].  The zone system for [redacted] and [redacted] had lost communication.  Our tech reset the zone system and system started working.  **...

[redacted] (I’m assuming a relative) called the next morning saying that the zone system was not communicating again (technician thought they had power issues).  [redacted] claimed that our technician did not fix problem even though unit ran all night.  We issued a refund to him. [redacted]Area Wide Services, Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: It was never stated that it was a flat rate.  The tech explained that the part was covered under the warranty, but not labor.  When he gave me the estimate, he never stated it was a flat rate.  The quoted $1250 was an ESTIMATE for the job and I understood was for labor only.  No mention was ever made of freight, vacuum fee, duct tape, etc prior to the job.  The ONLY other item mentioned that I would pay extra for was any additional refrigerant needed, which I agreed to and did not question. Once they completed the job in 3 hours and 45 minutes, I stated that was great, it should save me a fair amount of money since it didn't take all day.  The tech said no, the price would probably be the same.  He then took about 15 minutes to finalize the bill.  He presented the bill to me and the cost was still $1250 for labor.  I complained, and yes vehemently, due to the excessive labor charge (which works out to be $166.66 per technician per hour, versus the stated $75 per hour per technician).  Once he said the $1250 was a flat rate and included the freight and other misc items I asked for an itemized bill showing those charges.  He spent the next 30 minutes re-doing the bill, and once I received it it again had no other charges shown except for the $1250 labor (and it IS shown as Total Labor), Materials $78 (which is 3 pounds of refrigerant at $26 per pound), tax of $6.05, and the 3% credit card fee of $40.02, for a total of $1374.07.  The issue here is that I was given an estimate, and when the labor did not take as long I am getting charged the full amount of the estimate.  It was NEVER mentioned this as a flat rate.  So what your are claiming is that the freight and other misc items added up to over $680.  That is very expensive freight and misc items!  Most businesses provide an estimate up front, and then once the work is complete will provide the actual bill based on the actual labor.  I also stated the estimation methodology must be very flawed, because if they had worked all day then I would be charged even more about $600 plus dollars more, and he said yes, that was correct!  
Regards,
Frank [redacted]

Mr. [redacted] called us out for service on Friday, May 8th.  After diagnosing the system, our technician found that the control board and thermostat were shorted.  Mr. [redacted] had informed our technician that he thought his house or electric pole was hit by lightning.  There had been storms...

in the area.  He said he would contact his home insurance provider to see if they would cover the charges.    He called back and asked us to order the parts.  The same technician arrived at his home and installed the parts on Monday, May 11th.  Once the work was completed, Mr. [redacted] paid us directly and asked that we email him copies of the invoices so he could submit to his home insurance.  Both invoices were emailed.    After receiving the email, Mr. [redacted] called the office, very angry because we did not specifically write on our Invoices that lightening damaged the unit.  We had no proof that there was actually lightening damage.  He said our technician was a liar because he claims that our technician said we would write anything he wanted on the Invoice.    I tried to explain to Mr. [redacted] that we had no physical proof that the unit was damaged by lightening, to our knowledge there were no other items damaged in his home.  I did inform Mr. [redacted] that we would be glad to speak to the insurance adjuster and explain what we found.  Yes, it could have been caused by storms in the area, did we have proof, no.   Mr. [redacted] stated to me over the phone that if we did not change our Invoices to read what he wanted, he would file a complaint against us.    Mr. [redacted] has been a customer since 2009.  I tried to explain that I couldn’t put information on the invoice that we did not have proof of.  He wouldn’t let us explain or give us the opportunity to speak with his insurance adjuster.   Please find copies of the field tickets attached with Mr. [redacted]’s signatures.   Please let me know what other information you may need.  We would like to resolve this in the best manner possible.   Thank you,  [redacted]

We have already refunded Mr. [redacted] $127.50 that he is not satisfied with.  Mr. [redacted] placed a Service Call with our company on Saturday, August 7, 2016.  Our weekend fee is $127.50 to get us to the location and $127.50 per hour once we have arrived.  We have explained this numerous...

times to Mr. [redacted].  Mr. [redacted]'s residence is approx. 96 miles from our location.  A technician drove for over 1.5 hours to get to his residence on a Saturday.  At this point, we are already losing money.  We do not have the time or resources to continue with Mr. [redacted]'s phone calls and emails.  We are sending an additional check of $127.50 so Mr. [redacted] will stop sending harassing emails and making threatening phone calls.  Please ask that Mr. [redacted] not contact our office again.  We don't think that Mr. [redacted] has a valid claim, but we will forward a check via certified mail. Thank you.