Oehlert Brothers, Inc.

Review: I purchased a York Heat Pump with installation from Oahlert Bros, Inc in 2007. Since that time, the heat pump has failed on several occasions to maintain the temperature set on the thermostat. Within the first few years after installation, Oehlert Bros came to repair the unit and I was unhappy with the outcome of their work as the unit continually went to "Auxilliary" power, greatly increasing the electric usage, and still did not maintain temperature to my comfort (thermostat set to 70 - 73 degrees F in winter). Finally, after last winter, when the unit was observed to be in Aux mode most days, I called for a second opinion from a licensed HVAC repairman. Before coming to my home, the HVAC man knew that several models of York Heat Pumps had been recalled for faulty coils. He and I separately contacted the York company and gained confirmation that the coil was indeed recalled. Additionally, the repairman came to my house and opened up the casing of the heat pump to confirm that the coil was faulty (a large amount of ice covered the interior of the unit and the coolant was almost completely empty).

Because this serviceman was not a licensed dealer of York heat pumps, he recommended that he not perform any work on my unit and that I contact Oehlert Bros for the repairs. I did contact Oehlert Bros and after stalling for several weeks, they came and replaced the recalled part in my Heat Pump.

At the time of purchasing the York Heat Pump from Oehlert Bros in 2007, I obtained both a service contract and a product warranty for 10 year coverage.

I recently received a bill for $698.37 from Oehlert Bros, charging me for the labor cost to replace a faulty part that has been recalled from the manufacturer. In fact, when I scheduled the appointment, Oehlert Bros told me that they only stayed a dealer of that brand in order to replace these recalled parts. At the time of call I was not given an estimate of any charges for this work.

At no time during the 6 years from installation or service calls did I ever receive notice from Oehlert Bros or York that this part was recalled and to schedule replacement.

I do not believe that I am responsible for paying for labor to replace a part that has been recalled from the manufacturer and additionally never worked properly and has cost me over the years for added electricity bills and in discomfort in my own home.

When a part is recalled from an automobile company, the vehicle owner is not charged for the repairs. As should be the case with Oehlert, the manufacturer absorbs these charges.Desired Settlement: The charges of $698.37 for labor to replace a manufacturer's recalled item should be removed from my account with Oehlert Bros. The bill should be adjusted to $0.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

There was not a "recall" for the York evaporator coil. Instead there was a service bulletin from York informing dealers of a higher than exceptable "blue fin" coil failure rate. Per the attached, there was a 5 year period from the installation date where York would supply the coil at no charge and pay for labor to have it installed. The failure was reported to us after that period had expired. York extended the warranty for the replacement coil to us by providing the coil at no charge. However, there was no labor allowance. The history shows that we did do a service on 5/6/2009 which had a blown fuse and that charge was reversed by us. The next call was on 7/17/2013 when we installed the coil which York provided. It is important to note that there was not a manufacturer recall. I will contact the customer by mail and offer a 50% reduction for the labor that was correctly charged.

Sincerely,

[redacted] Oehlert

President