Rome Industries ripoff Bad Pool Heaters Leesburg Florida

I would like to address Debi V's report on my company and set the record straight with the facts.

First of all the company she is referring to is not Roma Industries, it is Rome Industries, Inc.  

Rome Industries, Inc. was a little family owned pool heat pump manufacturing company that became a victim / casualty of the worst recession since the great depression and unfortunately went out of business last year. 

Debi V, said my company bought the phone number from Roma Industries, "Wrong"!!!

Our company has bought, sold and serviced thousands of Rome pool heaters from the day they first opened their doors. When Rome Industries, Inc. went out of business and their phones were disconnected, I went to the phone company and paid their ( several thousands of dollars) past due phone bill in order to be able to take care of my customers. That phone number is on every pool heater they ever made and I didn't want my customers calling it and worrying that they would not be able to get parts or service for their Rome pool heater.

This is important because unlike air conditioners many of the components on a pool heater are OEM specific. What this means is some parts were made just for that heater and won't work on any other pool heater and vice versa. This is not the first pool heater company I have seen go out of business, in the 30 years I have been doing this. The problem is when a company like this goes out of business because the parts are OEM specific the parts typically die with the company and you can't fix it at any price.

Because we did so much engineering, design and service work for them over the years when they were in business. I still have OEM parts to fix those heaters and can help my customers and others in need. This leads me into Debi V's next FALSE statement.

Debi V said, beware they charge you $115.00 for checking your pool heater and giving you a diagnostic of it. Then when you don't buy the pool heater they are selling they charge you an additional $85.00 "with your authorization" If you have called us for service or have already done business with us, then you know Debi V has it half right. We charge $115.00 for our service / trip charge and $85.00 per hour plus parts with a minimum of one hour. We also tell you this up front, just as we did Debi V and will not do anything without your prior approval / "authorization".

Now, lets address the part where Debi V's nose starts to grow. Debi V said, " they don't even try to repair the pool heater. They try to sell you a new pool heater". This is ridiculous, there is nothing that we can't fix on a pool heater. As a matter of fact on this Rome pool heater we are the only ones that can fix it, because we are the only company with the parts.

 Sometimes they are not worth fixing. Sometimes it cost as much or more to fix an old pool heater than it would to replace it with a new or fully refurbished unit. If this is the case as it was with Debi V's heater we will give you a price to fix it and a price to replace it. We will then give you our opinion and you make the decision.
As I said earlier and Debi V did admit. We will not do anything without your authorization.

Just to give you an idea about the pool heater Debi V is talking about. Her pool heater was  serial #000050, the fiftieth pool heater Rome manufactured. It had a cupra-nickel heat exchanger in it that was leaking. Cupra-nickel heat exchangers can not be fixed they have to be replaced. To replace the heat exchanger with a new titanium heat exchanger would have cost $1551.50. And there is no guarantee that once we did that and got the unit up and running that we wouldn't uncover some other problem on this 11 plus year old unit.

In good conscience and with my knowledge and experience I could not recommend fixing it. I then gave her some options. I told her I could replace it with a fully refurbished unit, with a new titanium heat exchanger for only $2000.00 or we could put a brand new unit in for $3500.00 with a ten year manufacture's limited warranty.

She then said she had to discuss it with her husband and father and would call me back. This heater is on a short term / investment rental house in Central Florida. I assume they are all partners in it.   All of my conversations with her are being done over the phone as her and her husband are driving up from Miami to inspect the home, because they had someone coming in on Sunday 12/16/12 to use it.

She called me at 10:30am Thursday 12/13/12 and advised me of their situation and ask if I could get someone out to fix the pool heater that day ASAP. I told her I understood her situation. I know these homes are rented out like hotel villas with heated pools and if the heater is not working and the pool is cold this is not just an inconvenience. This can cost them the booking and rental income. I told her I would reschedule lower priority service to accommodate her. "No good deed goes unpunished".

