I had to have I.C.E. come out on 2 separate occassions (one in July and one in August), but neither…read moretime was their fault. I previously had Parker & Sons service my a/c in March as part of my annual service maintenance agreement. Since I'm very vigilant about having my unit serviced every 6 months to keep it in good running condition for the coming season, I expected Parker to catch any potential "red flags" so I can avoid a HUGE expense. Apparently my blower motor, circuit board, run capacitor and low level fuse (?) was on it's last leg, but Parker failed to let me know that in March that those could be problematic later on if I let it go. Instead they told me about another minor problem that needed attention. That cost me $400, and it wasn't the motor, circuit board, capacitor or low level fuse. So here I thought I'm set for the summer heat.
In July, my a/c crapped out. I called Parker & Sons around 10:30 pm, and the tech arrives at my house around 12:15 am (and I have to get up for work @ 5 am). He goes into my attic and 5 minutes later he says I need a new blower motor. He didn't bother to check the outside unit (I have a split system). Cost of a blower? $1099 because I'm a member of the Parker family plan. He'd have to order one because he didn't have one on the truck, then come back later in the morning to install it. Morning came, and I decided to called I.C.E. who originally installed my ac unit 8 years ago. I told Mark from ICE what Parker told me, and ICE told me they'd have to inspect it, but if it's the blower motor, they can replace it for less. Mark came by about 2 hours later and found out yes, the motor is shot, so he replaced it, but still no cool air. He went outside to check the outdoor unit and everything seemed fine. Then he went back into the attic where the new blower was, and later determined I also needed a new circuit board because the unit in my attic and the outdoor unit weren't communicating with each other. He had to order it because he didn't have it on the truck and that's not a very common part they regularly have in stock. He came back the very next morning and replaced the circuit board, leaving me with only 1 day without ac (I spent the night at a friend's place in the meantime). My friend thought I should consider getting a new ac unit, but Mark didn't think I needed one. I wonder how much Parker would have charged for the circuit board if they bothered to check. About a month later (right after the first big monsoon storm) my a/c went out again. I called ICE around 8 pm, not expecting them to answer because it was after hours. I was surprised when Mark DID answer. He put me on his schedule for the next day at 1 pm. I called him several times that morning that I probably drove him crazy. He showed up at 3, but at least he had the courtesy to let me know when he could show up. This time it was the run capacitor in the outdoor unit and a low level fuse (I'm not sure of the term...sorry) in the attic blew, which he fixed promptly. He felt that Parker & Sons sold me a bunch of unnecessary add-ons because in locating the fuse, he told me Parker installed a lot of other wires and he didn't have time trying to figure out where EACH wire Parker installed goes to. He knew he had to figure out where the fuse was because on the outside unit, that's where the problem was pointing to. I think if Parker noticed a potential problem with the motor and run capacitor (at least) back in March and warned me ahead of time, I could have possibly avoided having my ac breaking down in the summer heat.
Bottom line, ICE is efficient. They're honest, and they show up when they say they will, even if they happen to be running a bit behind schedule. They'll call & let you know they're running late. They say they don't know how much time they'll spend at people's homes diagnosing a problem until they actually get there. They're not interested in selling you a bunch of add-ons that really aren't necessary, just to make a quick buck, or try to sell you something that makes your a/c unit look spiffy. As of this morning I called Parker to cancel & refund the unused portion of my plan. I feel Parker betrayed a family member.
