Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/31/2022

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore 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.

  My appointment was from 5pm till 7:30pm that they promised to come.Then at 4:57pm I got a call that he will be at my residence before 8:30pm. Which they also promised to come.Past 8:30pm no call and dont even want to show up. Is this how your company works. At least a courtesy call or something.Try to talk to manager ask what is going on, but the same thing happen. Why call while its the company fault. Still no phone call to give an explanation. Your costumer service really really bad. Still waiting for a call about it. Plus, I paid in full for the service.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/08/2022

  This is in response to the report you received from a customer who telephoned ********************** on August 28, 2022, to report his Air Conditioner had stopped working. The customer was advised there was a $90 diagnostic charge and the service call was scheduled for the following day on August 29,2022. 
  
  After our Technician arrived and completed his diagnosis, he advised the customer that the ******************** had failed and that the Condenser Coil was leaking. The customer was given a quote to replace both parts and requested to only have the Motor replaced, as the Coil is currently on back order with the manufacturer. The customer paid the total charge of ******************** the $90 diagnostic fee and $573.85 for the Motor with installation.
  
  Unfortunately, due to a recent rash of COVID we experienced in our Office, we were short staffed that day causing unexpected issues with communication.As a result, the installation did not transpire as planned. By copy of this response, we would like to take this opportunity to extend to the customer our sincere apologies for any inconvenience him as a result.
  
  The installation did take place first thing the following date on August 31, 2022; and while ECM will not be issuing a billing adjustment,we do appreciate the opportunity your notification gave us to extend to the customer our apologies.
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/30/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore 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.

  For 13 years I had ECM service contract. I purchased the ****** system from ECM. On this Tuesday, August 22 2022, a scheduled employee from ECM came to our home to service the air conditioning unit. The service person said to me that I needed to have the bulb replaced. I said it is working. He said yes but after a year or two the bulb becomes inefficient. Also the unit has these lights on, It’s the power supply to the bulb as explained. These were on prior to the employee servicing this unit, and the bulb it self was still working when he opened the doors to the closet the unit is installed in. I also noted that the employee did not shut down the unit to work on it at the shut off switch, but raised the temp to prevent system from coming on to cool.
  The employee proceeded to twist off the bulb connector in order to bring out the bulb from the unit, but the power line wire appeared to be constricted. So he had to loosen the small face plate in order to clear the area so that he could get behind to the power cable. Once he had access to the power cable he pulled it apart at the midway connection point, in order to disconnect it from the power source end. This allowed him to remove the section of cable that had the bulb connector as well as the bulb. As I returned to my desk I said to the service person if you needed anything to let me know. At one point during the replacement of the bulb I came back, and when the service person took out the light socket and replaced the bulb he seemed to be having a problem re-inserting the connector with the bulb back into the unit. He bent this coil like tubing that is near the light connector. All in all, the employee somehow shorted the power supply to the UV bulb. Now they wanted to charge me ****** to fix. Unit is under 10 year warrantee. I also just renewed contract August 9th, ******. Bulb ******. I wrote to them asking for full refund on bulb and contract. Extremely dissatisfied with ECM.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/13/2022

  This is in response to the report you received from one of
  our customers regarding the ****** UV System that was installed along with a
  ****** Air Conditioner on July 1, 2013, by ECM.  
  
  The customer is correct; when our Technician arrived on
  August 22, 2022, to complete his tune up, he mentioned to the customer that his
  ****** UV Bulb needed to be replaced. As a point of clarification, while ******
  provides a 5-year manufacturer’s limited warranty on the UV System, the bulb inside
  the System that emits the ultraviolent rays is to be changed every two (2)
  years.  After this time, the bulb is no
  longer emitting the UV rays.
  
  Typically, customers that purchase UV Systems automatically request
  to purchase a new bulb at the same time they have their Air Conditioner tuned
  up. Accordingly, this customer purchased a replacement UV bulb that was
  installed on December 21, 2015, two years after installation of the system, and
  again two years later on February 18, 2017, both during his scheduled tune ups.
  
  However, it wasn’t until over five years later, on August
  10, 2022, that the customer called to schedule an AC Tune up with no request
  for a UV Bulb. Therefore, when our Technician arrived he mentioned to the
  customer the need to replace the UV Bulb. The customer agreed; but  when our Technician went to change the bulb he
  discovered that the UV System itself was no longer working. Unfortunately, the manufacturer’s warranty expired on July 1,
  2018.
  
  This brings us to the customer’s report indicating the following:  The over 5 year old bulb was still working and  our Technician broke the UV system when changing the bulb.  Further, the customer demanded that ECM
  replace the system at no charge to the customer. While we strongly believe our Technician did not do any damage to the system, in the spirit of good will, ECM did
  agree to replace the UV System (valued at $***) for the same price as a UV Bulb
  ($***) providing the customer a savings of $***.  The customer instead chose to cancel his $***
  ECM Contract for a full refund. 
  
  To this end, we appreciate the opportunity your office afforded
  us to report ECM’s position in this matter. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/14/2022

  
  
  Complaint: 17796017
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  It is a BOLD FACE LIE!! that my UV system was not working. As a matter of FACT, your technician commented on the FACT that the UV Bulb was working!
  
