I had a brand new air conditioner installed by Air Comfort Solutions in July, 2015. Mine failed on a Sunday afternoon less than a week before my wedding, and out of town guests had already started arriving, so I was in a serious time crunch. Air Comfort Solutions came out on Sunday to troubleshoot and were here on Monday morning installing a brand new unit, which was truly needed. The fan had separated from the shaft and sliced the condenser coils in multiple places as it was spinning to the ground, so this wasn't one of their scams where they claimed a new unit was needed when an old one could have been repaired.
The new unit was a York LX split unit with a 10 year warranty on the compressor and parts. After the fact, I realize I could have had a new unit installed much cheaper, but that error is on me for not shopping around. I had a whole lot going on that week and just didn't make the time to be diligent in my decision, but I did enjoy Jason White calling me to discuss how everything went.
On Sunday, May 13th, 2018, I heard a funny noise coming from the condenser. I pulled the disconnect on the condenser and found a sizable crack in the fan blade. Not wanting a repeat of my last fan trouble with the old unit, I called Air Comfort Solutions and told them my condenser fan blade had a huge crack in it, and the dispatcher said a tech wouldn't be available until Monday. We agreed on a 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. window that would work with my schedule, and we discussed this should be a warranty repair. The tech didn't arrive until 3:13 p.m., looked at the condenser, and told me I would need a new fan blade. I told him I had already explained all of that the day before to the dispatcher, and he told me that the only information he received was no cool. I told him it was still under warranty, and he said he'd go to his truck to figure out what he needed to do to get it fixed.
He came back in and told me that there was a 10 year warranty, but since I hadn't paid for their Energy Saving Agreement (at a cost of $179 per year), I would be on the hook for the $400 fan blade. I told him there was no way that fan blade costs $400, and he assured me it did. He said the better alternative would be for me to pay for the Energy Savings Agreement at $179 to cover the warranty repair, and they could have a new fan blade installed on Tuesday. Without having the warranty paperwork in front of me to dispute him with, I agreed to that course of action, signed the papers, and he left.
I started doing my own research and called Johnson Controls, the company that makes York air conditioners. As it turns out, there is no requirement to have any type of service contract to maintain the warranty, and the 10 year warranty covers all parts, but I would have to pay for the labor. I called another York authorized installer who said he would be able to do the install for $83, but he would have to wait 3-5 business days for a fan to be shipped to him. That was too long for me to be without air conditioning, so I decided to just bite the bullet and wait on Air Comfort Solutions.
On Tuesday morning, Air Comfort Solutions called to let me know that the order went in too late on Monday afternoon for them to have overnight delivery to them by Tuesday, so I would have to wait until Wednesday. On Wednesday afternoon, I called to find out when they would be out to do the install. I was then told there weren't any fans at the York parts distribution center, and they were all on back-order from the the factory. They said if the factory received them by Friday, I might be back up and running by Monday or Tuesday of the next week. I told them that was unacceptable and needed another solution. They told me that it was my fault this problem happened because I didn't have their annual service agreement, stating that their technicians could have spotted this trouble before it became a problem. I told them they were out of their minds and than I needed to speak to a manager. They said they would have their service manager call me.
To make a short story long, I found the fan on Amazon.com for $76.99 and another authorized York dealer will install it for $83. Everything from Air Comfort Solutions was lies. When the service manager finally called me back, I cussed him until he hung up on me, then I sent them a message on their website demanding a refund for the $179 I had paid them on Monday. If I have to, I'll dispute the charge with my credit card company to get the refund. Air Comfort Solutions will never get another dime of my money. I didn't realize until today that the Better Business Bureau had revoked their accreditation.
One of their ploys to get you to buy a new unit is to offer financing. Don't fall for it. If you qualify for financing through them, your local bank should finance you as well on a similar unit, and the money you save having a reputable company do the install will save you on financing as well.