What are the chances that 1) this could happen and 2) that the techs info is correct.

[Coroner25]

Hello all, thanks for the help in advance I really appreciate those of you that check this page and reply to us lay people. Ok so last year I purchased a foreclosed property in Las Vegas it's a 3000 sq. ft. house that was built in 2006. It has 2 HVAC systems a larger system on the ground floor (I believe it's 3.5 ton) and a smaller system for the upstairs, I don't recall the manufacture at this time. This house is mainly a party house I have been there about 6 or 7 weeks since the purchase, so because of that I bought wifi thermostats so I can operate the systems via the Internet. The installation of these units was a little bigger then I expected so I contacted a local hvac company and had a guy come out and do the work, great guy retired military we had a great conversation really nice guy, he inspected the systems and said that I had a very nice set up.

So to the issue, Thursday my parents are in Las Vegas and my mother calls and says that the downstairs AC is not working, she believes the thermostat switched to heat and started blowing hot air, I checked the thermostat via my computer and put it on cool and lowered the temp to 74, my parents went outfor a show and came back and the downstairs area was still hot and wasn't cooling. I couldn't remember the exact name of the company i had dealt with but thought I found them via the net and gave the number to them to call. A Technicain came out that night and after about an hour said, he thinks its the controller board which is $$$-$$$$ to replace but he can't guarantee that it would fix the problem. After he said this to my father he said that these systems in the house are very cheap and they only have a 10-12 year life and instead I should get a new system because these units often go wrong and can kill you with carbon monoxide in the winter. So my father calls and says this to me and I tell him to cut the guy loose I would find another Technicain before we talk about doing that kind of work. After looking through my bills I find the company that did the previous work and contacted them to come out. Today (Friday) my mother calls and says the upstairs unit is now not cooling and that the repairman from the company I called can't get out until Saturday. At this point I can't have my parents in the desert without AC so I book them into a hotel for the next couple of days and I feel total helpless being 500 miles away and there is nothing I can do, sorry if I'm long winded I just wanted to give as much detail as I could.

Here is my questions, what are the chances of 2 separate systems going out with in 24 hours of each other? Does this control board story hold weight, my mother shared my suspicion about the first Technicain because the control board replacement was pre printed on the repair form. Having had several hvac systems I thought the issue sounded like a capacitor blowing out, and now with the 2 system going down I am totally perplexed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[dsprice]

Check the contractor map on this site and call them. The guys that post here are proud to do a good job and will tell you the truth about what's wrong.

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[Special Ed]

Some co's invoices have a list of the most common repairs printed on their invoices - shouldn't read anything into it there, & there's no need to get overly paranoid over some weird impression you may get after the fact simply because you're unable to face reality or don't like the quoted price.

As for the second system breaking down, although it is an odd coincidence it does legitimately happen - heck, it's happened to me. I say either give the tech the benefit of the doubt or continue to feed your unfounded (or founded - who knows?) paranoia & call someone else. Whatever you do, though, don't be surprised if the other co you call comes to the same conclusion as the previous one.

And whatever you do don't buy into either co's propaganda - HVAC co's are notorious for throwing their competition under the bus by talking bad about the other guy by either saying the other guy either way overcharges or undercharges for their services or that he was totally & completely incompetent, or that he was trying to rip you off. All, some or or maybe none of that may be true but it's not something either should be telling you - you should come to that conclusion on your own.

[Coroner25]

[QUOTE=Special Ed;14054611]Some co's invoices have a list of the most common repairs printed on their invoices - shouldn't read anything into it there, & there's no need to get overly paranoid over some weird impression you may get after the fact simply because you're unable to face reality or don't like the quoted price.

Thanks for your reply Special Ed and DSPrice. Well the Technicain from the company I trust shows up and with in 15 minutes diagnosed the issue as low coolant in both units, he changed the fittings he could in case they were the source of either leak and has things up and running in less than an hour, at 30% the cost the first guy wanted to charge me for a control board. I'm glad I questioned the first guys theory just didn't pass the smell test, maybe that's just my law enforcement mind. Im not saying the first guy was scamming me but it's seems pretty darn close I know a few investigators that would raise an eyebrow to this guy. Anyway thanks for the forum, now I know where to ask my questions and also know I will have issues with this system in Vegas.

[skippedover]

If it makes you feel any less paranoid, I have a customer who is fairly new to a home for which we've provided both maintenance and service for a number of years. This summer she's got 2 of her 3 systems inop due to no refrigerant (leaks), and one system that won't bring on the condenser. All 3 units are the same vintage. So what are the odds? Remember, your house is in Las Vegas and the house stacks the winnings against you!

Seriously though, the odds aren't that high that you would have 2-systems inop within 24-hours of each other. And around our neighborhood, when a house has been foreclosed, about the only thing left of a furnace or AC is the condenser pad. So count your blessings if everything was in place. I don't think the first chap had a clue so you did the right thing moving on. I also don't think waiting a few days is outrageous given the heat of the summer. So send the hotel bill to the folks if you want but absentee ownership is not all it's cracked up to be!