Hi Fiona,
We totally understand your frustration. It is a rare situation when equipment is defective in our world. We would love to replace units immediately, if we even considered that it might be defective to save all time, money and stress. However the process is laid out for us and our hands are tide.
As I am sure you experienced, we need to get approval from our supplier, who then needs to get approval from the manufacture. They need proof that we have exhausted all options that it is not something that can be fixed or that it was not human error. We need to plead the case for our customers. Removal and replacing a full air conditioner is a huge and costly task that they don't take lightly. Understandably it is very similar in many industries~however taxing for all parties.
We are highly motivated to move through this process as quickly as we can. The manufacturer replaced the unit in the end as a straight exchange but they do not pay us ANYTHING for our time or our labour costs to try and rectify the issue, removal & replacing the unit even if it is a defective unit~ out of our control.
Our end goal is to give our customers great service and we look forward to be of service to our customers for many years afterwards. We are very sorry you had to experience this at all. Thankfully it is rare to have defective products as we start with reputable brands. Our team felt terrible and had immense empathy, as they were helpless to move this quicker then the 2 weeks.
"1 out of 10 stars" came as a shocking to our team. In the end we stood behind our commitment to provide a well installed and running a/c and advocate for the replacement as quickly as we could. Hopefully in time you will be able to forgiven us and be able to move forward as you enjoy your air conditioned home! Happy Holidays!