HOMEBUILDER RIPOFF

Bought newly constructed home in March 97. Had air conditioning problems from beginning. We were told by a/c subcontractor that we had a freon leak. They came out and refilled it two years in a row. Homebuilder was aware of this problem, but told us to work directly through a/c subcontractor which was Advanced Tech Services out of Phoenix. Besides the leaking freon, our house was very warm and Advanced Tech rerouted our venting system twice. This did not help the house circulation.

Advanced Tech Services is now out of business and Chas Roberts of Phoenix is making all repairs. They came out and found the leak, also said it was an installation problem and ultimately charged us $400 for these repairs. I asked them what our recourse was and they told us to call manufacturer of a/c unit (Rheem). We did this and factory rep told us that homebuilder is ultimately responsible for their sub contractors.

The third and final repair made by Chas Roberts occurred after our two year warranty was up, therefore Sequoia will not reimburse us for the repairs. Sequoia also does not want to address the venting /circulation problem.

I've sent correspondence to Sequoia asking them for reimbursement and they refuse since our warranty is up. They also say that they have no hard copy proof of our a/c problems which could be true since they always refer us directly to the sub contractor. The sub contractor did not leave any receipts since it was warranty work. And now the sub contractor is out of business. I did try to access the bond that is required with their contractors license but it is already depleted.

We agree with a/c manufacturer that homebuilder should stand behind their sub contractors. This has been an ongoing problem from day one. The last repair was done last summer which technically put us out of our warranty period by only a few months. This is not a new problem and should not be treated like one.