ProGas and Heating Services Reviews (%countItem)
ProGas and Heating Services Rating
Address: PO Box 56034, Langley, British Columbia, Canada, V3A 8V3
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Pro Gas and Heating came to do an inspection on the gas powered heating equipment at the house. They inspected the Furnace, gave the water heater a quick once over and did a full test and inspection suite on a gas fireplace and a pool heater. All of which were done fast and clean with no hassles and no fuss. They found only a few things wrong (all of which I suspected needed replacing anyways and is why we called them in). The technician let me know what he found and explained what needed to be done. At no time did I feel pressured to replace the parts then and there, but, when asked, he was quite happy and capable to do the replacements for me then and there. I have no issue with this company or the way they do business at this time.
On September 19, 2017 I was visiting my mom (an 80 year old woman, ***) and answered a phone call for her from Pro Gas & Heating. They said they were in the area and were offering a service call for $95 for her gas fireplace. In consultation with my mom while on the phone with Pro Gas, I convinced her that it would be a good idea to have the service done - for safety reasons. The service call was booked for September 21, 2017 at 11 am. They did not show up and rescheduled for September 26 at 9 am. The technician serviced her gas fireplace and at the end of the service call he gave her a receipt for $795. He replaced the thermocouple, the pilot standing and the wall thermostat for a total of $700 in parts. The total bill was $795. My mom was in complete shock and told the technician that was very upset with the total. She asked "how did a $95 service turn into $795??" She told the Technician that she would never have spent $700 on parts for her fireplace. The technician told he that was the cost of the service and the parts he replaced. She told him that she never authorized him to replace the parts for $700. At no point during the service call did he disclose to her the cost of the parts and what the bill would be. This was only disclosed at the end of the service call when the technician presented her the bill. As she did not know what to do she paid the bill in full and signed off. What was she supposed to do with a young man standing in her condo telling her she had to pay the bill and there was nothing he could do about it.
On September 27, 2017 *** I emailed Ed explaining the situation and expressing my disgust in this service call. I requested a full refund of the $700 that was not authorized. I gave Ed *** (owner) a deadline to respond to my email and indicated that if he did not respond by the deadline we would advise the RCMP, Revdex.com and a lawyer. Ed responded very quickly and sent the email to his Technician requesting a response within 7 days.
On October 5 I emailed Ed *** again as I had not heard back from him. I asked him to call my sister or respond to my email asap. Ed *** responded the same day indicating a response would be coming shortly, but not tomorrow. I responded to Ed *** indicating that we expected a response by October 10 or we would start the reporting process. I indicated that this was not something we wanted to do but we felt it was necessary if you could not bring resolution to the matter in a timely manner. Ed *** indicated that he had all the information he needed and he saw no reason why he would not be able to respond by October 10.
On October 10 at 6:30 pm I emailed Ed *** indicating that we had not heard back from him. I asked Ed *** to provide us with his decision. Ed *** responded at 7:52 pm indicating it has been very busy and so he has been unable to complete the report. He was half way through the report and he should be finished it tomorrow. At 9:06 pm I responded to Ed *** outlining the facts again. My mom would never has spent $700 on parts for her fireplace if she knew that in advance. She would have gone without a fireplace. To try to seem reasonable, I offered Ed *** to meet us half way on the refund. Instead of a full refund, how about refunding my mom 50% of the parts costs - $350. This seemed like a reasonable resolution. We were no longer requesting the full refund but instead asking Ed *** to take some responsibility for his staff and the situation that occurred on September 26. I informed Ed *** that if he chose not to meet us half way we would continue with our quest to inform others of this experience. We had already contacted *** and our legal counsel. We had not provided any details of the company name at this point as we were hoping for a positive resolution. I indicated that we truly do not want to take this any further but we were prepared to do so. Our preference was for Ed *** to take responsibility for his staff.
*** In his emails to me he accused me of being rude and arrogant. He also advised me that he was free to sue me if he felt I was being unfair or malicious.
On October 11 at 8:21 Ed *** send me an email with his report and findings that included inaccurate information. He offered to refund my mom $252 including taxes. This refund included the return of the thermostat for $180, a seniors discount of $60 (that she did not receive) and a 5% coupon discount (that she did not receive). He would not allow her to return the thermocouple or the pilot because if she had used her fireplace these parts were no longer considered new. Additionally, Ed *** informed us that in order to receive the refund we would need to sign a general release indicating we would not take this matter any further.
