Complaint Review: Acree AC - Tampa Florida

On 8/13/08 I first contacted the company. At that time, a the problem with the non-cooling AC unit was a leak allowing a drop in refrigerant level. The refrigerant was replaced and a recommendation of "set-up for a recheck and possible leak
search Sept 3 bet 3-5pm" was made. In Sept 3, 2008 it was determined that the coil was leaking and that an electronic board needed replacement. The original unit was 6 years old and it seemed to make sense to get a brand new unit vs. sinking $1500-1600 into the old one that might need repairs down the road. a new unit was installed by Acree.
Fast forward to late March, when I notice that the air conditioning unit is not cooling. I also discovered around April 1-2 a "plinking sound" that I am able to trace down to being small pieces of ice dropping to the floor of the large square empty area right behind the air filter. I called Acree, a technician came out. I mentioned problem AND the small ice pieces to the technician and show him where I saw them fall. He feels around the pipes and ducts coming out of the indoor portion of the
AC then goes outside to test the outdoor portion. I did not watch him do this. When he returns inside he says that I am *completely* out of refrigerant (which he kept calling by Dupont's brand name Freon) and that the coil was leaking. Repairs, he said, would involve replacing the coil (part under warranty) at a labor cost of $636, refilling the "Freon" at $252 and searching for the leak at $132. I thought it very odd that a 3 1/2 year unit would be failing this soon. Part of his
response to that was that I had not been maintaining the unit properly and that a problem would have been discovered sooner had I done so, before all the "Freon" had leaked out.
I thought it odd that twice, Acree technicians had diagnosed the same exact problem: a leak that allowed loss of refrigerant, something that, by all that I have read by a variety of sources (other AC repair companies, installers and techs) is not a common occurrence.
I sought a second opinion. I told him what the previous diagnosis was. The technician from a second company, a project manager actually (who was near my address) was able to come by and he did several things: first, he took off the panels over the air handler and coil from the inside unit, something that the Acree technician never did. He checked
manually for leaks, had me run my hands over the coils: here was no oil anywhere. Then we went downstairs and he wondered if someone may have manually leaked out the refrigerant. He showed me the valves, and how they operate just like the valves on a tire. He then tested the outside unit and showed me the gauges showing that I had plenty of refrigerant!
He explained the significance of both gauges. Thinking something might have been missed, he moved as much of the refrigerant as possible to the outside unit, back filled the lines with nitrogen went upstairs to check for leaks on the coil - he explained that we would know if a leak was there if we could hear the nitrogen escaping and, furthermore, if an area was suspicious, we used soapy water and looked for air bubble formation. No leaks! Next, he thought the problem might be a narrowing in the orifice in the discharge line to the evaporator. To test for this, he explained he could replace the part but that some refrigerant would be lost in the process. I asked for the cost, a fraction of the $1020 quoted by the Acree tech (for services I didn't need), and gave the go ahead. The part was replaced, then the refrigerant levels were replaced to the needed operating levels and the unit was turned back on:
the air from the vents was cool again. As I sit typing this complaint, the indoor temperature has dropped from 86F to 80F in 2 1/2 hrs from the tech's departure. Before, the unit could not cool below 83F even at night.

The unit installed by Acree in 2008 runs on R22 coolant. Production of this refrigerant is being discontinued and as a result the price of its replacement is very high due to supply and demand principles. I have to wonder how many other calls to Acree Air Conditioning for a non-functional AC end up being determined to be that fairly uncommon event of "completely out of refrigerant" and faulty coil, given they can rack up between $800-$1100 for taking care of the problem! I can't
determine that the diagnosis given to me in 2008 was correct: I will always wonder if I was swindled into buying a new AC unit back then.
Regardless of the past, it is very clear that for *this* visit, the diagnosis and proposed solution were both wrong.

When I contacted the BBB with a complaint, here is the defensive response I got (pasted from their letter - all the typos, bad spelling and grammar belong to the author - who did not sign the response)

"We did in fact install a unit in 2008. Air conditioners, like cars, need anual maintenance. The client has not done maintenance to our knowledge. 4 years later they called with "no cool." We found the unit "low on freon" not out. We wrote on the invoice that the cleint signed that it was "low" We further wrote the operating pressures on the system. Based oin the test datat taken, the diagnosis was accutrate. We offered to do a leak check for $132 to determine where the leak was.
The leak check was declined. We gave a "worst case" scenario estimate if a coil was bad, we did not sat for a fact what was wrong because we were not permitted to furthur diagnose. The repair could have been as low as $252.
additonally, no matter how much nitrogen is put in a unit, if a leak is small you would NEVER here it and no reputable repair person would EVER make such a statement. To correctly leak check, you use a electronic  leak detector and search for the leak.
We check and double check all coil leaks. First, when it is determined (which this client did not let us do.) Upon determination of a leak, we mark the coil with orange paint and photograph it. When we arrive to replace the coil, we recheck. Once the coil is replaced, we send it to the manufacturer who test it as well. If it doenst leak, we have to pay for the coil as it is a warranty part that wasnt bad. We have never returned a part in 40 years that was found not to be defective.
Additonally, we have met other compnaies out at homes where we said there was a leak and were told we were wrong over 60 differtent times and have only been provien wrong 1 time. In closing, I repeat that we never told her it was out and we did not condemn any parts. She signed the invoice that detailed the conversation."

I have a copy of the invoice - it does not have a transcript of a "detailed conversation" - during the visit, when I told the technician that I thought that the odds would be very low against the same problems being found again (leak and bad coil) he said it was "ironic" (clearly he did not understand the meaning of the word). He also, later on, told me I had "hurt his feelings" (I forgot the reason why - it was so childish a response I did not see what any further discourse would
achieve.)

This company is not interested in its customer's best interests. Stay away from them! I have since spoken with 2 other people with similar experiences with Acree, and I have contacted the FL Dept of Consumer Affairs with a complaint since they are blowing off the BBB, which really does not have any true ability to bring faulty companies to task and bad companies continue their practices with impunity.