Official Heating and Cooling installed a Humidifier in my home. Roughly 3 weeks later something malfunctioned or wasnt installed correctly and the unit had caused water damage to my ceiling and walls.
They sent a technician out to look at the problem and it was reported that a part on the April Air humidifier was defective and that is what caused the problem. My main concern and first question to the technician was, are you going to take care of the water damage? The technician replied yes, and told me to contact someone named Mary.
Mary had me take photographs and get three Estimates which I had to arrange. After waiting for a few weeks a received an email from Mary to be patient and that the claim was still being processed. About three weeks later the Humidifier produced another leak on a different part of the system. This forced me to make another call to get that taken care off. While on the phone with some gentleman, I asked if Mary was in so I could follow up on my initial claim. She was not in yet due to heavy snow, so I called back 20 minutes later.
When talking to Mary about my claim she responded by saying Didnt you get my E-mail? I responded back with no! I didnt receive any e-mail from you. Apparently the e-mail described states that the claim was denied. I was told that it didnt say why, and that basically there was nothing they could do. Between the technician and Mary I was pretty sure I had that taken care of, but now all of a sudden everything changed.
It was arlier explained to me that Official Heating and cooling was going through the manufacturer to get reimbursement, and originally I assumed it was through Officials Insurance. But either way, one of the two should cover it and honor their agreement. I tried talking to the manager or owner, who never identified his position, but he clearly and abrasively told me that its just the way things go some times and I was out of luck. He mentioned that he himself was surprised that the claim was denied, he was actually shocked.
I began to explain the agreement we had but I was more or less talked over. I could not reason or come to any understanding with this man. I told him that if they were not going to honor their agreement, that I would have no choice but to take it to small claims court. After that I asked for his name and he wouldnt give it to me. Actually he said I was threatening him and he hung up on me.
Later I found out his name was Frank.
I still had a new leak on the system and it had to be fixed because it was actually spraying water, so I called back Official Heating to see if I still had an appointment because I figured Frank would probably cancel it. I was right, he did. I talked to him on the phone and he said they just dont deal with people like me.By the way, I had never raised my voice, swore or said anything offensive to anyone, I just wanted recourse on my flood damage.
I mentioned to Frank that I did have a 1 year labor warranty, and they just cant refuse me service because they dont like me. An appointment was set. At this point I have had it with Official and Frank. I called a local competitor who actually walked me through the problem and fixed the leak.
The competitor told me that the technician who installed the saddle valve to the Water heater never tightened down the nut all the way, not even close. He also mentioned that the first problem I had was probably due to an installation error than more likely a part malfunction, which would explain why April Air would not file the claim.
I wish to note that during the installation of the humidifier the wrong one was first installed. After the technician put it in he realized that there was no room for the door to open to install the filter. So it had to be taken all apart and a new unit had to be delivered to my house and a different unit installed. It was a very long installation, maybe 5 hours. These random discoveries lead me to believe it was negligence that caused all my problems, and not a part. However there is no proof of that.
The fact of the matter is that Official Heating and Cooling should pay for my water damage either way. I will see them in small claims court, but I doubt I have much of a chance of getting anything based on the disclaimer on their invoice.in simple terms, it mentions that no Official employee has any authority to warranty or make any promises to a customer, and if they do they can be void. Nice company. Im certainly going to do all I can to get my estimated $1000.00 of damage reimbursed, and I hope this is a warning to anyone else who wishes to deal with these people. They are all nice and cheerful until there is a problem and thats when the rules change.
Check out the other negitive comments out there, I have found some. I had only looked into them first, I may have went with another company.
Beware of Official Heating and Cooling in Mchenry
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