Now, if your still with me. I would like to breakdown for you the cost and profit of this service call. Between the travel time, the time it took to do a thorough inspection and diagnosis of the unit. The time spent on the phone going back and forth with her, my service tech and waiting for her to call us back after she discussed it with her husband. Then she also had to call and discuss it with her father to see if she could get him to come up with the money to replace it and get back to me. While all of this is going on, I have my service tech tied up at her house / job site waiting for them to give me a decision so I can help them get this pool heated, that they so desperately needed to have done ASAP to accommodate this guest they had coming in. This house is 60 miles one way from our service center.  

I now have 4 1/2 hours in this service call. This is how it breaks down:
$200.00 divided by 4 1/2 hours= $44.00 per hour. The tech's cost is $25.00 per hour with matching taxes, unemployment and insurance 4 1/2 hours x $25.00= $112.00. It was 120 miles round trip from our service center to her location. The government allows me .55 cents per mile deduction for my vehicles. Which does not cover the cost of the vehicle, insurance, maintenance and high fuel prices these days. But it is, what it is. Mileage = 120 x .55cents= $66.00. So lets put it all together:

Service call / trip charge                                                           $115.00
Minimum 1 hour labor                                                                   85.00
Our total charge                                                                       $200.00

Tech's cost to company                                                            -112.50
IRS allowed vehicle deduction                                                  -  66.00
                                                                                                $178.50

Gross profit                                                                              $ 21.50

Hold on, oh no that's not profit yet. Who's going to pay for the office and warehouse? Who's going to pay for the furniture in the office, the phones, the electricity and the water? Who's going to pay for the warehouse inventory, pallet racks for the inventory, tools and don't forget the dumpster. Who going to pay for the office staff ? Oh by the way, don't my wife of 30 years and I deserve a little something for the 100 hours a week that we put into this company ? Not to mention all the sleepless nights we've had over the last 8 years worrying about, not how we will get paid, but how we will be able to pay the people that work for us and their families that count on them.

You might wonder with all the customers we have and the years we have been in business how I would know who this supposed anonymous person is who posted this. It is because we work very hard at being the fairest and most honest company to do business with. Fortunately 99.9% of our customers are happy, satisfied and feel they have been treated fair. We will be very happy to supply you with a list of our happy, satisfied customers as references upon request.

Unfortunately the old saying is true, you can't make everybody happy. You will eventually run into someone, no matter how honest and fair you treat them, you will not make them happy unless they can get something out of you for nothing.  Sorry, I have had all the practice I need.

 I know my cost of doing business. I need to make at least a little profit. Profit is not a bad word. Profit is what keeps us in business, so if you should ever have a problem with something we have done, we are still in business to take care of it for you.

People like Debi V. are the first people to scream, who's going to take care of poor me and my warranty, when a little company like Rome goes out of business.  Its ironic how they still have a since of entitlement when they find out that a company can't stay in business doing something for nothing.

Debi V is very ungrateful, unreasonable and grossly unfair to post this about our company. I called and left her several voicemails requesting she call me to discuss this and see if we could work this out before I wrote this rebuttal. She never gave me the courtesy of responding. Her lack of response is just a confirmation of a person who has no interest in what is right or fair. This in my opinion is just a vindictive attempt by an unreasonable person trying to hurt a small business owner, because she didn't get what she wanted (something for nothing).

After reading this if you feel we are the type of company you would like to do business with, I would love to have your business. I promise we will give you honest, quality and professional service at a fair price.

If you agree with Debi V and feel she was justified in her post about our company, please call somebody else. I can't afford your business.

Thank you for your time and may God Bless You!!!

Sincerely,

James Diroff, Sr.
President
Medallion Energy
jim@medallionenergy.com
Office (407)786-0000
Cell    (407)864-7000       

Medallion Energy Enterprise bought the phone number from ROMA Industries. Beware they charge you $115.00 for checking your pool heater and giving you a diagnostic of it. Then when you dont buy the pool heater they are selling they charge you an additional $85.00 with your authorization. They do not even try to repair the pool heater. They try to sell you a new pool heater.

Be careful calling the Roma Industries phone number 407-786-0000 it will forward to 407-814-3827. Be careful they Ripped us for $85.00 and changed what they said after we did not want to buy a new unit.