At no point did Ed *** acknowledge that his Technician did not disclose that he was replacing these parts and that the total to replace these parts would be $700. My mom did not request nor authorize that these parts be repaired or replaced.
After consultation with my sister we agreed that there were too many inaccuracies with Ed ***'s report and findings and we were not satisfied with his refund offer so we declined his refund offer of $252.
Of course my mom would like to return the parts that were replaced and receive the $700 refund.
***
We are completely dissatisfied with the service our mom received with Pro Gas & Heating. Furthermore, we are in shock with Ed ***'s conduct over email and on the phone.
Fact: *** agreed to a service call that would cost $95. At the end of the Technician presented her with a receipt for $795. At no time during the service call did the Technician indicate that he was replacing parts that would cost *** $700. When *** received the receipt she was very upset and expressed her surprise and shock with the receipt amount. She told the Technician she would never have spent $700 on parts for her fireplace. She was left with no choice but to pay the full amount and sign the receipt.
Initial Business Response /(1000, 5, 2017/10/19) */
Contact Name and Title: Ed ***
Contact Phone: ***
Contact Email: [email protected]
Mrs. ***,
We at ProGas and Heating Services would like to thank you for taking the time to write in and share your thoughts with us. We consider all customer feedback in its various forms critical to our business model. In making a determination as to the merits and validity of any one complaint and compensation, if any, the following guidelines are applied.
Did the Gas fitter do the Job and was the work done within company guidelines;
Was the price charged for parts, labor and service within this company's guidelines and within industry standards;
Did the customer in their complaint identify and then validate any relevant point(s) that would confirm the job was not done correctly and pursuant to company guidelines;
Has the Complainant provided any supporting evidence in support of their position?
Is the customer a senior and was the senior discount applied correctly to the pricing;
Were any other discounts that were available to the customer applied
What does the Gas fitter have to say;
Did the customer upon completion of the service sign our invoice excepting the charges and acknowledging that the service provided was to their satisfaction;
Your complaint:
*** High Priority
Hi Ed,
I have chatted with my sister, *** who I understand you spoke with yesterday. Your instructions were to email you our desired outcome of this situation.
Last week while visiting my mom I answered a phone call (at my mom's) from your company asking if my mom was interested in having her gas fireplace serviced for $95. This was a special deal as your company, Pro Gas was servicing many fireplaces in her condo that week. The date chosen was Thursday, September 21 at 11 am. I am not sure what happened and why your serviceman showed up yesterday instead of last Thursday. At the time of the call, I convinced my mom to go ahead with the service as it was ONLY $95. Had the cost been any more, there is no way she would have proceeded with the service.
My sister has outlined the costs that your serviceman charged my mom. Firstly, I am completely appalled that your employee would replace parts without providing cost estimates first. I can guarantee you that my mom would not have approved spending another dime, let alone almost $800!!! Taking advantage of seniors is considered Elder Abuse and can be reported.
We are requesting a full refund of all costs over and above the $95 service that was approved. My sister, *** has time to meet you on Thursday after 12:30 pm or Friday between 1 and 3 pm. Please determine which time will work best for you so the refund can be processed. Please contact my sister at 604-376-3806.
If we do not hear back from you TODAY, we will be calling the Revdex.com, the RCMP and a lawyer. Furthermore, we will advise the condo strata of this situation. This type of service and business is completely unacceptable and needs to stop.
Please confirm that you have received this email and respond with a time to meet to process the refund.
Sincerely,
***
Events
On the 19 September, 2017, Kole from our marketing department called the residence of Mrs. to enquire about having her Gas Fire place serviced. The call was answered by Mrs. Daughter "***" I enclose for all parties a copy of that call. An appointment was made for 21 September, 2017 at 11am to service the Gas fireplace for $95.00. Due to workload the job was rebooked with Mrs. to September 26, 2017 at 9am.
