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:03/16/2025

  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.

  In May of 2024, Advantage Heating & Air Conditioning, LLC located in *****, ******, sold me a $13,000 HVAC system with a 12 year parts and labor warranty. In August of 2024, the equipment started blowing out a random smelly dirty sock odor. Advantage later compounded the problem using smelly chemical treatments that covered up the first smell and are now unable to eliminate the second. I have been unable to properly use the system since. I can only guess how toxic the smell is. I have pleaded with them, month after month, to either replace the defective parts and stop the odor or take back their system and refund me the money they received from the finance company that they introduced me to for my loan.Instead, most recently, they had their lawyer send me a letter stating that they will replace the presumed defective parts, but only under the condition that I sign a document that relieves them of any warranty responsibility for any odor issues that might occur in the future, including any odors that might occur if or after the proposed replacement parts fail to resolve the current problem. Imagine a car dealership requiring that new car owners sign a document like this one before they would repair a smelly or smoking engine still under warranty.Their prerequisite for my signature on this document reveals to me that they have little faith in their own diagnosis of the problem, or they lack confidence in their own product, or they cant depend on their own workmanship. And so I refuse to sign their document and I will take whatever action within my means for fair treatment. I am blameless in this situation. I am owed the high-quality functioning system with the same warranty that I was promised at the time of purchase, or a full refund, just as a new car buyer would be.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/21/2025

  We spoke with ***, and reiterated our original offer to remove the equipment and provide her with a full refund.  She then asked for additional compensation on top of the full refund, which we declined.  

   

  She ended up taking the full refund and removal of the equipment.  She seems happy at this time.  

   

  To be clear, we sent several technicians, including a Daikin factory trained tech, to her home and no one was able to detect the odor she was experiencing let alone able to fix it.  We performed multiple cleanings, and offered to replace the indoor units; the only condition being that we would not continue investigating the odor issue after replacing the equipment.  

   

  She clearly declined that offer as she filed the BBB complaint. 

   

  Thank you for your help on this. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/29/2025

   
  Complaint: 23074008
  
  I am thankful and I give Advantage credit for finally backing their warranty and giving me the refund that I was due.  However, I am also very insulted that they are using their BBB response here to paint such a misleading image of how my refund came about and making me appear to be a greedy person trying to take advantage of an unfortunate situation.
  
  Yes I did receive a phone call from ******* ****** on 04/11/25; a family relation to the owner of Advantage Heating and Air Conditioning.  He said he had only been aware recently that I had filed formal complaints with the BBB and ***.  He said he had recently been traveling and that he had assumed during his absence that I had signed their document for warranty exemption and that my HVAC heads had been replaced and the matter had been closed.  He said he was not aware that the matter had escalated to the point of a formal complaint until after he had returned from his travels and had received notice from either the *** or BBB or from both. To be perfectly clear, I dont recall specifically which agency or both he referred to during this conversation. Be that as it may, at the time I perceived him to mean that, had he known that I was taking this path, that he would have made more effort to avoid my having to initially file these formal complaints for both of our sakes. The conversation started as I have described and then ended with my accepting his offer to remove their equipment and giving me a full refund.  We agreed the next step was for me to make an appointment with their scheduler to execute the equipment removal and the refund. 
  
  Brandons demeanor during this first conversation led to me to believe that he had some compassion for all my emotional struggle and all the time I had spent and lost over the many months trying to get satisfaction and resolution from their company to protect my HVAC investment.
  In addition to the initial purchase of $13K for the equipment, plus the $2K  electric panel revision,I had also lost over $500 in lawyer fees, postage, office supplies and gas that I was never going to get back.  I decided to call him the next day to ask him if he would consider doing the extraordinary act of compensating me for this additional $500 loss.  He said no, that his company had already lost too much, especially considering that they were a small company.  When he began to give me more justification,I said I understood his refusal and that his additional explanation was unnecessary.  He said he also understood me, and that he himself would have asked for the additional $500 in refund if he were in my position.  As we can all see now from his response submission to the BBB here, I misinterpreted his demeanor and his intention to close our business dealings amicably as I had hoped. It appears to me that he means to denigrate my character through his BBB response submission.
  
