Friday, September 16 I got to the house at approximately 2:50 and found the note on my front door that the J.S. Wynne Mechanical technician left saying that he had been there from 2:25-2:35 and that I would have to pay an additional service fee for the "no show". The note asked me to call the company to reschedule an appointment. Of course, I began calling immediately at 3:05 P.M. And NEVER got an answer or a return call from the company. (I had to wait ANOTHER weekend to try to contact them again!)
On Monday, September 19 I began calling J.S. Wynne Mechanical and never got an answer. I left a message again but never got a return call. I began calling on Tuesday morning and finally reached Julie to reschedule my last appointment. We agreed upon the same time period (from 2-6) but this time she compromised and told me that she would give me a courtesy call to let me know when the technician would be there and that I could cancel the appointment if I couldn't be there on time.
The J.S. Wynne Mechanical technician came on Thursday, September 22 around 3:15. When he arrived the air conditioner was blowing cold air but had to work a little harder to cool the house. He looked at the inside unit and told me that the coils looked better and that he should be able to work on the unit. He then told me that it would cost a $45 service fee for him to work on the unit. I reminded him that this was a follow up call to the initial appointment September 7 and that both he and American Home Shield told me that there would be no cost for this appointment.
That's when things got really ugly. He told me that because I was a "no show" for the appointment on the 16th, that I would be charged for this appointment. I told him that that had been a communication problem between Julie and I and that I had told her that I could not be there until at least 3:00. He told me that that was "my problem" and that I was supposed to make my home accessible to him and that they "didn't work around my schedule, it was the other way around." (A far cry from "a mutually convenient time for your service call" as stated in the AHS pamphlet!) I then began trying to explain to him how EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING it had been to even get his company to answer my repeated phone calls, much less agree upon an appointment time.
After all, it had been two weeks that I had been trying to get them back out to look at the unit. I thought the least they could do is not charge me the service fee for my trouble. He told me that he would not work on my unit until I paid the service fee and told me to call AHS if I wanted to. (We exchanged many words but honestly, it upset me so much I can barely remember all that was said between us.)
At that time I wanted nothing more than to ask him to leave my home. I am 40 years old and have owned a home since I was 22 and I have NEVER had a technician or ANYONE talk so disrespectfully to me! I knew he did not have MY best interest in mind and that for some reason he felt the need to be EXTREMELY rude, disrespectful and insolent to me.
I also felt like I was between a rock and a hard place. American Home Shield told me that I could not change contractors and he wouldn't work on my unit until I paid him more money. I just wanted my air to work and decided that the only thing I could do was to pay the fee, so I did.
After about 20 minutes, he came back in the house and told me that the unit would need to be replaced and that he would turn his report in to AHS and they would get back to me. I apologized to him for being rude to him during our very heated conversation but told him, through tears, that I hoped he could understand why I was so frustrated. He set the thermostat on about 60 degrees and left.
We let the air run for a while at that temperature but the house only got hotter. The unit seemed to run non-stop and finally I just turned it completely off. The house temperature was fine BEFORE he worked on it and hot AFTER he worked on it. I thought maybe it froze up trying to cool the house to 60 degrees so I left it off while I worked on Friday. I emailed J.S. Wynne Mechanical on September 23 at 12:33 PM to ask them for any suggestions to get us through the weekend (I didn't dare try to call them!) but they NEVER emailed me back.
In the meantime, AHS called me to tell me that my claim for a new AC unit had been denied due to the fact that I had not kept my coils cleaned. I told Mike at AHS that I had kept my filter changed but that I had NO IDEA I was supposed to clean the coils on a regular basis. (I have since asked everyone I know if they knew they were supposed to clean their AC coils and most of them didn't even know what the coils were!) After all, the unit is at least 22 years old, wouldn't it be normal for it to need a new coil after all of this time?
I told him that I was very disappointed with the service that J.S. Wynne Mechanical had provided me and that my house was now hot AFTER they "worked" on the unit. I also told him that I did not believe that AHS had taken good care of me. I had been having issues with this company for almost three weeks during the hottest time of the year (Record setting high temperatures occurred during this time!) and they had not helped me resolve it in a timely matter at all. I felt very taken advantage of and very unimportant to a company that I have trusted to take care of me since I bought my house in 2001.
As can be expected, the house only got hotter and less bearable so I had no choice but to buy a window unit to keep my children and pets somewhat comfortable while I tried to figure out what to do. I decided to call a company to find out about purchasing a new unit and the man told me that he would feel more comfortable if his company tried to get the unit running again before I purchased a new unit.
They sent an extremely professional, pleasant and helpful technician to the house on Saturday evening. (They were very eager to make the service call time convenient for me, even on the weekend! And they answer their phone calls until 9:00 PM EVERY NIGHT!) He looked at the unit and found that the J.S. Wynne Mechanical technician had OVERFILLED the refrigerant so badly that the compressor shut down. He removed a significant level of Freon (it was at 400!!) and the unit immediately began cooling. The unit is running and cooling the house again.
In conclusion, I am VERY disappointed in the service and professionalism that I experienced with J.S. Wynne Mechanical. Quite frankly, my experience with their company has gravely damaged my faith and trust in service providers. I have always felt the companies that did work on my behalf had my best interest in mind, but I find myself very leery of that now. I don't feel like I ever asked too much of this company. Basically, all I needed was for them to answer my phone calls and/or to at least return my phone calls. (Not to mention the mistake the technician made that caused my air conditioner to discontinue working!)
As far as my opinion about the service that American Home Shield provided me, I am also EXTREMELY disappointed and angry! I called and complained at least twice and was basically told that I would have to continue using J.S. Wynne Mechanical even though I was very displeased with them and needed prompt service. I truly expected to be treated better and more professionally by your company. I have referred your company to many people throughout the four years that I have used you. I trusted you to stand by your word that I would receive "reliable repairs from carefully selected professionals".instead, I received nothing but frustration, HORRIBLE customer service and incompetent repair.
I am in the market for a new home and will refuse to use your company as a buyer or seller when looking for my next home warranty.
I guess your promise of "commitment to your total satisfaction" was also a lie.
Addendum to Letter:
I began searching for other complaints against AHS and found too many to count just on ONE website!!! Www.ripoffalert.com WOW! I guess I'm not the only one that feels cheated and let down by your company. I just wish I would have found this website BEFORE I began using you, I could have learned from the mistakes of hundreds of others! I will spread the word to everyone I know (including the Texas Real Estate Commission and Insurance Board) about this site and the dishonest manner in which you do business. SHAME ON YOU!
Sylvia
Fort Worth, Texas
U.S.A.
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