3 Sep, 2015 → by ClaimboUser315510
AC Direct, Georgia

3

Our home central AC system went kaput a little over a month ago, right in the middle of the hottest part of the year. I called someone recommended by our daughter who came right out and diagnosed the problem telling us we needed a complete new system. I was not surprised since our system was old enough to be reaching its time to be replaced. I had faith in our contractor and did not question his quote, and gave him a large deposit to buy a new system to be installed. I really had no preference as to manufacturer and left that up to the installer figuring he would know better than me. He ordered a high-end system by Goodman Manufacturing from AC Direct in Georgia We were thrilled to have the components arrive in less than two days, except there was some damage to the air-handling unit which was very sloppily wrapped in plastic sheeting, and was actually placed partially on top of the included thermostat unit. The damage was noted on the freight bill and I called our contractor who came right out within hours to start his work. As his helper was taking out our old air-handling unit, our contractor was unpacking everything. He immediately noticed we were shipped the wrong air-handling unit, a two-ton air-handler for a four-ton system. The contractor got on the phone with AC Direct who promised him they would ship the correct item to arrive in two days or less. My wife is a partially bed-ridden invalid and is totally dependent on air-conditioning, so she was forced to move to our daughter's house while we were without a working system. I remained home however and was able to tolerate sleeping in the house with the help of a portable 48" exhaust fan which cooled things down enough to survive. Two days went by with no replacement air-handler, and no word from AC Direct except their telling our contractor the new unit had been shipped. The third day they told him the unit had been lost by the shipper and they were trying to find it. Finally they told the contractor they were shipping a second replacement. That one did not arrive either after another two or three days, and again, incredibly, the claim was 'the trucking company lost that one too!' Finally, I asked our contractor to provide the phone number and name of the supplier, and his contact there (AC Direct -"Trace"). When I called and spoke with "Trace" he told me he was spending 90% of his time trying to fix the problem, but still had no solution. I suggested he have someone drive a new unit halfway (about 90 miles) and either I or my contractor would meet up with whoever brings it and bring it the rest of the way. "Nope. Not gonna do that. Too much hassle." was the essence of Trace's response to that suggestion. I reminded Trace that the problem was caused by AC Direct and I expected them to fix it. I told Trace if we didn't have our air-handler by noon the following day I would sue the company. Further, I fully expected some sort of meaningful price adjustment because of all the unnecessary trouble we were experiencing due to their mistake. Trace's response was to hang up the phone on me. I called him back and told him he was guaranteeing himself and his company a big lawsuit unless he made things right. At that he promised me faithfully we would have the right unit by noon the next day. My contractor called around noon the next day saying he was sending a truck down to Tallahassee to pick up the right air-handler located at another contractor's after being notified by Trace. This was done and our new system was finally finished that day - 8 days later than it should have been, and 11 days from the day the system was first ordered. I called Trace again about a meaningful price adjustment only to be told they didn't have enough profit to make adjustments, and that he had already given my contractor a $100 credit - which they did, and which my my honest contractor had already passed along to me. Basically, Trace (besides being insulting and hanging up on me twice) was very unprofessional, unfriendly and apparently quite willing to leave my wife and I hanging in the breeze indefinitely. The entire experience was very unpleasant and left all of us - including my contractor - with a very bad taste in our mouths. I am so angry about it I am still trying to decide whether to sue (very much leaning in that direction). However, I don't want to make such a decision based on emotion so am giving myself time to cool off, which has truly not happened yet. Although I can not prove it at this time, and because of the extremely unprofessional way AC Direct and Trace handled things, I now suspect they probably deliberately shipped us the wrong (and possibly already damaged) air-handling unit hoping no one would notice on our end. I expect my hungry lawyer could ferret out the answer to that if and when we take this to court. I don't know about all AC Direct sales outlets, but I definitely advise everyone against ever doing business with them in Georgia ax I did, at least if the order is handled by "Trace". You should not expect fair or professional dealings based on my own experience. It is never a pleasant business deal when you have to threaten a lawsuit to get what you've already paid for. And, thank goodness for an honest and professional contractor!
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