I recently moved into a new-to-me home. Shortly after moving in, I realized that while my AC was functional, it was not working properly. I would set my thermostat to a particular temperature before I left for work, and return home from work that evening to discover that the house was routinely at least 3 degrees higher than the set temperature. The AC would then run for hours trying to bring the temperature back down. I called my warranty company, American Home Shield (AHS), who assigned my case to Vail Heating and Cooling. The company and I agreed upon a time to come out; the technician was late, but not hugely, so that didn't bother me. After inspecting my system, the tech informed me that he couldn't find anything wrong, and had reset a circuit board to try to reset the system, and hoped that would help.
...it did not help. I called AHS back several days later, after determining that my issue still remained. They again assigned Vail. Vail sent a different tech, who informed me that the problem was a dirty air filter, preventing adequate air flow to my unit. This sounded like garbage to me, but I'm not an HVAC tech, so I did as he advised and put a new filter in. This, also, ended up not helping. I called AHS again, who again sent Vail. The technician couldn't find anything wrong, so he left with no resolution to my issue.
The issue continued, so I called AHS again. They, again, sent Vail. This time, the tech said the issue was my thermostat, and that he'd replace it. I had hoped this would solve the issue. It did not. In fact, less than 24 hours after the installation of the new thermostat, my AC blew out completely.
I called AHS, who AGAIN sent Vail. For those keeping track, that made this their FIFTH trip to my property with no resolution, and in fact, a worsening of my issue (given that my AC had completely quit running). The tech looked at my AC, and informed me that my capacitor had died. The tech replaced the capacitor. However, upon coming down from my roof, he informed me that the issue was actually my compressor, which according to him needed to be completely replaced. I asked what the turnaround time on that was (because this is southern AZ in the summer, where not having AC basically renders your house unlivable). He advised the turnaround to get approval from AHS was anywhere from one week to ONE MONTH, unless I wanted to pay Vail out of pocket for the part and labor, which would run me in the vicinity of $2500.
I called AHS in a panic, because I could not live without my AC for a month, and having just bought a home, didn't have multiple thousands of dollars sitting around for a repair. AHS assigned a different company for a second opinion, who would arrive the next day. In the meanwhile, I called and spoke with the owner of Vail, Oscar. He was tremendously unhelpful.
I spent that night at my mother's house, because my house was unlivable.
The next morning, a tech from the second-opinion company arrived. After being on my roof for about an hour, he returned to the ground holding a box. He asked if Vail had replaced my capacitor. I responded in the affirmative and said that hey had also told me I needed a new compressor. He said, "I'm glad they left the capacitor box up there, because it gave me a clue what happened. I don't know if they sent a rookie or what, but the capacitor was wired incorrectly, which meant it wasn't pushing power to the compressor. Your compressor works fine, and you have air now."
...so not only did Vail leave their garbage on my roof, their error is the reason that they told me I needed a new compressor; a repair costing well over $2000. I also missed two full work days trying to deal with this emergency (not to mention the time I had to miss in order to be there for the other appointments). My AC still does not run as it should, but I'll take what I can get for now.
The total incompetence of Vail boggles my mind. If you value your time, your property, or your sanity, do not let Vail onto your roof.
While I understand that there are limitations as to what my warranty will cover, and my choice in what company is assigned, I will specify, should I ever need HVAC work again, that I REFUSE to allow the job to go to Vail. read more