Unique Air

Unique Air, INC. Be aware of pushy and dishonest service technicians and the company. Bradenton, Florida

11th of Sep, 2011 by User137167

We have been with Unique Air since 2005, and for the most part satisfied with their service. (Note that we paid $279.00 for two maintenance services per year. Parts and labor are not included.) According to each service invoice, our AC was in good condition.
On August 10, our AC was scheduled for routine maintenance service, and Jose, another of their many service technician came along.
His service was unusually quick. He started with a sales pitch almost immediately, claiming that our AC was in poor condition, corroded, was leaking, the capacitor has low charge, and was low on Freon. His sales pitch was dramatic, colorful, and oddly rehearsed. A new foundation for the AC was necessary, part of the wall in the living room needed to be cut out to install his recommended AC. He called the home office numerous times. The price for the new AC unit started with $.10,059. MF rebate and FPL rebate lowered the price to $7, 329. (We are talking about an AC in a condo)
Here comes the ticker: The service technician wanted a deposit of half the amount mentioned above right then and there, and the unit was to be installed the next day.
When we made it clear that we would check on his recommended product and installation. He was miffed about it, did not suggest to refill Freon, and left.
Now began the disaster.
The AC would not shut off, and the temperature reached 91+ degrees by the next morning, less than 24 hours after the not so unique service person left. Our AC unit was completely iced-up, both inside and outside.
Not trusting nor wanting to deal with this company and their employees, we searched the internet for reputable AC companies, that were listed with the Chamber of Commerce, and had customer comments posted on their websites.
We found a few companies, asked them to come and evaluate our current AC, and perhaps make recommendations. (Note, we did not give them the background and the experience that we were going through with our AC.)
The most helpful company was Adam's Cooling and Heading, Inc. The service manager and a service technician came the same day. After de-icing the AC, the service manager showed us that a valve appeared to have been left open and the AC was totally out of coolant. The service manager offered to fill our AC with coolant, and both men were ready to leave. We were not charged for their service. Feeling that they should be compensated for the two + hours of work, we offered the service manager a tip. He would not take it, instead, he offered to refill the coolant until we decide what to do, and stated: "We were glad to help"
While all of this went on, we called Unique Air and got hold of Jose, the technician who was convinced that he had a deal. He did not have much to say when we told him that our AC iced up. Thereafter, we got hold of a Unique Air manager who adamantly refused to refund us the service call that ended in a disaster. We reminded her that we were a customer since 2005. She stayed inflexible.
With a now trashed AC, we asked Adam's Heating and Cooling to evaluate our AC, read through service performance records from Unique Air, and possible options. The service manager noticed a few bogus entries on the service invoices like lubing the bearings on a non-serviceable blower motor.
In the end, we decided to replace our AC unit, although not with a heat pump like the other service technician was trying to push on us. The new AC was half the price. After the old unit was pulled out, we noticed that the unit was not in such poor condition as described by Unique Air technician, coils were not as corroded as described by Jose, and the line driver did not needed to be replaced less than a year ago. It also should be mentioned that Unique Air's technician Jose went into a long explanation of how the heat pump would require cutting a hole into the living room wall for more air return. Just imagine looking at a hole in the living room!
Two days later, a perfectly sized new unit was installed. The new unit fit into the existing space, and we do NOT have a hole in our living room. We are very pleased with the new unit and the workmanship from Adam's Cooling and Heading, Inc.. We appreciate their honesty and integrity. They are not pushy!
We recommend that anyone in need of AC services get a second opinion and not trust servicemen who compromise the trust of their clients by sabotaging the very unit they were hired to service.

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