The heater in our condominium unit was not working, the superintendent referred Thermo Col to us, so we just called them for service on Feb 14, 2020 (Friday). They sent a technician Phil to our unit, he said the motor is partly sized, the capacitor and fan may need to be replace. But, he was not sure if this can fix the problem, he need to take the heater unit back to the shop for another test on next business day (Feb 18th Tuesday), which will be another charge for $85+ (+HST). Even after the test, if they return the unit unrepaired, they will still charge you another $80 (+HST), + another charge for pick up and delivery the heater back to your home. He also said that since they have to order the parts from China, it may take at least 2 weeks to a month! In the worse case, may need to replace the entire heater unit. At the end, after so-called 2 hrs diagnostic checking, there is no solution, nothing is fixed or replaced, no proper quotation of cost and time frame until they do another test in their shop. We get nothing out of this and they charged $423.75 for so-called 2hr labour checking and diagnosis.
There was no heat in the unit, we can’t not wait for the unknown time and price, and the most important if they can fix the heater! We cancelled the Tuesday heater pick up test, and decided to call around and see if other company can help us. On Feb 15th Saturday, we called 3 different HVAC companies in GTA, the price for service checking and diagnosis is around $100-130 + HST, even on a Saturday! They charge by a fixed service fee not by hours, if they need to fix or replace parts, they will give you the cost and time frame. We used a HVAC company, they came on the Saturday night, after less the 1 hour checking, they be able to give us a quotation of labour, parts and time, if there is anything extra, they will get our approval first. Straight forward, transparency, clear and fair!
Thermo Cool is totally overcharged! First of all, on the invoice, the service date should be on Friday, Feb 14th not Saturday, Feb 15th. They charge after hours weekend call. Second, they put “Client refuse to repair at the time”. I would love to fix the heater if they could give me a solution, a proper quotation of cost of labour, parts and time frame. As I said, after the 2hrs so called checking, they failed to provide a solution and yet need to take the heater back to the shop to do another test.
I called Thermo Cool, after they charged the credit card, no one answer my call, I left couple messages, no one call me back. After keep on calling, finally I speak to Angela of the billing department. She said she doesn’t understand what is the problem, she keeps saying that they offered to FIX the heater on the next business day, but we cancelled it! I explained to her that we didn’t get any quotation of what need to be fixed or replaced, how could they fix it on the next business day? Instead the company need to take the heater to the shop to do another TEST, it even written on the paper by their technician, Phil. I would be very happy if they can fix it or propose a solid solution, why would I waste my time and money to call another HVAC to do a diagnosis check again?! She said I should have used other company, cause this it the way that they work in Thermo Cool! So, it is my fault that I used Thermo Cool?! Maybe she is right, I should have done more research before booking. I should not trust a 35yrs old company all staffs have ethical standard, and care about their clients. I shouldn’t use Thermo Cool for the service! I don’t mind of paying if it is fair and they can fix the problem, I just want the heater to back on running.
Conclusion:
- If they cannot provide a diagnosis on the site, and need to take the unit back to the shop to run the test, they should have advised the client before booking. Not only they charged a high fee, they charge double for testes, and yet not guarantee it can be fixed! They may say the entire unit is done, now you need to replace a new heater, who knows?!
- What is the ethical standard of checking and diagnosis, they charged by hours and they charged 2 hrs in this case, versa the other HVAC company spent less than an hour and be able to gave a proper quotation of cost of labour, parts and time frame. Thermo Cool charge $423.75 (Friday nigh) versa the other HVAC charged $130 + HST (Saturday night). For people that like me, who have no knowledge of how HVAC works, technician could spend 3,4,5,6… hours to run a test, what is the standard?!
- After they charged the credit card, I left couple message in regards to the billing, no one return my call! I have to keep calling and lucky someone pick up the phone! They don’t listen to you and just saying this is the way Thermo Cool works and charges.
Very disappointed!!!
