Complaints
Customer Complaints Summary
- 1 complaint in the last 3 years.
- 0 complaints closed in the last 12 months.
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Initial Complaint
Date:07/12/2022
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I was told I was paying for a part that cost 3000 CAD and given a non-itemized charge to sign. Prior to the service, I was told since I paid for a visit on the day before to repair (200 dollars) by the same company that did not work, I would only be charge a ‘transparent flat fee of 165/hour for diagnostic services’ by an employee called Peter over the phone prior to agreeing to have them conduct the repair. After this, I asked for an itemized receipt as I checked around and the part was significantly less than what I was told. They refused at first. Then the ops manager Jamie G******* contacted me with the part fee. It was 2000 dollars. I asked why my bill was 3089 dollars (plus 200 the day before) and he said the service fee was a flat fee regardless of how long. The competition only charges 160 for first hour and 110 for second. I asked and confirmed no other fees. 270 dollars for exactly 2 hour service is reasonable. Over 1000 for a 2 hour job IS EXCESSIVE and should be illegal. This company claimed to be transparent but was anything but that. I was promised 165/hour over the phone by Peter. I should only have been charge 330 dollars for the service. They lied to me. I was told the part was 3000 dollars- also a lie. I signed a non-itemized bill which was misleading and unethical. They won’t do anything about it. **** ******* *** ********* ** **** ********* ** ******* **** ** **** ** Please help me
Business Response
Date: 28/12/2022
Dear
BBB,
For this job the customer made a phone call to Border Mechanical Services Ltd.
on Sunday December 4th, 2022. That particular day was -10C during the day and
-19C at night which is abnormally cold for that time of year. The customer told
Border’s after hours on call dispatcher that she had phoned multiple other furnace
repair companies and that no other businesses were able to get to her home as
we were in the middle of a cold snap. Border dispatched an after hours on call
technician and charged the customer $189+GST for the Sunday visit. Here is the Job
Summary from Border’s technician on that first visit:
"** **** * **** ******* ****** *** **** ****** ****** ** *** ******* ***** *** *** ******* *** *** ** *** *** **** ***** **** **** ** **** ****** ***** *** **** ******** *** ** ******* *** *** *** *** ** *** ****** ******* **** *** ****** ***** *** ******* ** *** ******* ***** ******* ******** **** ****** ***** *** ** ****** ** ****** ** ******* ********* *** **** **** **** ** **** ****** ***** ***** * ****** ****** ***"
The
next day on Monday December 5th, 2022 the customer called back in the morning
to say that the furnace was having issues again. We dispatched our technician
Peter immediately to see what was happening with the furnace. Since we had been
to the customer’s home 1 day earlier we waived our standard $99 dispatch fee that
applies to any visit that we make to a home. Once on site our technician Peter
performed his separate diagnosis. This is where we may have had a
miscommunication. Peter perhaps made mention of a "Diagnostic Charge"
which is a flat rate fee to diagnose the issue with your furnace. If he made
mention of a price (example $165), it was simply to assign a fee towards the
evaluation and diagnosing of the problem with the furnace because it seemed to
be intermittent - one day prior it was working, one day later it was not. There
was clearly something wrong with this gas powered mechanical heating system and
we needed to diagnose it further. We believe that the customer heard the word
"diagnose" and are thinking of the word "fix" or
"repair" - therefore if Peter said $165 for 1 hour of diagnosis then
he simply meant that $165 would cover off his time to troubleshoot the furnace
UP TO 1 HOUR in his initial evaluation of the system. He did not say $165 per
hour for REPAIRS. We do not charge for repairs by the hour, we charge for
repairs by the job. Once the evaluation was complete, he made the following
comment on the job:
"*** ******* *** ******* ** ** ***** ***** ***** ***** ****** ************* * ******** ***** ** *** ******* *** ** ******* ** *** **** ******* ** *** **** ***** ******* *** ****** ****** ** *** **** ** ** ******* ** ***** ***** **** **** ****** ******* ***** * ******* *** ******* **** *** *** ** *** ***** ****** *** *** ***** ******* **** ******* ** *** ******* ******* *** ***** ***** ** ** ********."
