Deceptive and over priced
On November 15 the Tucson branch of Alaskan performed routine maintenance on my heat pump, or so I thought. The tech said the VAD was not within specs and he strongly recommended that it be replaced. I tried repeatedly to have him explain what a VAD is but he just kept repeating technical terms about a vacuum something or other which I repeatedly said I did not understand. He stressed bad things could happen to my compressor and that would be thousands of dollars to repair if the VAD failed. He said I needed to sign an agreement on his computer tablet before he could proceed and the cost would be $589.00. I again asked that he please tell me exactly what a VAD is and he again gave me technical jargon about current and arcing. After acting sincere that the work needed to be done I agreed to the repair. I watched as he installed a capacitor in less than 20 minutes and then he began closing up the unit. I asked when he was going to replace the VAD and he said that is what he did. I noted that the box containing the capacitor was clearly marked “capacitor”.The capacitor he installed costs $12.87 at Home Depot. So for a part that retails for less than $13 he charged nearly $600.00...This was in addition to the maintenance service charge. His intent clearly was to deceive me into believing the repair was a complicated and expensive undertaking rather than being honest. I called the Tucson office and was told no manager was available to speak with me. I called the Tempe office where it appears the corporate officers are located and was told I had to get back in touch with someone in Tucson. After making three calls to the Tucson office I finally received a call back from Gary the manager. He said the VAD is a voltage absorption device, I asked is that the same as a capacitor? He acknowledged it is the same thing. I asked why the tech refused to tell me that. Gary defended the tech's deceptive answers saying it is a VAD. He also acknowledged that he would have handled my request for a clear layman's description of a VAD in the same manner as the tech had. For what reason other than greed and deception would both the tech and manager object to telling a customer who requested multiple times a clear, and honest answer a response in layman's terms to his question? The reason appears to be that an honest answer would have cost the company a $589.00 pay day. It has a also cost them a customer.
I filed a complaint with the BBB and on November 23 I received an email from BBB that the respondent (Alaskan) states they have no record of me as a customer. The emailed invoice I received from the Alaskan branch in Tucson shows the same Arizona contractor's license number as the location listed in Tempe for the corporate office. BBB states I must submit a copy of an invoice as proof of my claim as Alaskan claims to have no record of me as a customer.. Alaskan's response per the email I received from BBB was “Can’t find them in our system and this zip is not in Phoenix “. Oddly, on November 15 Alaskan had emailed to me their invoice number 507852, the same day they cashed my check for $728.90.
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