It is abundantly clear to any person listening to the recording of the booking with Kole, that the daughter ***, was seeking and obtaining instructions from Mrs. who appeared fully in control and the "key" decision maker (the 80 years old customer) Importantly, *** failed to advise Kole or ProGas that her mother was evidently not authorized or was unable to authorize repair work and that should repairs be required ***'s sister ***, her Husband would take care of any respective repairs. This was only conveyed to ProGas the following day by *** in a highly charged vexatious and accusatorial call. This is a failing on both *** and ***'s part, they should had advised ProGas fully as to any special terms related to their 80-year-old mother and the job. ProGas, its employees and especially the gas fitter cannot be accountable for the ensuing melee related to Mrs. repairs because we were not informed.
It should be noted that it is illegal for ***'s husband to perform regulated work on anybody's gas appliance including Mrs. unless he has a Gas fitter license of which I understand from *** he does not have a license. Indeed, this ladies Gas fire place was already in a state of disrepair. I find it outrageous that you would put this company to task over our lawful repairs given your usage of an unlicensed person that clearly missed what our expert found.
The servicing
One September 26, 2017 at approximately 9am our licensed "B" Gas fitter Johnny (License number ***) attended the residence. Upon service and inspection, it was discovered by Johnny that the pilot assembly was physically broken and needed to be replaced and that the Thermocouple also needed a replacement.
Critically both sisters failed to attend the premises on September 26 to oversee the work.
Mrs. was quoted $240 for the repair of the pilot assembly and $280 for the replacement of the Thermocouple; parts, labor and taxes included of which was authorized by the customer.
It was later suggested by Johnny to Mrs. that she install a digital thermostat for $180 in place of the wall switch because wall switches can be highly problematic. Mrs. agreed to the price quote and the work was completed.
The gas fitter was at the home for 3hrs 30mins did the servicing of the customer Gas fireplace, two repairs and one thermostat; the bill taxes included was $795.
Observations re the invoice
The arithmetic per the invoice is correct
Mrs. signed the ProGas and heating invoice stating "I acknowledge the work has been done to my satisfaction and agree to the above charges contained herein"
Mrs. signed the ProGas and heating invoice stating "Please take my old parts with you. I do not want them"
It has been reported by Johnny that Mrs. did not seek at any point advice from either Daughter related to the repairs and their costs.
The complaint and resolution process
Pursuant to our complaint process, on the September 27, 2017 ProGas received a written complaint related to the aforenoted service of Mrs. by her Daughter ***.
The complaint letter requested a full refund for all repairs and the Thermostat.
Pursuant to ProGas and Heating complaint polices the complaint was forward to Johnny on September 27, 2017 for comment on or before 5 October, 2017.
Our Gas fitter Johnny failed to respond by 5 October, 2017 but contacted me over the week on the phone explaining his version of events and has authorized me to resolve the issue without any further input from him.
It is safe to say there has been much unnecessary and unverified rhetoric directed at the company by *** her sister *** and ***'s Husband both over the phone (calls recorded) and via email since 26 September, 2017 which has led to some heated exchanges. This has hampered the resolution process and made things that much more difficult. ***
Findings
Upon review of the invoice, that pursuant to this company's discount polices for the elderly (back page of invoice half way down) Mrs. was not charged the senior rate of $120 per hour the customer was overcharged by $60.00.
There is a refund of $60.00 due
Pursuant to the consumer protection act all customers have 10 days to return curtain purchased goods such as thermostats and other non-ware items. This does not apply to the Thermocouple or pilot repairs because the parts are repairs and unlike a thermostat once used cannot be sold new again as they will immediately show ware.
We accept the return of the thermostat and will refund $180 per the invoice.
Upon review of the invoice it does not appears that Mrs. received her 5% discount for parts repair pursuant to our yellow coupon that should have been made available to her as part of our service package. Accordingly, there is a refund of $12
Total refund is $252 tax's included.
Other finding
I find the repairs themselves were done within company guidelines. Although alleged by *** or *** there has been no evidence submitted by either to suggest otherwise.
That the prices charged were not within company guidelines and that Johnny did overcharge for labour and did not discount 5% for parts as he should.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /(2000, 16, 2017/11/11) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
We will accept the proposed refund based on the fact that we have received a quote for the exact parts and service and the quote is much less than what our mom paid. Furthermore, we still believe the employee took advantage of our mother and installed parts that he did not receive approval to do so. A $95 service charge turned into an $800 bill.
Sincerely