Air Conditioner Installation & Repair
I hired LB to install an air conditioner in 2010. I got 4 other quotes and LB was on the high end at $1800. Ted Lausic was very personable and convincing when discussing the service provided by LB. He mentioned that though they were more expensive, they would provide great customer service. In fact, Ted told me they would service the unit at no cost the first year. I never heard from him again, though I should have followed up with the company regarding the service and I don’t blame him for that. This year my air conditioner failed to produce cold air. I called LB to come and have a look. They sent a technician over at $79 to just show up and $50 for each half an hour spent at the house. The technician charged $190 and told my wife it would cost $900 to repair the unit. There was a leak somewhere on the line and the refrigerant had all leaked out. They would have to come back with a second technician to find exactly where the leak was and to repair it. I was shocked that only 3 years after installation, the repair would cost around 2/3 of the original cost of the unit. Keep in mind that when living in Toronto, you only need AC for between 2 and 3 months a year, or 7 - 9 months of actual use with many mild days during this time where AC isn't needed. I called LB to figure out what was wrong and was not able to reach either Ted, or the technician who quoted for the repair. The receptionist told me the problem as stated by their technician so I was able to do some research. I decided to call other HVAC companies to determine if the cost LB quoted was reasonable. The first person I spoke to was shocked that the unit wasn't under warranty and suggested I call LB to find out what was wrong. He said in his experience it would cost between $350 and $500 to repair. He also said that a leaking line suggested a poor installation. Nothing was wrong with the actual unit so once again, this indicates a poor installation. A call to another Bryant dealer in Toronto revealed that the cost to repair would be approximately $300 to $600. After calling LB back, the receptionist told me she would have the technician call me back as she wasn't aware of the technical side of things. I have yet to hear back and it has been 6 days since my last call. I hired another company to repair the problem. He came and not only diagnosed the problem but repaired it in under an hour for $400, this included an $89 service charge and Approx. $250 for the refrigerant. He also said the installation was what caused the leakage. So much for the efficiency and honesty of the LB tech who charged my wife $200 to hang around for an hour. If you are looking for a company that will charge you a high price for your AC, install it poorly, fail to back up their statements with action, fail to stand by their work, give you the runaround when you try to get in touch with them, charge you an exorbitant fee when you ask them to repair their own shabby work and not call you back, then by all means, I highly recommend you hire LB.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $2,100.00
- Company Response
Unfortunately,when this client called for service, the AC unit was over 3 years old and was out of any labour warranty (1 year) and refrigerant is not covered by any manufacturer's warranty. To compound the issue, the homeowner had never had the AC unit serviced by anyone in those 3+ years.
As for the repair price, we can't justify other companies pricing but in this case we had including scaffolding in our repair price since the AC unit was mounted on the wall about 12' off the ground. With all the work fall accidents that have occurred in our industry over the years, we take our employees health and safety very seriously. Unfortunately, others do not.