ComplaintsforCrown Heating & Cooling, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  06/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  There was no drop-down choice for having someone come out and recheck the work which is what is going to have to be done for peace of mind. The person Crown sent to repair/recharge our unit was an APPRENTICE. He was completely unsupervised and alone which is ILLEGAL in the state of Ohio. He was unlicensed and performing work so we are not even sure it was done appropriately since there was no oversight. To add insult to injury, we were given a quote by the apprentice and AFTER he did the work he informed us he "had made a mistake in his quote" and charged us more! This is nothing against the kid. He was very polite but that doesn't make up for not being licensed and then overcharging us. We got charged prices for R22 but R410A was put in our unit. It is highway robbery and, in my opinion, it's because we didn't sign up for their special program and we declined the $800 diagnostic fee to trace what must be a minuscule leak. The entire service was so out of character for Crown which we have used in the past. Very disappointed and feel the only way to make this right is for a significant refund since we are going to have to have it rechecked by a LICENSED technician to make sure the work was done properly.

  Business response

  06/18/2024

  A copy of the invoice dated June 6, 2024 has been included. The technician found the system low on refrigerant and advised that a leak search should be performed. This was quoted, but not accepted by the homeowner. They chose to have refrigerant added to the system to get them temporary cooling. This was also quoted, approved, and performed. 

  The invoice clearly shows the system rejuvenation which includes one pound of refrigerant, the charge for the additional pound of refrigerant, as well as the service charge fee. The total for all services was $938.00. The services were quoted to the homeowner ahead of being performed, and signed off on prior to the services being performed. The system was on and cooling when our technician left the home. The charges come form a standard pricing software. 

  Please find attached a copy of the invoice. The technicians refrigerant handling certificate is on file at our office. Our contractors license can be viewed on the state OCILB website. It is current and valid. 

  We feel all of the services quoted, and or provided were in the homeowner's best interest. We don't feel a refund is valid. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/05/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have done business with Crown Heating and Cooling for 12 years. They are the company that installed the HVAC system when we built our home. I have had them out twice a year for every year during that 12 year time for maintenance in the spring for the AC and fall for heat. This spring during our maintenance they discovered low freon levels which showed there was a leak somewhere in the system. They required a $750 payment for the diagnostic to discover where the leak was however this $750 could be applied towards a repair or a new AC system. After less than an 1 hour of work the tech discovered the leak was in the inner coil. I was quoted $4004 to repair which only offered a one year guarantee and the quote for a new AC system was $8157. This price seemed high so I checked around for a few quotes only to find out their prices were double the competition. I decided to get a new AC system put in with another company for $4300 which included the same equipment from the Crown quote as well as the same warranty. The $750 payment was made in good faith that their pricing for a repair or new system would be comparable to their competition. I fully intended to have the $750 rolled into a potential repair or new system. I am seeking a partial refund of the $750 since the tech was at my house for less than hour when finding the leak. The level of effort to find the leak was not worth $750. Crown has very questionable business practices and I believe they force you to pay the $750 because they know you are less likely to do business with another company if you have already paid them such a large fee up front. It is outrageous the price difference between them and their competition regarding repairs and new systems. This is also how much they value a customer of 12 years since there service managers have never called me back after I have left 5 messages for him over the past month.

  Business response

  06/06/2024

  The $750.00 fee is a flat fee for a leak search that was discussed and approved in writing by the homeowner. It is not an amount that is associated with a given amount of time. The homeowner states that our technician was at his home for 1 hour. Our GPS records show that we were on site for 2 hours and 41 minutes. We don't feel that a refund is appropriate. 

   

  Customer response

  06/06/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  This reply is unreasonable but not unexpected. The fact that the service manager could not call me back after 5 messages speaks to the business practices of Crown Heating and Cooling and how they value their customers.  They also were dishonest about the amount of time the tech was here and while my statement of a 1 hour estimate was a little short, I checked my camera and the tech arrived at 1:46 PM and departed at 3:02 PM.  I should also add that the last 15 minutes he was here was spent sitting in his van in front of my house.  Apparently Crown Heating and Cooling feels their techs time should be paid at approximately $750/hour which includes time for them to sit in their van and do "paperwork".  I can provide the video from my **** camera if necessary.  This company practices dishonest business practices where they label fees as "diagnostics" but then promise those fees can be applied towards future repairs or new equipment all the while knowing their prices are almost double the competition.  They expect for the person to just sign with them because they have already paid such a large fee up front and not shop around for a better price.  While I did not expect Crown Heating and Cooling to address my concerns, I take solace in the fact that my experience is now visible on the BBB website and will hopefully persuade others to not do business with Crown Heating and Cooling.  This is how they treat a customer of 12 years that had them out twice a year for maintenance every year, had them install a new water heater as well as a few HVAC repairs during that time.  I hope that $750 was worth losing a customer.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *******

  Business response

  06/10/2024

  It is unfortunate that we could not reach an agreement. Thank you for your time and consideration. 

