The Janes Company Inc

I apologize for the communication breakdown(s). November is a crazy month around here. The written schedule is used primarily for planning, and last minute changes are often communicated verbally among staff rather than typed into the schedule. I can only speculate the receptionist
wasn’t privy to the van breakdown, and likely the technician and dispatcher each thought the other had contacted you to let you know
Checks are processed as they come in. The person who receives and processes checks has nothing to do with the placement and execution of service calls
Tank warranties are between the consumer and the manufacturer. We install new tanks and diagnose problems with existing tanks, and we work as intermediaries filing warranty paperwork on behalf of the customer, but we are a third party to that warranty agreement. We offer a one-year warranty on our work and parts we have sold & installed which is separate from any warranty the manufacturers provide. (Example: If a pump we brought and installed fails months later we will come out and install a new one at no charge, regardless whether the pump was faulty or our technician.)
Purging is the removal of air from the tank. This is done as part of a new tank install or during maintenance if a system has excess air. Regularly scheduled maintenance calls are mostly about catching potential future problems before they become actual problems and doing purges is merely part of those procedures. Tank failures can be sudden or they may present as a slow leak months ahead of time, it varies
Three tank failures in years is unusual but not unprecedented. We are as unhappy about the lower lifespan of tanks these days as our customers are. It seems that all the manufacturers are building them with thinner walls and minimal welds and that is reflected in the short warranty periods the tanks come with. If there were a particular manufacturer whose products performed better than everyone else’s we would recommend them. As it is, all we can do is try to assist the customer through the warranty process when replacements are needed, and identify failing tanks before they fail so unexpected outages can be prevented

Our company bills a service charge which covers the initial hour, with a discounted rate for additional hours, plus parts where applicable.  These costs are disclosed by our dispatcher at the time the appointment is scheduled so there will be no surprises.
Systems we have installed are often a...

bit faster to diagnose because our techs can rule out some potential problems due to our standardized mechanical panel design techniques and advanced familiarity with the boiler models we commonly install.  Do-it-yourself systems and those installed by other companies have a much wider variety of designs and parts so more painstaking part-by-part analysis must be made.
In troubleshooting, sometimes several possibilities must be ruled out before the actual problem is found.  Our technician performed a thorough check of your system and made adjustments to attempt to reduce the howling sound. Based on his findings he recommended a new gas valve as a permanent repair and our history notes indicate a quote was provided. As for why you were not contacted regarding your billing concerns, that appears to have been an oversight or miscommunication within our office and I apologize for that.

Individual parts have whatever warranty period the manufacturer chooses to give them and that is beyond our company’s control. No part will fix “any leaks…in the house” as this complaint states, nor would we present as such. Each leak is independent and the fault must be repaired or replaced...

independently. The Revdex.com complaint lists a “problem occurred” date of 10/10/16. Our system does not show any contact from this customer in all of 2016. One of our technicians was dispatched 5/12/17 for a “no heat or hot water” service call to this address. He diagnosed three (3) failed parts and a fourth part that was still functioning but should probably be replaced before it also fails. He replaced the three failed parts, for a total of 3.5 hours spent on-site, after getting customer’s approval to proceed. While replacing the failed parts the system was flushed loop by loop, purging air and debris from tubes, and verified proper operation of the entire mechanical system.Our voicemail works fine for many other customers, as does the contact form on our website. I’m not going to speculate why this customer had difficulty reaching us when so many others successfully do. I see that between the 5/17 call and the system’s original install in 7/08 we have been called out exactly once for “annual” maintenance of this 9.5 year old radiant heating system. This lack of maintenance causes excessive wear on a hydronic system, much like the lack of regular oil changes will decrease the life of a car’s engine. Many boiler manufacturers would void the warranty on a system which hasn’t been properly maintained. We contact our customers annually to recommend maintenance, both for optimal performance and early detection of future problems.The “problem occurred” and “talked to company” dates in this complaint don’t match with any contacts recorded in our database. In particular we dispute the 12/31/17 date. We don’t require our office staff to work on Sundays, nor on New Year’s Eve, and that date was both. Furthermore, the “disputed amount” claim of $30,000 is far higher than the initial purchase & installation costs of the system and the “desired settlement” of replacing the entire water heater and radiant heat system is preposterous as the entire system would not need replacing no matter which individual part(s) are now leaking.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
I realize that the Janes Co. belatedly came to the conclusion that the Revdex.com rating is important. 
 
