My mother bought a nice new 90 percent furnace two years ago. She had the HVAC guys replace the exterior A/C unit at the same time and she breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she was “all set now” for many years to come.
Prior to purchasing the new heating and air she called 3-4 HVAC contractors and they came out, gave estimates, and told her about the high quality of their brand, etc.
Last night her new furnace didn’t work and it’s pretty cold here in Kansas. It got down to 10 degrees.
She called the HVAC company this morning and they came out and replaced the pilot light ignitor and charged her $85 for labor only. Parts were provided as part of a warranty.
I’m going to call the HVAC company and tell them how displeased I am with their “high quality product”. If the furance failed after only two years I don’t consider it to be high quality. I would be ashamed of the quality if I owned that company. Mom paid around $3500 to $4000 for this new system.
Agree or disagree?
Replies
Sorry for you troubles, but your complaint should be directed at the installer, not the product. $85.00 for a service call/HSI replacement is not outrageous, but nobody did you any favors either. The ignitor is a $25 part and takes a competent service tech about 10 minutes to diagnose and replace. Many installers will wave the service call fee for their installs on warranty issues.
Unfortunately, most if not all, furnace manufactuers use one of two makers of of ignitors. Norton and White-Rodgers make 95% of these products, and they are brittle and they fail. Not a high percentage, but they do fail.
I'd be upset that it broke too, but I wouldn't expect free service 2 years later. It would be nice... and it would be a gift. As a side note, after you call them and let them know how unhappy you are with the way they do business, do Mom a favor and find another company pdq to service the unit, cause in the furture you'll probably be even less happy with their response time.
Maybe I'm being unreasonable? I consider a new furnce to be kind of like a new car and you wouldn't expect a new car to break down in two years.Thank you for your input though. I'm rethinking what I said about complaining to the HVAC contractor.++++++++++++++++
-Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain-
I've had a cople of furnances installed over the past several years.
My practice has been after a choose a contractor and he makes his bid, I'll accept the best one, if he doubles his labor warranty. There's little cost in it to him and he can hedge his bet by giving me one of his better installers.
I find fewer problems and perhaps a bit higher quality installation.
Don't worry, be happy. Not your idea, it seems. I guess I have problems with people who obsess over these things. Was there snow for sledding?
I also worry about people that have philosophical little sayings after their e-mail signatures, as if they're somehow special.
Edited 12/2/2005 9:43 pm ET by BARMIL
Thanks to everyone for their responses. I think I go with my "knee jerk" reactions sometimes and need to slow down a little and think it through.I appreciate the advice and comments.++++++++++++++++
-Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain-