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| - We got a call from one of our tenants on a Friday that their heat pump was "out" and they were not getting cold air. Marlin Services had installed the unit about four years ago and it was still under warranty, so we called them at about 11:30.
Technician went out and called us a little later to tell us that the compressor needed to be replaced, but it was under warranty. He told us the soonest he could get a new compressor was Monday morning and that it would cost $1300 in labor to replace it. After inquiring about why it would cost so much, he told me that $1300 is the flat fee they charge for warranty work. Also, I asked if there was anything he could do to get the unit running until he could get the warranty-covered compressor and he said, "No - it has to be the exact unit or it won't work." One of our tenants is an 80-year old woman, so I asked him again, and he again confirmed that it would be Monday before he could get it working. Meanwhile, the temperature was over 110 and it was 95 in the house.
Disappointed with the time to get a new unit and the cost, I called another company (H&I Home Services). They quickly came out and told me two things:
1. It was not the compressor, it was the capacitor (a much cheaper part), and
2. Even if it were the compressor, they are fairly interchangeable, so you can put in a different unit temporarily until the one covered by warranty is available
So to summarize, Marlin has technicians that don't know how to properly diagnose a problem and don't care enough about people to go even slightly out of their way to try and get an air conditioner working when the temperature is 110+. Also a $1300 flat fee for a job that takes 2 hours is outrageous
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