  Both of your Technicians that came recently, never turned the power off on the unit to work on the UV bulb. It is my belief that this mere action, along with tampering with the UV components triggered a burned-out power supply to the UV system.
  
  Who works on a live system powering 220V live, by raising the thermostat temperature in order to prevent the air cooler from activating while the system is opened?
  
  As a MATTER of FACT, when I went outside and asked your technician how everything is upstairs, he replied "ALL GOOD", which again was a BOLD FACE LIE!!!! cause after I signed the charges without checking and trusting that he had done his work and he billed me for services rendered, that I realized I had been hoodwinked and LIED to.
  
  THAT is the one of the reasons why and adding to the boldness that you damaged my system and then have the audacity to want to charge me over ****** to repair damages caused by your technician. 
  
  I requested a full refund on the recent contract renewal of ****** and I also requested a FULL REFUND on the BULB (******) which your second technician that came here picked up on September 9th, 2022, at 3.41pm. 

  You also posted my ECM contract was ***.00, which is not true! see image file uploaded of bank charges.

  You are then still trying to make money on me after you broke my system by trying to charge me another ****** to fix what your technician broke!!

   you are remarkable!!!

  SHAME ON YOU. Just because you did not make any money off me while COVID was in full bloom for over 2 years simply because we are not allowing anyone to come into our home who potentially could infect us with this virus.

  With regards to this comment:

  However, it wasn’t until over five years later, on August 10, 2022, that the customer called to schedule an AC Tune 
  up with no request for a UV Bulb. 

  I did not request a bulb replacement, because I did not have to, your phone attendee whom I was transferred to after paying for my contract renewal by phone stated that I needed to have my bulb changed to which I stated ok, and I also said to that attendee my bulb is working, to which she replied yes, but they become infective after 2 years. Whether or not my bulb was infective after two years, my power supply for the UV system was not burned out which is the state your technician left my system in.

  If this is the way you try to recoup losses due to COVID I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH your business.

  To the BBB i have already contracted trustworthy company to fix the damages caused by ECM. technician.

  What is so damaging and infuriates me is that after 13 years of being a customer who mind you had spent over ******* on an ECM Unit, not counting Maintenace contracts, bulb replacement, air handler coil replacement, cooling fan motor replacement for this ***** system, is simply looked upon as a FAT PIGEON to be ripped off.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ******** *********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/24/2022

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore 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.

  In April of 2015 we had East Coast Mechanical installed a Lennox ****. I also purchased their A/C service plan and very year the **** was serviced by ECM. The other day, the **** stopped working so we called ECM and they sent out their tech yesterday. This tech did not even know how to reset the smart hub so I had to show him. He advised us the thermostat and smart hub would need to be replaced. We were in a hurry to have the **** repaired since I just had open heart surgery so we called later in the day and were advised that the items were not under warranty and would cost a $1,056 to order so we did just that. After reading the product manual, we decided to call ****** where we learned #1. that the tech SHOULD have called them to do a hard reset on the system (it may have been a bug and just needed a reset) and #2 the thermostat was still under warranty with ****** (the original replaced only 2 years ago so all they had to do is submit a warranty claim). We then called ECM back and asked to talk with the General Manager so we could get the situation cleared up. The receptionist told us there was nothing she could do and she was absolutely no help. She took our information but it was the parts department that left a message not the General Manger. We finally spoke with someone in their parts department today who was rude as well and no help. We were told they do not do any trouble shooting on smart thermostats and that the warranty submitted was denied by *****************'s mid August in ******* and we have no ****. So now we have to call another certified dealer and wait for them to come out and do what ECM should have done yesterday. Pathetic customer **********************!!!!! We want a refund of the service charge from yesterday, a refund of the $1,056 charge and a refund of the current service plan.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/08/2022

  This is in response to the report you received from one of our customers regarding the iComfort Smart Programmable Thermostat installed with his Lennox Air Conditioner on April 23, 2015, by ECM.  
  
  We did review the customers file and noted that the customer telephoned ********************** on August 22, 2022, to report his Air Conditioner had stopped cooling. Accordingly, our Technician was dispatched to his home and found nothing whatsoever wrong with the Air Conditioner.
  
  Once the Technician determined the Air Conditioner was not the issue, he found that the iComfort Smart Programmable Thermostat needed to be replaced. Incidentally, the customer indicates in his report that the Technician did not even know how to reset the smart hub (a hardware or software that connects devices on a home automation network).  That is correct! Our Technicians are not home automation network Technicians they are Air Conditioning Technicians, nor does the contract cover Programmable Thermostats or Programming issues as listed on the back of the ECM Contract and reads under Item. 2. as follows:
  
  2.CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING: Air Handler &Condenser) electric type only. Compressor, evaporator coil, standard thermostat and humidistat, standard fan motors, relays, contactors, run capacitors, (Freon 410-A), fan blades, transformer, blower wheel, electric heater. NOT COVERED: Freon R-22, Freon R-22 substitutes, programmable thermostats, programming thermostat
  
  Further, and contrary to what the customer claims, the manufacturers limited parts warranty on the customers  iComfort Smart Thermostat expired April 23,2020.  The customer did have a warranty Thermostat replaced on April 8, 2020, but all replacement warranty Parts always continue with the original warranty date of the Part.
  
