I need a furnace inspection for a rental permit from city of Oshawa. We called Advanced Air System located at 1154 Warden Ave. Suit 340 in Toronto with phone number of 416 265 7555. They said they can do it by sending a qualified technician, and it takes about 45 minutes to an hour and the cost was $159, since I am an old customer for my another property (I paid annual fee for membership service for my another property to Advanced Air System), the fee for this inspection was $139.
I agreed and made an appointment to meet the technician at my property on Friday, July 7, 2017.
I met with a man who introduced himself as Mike only; I don’t know his last name.
Mike started the furnace and it works normally just like before; we never had a problem with the furnace. After a few minutes, Mike said he needs to go to another call, my appointment was squeezed between his two other appointments by his company.
I asked how my furnace was. Mike said my furnace had problems.
I asked Mike what the problem was, he said he did not know and he or someone else from his company needs to come back again to check it.
I asked Mike if there was extra cost if they come back to check it. Mike said his company charges extra fees for each time they come back, plus the cost for parts and labour for changing the parts.
I said I need a full inspection of my furnace and your company told us it needs 45 minutes to one hour to finish it. Why do you have less than 10 minutes? Anyway, If you thought there was something wrong with my furnace, I need an inspection report and tell me where was wrong. This is an inspection meant for.
Mike said he needs to call his company. After he spoke to his company, Mike put a few words on the report sheet without checking anyone of the 21 categories required to be checked. No name of the technician and no signature on the report. Mike asked me for $139 inspection fee. I did not even know if Mike is a qualified technician. I did not pay the fee.
I called the company and explained the situation to Janet, Janet could not answer my questions. Janet let me speak to John (I don’t know John’s last name) who sounded like the person in charge of the business. John told me to shut up and pay the money if I am not a technician.
I told John that my furnace had no problem at all; he and his employee were trying to defraud me. John said that he is going to sue me if I don’t pay the money.
I told John that I will let another technician to inspect my furnace. If there were problems like Mike said, I would go to his office apologize to him in person and pay the fee. If my furnace had no problem I will put this story and his defrauding practice on line. John said that I was threatening him.
Next day, another technician from a well-known company came to my property. I did not tell him a word about the experience I had with Advanced Air System, and the technician still does not know it.
This technician spent about 45 minutes in my property and had conducted every category that is required to inspect the furnace. This technician told me that my furnace runs very well and it has no problem at all. This technician followed up with a detailed inspection report and his name was on the report.
I called John after that. John wanted me to disregard the report done by his employee; and he said that he would not charge me for the inspection and wanted me to let it go. Sorry John, for other vulnerable consumers, I can’t just let it go. You should pay for your action.
Here is the message to you John; I am ready to go to court if you want to sue me. If you are not going to sue me, I would like to sue you. And your defrauding practice was also reported to Ministry of Government and Consumer Services.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $139.00
- Company Response
In response to Newman Hu , aka Newman Yi, Advanced Airs first dealings with Newman was May 3, 2017. At that time he called having being referred by a client of advanced air, he called because the rooming house he recently purchased had no heat . When I showed up to the house Newman was having a heated discussion with some other contractor, I preceded to find the problem and it was the batteries in the thermostat . He had great difficulty believing that this would stop the furnace from working , so I replaced the batteries and left the furnace working and didn't charge anything for the service call , he wanted to put the furnace on the service plan so I did. The next time we heard from Newman was after his wife had called to book an appointment to give a report on a furnace at another recently purchased property . When Mike checked the furnace he found on start up it was short cycling , Mike's reason for being at the house was to make a report on the condition of the furnace and not to find out what the problem with the short cycling was . So Mike called the office and asked how to proceed he was told to fill out the report to what he found at that time , and we would return at another time to do a full diagnostic to determine what the problem was. When Mike explained the procedure Newman called the office extremely angry because he wanted a report for the insurance company that there was nothing wrong with the furnace , he was raising his voice and said Mike didn't know what he was doing . He began with threats that he would sue advanced air and slander advanced airs name all over the Internet . He refused to pay the invoice for the report and said he was going to call another company . The next day he called and said he had a report from another company that said the furnace was in great condition , I said to him that's great send a copy of the report to me and I'll review it he said he would absolutely NOT let me see the report from another company . I have to admit that makes me suspicious. I asked Newman what he wanted , he said you tell me , I said if your not happy with our report you do not have to pay for it , he said that's not good enough ! I am going to sue you , I said sue me for what ? You didn't pay for the service . I am still unclear as to what Newman wants . Sense that time we have fully refunded the premium paid and cancelled the plan at the first house and asked him to NOT call advanced air for any future service we sent a letter with it explaining that we a reputable company and have been in the heating and air conditioning business for decades with thousands of satisfied and happy customers , we choose not to deal with someone who is so aggressive and threatening and who does not appreciate our integrity and honesty .
John