This company did work from Feb. 2 in our home and our issue still wasn't fixed as of April 5. I paid them $1498.00 originally and they wanted another $409.31 from me. I had to call another heating company to come and fix the issue and paid them $1405.72 since the technician at Brown's couldn't actually fix out issue after several trips to our home and actually left gauges attached to our heat pump that drained our entire refrigerant. You will see the gauges in the picture attached. When I called and asked for him to come and remove the gauges it took over a month before we heard back from them. I was told by someone in the office that perhaps he left the gauges on so he could get readings over a period of time. The gauges were not installed correctly which resulted in the leaking of the entire coolant from the unit. We were told that the main board on the heat pump needed to be replaced. When I asked why, I was told because the battery in our thermostat was corroded and blew up the main circuit board. I also told him it should be under warranty but he said no since it was the battery in our themostat. He also quoted me to install a new Ecobee thermostat at $300.00 but I was charged $450.00 plus labour. We have since found out that there is nothing wrong with our old thermostat and it still works. We were misinformed by the technician and this company and they refuse to reimburse us for items under warranty or the additional costs that we paid due to them damaging our heat pump. We had to send many phone messages, texts and emails to get a response from them and they are totally unprofessional. They are now not even responding to our emails so trying to dodge their responsibility of reimbursing us for bogus charges and extra charges that we should not have had to pay another company.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $3,500.00
- Company Response
Letter sent to homeowner:
On Feb 2 we attended and the service diagnostic found that the Olson oil furnace needed a new board as a result of the batteries leaking and corroding the terminals on the thermostat. As the thermostat was corroded the technician recommended that the thermostat should be replaced with a wifi stat because it had desired feature. At that time, you were accepting of the wifi thermostat. The reason given was that it was requested to give peace of mind when your family is away as you could check the status of your heating and cooling systems, and as there was a rebate through GreenOn program. It was installed a week later with the heat pump, so there was ample time to change your mind.
We also diagnosed that the heat pump required an outdoor temperature sensor (not a flame sensor … not sure if this was on the invoice done up at the office, but if so the terminology was incorrect). Diagnostic $150
On Feb 5 the board for the Olson was installed. ($287.50 for the board $190 labour) You have asked for this money back under warranty, but the Olson furnace warranty has expired.
On Feb 9 we returned to install the heat pump sensor, which had arrived from the distributor. The sensor for the heat pump should have been covered under parts warranty, so we will refund the $83.97 for the part.
We also installed the Ecobee thermostat at this time ($425.)
Feb 23 we received another no heat call. The bad vent safety switch on the Olson was replaced. Diagnostic fee ($95) and labour to replace the part (190) and the part itself (77.22) for a total of $409.31 (still outstanding). This furnace is not under warranty. At this time someone asked the technician to check the heat pump operation, which was done. The pump was operating to specification, but he left the gauges.
The total billed to you, including tax was ($1498.91 + $409.31) for a total of $1908.22.
The amount you have paid is $1498.91.
The amount we are returning is the sensor ($83.97 plus tax is $94.89) for the heat pump part, plus $1405.72 billed to you by the other company for refrigerant and checking the work done, for a total of $1500.61.
Calculating the difference, $1500.61 less the amount owed ($1908.22 - $1498.91 = $409.31) leaves us with a balance owing you of $1091.30. Enclosed please find a cheque for that amount.
Again we apologize for the problem with the gauges. As the technician who checked the equipment has confirmed that all equipment is now running properly, we hope that you get many more years of service out of the equipment you have.