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:01/11/2024

  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.

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: 21125873
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The response is full of inaccuracies and/or fabrications. The technician believed the circulator was broken because that's where he heard the knocking sound was coming from, not because the light wasn't on. He blew up the fuse before, not after, he diagnosed the circulator as not functioning. The technician did not give me any quotes before he left. He said I had to call for a quote and he didn't recognize that a broken circulator meant I had no heat. I called back well within the normal operating hours of the day, just after 4pm (office closes at 4:30). The person I spoke with gave me the first quote that I heard, which I questioned because it represented an incredible mark up in price (more than double). They said that was a discount because the normal price was $688, which is more than 3x markup on the price. I brought up the pricing to the owners on when I spoke with them. I said are you charging $300 for labor and they said, paraphrasing, "We don't charge labor. We look in a book for the part and it tells us what to charge for a company of our size". The person that gave me the quote is the one who sent the supervisor and tech back to my house to correct the issue and all of that was within normal business hours. Moreover, I spoke with that same person on December 22nd and asked why I hadn't received my refund for the service fee and they acknowledged that I was charged the wrong price by the supervisor. No one from the company bothered calling me back to explain what happened refund the difference, which they were aware of. They only refunded the money more than a month later, but only after I initiated a complaint with BBB.

  The person I was on the phone with when the supervisor and technician returned to my home was a friend of more than 20 years who has more than a decade of experience in HVAC installation and maintenance, and assisted with the install of the boiler. This was done as a precaution to protect me from being taken advantage of and make sure the work was being done properly. I called him after their technician broke the fuse, and likely the circulator, and left me without heat. The technician also made numerous statements about the operation of my boiler that I knew to be incorrect, specifically in relation to what the combustion numbers should be on the burner. The supervisor who came to my house was rude and condescending and continually made inaccurate and outright wrong statements about my boiler. He specifically said that he refuses to set the aquastat to what other customers have asked him to set it to (******* degrees) be because it makes him uncomfortable. He inaccurately stated that the boiler would start to produce steam at 212, which is outright wrong. The manufacturer says that should be set to atleast 200 degrees and sometimes prefer it to be even higher, depending on the situation. He was combative and condescending and I ultimately stopped trying to correct him because he was proudly ignorant of how wrong he was. The owner even acknowledged as much when I talked to him. I told him outright that the technicians made wrong statements about the functioning of my boiler and all he had to say was, paraphrasing "Well he doesn't usually work on those." That they characterize a customer having a knowledgeable, trusted friend on the phone as "undermining their technicians", technicians they even acknowledge made incorrect statements and don't know the product, is laughable.

  Furthermore, the fuse was only replaced after I insisted they replace it. When I called back to complain that it wasn't replaced I said it was a fire hazard, which is the reason the thermal fuse is there, to limit damage to the home in the event the boiler starts on fire. I did say I was afraid a power surge could fry my boiler because I was unaware of the secondary breaker, though I'm not sure how relevant that is because I was, and still am, correct that that thermal fuse is there to limit damage in case of a fire.In fact, the guy who came to the house to fix the fuse was the best person at the company I dealt with, aside from the secretary.
  

  The company's response speaks volumes about how they view their customers. They are the experts and they are not to be questioned, even when they are wildly, painfully, expensively wrong. I sent them an email detailing the poor experience I had, not all of which I could fit in the original complaint form, and their response was "So we owe you a fuse?" They outright ignored the two thousand words detailing my experience and the problems I had and fixated on the broken fuse. They ignored all the details about the incorrect things their techs said. They didn't want to fix problems they caused (thermal fuse, incorrect price) and they want me to pay for something they likely caused (a broken circulator). The original paperwork from the first visit from the tech doesn't even mention the broken fuse on it! I have no reason to accept their response because they have continually proven that they do not care if they are wrong, like the supervisor proudly stating he won't set a boiler to the manufacturer specifications because it makes him uncomfortable.,
  

