Yes, this a lengthy review but there was no other way to convey the extent of the misconduct and incompetence without telling the full story.
In January, Edwards Heating & Air came to perform a regularly scheduled preventative maintenance check. The tech completed the service and said that everything was working well, and his report stated, "changed filter checked capacitors heat strips amp draws pressures and defrost." Our unit had been working well so this was what I was expecting from this visit.
The following morning, I woke up to the unit being loud and not heating. The same technician who did the maintenance check arrived, and I explained the issue. He stated, "It was working fine when I left. I guess we can try to switch out your thermostat and see if that fixes it." I questioned if a thermostat could cause the system to make this noise, and he stated, "A bad thermostat can cause all kinds of things." I agreed to have the thermostat replaced, which he did. I asked him to show me how to use it, and he referred me to the user manual. I asked how we would know if this fixed the problem, and he responded, "It's fixed, I can hear it running." He only stayed long enough for me to pay for the new thermostat, not long enough to see if it would heat the house.
Two hours later, the house has still not warmed by one degree. I called Edwards back and explained the situation. Initially, I was told that someone could come out the following day, but after explaining that the unit had worked perfectly fine prior to the scheduled maintenance, but now there was no heat, a different tech was scheduled to come out in the afternoon. Late that afternoon, another tech arrived. He proceeded to check the pressures and detected a major restriction in the heat pump. When questioned how it would be possible that we had perfect pressures one day prior and now have a major restriction the answer was that it must be a coincidence. The options presented to fix the problem now were: 1. Try to blow out the system and clear the restriction for a total of $1617.00 or 2. Replace the whole system. A new Carrier Heat pump was $8351.00. We decided to go with the first option. The tech spent several hours attempting to clear the restriction but was unable to, leaving us with the only option the replace the whole system. After voicing our disbelief and frustration, they agreed to subtract $1617.00 from $8351.00 for the new heat pump. Due to freezing temperatures in January, we were instructed to run our current heat pump on emergency heat until we had the new one installed. The technician assured us that we would be contacted the next morning to set up the appointment for installation.
When I called Edwards midmorning the following day to set up the appointment, I was told they would have to order the unit and this could take up to a week. Once again, I explained my situation and voiced my frustration. Soon thereafter I got a call back to schedule the installation for the next day.
Three technicians arrived the following morning and started the installation. At 4:30 p.m., we were told that the control board on the new outside unit was not working. Edwards assured us that they would come out first thing the next morning to replace the control board.
The next morning, I received a voicemail that a technician would arrive sometime between 12 and 1 pm. At this time, I called the service manager, Zach, back to remind him of our situation and my expectation to have the issue fixed as soon as possible. I also asked about a backup plan if this did not resolve the problem. He reassured me that this would fix it, and if it didn't, he would personally pick up a new unit and make sure it was installed that day. The technician arrived and replaced the board. The unit still did not work. I received a call from a different manager explaining that the new outside unit would have to be replaced. He stated, "If we order it today, we could install it on Monday, (four days later)." I let him know that the service manager, Zach, had mentioned that he would be able to pick up a unit and we could have it installed today. An additional technician arrived with a new unit, and it was installed that evening.
At the beginning of May, I arrived home from work and found the AC not working. Our new HVAC company came out promptly and found that Edwards had hooked up the drain line incorrectly causing the coil to leak water to the low side of the pan not allowing proper flow.
That is not the end of it. Three weeks later, I turned the AC down from 73 to 70 degrees, and a few minutes later a large amount of water started pouring out of the air vent in the ceiling closest to the air handler in the attic. I turned the AC off, and the water stopped coming out. Our HVAC company came out the following morning. At this time, they found evaporator coil was installed upside down in the new inside unit located in the attic causing condensation to splash into the return airduct. read more