Lindstrom Air Conditioning & Plumbingwww Poor Service, Terrible Diagnostics Pompano Beach Florida

My sister and brother in law’s AC quit working on 4/8/2018 and I called Lindstrom Air Conditioning on their behalf that day and spoke to Joe, in weekend dispatch. Joe had dispatched a technician to arrive at their address the next day- 4/9/2018. Once there, that technician, my sister and law called me and had me speak to Jermain, the individual sent to repaid the job. He stated clearly that the issue was the dryer/filter was bad and caused the refrigerant to leak and now it was completely drained. He also spoke of the fact that the unit was 8 years old. This is midlife since the unit is a Trane and this model’s life expectancy is 15 years. Bear in mind that while I was not physically present, we did have that conversation on the phone and that he also stated that he was sending another person by the next day; which I interpreted to be another technician to repair the unit for the price he had offered- $485 plus a maintenance agreement of $189.

On 4/10/2018, Joseph Sesito/Lindstrom HVAC Comfort Consultant arrives. My brother in law, who has all of the signs of early dementia was agreeing with Mr. Sesito that a new until I got out to the area the AC unit is staged. I told both we need to get in the house versus standing in the side yard discussing it. Once inside, Mr. Sesito stated clearly that it was the age of the unit, although he did not know the age until looking and the refrigerant- which is claimed to be RD-22. His suggestion was to purchase a new unit for $7011 which I though was excessive and in this case unnecessary. ( RD22 is quickly disappearing, being phased out and now prohibited by the EPA is the reasoning to install the $7011 unit he wished to sell. ) He stated the new AC unit has to have R410A refrigerant. )

My reply was if they purchased the unit in 2010, and the phase out of RD22 by the EPA was 7 years earlier, why did the unit contain any RD22 at all. In addition since the phase out was by all definition, a phase out and they still install that refrigerant, albeit it expensive, why was he so adamant that a new unit be installed even though the existing unit was 8 years old. I also asked why the technician did not state any of this when I spoke to him……Instead, he want to provide the claim that Lindstrom has been in business for 0ver 40 years; he went on to begin techno speak on RD22 and R410A and he’s been selling for over 15 years and further providing me with his credentials. I went out and took a look at the unit again and snapped a photo of the model and serial number which also includes the required refrigerant as well- R410A and no RD22. While inside, the sales effort continued and Mr. Sesito apparently told my wife, who was also asking a question why it was a concern to her since she did not live there and wasn’t paying the bill. Had I heard that, the conversation would have ended immediately. I gave Mr. Sesito another chance to explain himself but he sated that a ne unit was necessary.

The decision was made that a repair would be made. When I called to set that appointment, I was told by Amanda that she would call me back "swiftly” as they had to see if that part needed was in stock within their warehouse. That phone call began at 1224 and she called back at 2:20 PM; hardly anything that can be described as swiftly. I grew tired of waiting for a call back so I had scheduled an appointment with competitor who sent a technician within 45 minutes, had assessed the problem and recommended a repair, not a replacement and verified that the refrigerant in the unit was indeed R410A. As a result, the AC is working perfectly at a lesser cost which includes the maintenance agreement than originally proposed by Lindstrom. Conclusions in short---- Lindstrom will take advantage of customers so do your research before calling. Had my wife and I not been present, Mr. Sesito would have muscled his way into a sale based on nothing more than misinformation and scare tactics since AC in a requirement in South Florida. Lindstrom needs quality training in sales and customer service On Behalf of Michael and Rosemary Scott, Malcolm Richards