I had booked an appointment with Action for a tune-up and a duct cleaning. Within 5 mins of him being in my basement he shows me a black and white video and tells me that my heat exchange is cracked and that it will need to be replaced. Checked my second furnace, same thing. He then tells me that both furnace's heat exchanges are cracked and they both need to be replaced and that he'll make an appointment for the next day for a salesperson to come over.
All this happened within the first 10 minutes that he'd been in my house.
The tech we had last year told us we could get a couple more years out of them so we decided we felt pressure and before we spent $9000 we'd get a second opinion.
New Tech from different company comes in and tells us that if our heat exchanges are cracked that he will shut off the furnaces and cap them because that's the rules. He took colour pictures of the inside of our furnace and said that [{laughing} there were no cracks and that he will keep the pictures in our files and email them to us.
It was him taking responsibility if he was wrong.
I could go into more detail but it will bore you. I feel like I was swindled. I feel like the tech's at Action are paid commission if they help sell furnaces. I am so glad that I got a second opinion. I wouldn't recommend this company.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $0.00
- Company Response
Mrs. Reid,
Thank you for your recent comments on Homestars - Your comments seem to be written with a tone to have us look like we intended to in your words "swindle" you. Nothing could be further from the truth.
When Action Furnace conducts a service on any furnace, a safety and heat exchanger inspection is included. We feel it is our responsibility as professional furnace technicians to ensure the safety of the furnace.
This is usually the FIRST task we perform as there would really be no sense spending time/money on a furnace service if the furnace needed to be replaced because of a damaged heat exchanger...This is exactly what happened in your situation - we discovered you had damaged heat exchangers and you decided you didn't want to spend the money on a duct cleaning and a furnace tune up - so your service call that day cost you exactly $0. Had we performed the cleaning and service first and then told you that your furnaces were damaged and needed to be replaced - you would have been out hundreds of dollars for servicing furnaces that need to be replaced....Your comments seem to be calling into question the efficiency of our Inspection Equipment. Our heat exchanger inspection cameras use the most advanced infrared technology on the market today. These cameras are designed and built specifically for the purpose of heat exchanger inspections. They are purposely black and white screens because that allows for the best contrast and identification of damage. Our technicians are provided extensive and ongoing training on how to use these cameras. If the technician that provided the second opinion did not have the same technology (and it sounds like he did not as it was something that was colour) then there is simply no way he could have provided the same level of inspection. Both your furnaces are close to 30 years old and are notorious for developing cracks long before now. The spots that these particular heat exchangers crack is in a very precarious and hard to see area of the heat exchanger and without our camera would be virtually impossible to locate and document. The attending technician that day remembers your job vividly and remembers exactly where the cracks were.
You state that the second technician told you that if your furnaces are cracked he will "shut them off and cap them because that's the rules." This once again tells me that he was not properly trained. The "rules" I am assuming he is talking about are the Natural Gas and Propane Installation Code as set out by The Canadian Standards Association (CSA). These are the "rules" Action Furnace follows and there are only 2 sections that deal with heat exchangers and they read - (4.21.1) states that "Where the heat exchanger of a furnace in a dwelling is found to be defective, it shall be replaced. (4.21.2) states " The heat exchanger referred to in clause 4.21.1 may be temporarily repaired if necessary, and the repair shall be in accordance with procedures acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction." This is what our technician should have told you and would have had a copy of this code with him to show you. I believe you were not interested in hearing anything about any of this and simply asked our technician to leave. Please note that nowhere does it state that the furnace must be shut off and capped.
We have offered to send a senior manager from Action Furnace back to your home and re - inspect your furnaces to ensure our technician performed the inspection properly. You have refused to allow us to do that stating - "this would be a waste of my time." This offer still stands and we are willing to re - inspect your furnaces anytime - once again at no charge.
Action Furnace Inc
Fixed Right or it's Free
https://actionfurnace.ca/
Calgary 403-288-4004
Edmonton 780-970-2777