CLIMATRON B F S I

Initial work was completed on schedule and service staff were ok. In winter 07-08 furnace malfunctioned, wouldn't start automatically and had to be reset manually to get through the night. We had 5 HVAC professionals, including Climatron, inspect the furnace. The first HVAC firm came and inspected furnace. He looked at soot visible at vent and saw the soot at the furnace water drain and the orange flame and said we'd have to replace the system. He advised that we go back to Climatron and Lennox and seek help from them as the furnace was only 7 years old. I contacted Climatron and explained the problem and pointed out that the exhaust vent from the furnace was visibly full of soot and dripping water and that the flame was burning orange. Climatron sent a technician out. He proceeded to dismantle furnace and exposed the soot covered part. He called Lennox company to discuss with service agent. They basically said tough luck, if we wanted to clean furnace it likely would cost nearly as much as replacing it and would likely not function properly. Climatron charged me $220 for the service call and while the service technician waited, sent a sales manager to our house to give an estimate for replacing the system. We then asked three other HVAC professionals to inspect system and advise us. They agreed that the furnace needed to be replaced and were all surprised that neither Lennox or Climatron offered any help financially to offset the costs. We decided that we'd prefer not to engage Climatron's services and would contract with a local HVAC firm. Prior to removing old furnace, the installer checked the gas pressure at the furnace. It was lower than specs called for (9.5 vs 10.0 inches column/H2O). In addition, the horizontal portion of the auxiliary vent fan was not level and held water. More problematic was the discovery that the horizontal portion of the exhaust vent from the furnace was sagging for several feet before exiting the wall and held enough considerable water. All of this piping had to be removed and the wall was capped. The vent was redone vertically straight up from the furnace. The water heater also was malfunctioning. The installer thought the exhaust runs were too long and not providing adequate capacity for ventilation. The exhaust vent was redone vertically and the water heater now works perfectly. We informed Climatron of the problems we uncovered. They responded that their "job supervisor checked over the installation and found no problems". And that "Antrim County mechanical Department inspected the installation and approved the final inspection". (department was dismantled and taken over by State of Michigan shortly after!). We much money undoing Climatron's work. Their written response to my complaint was to point out that their sales rep came at no charge and that their bill for diagnosis was justified. They argued poor maintenance was the problem. I feel both Lennox and Climatron acted unprofessionally and irresponsibly.

They need my credit card info to use when I was not here. They sent a specialist out to repair my furnace, when the gentlemen arrived he had no parts for repair, but he did say he would be able to fix it. I trusted them with being in my house without supervision, and with my credit info. During this time we had a flood, he decided that we needed to get the leak fixed in the basement. Which he is not authorized to do, nor would my insurance cover him. The repair that should have been 100-200 dollars was charged to my credit card without sending me a bill or notice.