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

  which they said was a deal because I don't have a service contract and it's usually 688, and that the fee for the service call would be applied as a discount. The same tech was sent back with a supervisor, who denied that their tech could have broken my circulator, then paid the full quoted price for the circulator, which I only realized after was incorrect. I emailed the owners a few days later about the experience and all the owners said was "So we owe you a fuse?", which they grudgingly provided. They said they'd look into the service issues and get back to me, but never called me back. I called the office days later since the owner never responded and asked why I never got a refund. They said it was applied to the price of the circulator and acknowledged I was billed the higher price, not the quoted one. I never received a refund and the "discount" was applied to the wrong price. I also don't think I should have to pay for a tech's mistake, which only this company defends.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/26/2024

  Air Professionals received a phone call on December 13, 2023, to request service on the customers oil boiler system 2000 that was not heating the residence properly as well as an audible knocking sound when the boiler started. The customer was placed on the technicians schedule and was aware of our diagnosis fees as well as our procedure for further repair costs, if applicable, pertaining to any of our technicians findings.
  

  Upon arrival, the technician heard the mentioned knocking sound and noticed the LED light on the circulator pump was not illuminated, which indicated circulator pump failure. To confirm this failure, the technician tested the power supply to the circulator pump. To do so, the circulator pump needed to be disconnected for an accurate reading of incoming power supply as well as avoiding any damage to the circulator pump.************** disconnected the circulator pump to continue a proper diagnosis where he found 120v to the circulator pump, but no LED illuminated. This test concluded an internal failure within the circulator, thus confirming the technicians initial diagnosis.
  

  Due to the limited room the technician had; the leads had accidentally touched together. This caused a dead short which popped the one fuse. The technician did not have the old-style fuse readily available and bypassed it due to the customer having two fuses in the circuit, so that the customer had restored heat. Although bypassed, it was still protected by the secondary fuse in the secondary disconnect as well as the breaker in the panel box.
  

  The customer stated that the fuse was there to protect it against power surges. We reassured the customer that it was still protected after consulting with the licensed electrician on staff as well as the service manager contacting the boiler system *************************************************************************** the circuit to which they stated it was NOT a requirement.
  

  As per Air Professionals procedure for further repair costs, mentioned at the time of scheduling this service call, the customer is aware of our diagnosis fees. Upon the completion of a diagnosis, the technician will go over the cost of the repairs, if applicable,to allow full transparency to the customer so that they can make their decision on how to proceed to get their system fully operational again. The technician quoted a rough estimate of $600 to the customer who, at the time, was not willing to spend that amount, thus concluding the technicians service call to diagnose the problem with the system.
  

  Later in the afternoon of December 13, 2023, the customer called the office of ********************** to say that he had no heat again. Because of the internal failure of the circulator pump without replacement, it is understandable that Air Professionals received the customers call back. The decision was made to move forward with the repair so that the customers residence would have heat. Because ************** felt uncomfortable stepping back into the customers home, an Air Professionalssupervisor accompanied the technician to return that same afternoon with a new circulator pump. Once the supervisor validated the diagnosis from the technician, the customer was still reluctant to pay for the repair to restore heat.
  

  Throughout the duration of the repair with the supervisor present, the customer had remained on the phone with a friend who allegedly installed the customers boiler. The customer continued to undermine both technician and supervisors findings to their friend over the phone which continued to create an uncomfortable environment for the supervisor and technician. The customer was visibly irritated and mentioned a dissatisfaction with a previous company that recently cleaned his boiler. The customer repeated his uncertainty regarding the replacement of the circulator pump to which the supervisor needed to confirm with the customer if we were replacing the circulator pump or not. Without confirmation, we do not proceed.The customer agreed to move forward with the repair. In conclusion, after replacing the circulator pump as well as resetting the aquastat which was locked out on high limit safety due to the failed circulator pump, heat was restored.
  