• Initial Complaint

  10/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  As Crown Heating and Cooling installed our HVAC system for our new home build and we are still under warranty, we had them come out for an issue with our system. They found one small issue and also measured that our refrigerant was slightly low when we’ve already had it topped off in the recent past. We agreed to have them come to the house on another day to diagnose the problem. The technician informed my dad on the initial visit that we could reuse our refrigerant which would be removed for diagnostics. They came to diagnose and attempted to charge us between $2,500 and $5,000 (in a tiered pricing setup) for a fix with fully warrantied parts. The $2,500 fix was literally listed as a band aid. We refused the service as this seemed exorbitant (it was - the service provider who did the work for us was appalled and charged us significantly less). We paid for diagnostics and said we would be in touch if we wanted them to provide the service. When we asked about our refrigerant after paying and signing the paperwork, he said it was contaminated and not usable. We were told by the service provider who did later fix our heat transfer media coil (part warrantied) that we should absolutely have been able to reuse our coolant and that we would owe over $900 to replace all refrigerant. Crown’s invoice shows refrigerant was removed prior to any diagnostic work and the Crown technician took our costly refrigerant without our consent when we refused their work. I’ve also verified via research that the refrigerant can in fact be recovered and reused. Crown Heating and Cooling lied about reusing our coolant, in our opinion, to charge us exorbitant prices for a repair that included completely replacing coolant which we previously bought and already owned. I have many concerns in general about their business practices given the cost of repairs and their inability to ever provide quotes or paperwork due to a “new system”, but am most angry about the theft of our refrigerant.

  Business response

  10/12/2023

     As mentioned by the homeowner, our company installed this equipment when their home was built 7 1/2 years ago. They stated that their equipment was still under warranty. The factory warranty from ******* ****. had indeed expired after 5 years. When the customer called in for service, they were advised that they would be charged a $99.00 trip charge. This was approved and paid for by credit card over the phone. 

     When our technician began his diagnostic, he found the system not running due to a short in a control wire and a blown control fuse. The wiring was corrected and the fuse was replaced. Once the system was running he then was able to diagnose that it was low on refrigerant. He was unable to find the leak with a simple visual inspection. He then quoted to the homeowner to perform a leak search by pressurizing the system with Nitrogen. This was quoted at $500.00, and was approved by the homeowner both verbally and by signature. The leak search was performed, and the leak was found in the factory evaporator coil. The replacement of the factory part was quoted, and the homeowner said they were going to get other quotes. 

     In reference to removing the remaining refrigerant from the system. Our technician had two choices: The first choice was to put Nitrogen in on top of the remaining refrigerant, pressurize the system to find the leak, and then recover the total volume. The refrigerant would at that time be contaminated. The second choice was to remove the refrigerant and pressurize the system with all Nitrogen. This is the procedure that he followed. If he had put the original partial charge of refrigerant back into the system after the pressure test, it would have merely continued to leak out. Our technician simply followed standard practices. 

  Because we followed correct and normal practices for this type of service, we will not be offering any credit.

   

  Customer response

  10/12/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  If the procedure followed was standard in nature, the technician should NOT have verbally confirmed we would be able to reuse our refrigerant prior to our acceptance of the leak test. The leak was extremely slow. Returning the refrigerant to the unit until we had the opportunity to get quotes from more reasonable companies would not have resulted in much lost refrigerant - this process took about a week. The reputable dealer we did use was appalled at Crown’s pricing as well as the fact that Crown left none of the refrigerant we owned. We ended up having to pay around $900 for refrigerant for a total cost to fix totaling about $1,200. This was not an expensive fix save the cost of the refrigerant which makes one question Crown’s pricing structure ranging from a $2,500 “band aid” to a $5,000 “guaranteed” fix. Our approving the $500 leak test and paying/signing was prior to our knowledge of the removal of our property (the refrigerant). If I pay someone to stain my deck and once it’s done, pay them, only to find out they took our deck furniture with them upon completion, we have a problem. A problem that is quite similar to this one. Reimbursing us for the work completed would not make us whole given the cost to replace the refrigerant but it would be closer than where we are today.
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* ****** ******

  Business response

  10/12/2023

  Thank You.

• Initial Complaint

  07/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They are refusing to refund my money in a timely manner.

  Business response

  07/19/2023

  We spoke to the homeowner yesterday and agreed to send her a refund check, since she did not choose to have the repairs completed. Our office was in the process of cutting the check today and having it signed. 

