It's a shame!

[Keith73]

If I had pics, this would go on the "Wall of Shame".

I was called out to correct a mess left by another "company" that would not return and fix.

They told the customer that the reversing valve on his 8 year old Trane XLi13 was causing a loss of cooling capacity. I found a crappy replacement. They did not remove or replace the bullet driers and the brazing work was horrible and leaking.

I advised the customer that the leak had to be repaired and the system charged before I could assess his system. The customer agreed to the work and because of what just happened to him was very interested in watching the whole process. Once the system was properly repaired and running (removed old driers and installed new heat pump drier, nitrogen leak test, evacuaetcn, ect) I found that the real reason for his cooling problem was a failed TXV. I had advised him that it could be an issue before I started work so he was prepared.

Long and short of it is he spent lots of money to end up right back where he started. We are going to give him a break and the part is warranty, but he still got ripped off by some idiots.

Sad statement of what is out there. I hate it for the customer. He would not say who did this to him but I suspect he is not done with them.

[carmon]

see it almost everyday.. ... i could not sleep at night if I did poor work for customers....

[Aerovox]

That's ridiculous. One time we went to a service call where the house felt very hot because of humidity. When we crawled underneath we found that the installer didn't run a drain or even knock out the hole for the drain so the unit had about 3 inches of water sitting in it.

[timebuilder]

Good for you for doing it right. I'm sure he appreciates it!

[socotech]

You got a customer for life.

[catmanacman]

I'm still amazed at the amount of techs that do not know how to check subcool and superheat and use it in the trouble shooting of the refrigerant system

[cuchulain]

After hurricane Ike hit in '08 we had so many out of state contractors come in and put do installs. We went behind at least 6 that I know of for sure that we had to tell the customer the only way to fix the system so it worked was tear the whole thing out and start over.

[pacnw]

see it too many times as well.

yesterday, customer had us out as third opinion. second opinion said we were reputable/good company and just use us.

first company said they needed a new furnace because it had a bad HX.

only issue I found was dirty flame sensor, which a fourth company supposedly cleaned in June.

HO said someone(I think first company) wanted to sell her a board, I think flat rate price, at the cost of a new furnace.

real confusing and HO did not give me the entire story unless I asked specific questions.

At the end, it should have been a service with the flame sensor as the issue.

Seen the install issues by know nothing hacks. Customer wants to know why it is more to fix it then to install it. Because you went cheap to start and now you pay to do it right.

I think the internet has a lot to do with this, including the post about needing refrigerant added due to a frozen coil.

[Tommy knocker]

It is a shame. I won't call anyone with less then 5 years experience a hack. I call them misguided, by hacks. Alot of our cut throat competitors will hire young aspiring techs rite out of school spend 30 min teaching them how to fill out an invoice and toss them out to the wolves. I have a buddy, in this situation. Minimal training, no real experience but hired to help install this last spring. It got hot. They got busy. He got a truck and a stack of invoices. Good kid. Wants to do the rite thing and a good job but that's the job in the trade he could get in the area he lives in. He is looking to move for better options but the truth is he is most likely doing more harm then good for the customers and himself, bad habits.

[SkullMonkey]

I'm still amazed at the amount of techs that do not know how to check subcool and superheat and use it in the trouble shooting of the refrigerant system

I see it all the time in supply houses, guys asking for help troubleshooting a problem based on pressures alone. Most units are charged only by pressure readings too!

[acguytx]

It happens all you can do is be honest and fair and hope they trust you enough to let you finish the job correctly and use you for future maintenance and calls..