Several people in our condo building hesitated to use their company because of the Revdex.com rating loss and perhaps that loss also contributed to the board decision to no longer expect everyone in the building to use the one same company, Janes, as in the past. 
 
This, I believe, was also the basis for the personal apology to me for my past problems with Janes.  I appreciate that very belated apology, but would have appreciated it more if it had occurred nearer to the time of the incident.  Instead it occurred just shortly before everyone in our building was to make a decision whether to go with Janes again or not and shortly before the board determined whether to continue as before or end the previous procedure whereby everyone used the same company.
 
Still, I try to not hold grudges and would prefer to be on good terms with everyone providing honesty is not sacrificed.   If the very belated response to my Revdex.com complaint had not told the very belated story of a broken-down van, I would be more than willing to set aside my complaint.  As it is, that story does not hold up partially because nobody thought of it at the time and nobody told me at the time that there was a problem with the van. 
 
Proof that ignoring the appointment made with me had nothing to do with a van can be seen via the following information. 
 
When Tom made the appointment with me to replace the latest tank, I asked if I should notify our building representative of the date and time, since he has to hang the protective coverings in the elevator.  Nobody is allowed to move large objects without arranging for protecting the elevator and only a few people here know where the coverings are kept or have access to them.  I believe that person has other duties regarding supervising the process and putting out markers so the company has a convenient parking place to facilitate moving large, heavy objects to the elevator. 
 
Tom from Jane’s told me NOT to contact the representative.  He said he would contact the representative as Janes has always done for these tank exchanges.  And, of course, I assumed he would also contact the people in his company who did the actual moving of the tank.  Neither of these contacts occurred. 
 
When nobody came at 8:00 as per our appointment, I simply waited.   When nobody came later – and nobody called to say there is a problem with a van or whatever – I checked the elevator and saw that no covering had been put in it.  This came as quite a shock, since it indicated nobody at Janes had contacted the representative, so I called him.  He said he had NOT BEEN CONTACTED BY JANES for this appointment, which is the NORMAL PROCEDURE.
 
Furthermore, when I called about nobody appearing even by 9:00 for the 8:00 a.m. appointment, nobody I talked to at the company knew about an appointment; it had not been listed anywhere.  I stated that my tank is leaking and they will be responsible for not keeping the appointment if this tank leaks into my condo or into any of the neighbors’ condos.  Then Janes said they would get someone to me as soon as possible, but it is difficult to get these tanks on such short notice.  Later in the afternoon they called back and said they now had a tank and the installer would come later yet today.  I didn’t write down the time he arrived, probably around 4:00 p.m.  I do know he didn’t leave until about 7:00 because I had to cancel my plans once again.  Originally I’d cancelled morning plans because it seemed most prudent to get a new tank installed as soon as possible and not take a chance with that leak, so I’d agreed to the earliest day and time that Janes said was available. 
 
 
I would be much more willing to accept Janes’ complaint response if the company would have simply admitted not following through on the appointment and leaving me waiting for an appointment that was not going to happen.  We all make mistakes and some learn from those mistakes and some don’t.  In any case, honesty and truth should not be sacrificed.Sincerely,[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:This complaint was submitted almost a year ago.  In March of 2016 I received a call from a representative of the James Company and a satisfactory resolution was reached.  Frankly, if I had received a dismissive response like this almost a year later I would have not considered it a satisfactory response.  Thank you to the Revdex.com for your follow through. Sincerely,[redacted]