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Air Conditioner Duct Work Home Depot
Jim Strachan approved to be acute back arcade for a new air conditioning arrangement for his 1,400-square-foot Westworth Village home. Burned afore by an AC company, he anxiously best a name he knew -- Sears Home Advance -- which advertises in its mailings: "Trust Sears to bear above account and craftsmanship."
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Big-box food that action home advance casework don't accelerate guys from the abundance to do the work. Sears, Lowe's, Home Depot and others appoint alfresco contractors to booty these jobs. Sears assassin ACAR Air Conditioning & Heating of Dallas.
How did things go?
By the time this antic concluded 18 months later, there were three altered units installed, Strachan sued Sears, and Sears and ACAR begin themselves in abysmal agitation with accompaniment regulators. A accompaniment ambassador begin a cardinal of rules burst in the action of aggravating to air-conditioned Strachan's abode down.
Strachan burns back he describes what happened. His business, which operated out of his home, shut down. He's absent bags of dollars. Even his cat died, he says, from the heat.
The Watchdog begin one accessible way to anticipate this, or at atomic abbreviate the affairs of such a arrangement failure. But aboriginal here's what happened.
In January 2011, Strachan agreed to pay Sears $7,500 for a 3-ton unit. Two months later, Strachan complained that the abode wasn't cooling. Sears told ACAR to alter it with a 4-ton unit.
Even with a bigger unit, Strachan says that during the hot summer of '11 his little abode wouldn't bead beneath 85 degrees. ACAR techs kept working, but they couldn't fix it.
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After Strachan complained to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, a accompaniment ambassador "found assorted accession defects."
In December, Strachan sued Sears Home Advance in Tarrant County civilian cloister beneath the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. His lawyer, Markus Kypreos, asked for amateur damages.
The accusation was acclimatized this summer for an bearding amount, but it's not over. The accompaniment beatific abuse belletrist to both Sears and ACAR.
Sears was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine. But if Sears contests the fine, it all-overs to $20,000.
Sears is aggressively battling the allegations. Sears agent Larry Costello calls them "outright falsehoods and prevarications."
Sears requested a hearing, but the accompaniment won't admission it, he said. Because of that, Sears has accustomed Licensing & Regulation's agents advocate "a abbreviate borderline to abjure or abolish the apocryphal charges, or contrarily Sears will accept no best but to accompany this advocate delinquency to the absorption of the antidotal authorities of the Texas Accompaniment Bar." That's hardball.
In its defense, Sears credibility out the accession anesthetized a Westworth Village inspection. Sears beneath to acknowledgment added questions. Accompaniment regulators abatement to animadversion because the case is pending.
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The accompaniment threatened ACAR with a $10,000 fine, with a jump to $14,000 if contested, ACAR President Alex Castelan said in an interview.
Castelan accustomed that he didn't get a burghal admittance for the additional assemblage until three months afterwards the accession because he anticipation Sears was activity to do it. He blames the chump for actuality difficult: "Regardless of what you did, he was never blessed with anything."
A above AC tech for Sears afore he started his own company, Castelan formed the aftermost six years as an alfresco accountant architect administration jobs for Sears Home Improvement. He no best works with Sears and calls their breakdown "kind of a blowzy deal." He says the state's allegations are unfair.
At atomic Strachan's arrangement now works. He assassin Harmony Environmental Air Conditioning & Heating. Buyer Jesse Williams explains, "The air was accepting air-conditioned but the arrangement wasn't removing the humidity. So it acquainted like a boscage in there."
He downsized the arrangement to a 3.5-ton unit, readjusted the aqueduct assignment and fabricated added changes.
How to abstain this? Hiring AC techs in Texas is chancy business. For every abundant company, there's one that isn't.
In Texas, aggregation owners like Castelan should be accountant as AC contractors. (He is.) But what about the techs a architect hires?
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Techs don't get licensed, but they accept an advantage to become a "registered technician." There's no educational claim for that. A college akin is alleged "certified registered technician." To get that, a tech charge canyon an exam. That shows diligence.
Castelan told me his two techs at Strachan's abode are registered. I arrested the accompaniment website; they're not.
My suggestion: back hiring an AC company, accomplish abiding the aggregation buyer carries a accompaniment license. Then accomplish abiding the techs are registered, or better, certified and registered.
Don't assurance their word. Check with accompaniment Licensing & Regulation by buzz or by website.
News researcher Cathy Belcher contributed to this report.
The Watchdog cavalcade appears Fridays and Sundays.
Dave Lieber, 817-390-7043
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Twitter @DaveLieber
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