AC has been out going on a month!
Hi all! Just wanted to rant as we are at our wit’s end with our landlord currently. Our AC went out 2 months ago and was blowing room temp. air, so we let the landlord know. She had an HVAC company come out and look at it— the same one she uses for her personal home (important for later).
They looked and said the AC is not up to code, looked like it was done by a family friend, and obviously had a major leak that would cost thousands to repair. They said they couldn’t fix anything without permission as it would void any warranties our landlord had with the previous installers.
After they leave, our landlord calls us and says they are scammers, they’re trying to overcharge her, and she will have someone else take a look as they aren’t ”qualified”. Keep in mind, we pay $2,000 for this two bedroom, and we’ve only lived here since April. Since move in, we have had plumbing issues as well. Also, they do HER PERSONAL HOUSE. I guess us common folk did not earn the right to use her HVAC people. We aren’t worth the cost of licensed professionals.
So, she has her random ass handymen come look 2 days later. A random dude who barely understood us trying to explain the issue and his teenage (?) son. He looked at it for like 30 mins, said “Oh yeah, that other place is scamming you. They leaked the refrigerant!”, topped up the refrigerant and left. The AC ran cold for a month… then broke again. Same exact issue.
I reported it to the landlord over 2 weeks ago, and instead of scheduling anyone, she kept sending me screenshots from the user manual (WRONG model btw!) and saying she was talking to customer service. Idk wtf that was gonna fix for us. Today, she has the same dude and his son come look. Now they suddenly agree it’s totally a leak, but it will take a week or two to correctly test the pressure.
To do this, they break out a whole ass gas torch, melt the copper piping on the inside unit and outdoor piece, and say this will somehow help them check the refrigerant pressure. I’m not an HVAC person but that seems kinda crazy. They lit the torch inside and set the fire alarm off 8 times while they mutilated the pipes. Then left!! They said they’ll come back in a week or two.
We live in northern Nevada. Temps were getting up to the 100s. Now it’s going down a little temperature-wise luckily but we paid $400 for two portable AC units because we have pets and it was getting in the 80s inside. Still, with the portable ACs it hangs around mid-70s. I texted the landlord the sequence of events today and asked if these people will actually be able to fix this and got left on read.
I am beyond pissed, yall. Attached are what they did the AC pipes because I am stunned and confused. We are starting to think we need to do an official written complaint and prepare for legal action if necessary.