fixing the a/c

[ppllzz]

so our a/c broke over the weekend, and we live in austin, texas, where it is quite hot. in desperation, we called this guy over to fix the a/c. it costs $75 just to get him to come to our house and check things out... he basically spends 10 minutes fiddling with our thermostat, then says that if there is a leak, its too small for him to fix, and the best solution would be to add refrigerant (freon) at $25 per pound. he adds two pounds, and we pay him $125, and the a/c stops being cool again 2 hours after he leaves. today, some guy comes, actually tests for a leak, but claims that it is too hard to fix, and my parents need to install an entirely new system, they say no, and he leaves, charging us $60. they call a third guy, and tell him that we have a leak that needs to be fixed, before he comes, and he comes and fixes the leak, but says we need to add 10 pounds of refrigerant, at $23 a pound, and also tells us that our a/c was never installed correctly, and we had in fact been running on the backup motor (whatever that means) for almost 10 years, and so he fixes that too. total bill for him runs about $500.

so basically the person who installed the a/c messed up

the first repairman was dishonest
the second one was lazy
the third might've been dishonest (10 lbs of freon... i seriously doubt that much leaked out over the weekend)

do yall have similar experiences? do you think the fact that my parents are asian immigrants and can't speak english well have something t do with it? where can i complain?

 

[acidboy]

Is your airconditioner a split type or a window type? Leaks are usually the sign your a/c is nearing its end, and in my experience no matter how much refrigerant they inject in, and no matter if they seal the leak, it won't work as good or efficient as before. But if you must check, perhaps you should call the manufacturer of the a/c and ask for a referral on repairs- I'm sure they have accredited service shops.

 

[Jumbie]

Yet more proof I should have forgotten about grad school and picked up a trade.

 

[Dakota rube]

Originally Posted by Jumbie

Yet more proof I should have forgotten about grad school and picked up a trade.
Ain't that the truth. I am reminded daily of the sheer simplicity of practicing some of the trades.
Hire a plumber lately?

 

[ms244]

I got a graduate degree and I actually learned a little about A/C systems (in a lab, by a mentor, not some class).

Couple of things. You can test for leaks, there are various systems out there but there are some where you inject some U/V sensitive dye into the A/C and shine a UV light to see where the leak is.

Alternatively, there are hand held units which is a little sniffer thing that responds to presence of halogens (think Geiger counter).

Look on the AC label, it should tell you the type of refrigerant that it uses. If its R-134 you can buy some at an autoparts store and add it yourself (depending on how handy you are). If its something else I'm not sure where to get it but large quantities of refrigerants are (I believe) regulated.

Try looking here, maybe it will help?
http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to...nditioners.htm

 

[designprofessor]

check your duct work, I had a gaping hole, so it was puling in hot air.
ask arond for a trustworthy company, its probably going to be expensive if its a big job, but trusting that someone is giving you an honest answer will make the hit a litle softer.

good luck with it, i'm still working out some stuff from a new / old home purchase.

 

[Piobaire]

To your questions:

1) Yes
2) Where and to who over what?

 

[Bradford]

This is why we have a home warranty.

 

[Jumbie]

Originally Posted by Bradford

This is why we have a home warranty.

Is your warranty longer than 10 years?

 

[Crane's]

Originally Posted by Jumbie

Yet more proof I should have forgotten about grad school and picked up a trade.

Originally Posted by Dakota rube

Ain't that the truth. I am reminded daily of the sheer simplicity of practicing some of the trades.
Hire a plumber lately?

I'm in the trades and it really isn't sheer simplicity. If you want an idea of how complicated it can get just be the general contractor on the house you build for yourself.

Yes. there's good money in the trades but it's extremely physical. The work conditions can be atrocious, temps near 100 in the summer and below freezing in the Winter. Crawling in muck up to your knees is common in the Spring. The Fall is generally nice though. As far as education goes some trades can require an apprenticeship that can be as long as grad school or for that matter require a degree of some sort. Anyway.

With that being said I wouldn't trade it in even though it would have been interesting to have gotten an advanced degree in biology or geology. Lot's of outdoor work in them there fields, which is what I love.

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by Jumbie

Is your warranty longer than 10 years?

You can buy an ongoing warranty service. American Home Shield I think?

 

[Bradford]

Originally Posted by Jumbie

Is your warranty longer than 10 years?

Originally Posted by Piobaire

You can buy an ongoing warranty service. American Home Shield I think?

Yep, ours is an ongoing warranty. Not AHS, but a similar company.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

You can buy an ongoing warranty service. American Home Shield I think?

Those are only as good as the tradesman that they send out.

I had one for years for two rental properties that I own. Long stories short, on one I needed a plumber to find out why my water bill had gone from $50/month to $400/month. It took three visits before he was able to isolate the leak, then the warranty company said that they wouldn't cover it because the address wasn't the same as the policy (that property is a duplex - same physical location, two mailing addresses). This after me paying the warranty for 3 years or so and never making a claim. Meantime, my underground leak is flowing about as fast as the money out of my pocket. I ended up hiring a local guy to make the repair.

Second story, the A/C in the other house started cycling on and off and the warranty company sent some small-time-works-out-of-his-garage guy (literally. I Google Earthed his address and it was a residential neighborhood) who barely spoke English. He took the system out of service, where it stayed for four weeks while he was waiting for a part to come in. First it was going to be one week, then two....meanwhile it's 85 degrees in the house, this a**hole can't communicate exactly what part it is, where it's coming from, or why it's taking so long, and my tenant is going batsh*t. Understandably. I ended up getting them a couple of window units until the part finally came in.

Needless to say, I didn't renew the home warranty on either place. The only thing it was good for was as a tax deduction.

To the OP, I assume that you still have the receipt/invoice from each repair shop. I'd start with your local Better Business Bureau. If they can't get you satisfaction, at least the shops will have a complaint against them.