A/C. Repair in a 475 sq ft condo (St. Petersburg: house, transfer)

[CampingMom]

Good evening,

We got a quote here in St. Petersburg for repair of an a/c in a 475 sq ft studio condo.One was for code mandatory flood preventor- $460. Minor wiring repair-$185. Refrigerant up to 2lbs of R22 at 2 quantity for $780 since it is going out in Jan 2020, they gave no warranty. $1425, Next price we got was prepare indoor heat transfer media. Includes up to 2lb refrigerant, new code mandatory desiccant cylinder , pump down, accumulation and recharge.$1600. Refrigerant up to 2lbs of R22- $780. Code mandatory floor preventor- $460 Minor Wiring repair $185 Refrigerant Regualtor System, includes pump Down, Van & Recharge- $1150- Total $4,175. This is their “bandaid” option. And being the R-22 is

I may not know HVAC, but prices I have paid for work on our unit-one for a 2300sq ft house has been NO where near what they are asking. I understand R-22 is no more as of Jan. 2020. SO if that’s the case, a new unit would be a better idea. But they said it could be almost 9k for that. This unit was originally installed by the company we called in 2010. They also said the wiring for the thermostat was incorrect. Well, that’s the way it was when the unit was purchased as they did it too.

Trying to help out our oldest with the repair as money is super tight with her job. None of us expected her costs for this to be more than the replacement than our house unit. Any insight or suggestions appreciated.

[LKJ1988]

Call Lewis air. You could get a whole new unit for around 4k. They are raking you over the coals with all that BS lingo.

[HWTechGuy]

Definitely get other quotes on new units.

I have a house over 3000 square feet and replaced both systems last year. The whole bill was $$8300 for a pair of 3 ton systems (two new air handlers and two new condensing units along with all associated labor).

[CampingMom]

Originally Posted by LKJ1988

Call Lewis air. You could get a whole new unit for around 4k. They are raking you over the coals with all that BS lingo.

I figured they were trying to take advantage. I’ll call them. We know everything ran fine before she opened the door one day and knocked a wire loose. He hooked something back in yesterday, she said the fan started right back up and she felt cool air coming out of the vent she was under. He disconnected what ever he did and told her that she needed all the mambo jumbo.

I will call them to see when they can come out. Thanks!

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by CampingMom

I figured they were trying to take advantage. I’ll call them. We know everything ran fine before she opened the door one day and knocked a wire loose. He hooked something back in yesterday, she said the fan started right back up and she felt cool air coming out of the vent she was under. He disconnected what ever he did and told her that she needed all the mambo jumbo.

I will call them to see when they can come out. Thanks!

Brian will fix ya up.

[mph101]

In Saint Petersburg check out sub zero , the guy running the company is Eddie. This man is very cool operating this HVAC he has told me how to fix simple things on the phone,, could have charged me hundreds for a house call Don't fall for that R22 fail on the deleted Freon. It is very possible to retrofit a R22 unit with a cheaper Freon as I did last April. There are some considerations the age of the unit, bu yes don't be ripped off with this R22 scam by many HVAC companies. The gas can be exchanged and a substitute can be applied in most R22 systems. Its not complicated , I can't remember the Freon exchanged but I think it was R22 to R422D, at any rate I had this done on my 2-1/2 ton central AC in April and the unit has run flawless with the exchange and I think I paid maybe $52 bills per lb . Watch out for HVAC scams man. This guy Eddie at Sub Zero is one of the coolest guys I've had the experience to deal with in a world of fraud and BS scams. Check him out.

I

[CampingMom]

Originally Posted by mph101

In Saint Petersburg check out sub zero , the guy running the company is Eddie. This man is very cool operating this HVAC he has told me how to fix simple things on the phone,, could have charged me hundreds for a house call Don't fall for that R22 fail on the deleted Freon. It is very possible to retrofit a R22 unit with a cheaper Freon as I did last April. There are some considerations the age of the unit, bu yes don't be ripped off with this R22 scam by many HVAC companies. The gas can be exchanged and a substitute can be applied in most R22 systems. Its not complicated , I can't remember the Freon exchanged but I think it was R22 to R422D, at any rate I had this done on my 2-1/2 ton central AC in April and the unit has run flawless with the exchange and I think I paid maybe $52 bills per lb . Watch out for HVAC scams man. This guy Eddie at Sub Zero is one of the coolest guys I've had the experience to deal with in a world of fraud and BS scams. Check him out.