  In our eyes there is no issue. 

  Thanks

  Customer response

  07/20/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]
  
  Regards,
  ******** Albrecht

• Initial Complaint

  06/30/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Had a new HVAC system installed from Crown. Day 1 install was horrible. To the point the owner redid the system. They cut they unit up and just patched it. After the 2nd install the kitchen and dining room or my kids room had no air. They came to fix it. I had issues with the pump leaking they came out to fix it. Then I had them out 6 times for my kids vent because of low air. The owners son and tech Don finally found his air duct was not installed correctly. They fixed it which helped but not great air. Then the pump went out and was flooding my basement and the owner said it was not important. I called in summer because still having air issues the techs closed my 1st floor vents off to fix issue. Had another company tell me this can burn the unit up. I was cleaning the basement and felt tons of air and realized the air was coming from my kids vent into basement. No wonder why is not getting great air to room. Also it's leaking water from the AC line. I called for service on 6/27/23 this now makes 13 calls for service and the owner said he is not fixing issues. Was told it has lifetime warranty owner said on unit. Then asked him about everything he said year. I am under a year and have issues and owner refused to service unit for issues. I had another company come out and repair everything they said that was a issue.

  Business response

  06/30/2023

  The system in question is currently running, and carries the promised factory warranty. 

  Business response

  06/30/2023

  Thank you the feedback.

   

  Customer response

  07/06/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  

  No responsibility of the poor work they do. Doesn't honor warranty. Doesn't honor contract. 

  
  Regards,
  
  Mark *******

• Initial Complaint

  01/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Got a new heater and ac system installed. They did such a bad job that they owner had to have them totally redo the system. Since the install ots been nothing but issues. No heat issues water issues heat issues techs not doing the correct things. Issues issues issues. The last issue I called emergency number and got a call 3 hours later for water all over my floor for the 2nd time. The on call tech said they wouldn't do anything about it. This unit wasn't even 3 months old and I was told they would charge a fee to come out. So Much for a life time warranty on the unit. I went and replaced the pump. I called the owner and he pretty much blew me off about the issues.

  Business response

  02/06/2023

  We have read the complaint by this customer, and have no issue with his initial concerns. We also agree that our initial install had problems that were addressed, including reworking the initial install to a significant degree. All of the corrections were done at our expense, and we apologize for the inconvenience. 

  As far as the homeowner reaching out to our owner, and the owner "blowing him off." This absolutely did not happen. Our owner offered to replace the pump to the homeowner, but was told that wasn't necessary. 

  At this time the homeowner has a new system that carries a 10 year parts and 10 year labor warranty. The system also has a lifetime unit replacement warranty for a compressor or heat exchanger failure. These warranties are backed by the manufacturer. 

• Initial Complaint

  10/31/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 7-22-2022 had Crown Heating and Cooling (Uniontown, Ohio) come to my home to repair my ***** air conditioning system which they installed 8-2017. Was charged 7/22/2022 $99.00 service call and $260.62 for 2 lbs R410A refrigerant Was informed I needed a electronic leak test which I agreed to. 7/28/2022 $131.00 leak test (Tech. went right to evaporator coil and informed me it had a leak and needed to be replaced) Based on my research this has been a problem on ***** units. The tech. Then quoted me $1128.00 to replace evaporator coil which did not include adding more refrigerant. I refused the quote as my research suggested they were PRICE GOUGING by quite a lot. The coil was under warranty and their quote was for labor only In total I paid them $490.62 and due to their price GOUGING quote I went to a reputable dealer who did the repair at a fair price. From reports I have read they have GOUGED others for the same repair and I feel I should be reimbursed what I paid them.

  Business response

  11/14/2022

  When the initial call to investigate the no cooling complaint was scheduled, Mr. ******** was advised there would be a standard $99.00 service charge. He was also advised that any additional repairs would be quoted by the technician. This was approved. 

  Once the technician arrived he diagnosed the problem, and then quoted the additional repair charges to get the system running that day, as well as to perform the leak search on a follow up visit. Both of these were approved and scheduled. Upon finding the leak the repair quote was provided. Mr. ******** chose to not go ahead with the repairs with our company. That is the reason the repairs are quoted prior to performing the service. Every service provider, regardless of the industry provides a certain level of quality, and charges for those services accordingly. 

  Mr. ******** chose to select an alternate level of service through a different provider. We are pleased that he found a level of service that met his needs. This does not preclude the fact that our prior services were quoted, performed, and collected for. We do not feel that any of our services were incorrect, or not administered fairly. We do not feel that a credit is due.

   

  Customer response

  11/15/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ********

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