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:07/09/2024

  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.

  Provider was called out to check my air conditioner as it was not blowing cold air. Being a Saturday, I understood there would be overtime rates charged. The technician did not perform a leak test but rather simply added refrigerant to the unit as that what has been done in the past. I do not think the technician even properly checked the downstairs unit and it failed again soon after he left. They made me feel trapped and with no other options being a weekend and charged me 4x the amount for refrigerant compared to other companies. Since they did not fix the problem, this costly refrigerant leaked, and I essentially paid for nothing. I called a different company out on Monday who did their job and found a ruptured coil where the leak was so adding refrigerant to the unit would not fix the issue but just leak out. I had to replace the coil and pay for additional refrigerant with the new company. I am asking for a refund from the first company since they did not do their jobs and took advantage of me and overcharged me.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/31/2024

  The customer called into our answering service on 6/29/2024 at
  9:20am. He advised our answering service that his air conditioner stopped cooling.
  Our answering service took his information and advised they would get the
  information over to the on-call technician for the weekend. 
  
  The customer called back in on the same day 6/29/2024 and said
  they originally told our technician not to come due to the cost of the overtime
  rates, but he was calling back in because they were now agreeing to the
  overtime rate.
  
  Our answering service sent a text to our on-call technician
  Chat log 6/29/2024:
  (440) 554-7571 : Hi! Called back and OK for the overtime
  rates 6/29/2024 10:31 AM
  
  Our technician then dispatched to the customer's home at 10:50am
  on 6/29/2024 with an arrival time to the customer's home at 11:05am
  
  Our technician then proceeds to properly diagnose the air
  conditioning problem the customer was having. Our technician advised the
  customer the ac was low on refrigerant, and he had a leak in the system that
  should be repaired since the customer stated that he has had another company
  add refrigerant to his leaking system for the past two years. Our technician
  had a conversation with the customer regarding the cost of refrigerant and that
  there is no warranty on refrigerant due to an active leak in his ac system. The
  customer advised our technician that he wanted the refrigerant added to provide
  emergency cooling. Our technician then proceeded to add refrigerant to the
  customer's system to provide cooling per request of the customer. The customer
  was advised of overtime pricing before arrival and advised of refrigerant cost
  before adding refrigerant. Our technician provided a $40 off coupon to the
  customer. The Ac was operational and cooling upon leaving the customer's home
  that day and the job was completed at 11:45 am.
  
  On 7/1/2024 The customer called into our office at 8:01am. He
  spoke to our answering service stating they had a tech out over the weekend,
  and it worked the day of service and the day after, but it stopped cooling
  again. Our answering service took his information and advised they would get
  his information over to the service team. Our service team scheduled a
  technician to return on 7/1/2024 between 12-4pm.
  
  On 7/1/2024 The customer called in to question the overtime rates
  he paid for when we serviced him on 6/29/2024 and he referenced the amount he
  paid last year with the other company he used, and he was upset about the cost.
  We advised him the cost of refrigerant fluctuates with the market and our
  pricing is flat rate and included labor as well. Again, this was something that
  was discussed prior to performing any repairs on 6/29/2024. He told our CSR
  that he wanted to cancel the technician returning to his home and he was going
  to leave a review because we were charging more than the previous companies in
  prior years. 
  
  
  On 7/2/2024 at 11:21am the service manager made a call to discuss
  the charges that he was upset about. The customer did not answer, and a message
  was left on his voicemail.
  
  On 7/2/2024 at 2:50pm the customer returned the service manager’s previous
  call, but he was unavailable. Our CSR advised the customer she would email me
  and advise me the customer was returning my call
  
  On 7/3/2024 at 10:50am The customer called in to speak with the service manager. The customer left a voicemail, and said he called another company after
  canceling us to look at his ac and they found a bad coil because it had lost
  more refrigerant. 
  
  On 7/10/2024 at 12:49am The customer and service manager were able to connect
  with each other and discuss the service call on 6/29/2024. He was upset about
  the dollar amount he was charged, and he said the cooling only lasted a couple
  of hours. He was upset we didn't perform a leak search ahead of adding
  refrigerant. (A leak search is a quoted repair which was given to him on
  7/1/2024 at 9:05am and was opened by the customer).  The customer was asked if our technician advised him of the costs and warranty prior to adding the
  refrigerant. The customer acknowledged to having this conversation with our
  technician. During this phone call he again brought up he was going to continue
  to leave bad reviews and he was filing with the BBB. He felt that we didn't do
  our due diligence by not performing a leak search and was unsatisfied. We
  performed the services that the customer advised us to perform on the day of
  service with the customer knowing the refrigerant installed may not last long
  and we would need to perform a leak search to verify the source of the
  leak. 
  
  
  I have included attachments of phone calls and invoices for
  review.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/01/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  
  
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]

  At the end of the day this is a lesson learned and sunk cost for me. Another company came out the next business day and within minutes were able to identify the cause of the leak, a ruptured coil, without charging $400 for a leak test. This was spotted during their basic due diligence or diagnostic of the unit. If they were able to root cause this that quickly, why wasn't Westland and what was actually done and included in their diagnostic fee? The other company quickly shut down the unit rather than add refrigerant knowing there was a busted coil and it would leak right out. It's about doing the right thing and not taking advantage of people. At the end of Westland's visit, it started raining and the tech did not want to go out in the rain to measure how much refrigerant was added so we don't even know what was added to the system and the impact it had.  This, in addition to knowingly leaking additional refrigerant into the environment, I have filed a complaint with the EPA to further investigate any wrong doing. 

  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ****** *****
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/01/2024

  This was our very first service call out to this customer’s home and have never serviced this address before. Per EPA
  608 refrigerant management,  an Owner/operator (the customer) must identify and repair leaks of 10% or more within 30
  days of that leak being identified on systems containing 50 pounds or more. His
  system is under 15lbs of refrigerant, so it is irrelevant to the EPA. He knowingly kept installing refrigerant. We on the other
  hand did not know how much refrigerant has been added in the past. We added 1
  pound per homeowners' instructions at the outdoor unit while it was
  raining and provided an estimate for a leak search which was not approved. If approved we would have performed the service and
  quoted the repair. Every company has different
  protocols, as for the other company coming out days later, I can't speak for
  them, but they knew we had just installed 1 pound of refrigerant and it was low
  again per the customer so they were going to
  search for a leak as we would do the same at an additional cost. To hopefully
  resolve this, we are willing to refund the customer $255.49 for the refrigerant cost and labor included to
  install the refrigerant. We did not take advantage of the customer as he knowingly approved to add refrigerant to his system
  knowing there was a chance it would leak out. This is unfortunate and not what
  we what to see, that is why we explained the cost of refrigerant upfront and
  that there is no warranty on refrigerant due to a possible leak. Hopefully this
  can be resolved and dismissed. Thank you for your time

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/02/2024

  Attached is a quote for $400 to perform a leak test that was not required by the other company to detect the leak from the ruptured coil I had. The full diagnostic fee from Westland should have included proper due diligence from their tech to notice this leak and take corrective action.  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/02/2024

  The diagnostic does not cover a leak search.  We will refund the
  cost of the refrigerant to the customer. Or the customer can retract this
  complaint and remove any reviews about our company on any page and find another
  HVAC and Plumbing contractor and I will refund his full amount of $405.49. The
  customer appears to have many complaints on his google reviews about several
  businesses he has used. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/10/2024

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  
  
  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. I accept the refund of the refrigerant only and will update my review to reflect they made it right by me. 
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ****** *****