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Dealer Referral From Mfg. Website - Don't Believe Everything You Read!

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Florida Joy

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Unbelievable! I was impressed with the iQ Drive equipment and went to www.maytag.com looking for a dealer in my area. The first on the list had been to my house and quoted me 4-ton Rheem and Carrier single stage equipment to replace my old 3.5 ton Rheem. He was nice, but recommending equipment sizing off the "top of his head" didn't impress me.

So, I decided to check out the #2 dealer on the Maytag list before calling for an appointment. His license # was listed on the Maytag site, but it had a "B" prefix instead of "R" for registered or "C" for certified. I looked him up on the FL Dept. of Business Professional Regulation website, first by license #, which didn't exist. Then I went to the FL Dept of Commerce to find out the name of the business owner. He's apparently been in business since 2001.

So, I looked up the license status of the business owner, by name, and guess what? He was listed as "Eligible for Exam". In other words, he HAS NO HVAC LICENSE! Probably has no insurance, either.

As I always say, "caveat emptor". Maybe I'm just too picky, but it seems like installing HVAC in Florida is like having a garage band.... good for beer money! Not unlike the roofing business in my area.
 
Discussion starter · #2 ·
Florida Joy said:
As I always say, "caveat emptor". Maybe I'm just too picky, but it seems like installing HVAC in Florida is like having a garage band.... good for beer money! Not unlike the roofing business in my area.
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BTW, this contractor's rating on BBB is "D" due to 4 complaints in the past 12 months. They're on Angie's list, but recent reviews indicate they installed VERY expensive equipment, charged for a VERY expensive extended labor warranty, and when the customers called for service, the call was "transferred" automtically to another provider who told the customer the installer had "gone out of business". I also checked the company's website.... it's a logo with a phone number.... no other information! BTW, the license number listed on Angie's List belongs to an individual in Colorado by another name. Gheesh!
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
And it gets worse!

I thought I'd check the guy's background through the county clerk of court website. Not only does he have numerous recent traffic violations (speeding 20-29 mph over the limit, driving without insurance, expired registration, careless driving... all on different dates), his misdemeaner history is quite telling..... battery, retail theft, domestic violence with children, etc. Although the guy's name was pretty unusual, I did verify it was the same guy by address and birthdate.

Not someone I want in my home.
 
#4 ·
Sadly, it is guys like this that get the publicity while those of us with clean records and a desire to do things properly labor largely in silence and obscurity.

I will assure you that there ARE good HVAC guys out there. The news will have you believe that they are in the minority, but I'm not convinced. More like a few bad apples spoiling the reputation of a large bunch of good, conscientious men.

Keep looking, Florida Joy, you will find the contractor that you are looking for.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
jtrammel said:
Unfortunately many "contractors" in the hvac industry are "fly by nights" and are unlicensed and uninsured. Usually they are the ones that get jobs by low balling price and do poor job installing then when you have a problem they are nowhere to be found.
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I know you are correct! The thing that really gets me is that twice now I've gotten referred to "fly by nights" by supposedly reputable websites.... Maytag (this recent "nightmare" contractor) and Comfort Institute (the Amana dealer who sounded "nice" on the phone but turned out to be just as bad as this Maytag guy).

Who knows how badly you would get "taken" by not knowing how to do background checks before inviting these people to your home.
 
#8 ·
Just about any reputable contractor will have an account with a nordyne distributer. They should be able to buy and install an iq drive system, although nordyne will not sell an iq drive to a contractor that has not been through a training course on the iq drive and has a certification card for the iq drive or at least that's how it was last year.
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
jtrammel said:
See if you can find a contractor in your area that is affiliated http://www.certaincomfort.org/index.cfm?p=page&id=8
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Been there, done that. The closest company listed (another county, not close at all) is a construction company doing commercial and residential building design. The only other (far, far away) has an invalid URL listed. I did find some information about their service area and I'm not in it!
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
jtrammel said:
Just about any reputable contractor will have an account with a nordyne distributer. They should be able to buy and install an iq drive system, although nordyne will not sell an iq drive to a contractor that has not been through a training course on the iq drive and has a certification card for the iq drive or at least that's how it was last year.
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The thermostat (nordyne calls it a controller) that is MANDATORY for the iQ drive to work properly is a dealer only item. I'm pretty sure they won't sell the iQ drive or the controller to anyone without certification on the iQ drive equipment.
 
#13 ·
So how about 'interviewing' the company over the telephone. Naturally there's no such thing as a 'sure method' but if you ask the right questions, you may be pleasantly surprised at the results. What I'm suggesting is that for either equipment replacement or for service, you lead by asking the same question. The question to ask is, "How would you size a replacement (furnace, heat pump, AC) for my home?" Any answer that is associated with "load analysis, Manual 'J' calculation, ACCA load analysis" or similar, is most likely a company that is not cutting corners, is not winning bids by being the lowest price and is a company you'd like to have in your home. On the other hand, those that require you to call a beeper number, leave a voice mail on an audio recorder (cell phone calls are okay for small company's doing a good job so I'm not speaking about the tech who's in an attic and can't answer his phone) or one that answers with, "by square footage, the area of the home, my vast experience in the business or by the existing equipment size" or similar should be avoided. They're the companies that are telling you, if you know the right answer, by virtue of their bad answer, that they cut corners and/or are not real businessmen. You're quite right, you need to do your homework and remember, even the very best companies have distractors.
 
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