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View Full Version : Did my hvac repairman damage my ac unit while servicing my heater?


TammiCat
Jun 11, 2012, 07:12 PM
First I want to say my heater is very old, the ac is as well but not even close to the age of the heater. They both run on gas. In February my heat stopped working, repair man figured it was the thermostat. So he replaced it; cleaned the filters and fiddled with the inside. Heat works!
So its hot now turned on the a/c and nothing! The system in the basement is running but not the compressor outside.
Called the same company to come out, because they fixed the heat problem. The repair man said that the transformer was dangling and "he didn't know who was fiddling with it."
Well, I wasn't that's their job. He also added a bit of freon.
$195 later the a/c worked and it worked the next day as well. 10 days later my a/c is not blowing cold air.
Here's my dilemma they are coming back out, but I'm kind of pissed because why isn't it working after they serviced it 10 days ago? If there was a problem why didn't they find it when they were here and should I have to pay for them to come back? I know that you only need freon if there's a leak so why didn't he find the leak the first time? And do I have any right to claim that they accidentally or not messed with the transformer while servicing the heater in February? I've owned my house for 3 years and before the thermostat problem everything worked fine. Also the compressor outside isn't as loud as I remember it being.
Please help I might be getting swindled or paying for their mistakes and I'm not sure what to do. Thanks for reading.

hvac1000
Jun 11, 2012, 09:41 PM
First I want to say my heater is very old, the ac is as well but not even close to the age of the heater. They both run on gas. In February my heat stopped working, repair man figured it was the thermostat. So he replaced it; cleaned the filters and fiddled with the inside. Heat works!
So its hot now turned on the a/c and nothing! The system in the basement is running but not the compressor outside.
Called the same company to come out, because they fixed the heat problem. The repair man said that the transformer was dangling and "he didn't know who was fiddling with it."
Well, I wasn't that's their job. He also added a bit of freon.
$195 later the a/c worked and it worked the next day as well. 10 days later my a/c is not blowing cold air.
Here's my dilemma they are coming back out, but I'm kind of pissed because why isn't it working after they serviced it 10 days ago? If there was a problem why didn't they find it when they were here and should I have to pay for them to come back? I know that you only need freon if there's a leak so why didn't he find the leak the first time? And do I have any right to claim that they accidentally or not messed with the transformer while servicing the heater in February? I've owned my house for 3 years and before the thermostat problem everything worked fine. Also the compressor outside isn't as loud as I remember it being.
Please help I might be getting swindled or paying for their mistakes and I'm not sure what to do. Thanks for reading.

In my area if you have to have a 2nd or 3rd service call within a 30 day period the service call fee is waived but you still have to pay the hourly rate of flat rate for the repair. Transformers do not move by themselves BUT you have no way to prove they did it. You are between a rock and a hard place on this one.

TammiCat
Jun 12, 2012, 06:54 AM
In my area if you have to have a 2nd or 3rd service call within a 30 day period the service call fee is waived but you still have to pay the hourly rate of flat rate for the repair. Transformers do not move by themselves BUT you have no way to prove they did it. You are between a rock and a hard place on this one. Thanks for the info.
Here's my latest update the repairman just here and...
I have been told all the freon leaked out. So it went from full 10 days ago to completely empty, before it was filled I was told it needed very little. The reason I was given was a bad schraeder pin. They are going to credit me $195 making it cost $500 to refill it with freon and fix the leak, with no guarantee. I discovered my unit is from 1988. It's starting to get hot here in Philadelphia, should I just save the money and put it towards a new system or just refill and hope for the best? Or should I call a different company?