Business ProfileforWm. Masters, Inc.

Called W.M. Masters because our AC evaporator (a-coil) was freezing up. Cory came out to diagnose the issue. He found the refrigerant was low (down 1.6 pounds). He added Freon and started looking for leaks. He went to the a-coil attached to the furnace. He removed the access panel to expose the coil. The coil looked almost new although it was 9 years old. He took this clear bottle of liquid (labeled by hand saying AC leak) and sprayed the front of the coil looking for leaks. After a few minutes, he said he spotted a leak. He tried to show me, but I didn’t see it. He basically told me I needed a new AC system. We told him that we’ll try to get another year or so out of it before spending that kind of money. He told me that we might get another year out it. So, he installed the access panel, billed us $308 and left. We thought the bill was reasonable for the work he performed. Next day, I was in the basement, and found a lot of air was escaping around the a-coil access panel he re-installed. So, I decided to remove the access panel, and re-align the insulation behind it. What I saw was shocking. The front of the a-coil where he sprayed the leak liquid was seriously corroded. The sides and back of the coil (not sprayed) looked new. It’s no wonder he said we’d be lucky if the coil lasted another year. We’ll, after spraying a corrosive agent on it, what do you expect. They did this on purpose, they never thought I’d find it the very next day. We reached out to W.M. masters about this, and we’re being ghosted. Guess they’re doing so because we exposed their deceptive practices. Beware of this company folks, they will damage/destroy your property. One last note: Cory’s truck left several large stains on our concrete driveway. We really thought we had hired a reputable company. Wow, were we wrong!

This replay is from our field service technician that performed the service requested: I arrived at Leanna & Jeff B****** house on Tuesday 9/3/24 for a “no cool” service call. I walked up to the door and was approached by Leanna at first, and introduced myself and what company I was with (Wm Masters) and asked what problem they were experiencing? Leanna asked Jeff, to explain the issue to me (Corey). Jeff explained that the coil on top of the furnace, kept freezing up. Jeff then asked why it would freeze up and why where was so much water coming out of the coil? I explained, water will leak outside of the coil due to extreme ice build-up and condensate drain not keeping up. I also explained what causes a coil to freeze, for example, being low on refrigerant due to a leak. I proceeded to turn thermostat to “cool” mode and went outside of the house. I grabbed my gauges and gauged up to the air conditioner. Upon gauging up, I found it was low on 410A and with the customer next to me. I explained that the refrigerant was low. The customer and I went inside to the furnace to verify, air flow and a clean filter. I explained again to the customer that the air conditioner is low on 410A refrigerant due to a potential leak. Jeff asked where the leak could be? I explained it could be anywhere in the system, and that based on my experience, I have found several *** branded coils with leaks, this year alone. I explained to Jeff, that I was going to add 410A to the air conditioning unit and then come downstairs and check for refrigerant leak in the evaporator coil. I proceeded to go to my work vehicle and grab 410A refrigerant and added charge to air conditioner . I added 2lbs of 410A to air conditioner. The entire appointment, Jeff was next to me while I was diagnosing and servicing air conditioner unit, while Leanna was outside on the patio. Before Jeff and I went downstairs, I went to my work vehicle and grabbed my non-corrosive bubble leak search bottle, which is used to identify refrigerant leaks. Jeff meets me in the basement. I shut the furnace breaker off at the electrical panel and started to take apart the front part of the coil. Once panels removed, I noticed the evaporator coil was rusty due to age. I proceeded to spray non-corrosive bubbles on both sides of the front of the coil, where the small copper tubes bend. I soaked all fittings with non-corrosive bubbles and found a pin hole leak on one of the copper tubes on the left side of the coil. I showed Jeff where the leak had been identified and Jeff immediately denied he had a leak. I then wiped the area that had been sprayed with non-corrosive bubbles and reapplied non-corrosive bubbles mixture back where I had identified the original leak, and it began showing signs of the leak again. Jeff began to accuse me of “making the hole worse”, when I wiped the bubbles off with my finger. I told Jeff that I did not push on the copper that I simply wiped it off using my index finger with very little pressure. Jeff continued to claim that I had made the hole that customer said “did not exist in the first place”, bigger. Jeff continued to claim there was not a leak and that he was not going to make repairs. I advised customer that coil will continue to leak and have the same original issue, by being low on freon, and by freezing up again, in the future. As I put the coil covers back on the evaporator coil, I had to lift the liquid line ½” to have one side of the cover, aligned. Jeff advised me to stop moving the liquid line, because I was “making the leak, that is “nonexistent”, per Jeff, “worse”. I looked at Jeff and advised I was not making anything worse, I had only identified the leak upon his request. I completed putting the panels on, using all of the screws. Turned the furnace electrical breaker back on, went upstairs, removed my gauges from the air conditioner unit and filled out service request ticket. The air conditioner was working upon completion. I collected the balance owed from the service from Leanna.

Appreciate W.M. Masters’ reply, but need to fact check a few things. I never denied there was a leak, refrigerant needed to be added to the system. So, there’s a small leak somewhere. That’s when I told him I would try to get another year or two out of the coil. Never blamed him for causing another leak, just asked him to be careful handling the tubes because we don’t want another leak. Only reason I’m posting this review is because of the a-coil rust. Like you said, I was there when he removed the access panel. I saw no rust anywhere on the coil. He said he noticed the rust. Well if he did, he didn’t say anything about it. If it was rusted as shown in the pictures, nobody would have attempted to do a leak test. You would have said your a-coil is shot and needs replaced. Again, never brought it up. Also, never saw you wipe the sprayed liquid off the coil, you just put back on the access cover. All I know is the front of our a-coil is seriously corroded, only the part that was sprayed. Everywhere else on the coil looks new. I wasn’t expecting anything out of this posting other than to share my experience with others so they can make an informed decision when looking to hire a company. They certainly can believe what they want.