  As for Brandons submission that Advantage paid severalvisits to my home to attempt to resolve the odor is too vague and misleading.  They paid a total of four visits specifically to resolve the particular odor problem between August and October.  After October they did absolutely nothing more to resolve the problem before I gave up and filed my formal complaints in April.  During two home treatment visits between August and September, the technicians themselves stated that they too could smell the odor.  After they applied their treatments and had covered up the initial odor and I was left feeling unsure about the outcome, as they were leaving, they said that I need not worry, that Advantage would resolve the odor problem and that they were not the kind of company that would leave my problem unresolved and how important it was to them that I was their happy customer. On October 16, they attached UV purification systems to the defective heads that made no improvement whatsoever.  After that, Advantage stopped initiating contact with me.  I had to spend many hours, actually days, investing my time to present my case to lawyers to get one to advise me how to proceed to force Advantage to stand by the warranty that I had purchased at a hefty price. And now here, at this very moment; I am burning up precious hours of my personal time, invested here in composing this response submission to the BBB to protect my reputation from Advantages implications against my personal ethic and general character. Other visits to my home that were made by Advantage were to address other issues totally unrelated to the odor problem.  I also feel it necessary to add here that Advantages two technicians were not the only other people in my life that experienced this annoying and embarrassing random odor; obviously my friends and family.  
  
  As for my declining their offer to replace the defective equipment, ******* doesnt make it clear in his response submission of the extreme significance in their willingness to replace the equipment only, only,only if I signed a document that relieved them of any future warranty obligation for odors. I paid for a 12 year parts and labor warranty and so of course I refused to sign their unreasonable exemption. The same as I would refuse in a similar situation for warranty work I needed done on a new car. I had recommended and requested that they replace this particular part of the equipment more than once before they offered and the answer was always no; advising me that they had to try other methods and I was to trust their process. When they finally conceded to my request, they had to tack on an unreasonable,unfair prerequisite exemption to their warranty before they would do it.  The question is or was why did they need that exemption if they felt confident about their product and their ability to resolve the problem. 
  
  They treated me so poorly over these many months with their stalls and delays and unkept promises that I am grateful for the final outcome of the refund of course, and hopefully with the submission of this BBB response we can both be finally free from each other and any necessary future business dealings.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *** *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/03/2024

  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.

  On December 24th our Heat Pump stopped working, and I smelled burning and could see some smoke. I turned off the system, which means we had no heat for the holidays and could not get anyone out to look at it right away. Advantage Heating & Cooling was able to send a technician out on the 26th. They replaced 2 parts in the unit costing more than $659. At that time I believe there was discussion about checking into parts that would take longer if they had to order it, but fortunately, they had the parts available and got the unit working that day. After I talked to the vendor who originally installed the system, he mentioned it was covered under warranty. I called ****** and they mentioned they needed to talk directly to the technician that did the work. Then I called Advantage, and they passed on the information. Since I did not hear back from them for awhile, I called again, and they said they would work the warranty (which is the extended warranty - good until 2027). I called about 3 or 4 times and each time they told me they were waiting on a response from ******. This last time I called ****** and got hold of their Consumer Affairs, case #*******, phone # ************. They told me they never received a claim from Advantage, and, as part of the process, the technician should have checked with ****** on the warranty information before doing the work. I called Advantage, and they told me that ****** rejected the warranty, which indicates a claim would have been filed to do that. At this point, I don't know who is at fault, but I am getting misleading information. I want this matter resolved, but I don't know who to trust. If these replacement parts are covered by extended warranty, I would like to get some money back. If they are not, then I would like to know the reason why and whether the extended warranty is still effective for future maintenance.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/24/2024

  We spoke with ****** regarding the complaint.  They will not reimburse us for the part we ordered for ***************************.  However, ****** was told by one of our technicians that it would be covered under warranty.  ****** also claims it should be covered, but due to how we ordered the part they won't honor the warranty claim.

