I had trouble with my furnace last year and had United Air Comfort come out and do their $49 whole house cleaning. I also had them spray a sanitizer into my ducts for an additional $35 which is supposed to kill any growing molds that might be in there. They recommended a tune-up which cost me another $19. There is an access fee of $3.00, whatever that is. I'm now $106 in the hole.
After all of the above is done, I was told that I needed to have further work performed including cleaning blower motor and housing (apply oil). This ran me $250 just for the blower.
I then needed my burner heat exchange and flue cleaned (heavy white ash depositing). This ran me another $175.
No, they weren't done yet. The readings on my transformer were incorrect and I needed a new one. This cost me $145. After all this I was told that I was set for at least another 5 years.
So I now have $145 in parts and $425 labor. Well, eleven months later, my furnace stops working. Not even a whole year has gone by yet. My blower motor has gone out and now I have to replace it at a cost of $176.84 for the part and $185 for labor and travel charge. There's another $361.84 invested into my furnace.
Why didn't United Air Comfort replace my blower motor the first time I had my furnace serviced at a cost of $176.84 instead of charging me $250 to take it apart and clean it up. Between having my furnace serviced by United Air and another heating and cooling company to replace the blower motor, which should have never stopped working in the first place, I have spent $1037.84.
I was told by the second company that I could have bought a new furnace for around $1000 (installed). I was also told that a transformer should run only around $45, not $145, like United Air charged me.
Cleaning the burner heat exchange and flue are also a service already included at no additional charge in most heating and cooling companies tuneup services. Why was I charged an additional $175 for this?
I tried to get a hold of them and was disconnected several times with no luck. I had to use the recent ad in the paper which advertises a whole house cleaning now at $29 and a tuneup still at $19. The receptionist told me that I would have to talk to a technician about my blower motor not working, but that most likely I would have to pay for a new one. It was Saturday and they couldn't even come out until Tuesday. I have a cold house with two children, but I guess this doesn't matter, I'll have to wait.
Why was I told that my furnace was good for at least another five years and not even a year has gone by before I've encountered a problem and have to cough up another $361.84. I had already spent $676 with United Air Comfort last January to repair my furnace and should not have to be dropping more money out of my pocket to fix it again eleven months down the road.
I guess the best thing to do is get any promises they make you in writing if you can! Also, get a second opinion because, apparently according to another heating company, United Air is charging additional fees for cleaning services that should already be included in the tuneup. They also say that United Air is overcharging on parts.
I felt I have been ripped off and mislead by United Air Comfort.
I wish there was more I could do to make the public aware before they come to their home and steal their hard earned money. How can the people at the newspaper run their ads knowing that this is going on! They run their ad for $29, but in the end they are out to get you for everything they can with no restituiton if you are owed it.
Thank you for letting me vent my anger, I hope some good becomes of this.
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