Mechanics Heating & Air Conditioning Fraud, shoddy work, deceptive practices Marietta, Georgia

On Friday, July 12, Mechanics Heating and Air Conditioning sent a technician to fix our air conditioning.  After being quoted a $29.95 service charge over the phone, we were told by the technician it would be $85 per 1/2 hour per unit for "additional diagnostic" work.  Total for 2 units:  $355.05 just for diagnostic work.  No repairs were done. Sounded like bait and switch to us. The check was to me made out to the technician, not the company, which we found odd.

Technician reported that both units and one furnace needed to be replaced.  Said if we replaced the units, he would waive 1/2 of the diagnostic fee.  Called his "boss", who said the units could be installed on Monday, July 15, but would require a 50% down check ($2,950) and another check for 50% upon completion.  Once the first check was written, it was non-cancellable.  

While the "boss" and the technician said we could have whatever brand we wanted, they would not give us a definite make and model number, claiming that they "did not know what was in stock," nor would they give us a final price -- and absolutely nothing in writing.  They also claimed we should install the old R-22 models, not the newer R-410 units; they said they were still "untested."  We knew that the R-410 models had been used for 3-4 years.  A law against making or using Freon in the near future was passed several years ago, making it unwise to install a new R-22 unit, which used Freon. The R-410 unit has been the industry standard for over 3 years. We did not write the checks.

The following day, July 13, a technician from a different company (Tech 2) came.  He found that the outside unit had been turned off on the unit itself, thereby preventing it from running or registering on a voltage meter.  The attic system, which Mechanics had deemed unrepairable, was repaired in less than 20 minutes after Tech 2 repositioned the blower wheel and tightened it onto the shaft.

Tech 2 said someone had "repositioned" the blower wheel against the housing so it would not work.  We had never touched the unit.

We explained to Tech 2 that 3-4 summers earlier, a Mechanics Heating & Air  tech replaced a fan blade on one unit and a condenser on another unit, and charged us over $450.00.  We wrote the check to the technician (not the company) at that time too.   That technician told us the units were old (15 years), and he didn't know if he could repair them; they might have to be replaced.  Therefore, we were happy when he was able to do so.

Tech 2 informed us that the fan blade had indeed been replaced, but no condensers on either unit had ever been replaced -- they were all original equipment!  We had been defrauded.

Tech 2 then added Freon to both AC units, which then worked fine.  Charge for Service Call and Freon:  $311.

We feel we were defrauded several years ago and were defrauded again by paying a $355 diagnostic charge after the technician himself disabled our units.