Noel J Wells BEWARE OF USED EQUIPMENT Yorba Linda California

Between 4/1/09 and 7/15/09 there were some 46 separate e-mail exchanges with this customer.  He was provided manufacturer's cut sheets or information on how to obtain them for his contractor.  I spoke over the telephone with his contractor and advised him what the requirements were for several of the pieces of equipment, even some not provided by me.  He was fearful there were peculiarities with European manufactured equipment.

When I arrived to deliver and set up the equipment, no electrical circuits were installed and the equipment could not be hooked up, set up or run.  Impossible to test anything.

The condensate evaporation pan for the case referred to was in the position (on top of the case) where it is located when shipped new from the factory.  Clearly dealt with in the owner's manual provided.  Note that Owner's Manuals with set up and technical information including programming instructions were provided for all equipment.

What was omitted in the complaint was that a "flash freezer" was actually broken in shipping and I was unable to repair it for the customer due to lack of needed tools (I had brought only a few things along to accomplish the delivery and set up).  I immediately shipped a replacement part and gave the customer a $500 cash allowance to pay a local service technician (a $300 job at most even in So Cal) as I was upset that I was unable to complete the repair myself.

I spent over 8 hours with this customer waiting for his electrician to arrive to install the needed circuits.  Despite having had information available in advance, it was discovered when the electrician did finally arrive that there was insufficient capacity in the electrical panel to support one of the pieces of equipment (the one the customer claims "doesn't work at all").  That piece of equipment was eventually hooked up by someone, somehow and ran properly.  The customer, however, apparently failed to close the freezer door (actually he blocked it open as the doors close automatically by use of a device called a "torquemaster"), the evaporator iced over (logical consequence) and the freezer was unable to hold temperature (again logical consequence).  The customer lost some product as the result of HIS error. 

When the customer contacted me, he was instructed to contact the local service agent I had provided information about as the service agent was known to be competent.  The customer contacted another service agent for reasons unknown despite the fact that I was willing to pay for any needed repairs provided I was satisfied they were truly equipment issues and not operator errors (why the owner's manual I provided was not consulted, I cannot understand).

Please note the customer has another business manufacturing door gaskets for the refrigeration industry in the Riverton / South Salt Lake City area and presumably has contact with a number of competent service technicians.  Instead he maintains the freezer "doesn't work at all" and that he has had 3 service calls to check it out and it can't be repaired by the people he selected.  The customer has been unable or unwilling to describe to me which of the equipment's functions are inoperable.  Since there is a 3 minute delay at start up, it's possible he never allowed the freezer 3 minutes to start running before he condemned it.

I find the customer's complaint interesting since all the equipment sold to this customer was loaded onto a rental truck for delivery and each piece was run while loaded on the truck to be certain it ran properly and pulled down to temperature (hence my frustration when I found I had damaged a piece in transit).  The freezer that "doesn't work at all" pulled down to -10 degrees F immediately prior to departure for Salt Lake City and it worked well enough that it was ultimately placed into service by the customer.

As far as the  dirty equipment is concerned, all was pressure washed, however, it appears that my helper neglected to remove the front evaporator coil cover where some old product was found.  Despite the fact that the customer agreed to clean the equipment himself in exchange for a single door commercial freezer (any conscientious food vendor cleans even new equipment prior to placing it into service) and that he never attempted to contact me directly with his concerns, he has chosen to assail my reputation with his complaint.

As a matter of record, a business associate (the individual who referred the customer to me), was visiting the customer's business to assist with "business start up" and spent 2 hours on my behalf cleaning the particular piece of equipment that is the subject of the complaint (remembering here, the customer had agreed in advance to clean the equipment).

I was planning on being in the Salt Lake area around the 4th of July and had intended to look in on the customer and resolve any "resolvable" differences with him.  Due to a family emergency, I was unable to visit the customer.

As far as telephone support is concerned, if it should become necessary, a comparison of cell phone records, both the customer's and mine, you will find there was virtually no effort to communicate with me.

I find it most interesting that my name, address and telephone number are posted in the complaint section and I cannot disclose any information about the complainant.  I have been in this business for many years serving the ice cream industry.  I handle nationwide technical support for 3 separate European manufacturers of gelato (ice cream) display cases.  I have been sent by the various manufacturers to Florida, New York, Michigan, Oregon, Nevada (several times) and Hawaii to resolve alleged equipment deficiencies on their behalf and have never had a complaint.  Now, suddenly, I cannot have the complaint lodged by an inexperienced ice cream store operator cleared from the internet.

There is no substance to this customer's  complaint.  By his own admission in his last e-mail to me (after he had posted his complaint) he acknowledged that I was correct in what I had pointed out to him, and that in fact he did have another agenda as I had speculated, and that he was just unhappy with the glass door display freezer he was in effect trying to abandon to me.

I'm not giving him his money back and I am making no concessions to him.  Next time starts an unfamiliar business, he needs to read the information provided in advance and pay attention to those who try to assist him.

Please note there are serious issues with excessive heat load in his store (the air conditioning is inadequate for the heat load demands).

Additionally, I gave this man a single door commercial freezer at no charge (we both knew it needed repairs but it was free and it was for him to use if he chose to have it repaired) in an effort to help him get started.  Never again.

Noel J. Wells
(714) 227-0074