Peter
then recommended an *** ******** ************, created an upfront estimate for
$2936.68+GST and the customer agreed to have the work performed at that rate. We
sourced the parts locally at one of our wholesalers and made the repair. Border
Mechanical Services Ltd. is a flat rate company and does not charge by the hour
- we charge by the job. The price the customer was quoted is to complete the
job from start to finish no matter how much the parts costs or how much time it
takes. The price also includes a 1-year warranty on parts and labour. Should
anything go wrong with this mechanical part in 1 year we will return free of
charge to supply and install a new one. Once Peter installed the new motor he
made the following note on the invoice:
"* ******** *** ***** *** ******* *** ******** *** ******* ******* ** *** *** ****** *** ***** ** *** *** ** ******* ***** * *** ***** **** ** *******."
The
repair was completed at 2:37pm on Monday December 5th, 2022.
After
the repair was completed the customer began to phone other Furnace Repair
companies to get quotes *** ******** ************ for her furnace. These other
companies did not make a site visit to see the furnace so they would be unable
to accurately quote on the repair. The customer felt that we overcharged for
the repair and emailed in to get a further explanation. Our Service Manager Jamie
G******* responded to the concerns via multiple emails. We also shared the
motor cost from our wholesaler with the customer which is why there is access
to an invoice from *** ****** *****. Here are 2 of the responses to the
customer’s inquiries sent on December 7th, 2022:
***** ** ** ******
** *** * **** **** ******* *** ** *** ****** ** *** ***** *** ***** *** *** ****** ** ** ******** *** *** **** ***** ** ****** ** ****** *** **** **** ** ****** **** ** *** ** ** ****** ******** ********* ** *** *** ***** * ***** * ***** ** ** ***** *** ***** **** *** ******* *** ***** ****** ******** *** ***** ***** ** ****** *** ***** ** **** ** *** ***** ** ** ** **** **** ** ******* *** ***** *** *** ****** ***** ** ******* *** ******* *** ***** *** ********* *** ***** *********** **** *** ****** *** ******* ****** **** **** ********* ** ****** ********* ***** ** ** ***** *** ******** **** ** ******** *********** ***** *** *********** **** ** **** * **** ** **** *** ****** *** ****** ******* *** ***** ****** ** **** * ***** ****** ** ** **** ** **** *** **** ****** ** **** ** *** ******** *** **** *********** ** **** ** ******** ** ******* *** ******** ** ** **** *** *** **** ** ***** ** ***** *** ********* *** *** **********
***** ** ** *** **** ******* ** ******** ******* *** **** *** * ********* **** *** ***** ****** ** ********* ** *** **** *** *********** **** *** *** **** ** *** ****** ****** *** **** ****** *** ********* ****** *** **** ***** ***** ********** **** ********** ** *** ********** **** ******* * **** **** **** *** **** **** ***** ** ********* ** *** ***** ******* *** **** ****** ********* ****** ** ** ******** *** ******* **** * ***** ****** ** **** ** *** ***** *** ******** ******** *** ******** ** ***** *** ******** ** *** **** ********** ******* ***** ** ******* ** *********** **** *** ***** ******** ********* * ******** *** ******* ********* ** ** ********* **** ***** ** * *********** **** *** ***** *** *** **** ** ** *** * ******** ***** **** ** *** ***** **** *** ********** **** ** **** ********** *** **** ** *** ******* ****** ******* *** *** ***** ******* ****** **** ** ** *** **** *** *** ** ** ********** **** ******** ** *** *** ** *** *** *** ******** *** ******** ******* ** *** *** ** *** **** ** ******* ** * *********** ** *** **** ** **** ** *** **** **** *** **** *** ****** *** **** *** *** ****** *** ** ***** ** *** ** ** * ********* **************
**** ********
***** ********
The customer still felt overcharged for the job and filed a business
complaint to the Better Business Bureau which is her right to do so. We hope we
have provided enough details regarding this business complaint and are very
sorry that the customer still feels this way. Additionally we would like to apologize for the
delay in response – we did not see the BBB alert via email that said we had a
complaint. We just received a letter in the mail to alert us of the business
complaint and we responded immediately. Please let us know if we can provide
any more information regarding this job.
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