Am resurrecting this post subject because of a problem I'm having with Carrier brand central A/C.
Recently bought central air to insall in my mother's house. It is a system similar to the one Ripsnort is thinking about. We paid around $3,400, and also bought the service package, which is supposed to maintain the unit through regular inspections, and keep it in top condition to prevent problems.
About 3 weeks ago the unit stopped cooling, and when the service man came out he discovered the unit was frozen with ice, indicating a leak. He added more freon refrigerant, and the unit has been cooling so far.
Here is the problem:
It seems the coils must be replaced now, and this is not covered by the warranty. They want to charge $1,000 to replace the coils on a three year old unit.
We have been having regular service inspections, and in fact, had one of these inspections a week prior to the freezing up.
My question of any gentlemen among you who may offer some advice is, do I have any recourse in this matter? Is it possible the leak was there from the time of installation, or do leaks like this just happen, even in a relatively brand new unit?
My thinking was, the company would likely honor the warranty as a matter of good will, both for the sake of maintaining good customer service relations, and also to uphold the Carrier product's good reputation. Now I'm not so sure.
My 85 year old mother is quite upset. The summers here are brutal, and A/C is a necessity 9 months out of the year.
Ripsnort , if you have already purchased your Carrier central air, my advice to you is request a serviceman come out to your place and do a leak inspection on the coils, while the unit is still under warranty. I think my coils had a very slow leak from the day of installation.
I will be writing a letter similar to this one, on behalf of my mother, to the owner of the local company, and also to Carrier. Before I start calling Carrier a piece of junk, I would like some comments about what could have caused this problem, and whether it is normal for this to happen.
Thank you.
Les
