I almost called this post “I Fixed a Furnace,” but I think the more important lesson is about customer service.
Where to begin…
Well, let’s start with my tenants at the Condo reporting that the heat has been out for three days yesterday morning. We live in Ohio. It hasn’t been that warm. Don’t know why they waited three days. Anyway, I headed over around lunchtime, looked at the codes (flashing lights), realized it was shutting itself off because it is overheating, but didn’t have a solution. I finally set up an appointment for someone to come out this morning. Not long after, Mr. PFL came home from work and took a look. He immediately recognized the problem. Please note the fan (black) in the following pictures:
Um, yeah, it isn’t supposed to do that. The motor was still working, but it had busted out of the surrounding plastic shell. Now, you may be wondering, why didn’t I notice it right away? Well, BECAUSE THAT WHOLE PIECE WAS JUST REPLACED IN JANUARY!!!!!!! FOR $790 INCLUDING LABOR!!!!!!!
So, I called the 800-number that provided the repairman and the part less than a year ago (the fan went out on New Year’s Eve, of course). They confirmed that the part will be covered because it has been less than a year, but that I’ll have to pay for labor because it has been more than 90 days. Not impressed. But, okay. I guess that’s something. I’ll see them between 8 and 5. And I was promised he would be bringing the part with him.
When the repairman called this morning to let me know that he is on the way, he introduced himself as the one that did the repair last time. Ugh. I didn’t like him last time. We met up, he looked at the issue (VERY OBVIOUS) and told me he’ll go see if he can get the part for me to pay for. Excuse me, what?! I say NO. We are calling about this first. I call the 800-number back and get the run around (we are on speakerphone) - we talk to warranty, then tech. One of the ladies says that notes say something about it being installed incorrectly (I probably reported that yesterday as a possibility, because why else would this break?). He says there is no way it can be installed incorrectly because “it is just 4 screws.” The repairman finally just leaves without saying good-bye. I am shaking because I’m so mad. 90-day warranty. The lady promised to write-up the guy I talked to last night for giving me false information.
Anyway, looks like no warranty, for now. I looked online for the part - just over $200, but won’t arrive until the 22nd at the earliest. So, I took the part to a local supplier, and he hooked me up with a new one for $301. (We paid, through the repairman, $491 for the same part in January.) And, since it was 4 screws (actually 5) and two electric pieces that needed to be plugged in, I took care of it in about 5 minutes.
BTW - the guys at the shop had never seen anything like this before. It basically looks like somebody sat on it and cracked it out of the case. That is just not possible. It has to be a manufacturing defect. The supplier also confirmed that he believes the part should be under warranty for a year and all of his parts are.
I hope nothing else has been damaged due to this catastrophic failure. The furnace seemed to be working when I checked on it about three hours later. I expect the tenants will let me know, someday.