Through an advertised phone call from Solar Bear, I had schedule maintenance on Oct 22, 2011. The special promotion was $69.99, including tax, to inspect and clean heating and cooling system (sound like a good idea, end of summer). Jason M arrived at my house around 5:00 p.m. He checked the AC condenser (outside) and determined that my cooling coil up in the attic was dirty and needs cleaning; Jason recommended that I needed to install a hard start and Capacitor for my AC. I agreed and signed a five year contract for the total of $1,218.38 which included all the works that he has recommended to me (put in hard start/ replace capacitor and coil cleaning). Jason spent 30-45 minutes on the phone to fill out the contract/ apply for credit card, then he went up to the attic and cleaned the cooling coil, installed the hard start within one and hour of work, by 6:30 P.M it started getting dark, I knew Jason did not check my heating system, he did not even turn the heating on, he told me that the heating looked good. He did not have a proper capacitor for my AC with him, so he told me he will come back to install the capacitor later. Two days later, I noticed that all the works that Jason did at my house was not true per advisement. The heating unit checked was skipped and the contract for five year was too expensive (specially, they just show up and say it looks ok after I got the contract with them, I want somebody reliable and honest so I dont have to watch over them). I realized that the deal was unfair and I canceled the contract on Oct 24, 2011. Solar Bear wanted to charge me $268.00 for Hard Start ($30-40 part), $289.00 for cooling coil cleaning, $ 69.99 for service tech to show up. The total cost was $626.99 for less than two hrs of work because I broke the contract. I spent 30 minutes on the phone to negotiate with the owner about the over charges and he told me that HVAC technician gets pay $240 per hour. Do you believe that? But luckily, finally the owner agreed to charge me only $400. It was amazing and unpleasant experience. Customer service is so nice when they sell you contract and they are so poor after they know you are canceling the contract.
Total of $400 for the following:
Special inspection promotion for$69.99, including cleaning the coil,
Installed the hard start. Is this fair or not?
RESPONSE FROM Solar Bear:
Mr. P, we are sorry that you were unsatisfied with your bill from Solar Bear. We believe we do our best to provide honest, ethical, and prompt services. This is why our technicians are trained to use our UP-FRONT pricing. Which means before any work is performed at your home the homeowner is given options and full pricing so that there are no surprises at the end. We even offer a 100 satisfaction guaranteed with our seasonal tune-ups, if after our technician has completed the inspection at your home you are not 100 satisfied you pay nothing. Unfortunately even with these guarantees and up front pricing in place occasionally we see issues such as these. We are going to continue to do our best to make sure that all customers are 100 satisfied with both our up-front pricing and our guarantees. Please if you have any further questions, or wish to have a senior tech return to your home at no cost to you to re-complete the inspection, call me directly..Scott 480-844-2327 Ext. 107, I will be happy to answer any questions you may have or schedule an appointment.
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