Last week I rage typed about how my $13k HVAC unit went on strike in the middle of the Texas summer. Please read about it here while drinking plenty of fluids. This post was typed from the floor of my bedroom where I have a borrowed mini split. So my dogs and I can live in our house without praying for a merciless death. I bought a second unit for the north section of my abode. It helps to keep the edge off the rest of my house. If I had enemies, I would totally wish this fate upon them.
As it stands, the installing company, Ary Co, and I are… how shall we say… misaligned on a few key matters. Since my last post, things have both updated and devolved.
Lackluster documentation provided
The documentation I received from the installer was a mess. Either careless or possibly intentionally evasive. Instead of technician reports or diagnostic records (which is what I requested), I got email code that meant nothing to me, a human and not a robot meant to be tricked by CAPTCHA. When I asked for actual documentation, the owner replied with an email that, in my view, tried to shift blame while offering no meaningful resolution. He claimed they had no additional records on file (yikes), blamed the Trane unit’s failure on vague “COVID issues” (which hadn’t been mentioned until now), and implied that had I been more agreeable, the labor fee might’ve been waived. Apparently, if I’d smiled more and asked fewer questions about why my unit failed prematurely, I could’ve earned their goodwill. Maybe I should’ve brought cookies and worn a sundress too.
A little headway has at least been made with Trane, the HVAC manufacturer. To ensure my messages were seen, I had to go a little public with a Facebook comment on one of their public posts, with an additional DM to their page. I also called and finally got connected with a person thanks to the help of someone on the customer support staff who routed me to the right number and numbers to push. Spoke with Chancy (I am probably not spelling her name right, sorry!) in Georgia and regaled her with my heat saga, though I didn’t mention that I was lactating sweat. I should have to escalate the escalation report.
Finally I got a case number and was assigned to the escalation team in hopes they can figure out what in Dante’s Inferno is happening and who is responsible to fix it. I only have so many bras and running electronics ups the heat in the house.
Searching through my records
Meanwhile, I’ve been digging through my own HVAC documentation sent to me by my installer over the past four years. Apparently I have kept better records than they have? Among the invoices are two paltry technician reports which show inverted temperature readings and inconsistent amp draws, with the oh-so-specific call out of “running” refrigerant levels. Thanks? So helpful.
The warranty disclaimer on the invoices says their labor is only covered for 30 days. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about how much confidence that inspires.
Tapping in state regulators
I’m now looking into whether this falls within legal or licensing compliance. I have alerted the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to Ary Co’s record-keeping, the lack of documentation I received about both the unit I purchased in 2021 and the compressor installed in 2024. And the tone of the response I got from the owner. I’ve also passed everything along to Trane, with an additional Facebook DM nudge.
I can’t wait to hear how Trane responds to one of their dealers blaming my HVAC unit failing on Trane and their workmanship. Oh to be a fly on that wall.
Going to war with the air in my own house
In the meantime, Texas isn’t simmering down, it’s ramping up. I’ve had two blessed days of cloudy weather with the finger crossed promise of storms. The humidity spikes, but at least the clouds drop the temperature into the tolerable low seventies.
But so sweltering has my house been at 93 degrees at peak, even the dual minisplits struggled. Two units on each side of the house. Cross breezing thermodynamics in full force. And still I was only able to get the temperature down to 78. I also wiped all surfaces with an ice cold rag as the heat was radiating from damn near everything. Desks, floors, counters, the couch. So as my house cooled, the things within released their heat mass.
There’s nothing like scrubbing a floor on hands and knees after paying $13k for a 4-year-old HVAC unit that’s broken. Possibly due to installation issues? One day, I hope to know who’s actually responsible. But I know who it’s not: me.
The lesson here is document everything (I am). It’s all smiles and roses when things are going swell and money is being exchanged. But the second there’s a problem, that’s when you’ll find how the “highly rated” business really handles problems.