bluebonnet
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? New Jersey
Hello.
Here is my situation. I have had 3 visits from the same heating/plumbing vendor related to my home heating system (gas/steam).
The first visit was preceded by an automatic shutoff of my home heating system on 1/23/07. A plumber was dispatched and performed repairs. Per the invoice they replaced the thermocouple and cleaned out the high unit control. The system was back on line, we were invoiced $275.68 which we paid.
The Second visit was again preceded by an automatic shutoff of my home heating system on 2/2/07. Again a plumber was dispatched from the same vendor. Again, they said the system was dirty and recommended we have the chimney swept. That same day, the chimney was swept clean and the system was put back on line by the vendor.
In the overnight, a strong smell was emanating from the system. Nervous regarding carbon monixide, we called the local utility. They came to the house on Saturday morning 2/3/07 and measuered 110 ppm CO (this is considered hazardous) coming off the system. They issued a written violation detailing the condition and shut the system down. We immediately called back the heating/plumbing vendor and advised them what had transpired with the utility company. This initiated the 3rd visit. The vendor spent most of day on Saturday attempting to isolate the problem. We were told that the gas valve was faulty and they furnished and replaced the valve. They cleaned the system & finally suggested that perhaps the feed from the utility was faulty. We initiated a trouble call to the utility to have them come out and repair the main feed. None of this made sense since the gas stove worked and there was plenty of gas flow going into the heating system. In the end they left having installed the new gas valve and having cleaned the system again. The owner of the company who was onsite most of the day told us the system was OK to run; pending the dispatch of the utility repair crew on Monday morning.
Within an hour or so of their departure, a strong smell was again emanating from the system. We called the utility and they came out and again read 110ppm CO coming off of the system. We received our 2nd violation and the system was shut down again. The utility tech however identified and fixed the problem within 5 minutes of inspecting the system. The problem as it turns out was a missing orifice on the pilot assembly. The tech could not however turn the system back on because it had become dirty again and required cleaning. Fed up with the service from this plumber we placed a call to the utility to come out and clean the system. Incidently we come to find that the utility will do this for free once per year. The utility tech performed this work on Sunday afternoon 2/4/07. The temperature in my house was 52 degrees. My daughter is not yet 2 years old.
The thermocouple connects to the pilot assembly. It is clear that the problem which precipitated the 2nd and 3rd visit was the direct result of negligent work performed on the 1st vist. The tech who performed the repair indicated that a system running without an orifice will run normally at first, but degrade over time (1-2 weeks) before failure.
I was willing to let the monies paid for the first visit go, but am unwilling to pay the vendor the $966.29 that he has invoiced me for. It seems clear that the the gas valve which was furnished and installed by the vendor had nothing to do with the issue.
Upon receipt of the invoice we responded with a letter indicating that we will be witholding payment for the above stated reasons.
I have since received a letter from the vendors attorney demanding payment. I am a very non-confrontational and am willing to let slide the monies already paid for the first visit; However now I am wondering how I should respond to his attorney's letter. I don't feel the vendor has any case whatsoever and I am planning to counter sue over the monies paid for the first visit if in fact he pushes this any further. As I said I was going to let this go, but seeing how the other party is proceeding should I lodge a complaint with the state of new jersey consumer affairs over this matter? Should I look to sue for other damages? I'd rather the vendor drop the issue, but I won't be bullied.
I have all of the invoices, the copy of my initial letter and the violations issued by the utility. The violation details the problem the tech identified and repaired. I also have the phone #'s of the utility technicians who came out to the house. I'd rather not have to work through an attorney on this matter.
I know this is long, but I figured the more information, the better.
I greatly appreciate any feedback.
Thanks
Best Regards
Mike
Hello.
Here is my situation. I have had 3 visits from the same heating/plumbing vendor related to my home heating system (gas/steam).
The first visit was preceded by an automatic shutoff of my home heating system on 1/23/07. A plumber was dispatched and performed repairs. Per the invoice they replaced the thermocouple and cleaned out the high unit control. The system was back on line, we were invoiced $275.68 which we paid.
The Second visit was again preceded by an automatic shutoff of my home heating system on 2/2/07. Again a plumber was dispatched from the same vendor. Again, they said the system was dirty and recommended we have the chimney swept. That same day, the chimney was swept clean and the system was put back on line by the vendor.
In the overnight, a strong smell was emanating from the system. Nervous regarding carbon monixide, we called the local utility. They came to the house on Saturday morning 2/3/07 and measuered 110 ppm CO (this is considered hazardous) coming off the system. They issued a written violation detailing the condition and shut the system down. We immediately called back the heating/plumbing vendor and advised them what had transpired with the utility company. This initiated the 3rd visit. The vendor spent most of day on Saturday attempting to isolate the problem. We were told that the gas valve was faulty and they furnished and replaced the valve. They cleaned the system & finally suggested that perhaps the feed from the utility was faulty. We initiated a trouble call to the utility to have them come out and repair the main feed. None of this made sense since the gas stove worked and there was plenty of gas flow going into the heating system. In the end they left having installed the new gas valve and having cleaned the system again. The owner of the company who was onsite most of the day told us the system was OK to run; pending the dispatch of the utility repair crew on Monday morning.
Within an hour or so of their departure, a strong smell was again emanating from the system. We called the utility and they came out and again read 110ppm CO coming off of the system. We received our 2nd violation and the system was shut down again. The utility tech however identified and fixed the problem within 5 minutes of inspecting the system. The problem as it turns out was a missing orifice on the pilot assembly. The tech could not however turn the system back on because it had become dirty again and required cleaning. Fed up with the service from this plumber we placed a call to the utility to come out and clean the system. Incidently we come to find that the utility will do this for free once per year. The utility tech performed this work on Sunday afternoon 2/4/07. The temperature in my house was 52 degrees. My daughter is not yet 2 years old.
The thermocouple connects to the pilot assembly. It is clear that the problem which precipitated the 2nd and 3rd visit was the direct result of negligent work performed on the 1st vist. The tech who performed the repair indicated that a system running without an orifice will run normally at first, but degrade over time (1-2 weeks) before failure.
I was willing to let the monies paid for the first visit go, but am unwilling to pay the vendor the $966.29 that he has invoiced me for. It seems clear that the the gas valve which was furnished and installed by the vendor had nothing to do with the issue.
Upon receipt of the invoice we responded with a letter indicating that we will be witholding payment for the above stated reasons.
I have since received a letter from the vendors attorney demanding payment. I am a very non-confrontational and am willing to let slide the monies already paid for the first visit; However now I am wondering how I should respond to his attorney's letter. I don't feel the vendor has any case whatsoever and I am planning to counter sue over the monies paid for the first visit if in fact he pushes this any further. As I said I was going to let this go, but seeing how the other party is proceeding should I lodge a complaint with the state of new jersey consumer affairs over this matter? Should I look to sue for other damages? I'd rather the vendor drop the issue, but I won't be bullied.
I have all of the invoices, the copy of my initial letter and the violations issued by the utility. The violation details the problem the tech identified and repaired. I also have the phone #'s of the utility technicians who came out to the house. I'd rather not have to work through an attorney on this matter.
I know this is long, but I figured the more information, the better.
I greatly appreciate any feedback.
Thanks
Best Regards
Mike