Mark Trombino
10 months ago
The condenser in my A/C unit started started having an issue where it would cycle on and off repeatedly. After a restart, it ran just fine, but after a few hours the cycling would start .
I arranged to have Service All Stars come out to look at it. Their technician, Joshua, arrived and the first thing he point out was that my condensation pan was full of water. He immediately made the determination that I had a refrigerant leak, and the solution was to replace my entire unit for $8K. Short of that, he recommended I add refrigerant and a sealing gas, and enroll in their service plan, all for $1400. He never questioned why there was standing water in the pan, didn’t perform any testing or diagnostics, didn’t check the levels of the refrigerant before claiming that I needed more, and didn't measure the temperature of the air going in and coming out of the unit. Feeling uneasy, I opted for just adding some refrigerant for $475 and hoped for the best.
He watched me empty the condensation pan myself, apparently un-phased by the fact it wasn’t draining on its own. When I finished, he added a squirt of refrigerant (literally), turned on the unit, and then released some refrigerant. I attempted to take pictures but he became very uncomfortable, saying I didn't need to take pictures, and that he had a problem with people looking over his shoulder or getting too close. He said I would get full documentation after his visit by email anyway, which I never did.
At that point, the unit seemed to be working fine so he wrote up an invoice and I paid. Before he left, he asked me to review him on Yelp while he waited. I did not.
Several hours after he left the unit fell into exactly the same behavior as before. I noticed that the condensation pan was full of water again, and then it hit me - why wasn’t it draining? Was it clogged? Was *that* causing my issues? Luckily, I was able to clear the drain myself, and the unit has been working perfectly ever since. The condensation pan has remained empty as well.
In the end, I was charged for something I didn’t need, and I diagnosed and fixed the real problem myself.
The next morning, I called and gave the company a chance to make things right. Instead of apologizing or admitting any error, the owner defended their work and explained that they don’t need to test equipment. He claimed they have so much experience they can look at equipment and immediately determine what's wrong with it and whether or not it needs to be replaced. This, after learning his tech couldn't even properly diagnose a clogged drain.