Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/20/2024

  Type:Billing 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 bought a new HVAC unit from Bennett heating and cooling July 31, 2023. The unit malfunctioned June 17, 2024. I called the office in the late afternoon of that day, and the answering service put me in touch with one of the Bennett technicians. He and I had a long talk on the phone, and he came out to our house. Before service was begun, he assured me that this repair would be under warranty and would not be charged to me. He then repaired the unit, which apparently only had a clogged drain tube as the problem, but he said he would report it as a malfunctioning drainage pump, just to be sure we didn't have this problem again. Again, this was the representative of the business, and these are the facts as they happened.
  
  Now I have been billed over 200 dollars for the repair. I have a new pump that replaced the pump that was still working, and Bennett's office says "that's just too bad, the technician gave you bad information"
  
  *** **** *** *** ******

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/22/2024

  Bennett Heating & Cooling replaced an HVAC unit for Bruce ****** on August 1, 2023.  

  On Monday, June 17th, we were called and asked to come out and check the unit, he stated it was not cooling.  There was a problem with the drain line, which was attached to a condensate pump.  We replaced the HVAC unit in August of 2023, but at the time, the condensate pump was functioning properly and was not in need of a replacement.  The HVAC did not malfunction, it was the original condensate pump.  We replaced the condensate pump and invoice Mr. ****** out for the for new pump, service call and labor.  The technician did have a conversation with Mr ****** about his unit being under warranty, but he did not state that the condensate pump was part of that warranty.

  We have pictures of the hvac unit with the original condensate pump attached to it, before we did the install, and we also have a copy of the estimate that does not include condensate pump replacement.  I have attached a picture of the original unit along with the original condensate pump that was there when we arrived.  Also attached. is the estimate.

  The condensate pump was not replaced nor would it be under warranty with our company.  We did offer to take our new pump back and return his old one to him, if he would pay for the service call.  He declined and said we were *expletive* stupid and he would see us jokers in court.  The invoice amount amount was $270.08 and he refused to pay any portion of it, even though we offered to return his old condensate pump back to him and take our new one off.  There was nothing wrong with the HVAC unit that had been replaced.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/23/2024

   
  
  Complaint: 21877036
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  I got under the house with the tech while he was here.  The condensate pump was working, the entire problem was that the drainage tube was plugged.  The tech blew this open with a nitrogen container he had in his truck.  He related that he had been to Spring City within the last couple of days and had a new condensate pump in his truck and said he would replace the old functioning pump and it wouldn't cost anything as they could bill on the warranty.  This is what  I was told, and anything other than this is a lie. Period.

  I talked with ******, in their office, about what happened and she related that she and the tech and the owner had discussed my unhappiness with this bill, and that they offered to take the cost of the new pump off the bill.  But you can see this has not happened.

  Frankly, I don't see how companies like this do business without some sort of fraud being lodged against them.  I can't be the first customer this has happened to.  I will be happy to see them in court, if it comes to that, so that there is a permanent legal record of this kind of hanky-panky.  They installed a new unit less than 12 months ago for 6900 dollars and we paid this bill promptly.  But I don't like this type of double billing one bit.  It seems to me they get paid both by the customer and by the warranty, and the company that make the condensate pump doesn't know that Bennett has billed the customer too.

  Not my kind of people.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ***** ******* **