My AC stopped working Tuesday July 23rd. I called numerous companies and John at Wellman was the first to call me back. Said he could come on Wednesday AM to look at it. I was happy because I was leaving town on Friday and was relieved it would be fixed prior to leaving. 100 degree weather house heating up. When he arrived he reminded me that he was involved in the installation of my HVAC system, I then remembered and thought this would go well because of that. He asked me why the original company had not come and I responded, they hadn't responded yet. After looking at it, he told me he could not fix it today, it would be fixed on Thursday. It was a txv, which he explained had froze. He told me would cost around $1500 and asked if I wanted to have it fixed. I said, I am not sure I have a choice. The house is hot, my dogs and us are suffering from the higher temperature and I am leaving town. At this point, he did not tell me that it was under warranty and if I would use the company that installed it would be free of charge. Very disappointed that an owner of a company would not be up front regarding this as $1500 is an enormous cost on a system that is 5 years old. But when you are hot, leaving town and need your a/c fixed. I said go ahead and fix it. Went to Home Depot and bot a fan/humidifier to cool the main room. Then on Thursday, he came to me after I thought it was fixed and said he had bad news, the furnace blower motor had burned up and started blaming me for that happening. Told me that I had turned the system on and burned it up. Which we had not touched the system. Then he went on to tell me that my house did not have enough ventilation and that he needed to cut more vents in the basement. Then he told me that we had to leave all the vents open in the basement for air flow. It kept getting worse. Then he told me a system we have to separate the two sides of our house probably also was a problem. At this point I am getting upset that I bot the system and was overwhelmed with his information. He also told me everything was dirty. I have the system cleaned spring and fall. This was the first spring I forgot to have it professionally cleaned.
I thought he would clean while he was here. I followed him at one point in the basement and he was messing with the wiring on the furnace, but did not have a flashlight other than the one on his cell phone. I asked my roommate to purchase a flashlight at the home depot so he could see. Told me his technicians has taken his equipment. Now, I am getting worried that he isn't equipped to see what he is doing. So I am out of town on Friday and he calls tells me it's fixed and wants to charge me $1900+. I am freaking out. I say isn't anything under warranty on this as I am sure the system is only 5 years old. He tells me he will reduce the bill by the parts as yes, they are under warranty. He charges me $1700+. I told him to leave me the paperwork on the table. He tells me that the blower motor burned up due to water that had leaked from the txv that had frozen and that he cleaned up the water. Said I was lucky it didn't do more damage. This seems odd to me as he was working on the txv and if the system was still frozen, I felt he should have done something to prevent the water from impacting any part of the system. That same afternoon I get a call from my roommate and he tells me the house is not cooling off and that he cannot feel the air coming through the vents like it used to. SO I call John, along with a text and he tells me it will be next day before house cools off. I call and relay the message. I text the next day and the house is starting to cool off but not like it used to. I get home on Monday and I call American Standard to complain, and they tell me to call another company to have it checked. I call two companies, the original company that installed it and another. The original installation company sends a technician out at no charge, and they find that John had closed some dampers, which restricted the airflow. He had all kinds of equipment and tested airflow and static pressure. So now it is working correctly like it used to. I also saw that when John had soldered one part on the unit outside, that he melted the insulation on the copper pipes close to the part. So now I have to go purchase insulation and cover the exposed copper. I text John and sent a message by email and told him that the invoice /receipt he left at the house shows a different amount $1300+ and I want a refund on my credit card, he has refused. Now I have to contact my credit card company to dispute. read more
