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eskielover · Apr 14, 2009, 03:45 PM

This started last October.......I needed a new heating system in my home in Kentucky....knew it when I purchased the farm, so it wasn't any surprise. I decided that with the price of propane which was running me $800/month during the winter last year that I would go with the heat pump system which was supposed to be very economical.

My friend was also having a heat pump system put into the farm he was re-finishing, so he suggested that I use the same person.....gave me a good deal & yet wasnt so low I thought it strange.

The heat pump was installed in October & for some reason, they didn't catch that the compressor was bad initially but it was too warm to tell that the system wasn't really working until November. My lights were dimming every 2 minutes & that didn't make sense.....turned out that the compressor was bad from the factory......so the guy ordered another compressor.....took so long, I finally asked & he said they had sent the wrong compressor & that the right one was on back order because there were several heat pump systems that went out of the factory with bad compressors at that same time. The right compressor finally came in around mid December.......all that time, I was using the air handler unit to heat my house.....the air handler unit eats up electricity like a pig (no offense to pigs meant). Because the weather was so bad, the guy couldn't get the right compressor installed......more bad weather in January, the ice storm the end of January & February. Finally in March, I called again....what stupid excuses could there be now....the weather had many nicer days that it could be installed.....he said he would be out to install it & never showed up. I called & left a not very nice message telling him he had no more time to get it finished & if he couldn't do it himself, to hire someone to do it. The next week & still nothing.....I called back & he said he had hired someone to come out & install the compressor & that all they had to do was finish up with the freon......he would get them out that day to finish.

I was supposed to be running errands later that day, but was running late as normal.....there at my door came the local heating company telling me that the guy who installed my unit called them to determine what was wrong with my system.......SAY WHAT???? I know what's wrong....the compressor was supposed to have been installed the last week & it needed freon.....this wasn't making any sense.

Turned out these guys were hired by the man who installed my unit & they lied to him about installing the compressor & he was going to pay them for doing the work that evening......good thing I caught what was going on even if I didn't understand it at first. Anyway, I still didn't have the good compressor in & gave him until the 22nd when my electric bill cycle was done for that month to get the new compressor installed. Sure enough, he had another man come out & do it a day late, but at least it got done....but the unit still wasn't working.....wouldn't switch to the A/C.....found out bad wiring going to the thermostat.....so I had a working heater.....no A/C....not a problem right now....but I want the stupid thing done....it was last October when it was supposed to be installed correctly......6 months later....

I turned in all my electric bills to the manufacturer.....I had only been paying what was reasonable on the amount because it was understood they would pay what was caused by their faulty unit that came to my house that way from the factory.......In 4 months, it ran up over $2300 in electric cost......of which I paid $1000 of it. I didn't have any more money to pay them with than that I it was what other homes were paying with heat pump systems.....so I felt it was fair. I got a call from the manufacturer which was Goodman/Amana & they told me they wouldn't cover anything on my electric bills because it was a warranty situation & warranty states it won't pay electric cost caused by their units being bad.......my demand wasn't under warranty....it was because of factory defect!!!!! But they wouldn't listen & said they had taken it to management & to the CEO & that was that......no appeals....no nothing.

So I went on the rampage to get all the information to prove it was a factory defect.....I called the guy who installed the unit asking him for all the information & the distributor he did the business through. I would get an I'll get it to you & then he would come back & ask me if I had my electric bills together for him to take care of it.......like I would trust anyone to take care of my business....especially someone I saw who was not very competent at getting information straight.....I am not that stupid thank you. Anyway, this went back & forth long enough that when I came home from horse back riding last week, they had shut off my electricity.

I called the electric company & they told me how much I needed to get it reinstated......I didn't have any money left from all my bills this month.....California property taxes, federal & state taxes......there was no money to pay anything but what I set aside to make payment on this last bill that I expected Goodman's help with as the heat pump wasn't working all the time during the period for this electric bill either & it was way higher than I could afford also.

I called the guy who installed my system & let him have it.....told him because of his imcompetence, I now had no electricity & didn't have any money to get it turned back on. Turned out his niece had died of cancer & it took him back to when he lost his son to cancer a few years ago.......a little sympathy, but when you have responsibilities, you do need to handle the other things & all I was requesting was information, not that he had to do anything.

Well, he came driving down to my house with the check for the electric company to get my electric turned back on.....so I had electricity by 7pm that night......I gave him a list of information I was demanding & I called up my lawyer before the electricity was turned off.

My lawyer said the only thing he can do is write a letter of demand with all the information I am putting together. Turned out this guy wasn't a licensed HVAC person & had to have other licensed people with him to install it....don't know if that was what he was hiding or not.......but now that he has money involved in my electric bill...just a little less than 1/2 of what I am demanding from the manufacturer, he will be willing to give me the information I need.

My lawyer said that if they refuse to go along with his demand letter, I would have to go to Texas to file in small claims against them........for over $1300....you betcha. If they don't agree to pay the amount I state now......I will be in Texas so fast. Don't think they realize who they are messing with, but I hate being cheated by big companies.....I hate being cheated by anyone as far as that goes.

I am fighting mad right now & they finished off my patience long ago, but when my electricity was turned off.....that was the last straw.

Debbie