Repair of combination water and space heating system
This is a unique situation as despite our best attempts to rectify the problem with this Baxi Luna Model 24Fi wall-hung combination boiler, Serial # A93003884 we were told by the North American distrubutor, Marathon Group, that the control board this unit requires is no longer made nor available. In this situation, we could only recommend the replacement of the boiler. As fact, we did not install this specific boiler, we were only contacted to service it. As a service provider, we are often limited by the technical support and parts availability of our respective suppliers. As it is easy in a forum such as this to "bash the contractor", we are very proud of the fact that we have thousands of clients who are very satisfied with the level of service we provide. It is unfortunate but inevitible that on occasion, a client will feel that we did not deliver on our promise to deliver service excellence.
On January 4, 2010 at 3:13 AM, we received an email from this client that reads verbatim "The fire department was just here and shut off our furnace for a CO2 alarm. It's -15 and the heat in the house won't last long. Can you please call me back first thing in the morning to arrange an emeregency repair?"
At approximately 9 AM on January 5th our technician arrived at the client's home to find a 20+ year old boiler that was unsafe and as such was "red tagged" and disconnected. At 10 AM our salesperson was at the home with 5 portable space heaters and quoted the client some replacement options. In the interim, the client chose to "clean" the boiler himself and due to this, we would assume no responsibility for his work and thus would not re-attend to turn the boiler on. However, to protect the client's safety, we did re-attend on Wednesday, January 6th and turned off the gas meter (This was advised to us after consultation with Enbridge Gas Distribution).
At Mckinnon, we always do our best to place our client's safety before anything else, even profit.
Installation of gas furnace and water heater
Hello Adam,
My offer to refund 50% (to cover our cost of labour) still stands. Should you wish to take me up on this, please contact me.
I must say that it is quite ironic that a client who is so unhappy with our company, services and staff emailed me personally (after the fact) and requested a Service Contract for his heating system. It seems that we as contractors often get mixed messages from our clients: On the one hand, we make mistakes (and are viewed as almost "criminal") yet on the other hand, the client realizes the value in a contractor who shows up, tries their best and ultimately attempts to make the customer's experience a positive one. Yes, this client has pursuited this $800.00 matter in Small Claims Court (which we are defending) but when I questioned him about how his heating system is working, the answer was clearly yes, it is working well. I maintain that my staff and I always try our best and at times, we fall short of the mark. In those situations, we always remedy things as best as we can. This is precisely what happened with this specific client. Derek, I wish you the best of luck with your next heating contractor, I hope the experience meets with your expectations.
Simon,
We always try our best to rectify a client's home comfort issue as quickly and as cost efficient as possible. I understand your frustration and dissapointment with our company. In light of this, I have tried my best to compensate you appropriately with a complimentary one year Protection Plan on your boiler. I am hopeful that your next experience with our company will be a more pleasant one.