  
  

  Our resolution for ******:  We will reimburse him for the retail cost of the part (roughly $150), and he would be responsible for the labor costs (this is common practice after the first year of an installation).  When we called ****** he was unable to speak as he was on his way out the door.  I gave him my personal cell phone number and asked him to call back when he had time.  We have not heard from him, or been able to get ahold of him, yet. 

  
  

  Please let me know if you need anything else regarding this customer or this claim.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/29/2024

   
  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. For future reference, there needs to be better communication between the business, manufacturer, and myself. I found out after the service was performed that if proper procedure concerning the warranty was followed, the part would have been covered. I appreciate the business recognizing this and resolving this complaint in an acceptable manner.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/15/2023

  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 this company to come out due to smoke smell in our home. They did and said we had a refrigerant leak and needed to order the part that would take a week to get. We was without heat during this time. It took 3 weeks to get the part. When they got here the workers did not know what they were fixing as this was not the original person, we had to tell them in detail what to do. They supposedly fixed the issue. Then a few days later the smoke smell was still there. They came out and said it was working just fine. Two weeks later we call due to the smell still here and they will not come out as they said they had a bad experience. We were very polite to the workers so we don't know what they are talking about. We want our money back so we can call someone else to fix the problem they were hired for.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/22/2023

  Advantage Heating will be issuing a full refund in response to this complaint. We apologize that the part took longer than anticipated to arrive. We reached out to our supplier several times for an update, but it was on backorder. During this time, we received a phone call from the customer who was understandably frustrated.However, he was very disrespectful to our office staff and brought one of our customer service representatives to tears. Our CSR was very apologetic and was trying her best to remedy the situation and clear up any miscommunication, but the customer continued to harass her. We supplied the customer with two portable heaters while they waited for repairs. Once the part arrived, we went out right away and completed the quoted repairs. We returned a week after to address a smell the customer noticed but there was nothing concerning found on our end. Due to the communication we had with this customer, we feel that we are not the right fit to continue servicing them. Our employees are just as important to us, if not more so, than our customers. We dont feel that our employees should be subject to this kind of treatment. Our hope is they find a company that better meets their needs. Hopefully this resolution is acceptable to all parties.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/22/2023

   
  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,
  
  Bill & *************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/08/2023

  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.

  8/05/2022 we spent $24084 ***** and **** came out gave us a estimate on a new heating and air conditioning. My husband told them what we wanted and needed ,I was at the hospital with our premature baby girl when I got here ,***** showed me the best system top of the line that they had . I told him I wanted everything new because we were about to bring our x -premie baby girl home and wanted the best air quality.( Come to find out he never went under the house to check the vents because he said he was claustrophobic )He said Im saving you money with this system in using the old vents and existing ductwork .He assured us the old vents and ductwork would be comparable with the new system. He asked us how much electricity was each month I told him $300 -$400 during the winter and $150 during summer he said this system is going to be saving you so much money. His words exactly (most you will spend on electricity is $200 a month. now our electricity bill $580and not even our emergency heat works. All this time weve have had nothing but problems. The System wont stop running day night it makes loud noice to the point it wakes us up and the baby in the middle of the night.Theres times As it starts up Theres so much cold air coming thru the vents loud air noice.Ive lost track of how many times Ive called I have sent texts,they send workers to come and check It they work on the thermostat. we also had to buy a mini split $5000 for my sons up stairs bedroom because ***************** (he lost his notebook with all the information )we wanted vents to go up to this room as well.This last time **** gave me more $4000 quote to add another return vent and 2 vents in the master bedroom to help keep it warm.he said theyre not sure it would solve any of the problems were having.the thermostat goes up 2* more than the set temperature.We were promised a system that would save us money and be better for us and our family and all we got was 1 more bills and headaches from the noice.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/20/2023

  After reviewing the complaint and speaking with the customer, we are in the process of gathering the needed information to replace the problem duct areas for their main floor.  We anticipate this being completed within the next couple of weeks. Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/20/2023

   
  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,
  
  ***** ***********************************