I

We got a hold of Sub Zero. It was the best choice. He got right in there and took a look at what she had. Found out someone had disconnected the low voltage wires at the back on the building for her unit-probably the first HVAC that came out and told her it’s was going to cost and arm and a leg. It ended up totaling $175. BIG difference over the company that had originally installed the unit and just wanted to screw her over. Thanks again for the recommendation, he’s got high marks from all of us!

[lavender]

Here is a great example of how this forum helps its members well done!

[CampingMom]

Funny thing just happened. The owner of the first company called us as he wanted to follow up on her “1 star” review. He tried to snowball me too believing that you had to spend $5-6K to get this unit working-said technician had pictures of coil leaking. That it would cost as much to get this changed over to the new requirements. That it’s against the law to use R-22 after Jan 1st and if caught, they get a $26K fine. That is also costs more in the St. Petersburg area to service these units. I said really? A unit for a 475 Sq ft Condo costs more than one for a 2300 Sq ft house? The MAX size she needs is 1.5 tons-that’s 125 sq ft more than she has.

He asked where I lived and told him originally, NY. Now Savannah. He said those markets are much cheaper than FL. Has he ever been to the metro NY area? I am SO glad we asked here to find a guy that wasn’t about upscale. He also told me that the tech said it was a 19-24 year old unit. I said really? Because the sticker on it from his company said installed in 2010. But it would not be worth the money to fix it. How many people change ac/furnaces out every 9 years?

Thank you all for the help. Still seething over how some services think they can pull a fast one just because they can.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by CampingMom

Funny thing just happened. The owner of the first company called us as he wanted to follow up on her “1 star” review. He tried to snowball me too believing that you had to spend $5-6K to get this unit working-said technician had pictures of coil leaking. That it would cost as much to get this changed over to the new requirements. That it’s against the law to use R-22 after Jan 1st and if caught, they get a $26K fine. That is also costs more in the St. Petersburg area to service these units. I said really? A unit for a 475 Sq ft Condo costs more than one for a 2300 Sq ft house? He asked where I lived and told him originally, NY. Now Savannah. He said those markets are much cheaper than FL. Has he ever been to the metro NY area? I am SO glad we asked here to find a guy that wasn’t about upscale. He also told me that the tech said it was a 19-24 year old unit. I said really? Because the sticker on it from his company said installed in 2010. But it would not be worth the money to fix it. How many people change ac/furnaces out every 9 years?

Thank you all for the help. Still seething over how some services think they can pull a fast one just because they can.

Good for you for calling the company on their effort to conduct what sounds like a scam on your family member. When people speak out like this and expose businesses that use shoddy practices they'll help others avoid the same in the future - and maybe even get the business to knock it off.

I had a similar situation recently with a garage door repair. A spring broke on one of our doors so I had the spouse call in a local company we have used before and been very happy with. When the tech got there and described the situation to the spouse you would have thought the door was on it's last legs and required nothing short of replacement.

Funny thing is, I worked in the "business" many, many years ago for a short time, but long enough to know what a spring replacement entails. I had also shopped prices the night before so I was prepared for the expense.

The spouse challenged the tech based on what I had described would be required for the repair, and he balked. They told him to leave and we would get a second opinion. He then offered to call his office and "discuss" the repair with his boss.

Yeah, right.

About five minutes later he came back and said he could do what was required for the repair around the price we expected. No more "The sky is falling" attitude, for some strange reason.

Jerk. I called and spoke to the manager the next day and discussed what my online review was going to cover. He offered to refund some of the cost if I would not post a negative review. I turned him down and suggested that they drop the high pressure tactics in the future if they didn't want more reviews like mine...

RM