The Case of The Missing HVAC Contractor
The Situation
We have been the trusted service company for a large property management company in southeastern MA, Cape Cod and RI for many years. A new project came up for install and as most companies do, they were looking for 3 bids to pick from.
Unfortunately, we were the second lowest.
About 1 year after the new units were installed, we were called by that same property management company to service the unit that had been installed by the Other Contractor. The unit had been giving them non-stop problems, but now it wasn’t cooling AT ALL. And no surprise…the Other Contractor (the one with the Low Bid) was not responding to calls.
The Analysis
- A condenser and evaporator were mismatched sizes (not cool) and neither one was the correct size for the space.
- The wrong size piping and wrong sized metering device was causing refrigerant flow problems.
- Evaporator was not installed properly (no support) and in less than a year it had bent and bowed out of shape.
- Ductwork installed was poorly and with inferior and improper materials. In some cases, duct tape (yes, duct tape!) was utilized versus proper hanging brackets.
The Fix
Despite cautions of keeping the incorrect installed equipment, our customer was less than 1 year into this install and was not willing to start from scratch with a new install. We patched and supported the unit as best we could, and got the unit heating and cooling again.
It has been 4 years since this hack of an install was completed by a low bidding company and in the last 3 years, the management company has regrettably paid more in original install costs plus band-aids, tweaks and patchwork, than our original bid. By a lot.
They are now tired of having “just good enough” and want it re-done correctly. We are re-bidding and this time we are the only bidder.
We believe in doing it right, the first time. And so we did.