  During the second phone call prior to the second visit to the customers residence, the customer was audibly irate with our secretary as well as the office manager once he was transferred to her phone line. The customer was initially quoted by the office manager, contract customer price, even though he is not a contract customer, which our office manager clearly stated. Because the customer was expressing such dissatisfaction with our secretary and office manager, this was the best solution at hand to diffuse the customers aggression.
  

  At the conclusion of the service to replace the circulator pump, the supervisor charged regular non-contract customer pricing with the diagnosis fee discounted that was previously paid for by the customer after the initial visit, and the customer paid with no further comment. Due to the time of payment being outside of Air Professionals regular business hours, there was no communication between the office manager and supervisor to clarify the original contract customer quoted price.
  

  This was addressed during a phone call between the customer and the owners of ********************** after receiving an e-mail from the customer on December 18, 2023. Both the owners and the customer had concluded that the customer did not have heat at his residence prior to the initial visit. The customers heat was then restored after replacing the circulator pump. Furthermore, Air Professionals replaced the fuse that was dead shorted at no cost and was satisfied on December 19th,2023. Lastly, because of the discrepancy regarding the total amount due for the replacement of the circulator pump between our office manager and supervisor,not only did Air Professionals waive our standard diagnosis fee but also later refunded the customer the difference in price.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/14/2024

  I'd also loke to call attention to the timestamp on the photo on the first work order from the 12th. Note the camera timestamp showing the broken circulator is 2:40 pm. The tech arrived at 1pm and blew up the fuse, and likely the circulator too, immediately upon attempting to test. That photo "proof" was taken long after he attempted to find a replacement fuse and ultimately bypasses it. The "broken circulator" was diagnosed after, not before, unlike what the company said in their response.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/14/2024

  I've added call logs from my phone showing I called a full hour before closing time and had several other contacts with them before closing on the 13th and my follow up on thr 22nd that was never responded to. I also attached the work orders that show the original tech covering up his mistake (no mention of the blown fuse), the invoice with the incorrect price charged.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/14/2024

  Added screenshot of partial refunded provided a full month after last contact with the company, after complaint was initiated.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/07/2024

  To address the customers further concerns. The time of the photo is irrelevant. The reason for the photo in the work order is to show the part that has an issue and to ensure exact replacement. The manner in which the circulator was tested is what is important and that is what makes it impossible for it to have been damaged when the fuse was popped. This circulator has a plug that the technician unplugged during testing. So, imagine you are testing the voltage from an outlet (that would be the plug and wire that goes back to the fuse in this example) and in doing so you have unplugged the appliance that went into the outlet (appliance in this example would be the circulator) When the technician put his volt-meter on the outlet (plug and wire going back to the fuse) the probes touched each other and blew the fuse (which we ultimately replaced at no charge to the customer).
  At no time during this test was the circulator attached to the wires that were being tested. So again, imagine an appliance unplugged from an outlet. You test the outlet and in doing so pop a fuse in your breaker panel. The unplugged appliance cannot be damaged if it was not plugged in which is the manner in which this circulator was being tested. The technician was merely verifying that there was power going to the circulator to confirm that the circulator was faulty since it had power and was not running.
  It is because of how the circulator is tested that the supervisor could be 100% positive that the circulator was not damaged during the fuse popping and is why we were not willing to waive the fee for the replacement part.
  I am attaching a photo representation of the manner in which the circulator was tested. You can see the small green plug that was removed from the circulator, effectively showing how it is physically impossible that the circulator was damaged during the volt-meter testing since they were not in contact with each other.
  Also, I would like to reiterate that upon arrival to the service call the customer did not have heat. After replacing his circulator,his heat was restored. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/24/2024

  I was writing my response when I got thr email stating thst the case was closed because I didn't respond quickly enough. Regardless, I am not satisfied with the response and I do not believe the company will ever admit culpability for damaging my system. The supervisors opinion on how it is tested does not matter because he was not present and all that was was an explanation of how to properly test, when the inital tech more likely than not did not test correctly. 2 representatives from the boiler manufacturer agreed that they more likely than not damaged my system and they simply tested improperly and *** Air Professionals won't admit it.