Complaint Review: COMFORT MASTERS INC - Gilbert Arizona

2/1/11:  The customer was shown the seized motor that failed.  He was shown that the shaft would not turn.  Also noted to the customer that the 20 year old indoor air handler is not a match to the 10 year old heat pump.  

2/21/11: (the 2nd tech is a trainee, riding with a Journeyman Service technician with more than 15 year experience.) The outdoor TXV (Thermal Expansion Valve) capillary tube had rubbed against other copper until it wore through.  We have a picture of this, taken the morning of the incident.   The customer may want to assume that the motor was never bad, but he must be forgetting how it was shown to him that the shaft was seized.

2/22/11: "sarcastic employees... loud, boisterous, and played loud music"  When the customer told me this on the phone, I was taken back, firstly because this is a 1st, and secondly because we have written policies concerning loud music. Please people, come interview or visit the employees in question.  sarcastic just doesn't fit into their mould.  I did learn that the tech's did have an iPhone playing country music during the repair.  Loud?  How loud can an iPhone be?  I have, however, addressed this.  Rules are rules and they must be followed.

2/24/11: I'm always sorry to loose a customer.  When the customer told me that the 2nd repair company had ordered a valve, but it would be a few days getting here, I offered to put in a generic valve for free so his wife wouldn't have to be in a cold home while waiting.  Then when the correct valve came in, he could have it done but wouldn't be out any more money.  As it turned out we had the correct valve in stock so we installed that for free like I had promised him. All this was after listening to the customers complaint and before talking to my technicians.  The "rest of the story" (their side) makes this complaint very interesting.  However, No regret on my part.  

I'm not sure what is going to be accomplished by going through the Registrar of Contractors.  But I Know this:  There is no ARI match up between this 20 yr old air-handler and this 10 year old Heat Pump, therefore a truly balanced refrigerant charge to work in cooling and heating will always be difficult if not impossible to obtain.

The HVAC unit is once again not working and I am calling another HVAC contractor. At this point I cannot in good conscience recommend Collins. Too much effort and the job did not get one correct after 4 visits.

I have filed a complaint with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors and hired a different contractor.

2/22/11 - Today Collins fixed everything 100% and did not charge me extra; however, in the interim of getting this problem resolved, I had to pay another contractor to diagnose the problem and they ordered the replacement part, which costs me about an extra $600 and I am stuck with a part I cannot use.

As a side note, the Owner of Collins was extremely nice and helpful, but his employees were sarcastic, especially after I complained, and they were loud, boisterous, and played loud music which they were making the final repairs.

Collins made good on taking care of me, but it was a lot of work, 4 visits to my home and a lot of my personal time. I cannot in good conscience recommend them unless they get their techs properly trained and get them in line with a better attitude. If you complain about the techs to the office, be leery of a backlash if they have to come out to correct a problem.