  In any case, per the customers request, ECM credited the customers credit card on September 1, 2022, for a total of $1,056, covering the charge for the replacement iComfort Programmable Thermostat that was not installed.  In addition, our **************************** has been notified to cancel the customers Service Contract and this will be processed in line with the terms and conditions of the contract. However, ECM will not be refunding the $45 Deductible charge. The customer had elected to purchase a $45 Deductible Per item ServicedContract requiring the $45 charge be paid for each item serviced and this charge was valid as covered herein.  
  
  To this end, we appreciate the opportunity your report afforded us to respond to the customers requests.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/07/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore 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 purchased an home appliance warranty from east coast mechanical, and my homes a/c stopped working they came out to check and or repair the unit but the part needed is not available and has subsequently been discontinued. My a/c was made by carrier which is now owned by ECM. And they told me there is nothing they can do . If I wish to have my a/c repaired , I would have to find the parts need myself .

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/09/2022

  This is in response to the report your office received from a customer regarding their ***** Carrier Air Conditioner installed on June 2,2017, by ECM.
  
  We have reviewed this customers file and learned that in June, 2022, they had telephoned ECM to report the ** had stopped cooling. On June 30, 2022, ECM dispatched a Service Technician to the customers home. After a thorough diagnostic,our Technician found that the ************ to the ** had failed.
  
  ECM immediately contacted the manufacturer, Carrier, to inquire on the status of the part as there have been many supply issues with parts, as is the case in every industry. The factory indicated to us that the part was on back order and that they did not have a current estimated date when we could expect to receive the part. Incidentally, and contrary to what the customer stated in the report, ********************** does not own Carrier, nor has the part been discontinued.
  
  In any case, we have since received notification from Carrier that the part is now available and we have contacted the customer to begin the repair process.
  
  Under the circumstances, ECM has closed the file on this matter.
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/04/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  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.

  We called ECM in regards to a leak in the air handler of our a/c unit. ECM sent a tech out and the Tech said that our coil was too old and dirty to fix and needed replacement. I called ECM to inquire about the part and was told that we needed to pay ******** up front for the part and that the part was on backorder and there was no date available for it. I asked why we needed to pay that and was told that maintenance issues were not covered by ECM. I understood that but questioned why this was not brought to our attention after they performed a tune ** in April and the lady said it was not bad in April. I since hired another A/C company and they said indeed that our coil was dirty but was able to remove it and clean and reinstall the unit. I do not understand that we were told it was good in April but now it has to be cleaned in such a short period of time. I have since called ECM 7 times to talk with a manager and still have not done so. What are you afraid of?? You know that this is wrong so just admit it and move on, we have had ECM for many years and have had several tune-*** performed and not once has the coil been brought up about cleaning it. Now because of ECM's shortcomings we are faced with extra costs over a coil that we would have paid to have been cleaned 10 times over. The new A/C company stated that we might have to replace the coil anyway because it should have been cleaned before and this is so unnecessary if ECM would have just done a better job on their tune-***. I understand if your company has issues getting quality workers, but to really expect us to believe that our coil has gotten so bad in just a few months is ridiculous.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/09/2022

  This is in response to the report your office received from one of our customers regarding the Evaporator Coil to his 7-year old Air Conditioner. 
  
  We did review the customers file and noted that our Tune up technician, who completed a tune up to the customers AC on ***** 8, 2022,inadvertently neglected to document the condition of the customers Evaporator Coil on the customers copy of our Work Order. We also learned that almost four months later, the customer telephoned ********************** for ********************** and it was discovered that the Coil was dirty and plugged up and that the customer feels this was a result of prior tune *** that were not completed correctly by ECM.
  
  As a point of clarification, ***** was the first time ECM ever serviced this 7-year old AC.  ECM has not completed any prior tune-*** or services to this AC until the tune up in ***** of this year. While it appears another company has been performing the tune ***, or lack thereof (for the past 7 years), we still would like to extend to this customer our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused him if our Tune up Technician observed any future concern and neglected to tell the customer as a result.
  
  In addition, we are baffled by the customers comment that he called several times to speak to a manager. We have several managers in place to take calls from any customer that needs further assistance.  In addition, we have a ************************* manned by management, to be certain customers receive excellent Customer **********************. Therefore, by copy of this letter we would like to let the customer know that he can call our ************************ at Ext. 2010, should he ever need assistance in the future.
  
  While we understand the customer has since had his Coil cleaned, we understand he is requesting a refund for the Tune up. Please be assured, a Supervisor has since contacted the customer and, as a gesture of good-will, ********************** has agreed to refund the customer the $60 charge he paid for the tune-up.  He should be receiving a check in the mail within the next seven business days.
  
  To this end, we appreciate the opportunity your report afforded us to respond to the customers complaint and to honor the customers request.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/10/2022

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************