I have been a customer of Tempo Air for 18 years and carry a Gold Membership with the company. My air conditioner went out on Tuesday, September 17th, 2019, and I had hoped things would have been handled differently. Kevin was the service technician sent out to my home. He advised that I was in need of a whole new system, as mine was beyond repair. He originally communicated to me that it should only be a couple days to have us up and running, only to come back and tell me it would be an entire week. With 4 daughters and 3 dogs, that was just not something realistic for my family.
I was provided a quote for a 17 seer system valued at $10,560. When I asked Kevin for a quote using a lower seer rating, I was told Tempo Air doesn't offer systems lower that a 15 or 16 seer rating. Yet, I then received a second quote for a 14 seer system valued at $8369. I feel that instead of trying to meet my financial needs that I was being upsold on a replacement. I was then offered a first appointment install for the very next day, with all of 20 minutes (until 2:30 p.m.) to make a split decision that could cost me upwards of $10K. That didn't even grant me the courtesy of having time to discuss the circumstance with my husband, who was at work at the time.
When I asked Kevin if I could have more time to decide, could we at least push the install to Thursday, the answer I received was I had 20 minutes for next day installation or it would be an entire week. My gold membership, which I had paid into monthly for the past 18 years, was not only supposed to give me priority scheduling, but also $2400 in Customer rewards for my loyalty as a continuous Club Member towards the purchase of a new system.
It wasn't until 5:37 p.m. that evening that I received an email reassuring me I was a valued customer from Justin Shelton, Vice President Service Manager. It was then he explained to me there was a deadline they had to meet when ordering equipment, hence the 20 minute rush decision. He then reassured me he could have me up and running by the end of the week and would be able to offer portable units in the meantime.
At this point, it was of no value to me. I had already had another company come out to look at my system that exact same day. They arrived at 2:45 p.m., evaluated exactly what I needed, ordered the new AC unit, coil, and furnace, with a promise to return the next day, Wednesday, by 9 a.m. I emailed Justin Shelton on Wednesday, September 18th at 7:17 a.m., advising that I felt like I was backed into a corner and that a company I have been loyal to for 18 years turned its back on me. That while I had hoped to continue using Tempo going forward, that at this time we decided to move forward with another company that could have us up and running that morning.
I received a phone call shortly after sending my email from Mr. Shelton offering me a 14 seer Trane system at a cost even lower than I was originally quoted. At this time, I did ask to see if I would still be able to carry my Gold Membership on my new system, even if I decided to have it installed by another company. Mr. Shelton then advised yes, I could, but that he would have to send over a technician to inspect my new system and confirm it was up to Tempo Air's standards. If it wasn't, I would have to cover the cost of parts and labor to get it where it would need to be in order for me to continue to carry my membership.
My new air conditioning system was installed by another company, and I called Mr. Shelton on Thursday, September 19th, to advise him of such. At that time I notified him that we did in fact want to continue our relationship with Tempo Air, and could we please move forward with the inspection of the new system.
I also asked if my $2400 in loyalty rewards could be used towards the cost of a new water heater, considering how poorly my situation was handled and the fact the water heater would be provided by Tempo Air (as that was money I paid into over the years). I was advised this was not possible, but the company could extend a $500 discount.
It was then communicated to me that it would cost me $118 to have the inspection performed on my new system. I was absolutely appalled. Given all that had transpired and the time I had been with the company, this was how they valued our relationship. I expressed my extreme disappointment in the way everything was handled and that he would not even consider covering the cost of that inspection, and that he left me no choice but for us to part ways. read more