Air Conditioner Installation
Towards the end of July, our 12 year old LG LWHD1800R air conditioner stopped working. I called Honey Solar to see about repairing it since they were the company we used to service our house heating and air equipment twice a year. They said they do not service window air conditioners, but referred us to Crown Appliance. After 2 days of calling, I finally reached Johnny. We agreed that due to the age of the LG air conditioner, it would be wiser to buy a new unit. He connected me with his wife, Liz, who works at Coast Appliance. She found a Crosley Window Heat/Cooling Unit which we purchased from her for a total of 679.51 on July 29, 2021. She had been professional, polite, responsive to our phone inquiries and great to work with.
On Tuesday, August 17, Johnny and Ryan, his apprentice, arrived with the Crosley. They removed the old unit with some difficulty and proceeded to install the new unit. There was quite a space between the wall and the new unit that had to be fixed. Johnny and Ryan took a lunch break and returned after shopping at Home Depot with some boards and hardware for another project. The job was not complete, but Johnny presented us with the bill and expected to be paid in full. When I asked for a receipt for the $219 spent on supplies, I was told that Ryan did not get a receipt, and he would have to go back to the Home Depot. He said if there was a discrepancy, we would be reimbursed. He left around 5:20 and was to return after 3:00 the following day to do the finish work on the install and complete a separate project on the shed doors.
Johnny and Ryan never returned on Wednesday as promised, nor did they call. As we more carefully reviewed the bill, we had additional questions, such as an unidentified expense of $51.26. We never pay a bill in full until the work is complete, but Johnny's demeanor made it uncomfortable to question. By Thursday morning, we became very concerned when we still had not heard from Johnny. When we could not reach him through Crown Appliance, we called his wife, Liz, to see if she knew anything. She said she would call him and did give us his cell phone number. Forty-five minutes later we had not heard anything so we called our bank. Since the check had not yet cleared, we stopped payment on the check until we had resolution to our questions. I called Liz to let her know what we had done and also left a message on Johnny's cell phone to tell him we had stopped payment and would pay in full as soon as the job was done and our questions answered.
Rayan eventually called and said they would finish the job on Friday, but called again a short time later to say they would be here in about 30 minutes. At first Johnny would not speak to me and he and Ryan went about finishing the patch up work on the trim around the air conditioner. They also added some insulation to the back of the unit. Over all, we were pleased with what they completed in the installation, but felt overcharged.
I have never experienced what happened next. Johnny let loose expressing his anger about us stopping payment on the check. Because I have never stopped payment on a check before, I did not know that Crown Appliance would be charged $40. He used abusive and threatening language saying he knows where we live and that he would not leave until we paid him in cash in full plus the $40 fee. What was he expecting to accomplish using profanities as he bullied two women in their 70 telling my spouse to shut her "F"ing mouth as he stepped toward her? We could not ask a question or say anything as he continued on his tirade. He threatened to put our old air conditioner in our driveway so we would have to take it to hazmat. My spouse was afraid to leave me at home while she went to the bank to get the cash. I assured her I would be OK because I did not want to leave him at our home without one of us there. He asked if I wanted him to paint the molding or do the other job on the shed doors. With him in that state, all I wanted was for him to leave. When I tried to connect with Ryan, he simply said, "My hands are tied." He did say that he would get the materials receipt to us, which he has not done. Bonnie returned from the bank within about 20 minutes and paid the bill plus $40 in cash, and they drove off.
Wednesday, August 25, I went to Home Depot to price the items that were purchased for the job. Rather than $219 we were billed, I came up with a total of $82.79. The Crown Appliance is no longer located at the Wylie Drive address. We do not want to talk with Johnny but do not know whom we might call. We have read the evaluations on Yelp after the fact, and we have discovered we are not alone in this experience with Johnny and Crown Appliance. With no other recourse in view, we will add a review of our experiences and file a claim with the Better Business Bureau, This experience and money due us does not deserve to go unnoticed. read more