I had my air conditioner fixed on 06/25/03. I told the guy to fix it. Well all he did was put 3 lbs of R-22 in it. He said that the unit more than likely came from the manufacturer low on R-22. Well by 07/03/03 we had no air conditioning. He came back out and found the leak. He had to remove all the R-22 out of the unit, braze the leak, the recharge the unit. He expects me to pay for both visits and says that the situation isn't under warranty. It IS!!!! Does anyone out their have the following system? (I can't find the detailed warranty information) Ruud UPNJ-036-AZ heat pump HELP!!! I have to log off now, but will be back in the morning. Any info that y'all could provide me would really be appreciated. Also, I know that this is not exactly related to credit issues, but this is the only place I know of where people actually help one another. thanks
GENERAL All of RUUD® AIR CONDITIONING DIVISION'S products come with a written limited warranty on parts. The warranty provides that a replacement will be furnished for any part of the product which fails in normal use and service during the applicable warranty period specified, in accordance with the warranty's terms. The RUUD replacement part is warranted for only the unexpired portion of the original warranty. All parts are warranted for a period of FIVE (5) YEARS after the effective date...... from <http://www.ruudac.com/> check for more information
Thanks for your reply. I do have all of the information from their website. The problem is that there is supposedly more detailed information regarding warranty, like exclusions etc., that I do not have.
Encumber your house first. If you have equity then create a note to yourself (under another entity name - Trust, LLC etc) or to another family member. File it. Then others won't be so ready to sue you. Another alternative is not to hold real property in your name.....always in the name of a Trust.
When I got home from work Friday, there was a letter from an attorney threatening suit against me if I didn't pay off the balance. I will post the letter tomorrow. I would really like opinions regarding overshadowing, because I think the letter definitely overshadows. As for Mr. AC Screwerupper, I would now like to sue him. Following is the time line as to what happened. 06/24/03, AC wasn't cooling the house. Called Mr. AC Screwerupper, he said that he would come tomorrow. 06/25/03, Mr. AC Screwerupper showed up at house, while AC was still under warranty, and added 3 lbs of R-22 to the unit. This appeared to work, but didn't fix the unit. I told him repeatedly that the unit was still under warranty, and that I wanted the unit fixed. He said that the unit didn't have a leak in it that it came from the factory low on R-22. I now know that to be a crock! 07/03/03, called Mr. AC Screwerupper, told him the unit stopped cooling the house again. He said that he would be over on Monday to fix the unit again. 07/05/03, one of Mr. AC Screwerupper's employees came this time to fix the AC. He supposedly found a leak in the unit. (Note that almost all of the R-22 had drained out of the unit by this time, so we all inhaled about 10 lbs of R-22). He "recovered what was left of the R-22 in the unit, braized the supposed leak, and then put 13 lbs of R-22 back in the unit. He charged me for all of this. About 07/21/03, had another AC guy out because the unit stopped cooling the house AGAIN. The leak? It was in the stem that you use to fill the unit with R-22. The cost of the stem piece? $1.50. The unit had to be completely refilled with R-22 AGAIN. So my family and I inhaled about 13 lbs. of frion again. Oh yeah, I had to pay for this again. To begin with, Mr. AC Screwerupper was suppose to diagnose the problem with the AC, calle RUUD and ok the parts, then go to Hughes Supply to get the part. The part would then be charged back to RUUD as a warranty part. He should have then put the part on the AC, (the part btw comes prefilled with R-22) the first time. Also, the unit will not turn on at all now, so I think that the compressor is damaged. That's what happens when your unit is run with no frion. My unit is actually a heat pump too. I want to sue him. Do you think I have a good case?
Sounds good to me LOL. I would check your state's Deceptive Trade Practices statutes. Have you involved Ruud yet? We were just talking about overshadowing this morning. Here's the thread: http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=374024#post374024
I will check the Deceptive Trade Practices. I am confused a little. Are you saying that this is a business debt and therefore not subject to the FDCPA? Because I am a consumer, so this would be subject to th FDCPA, correct?
No uh uh FDCPA for the collection letter you received DTPA for all your problems with the company apart from the collection. (Not honoring warranty, not fixing it, etc. etc). Have you notified Ruud of all the problems with their authorized repair company?
No, I haven't notified Ruud yet. I am going to notify them after I find every law and violation on this guy that I can include in the letter. I want them to know what kind of crook he is. I found lots of info under the deceptive trade practices and will need to read all of it. I am going to send validation to the attorney, so I can get that ball rolling. This guy also advertised that he guarenteed his work. So I could probably get him for false adverstisment? He was supposed to put his liscence # on his invoices. They aren't on them. Probably will get him for that too. I'm thinking about filing a complaint with the liscencing agency that gives him the right to do AC work in Ohio. He isn't a member of the BBB. Imagine that. Gonna start reading.....
Re: Re: Help! Potential Lien on House! Alot of what you are listing IS usually covered under DTPA. Have you verified if he is indeed licensed? Good plan to get everything together first. Did Ruud recommend him? Or did they use something like "Ruud Authorized Repairs" blah blah in their advertising?
Re: Re: Re: Help! Potential Lien on House! No, Ruud didn't recommend him. But when I called them, they said that he was authorized to do repairs on their products, warranty work, etc. He didn't advertise specifically for Ruud, he advertised for all makes and models, but he did advertise as garanteed workmanship. Yes, he is liscenced in Ohio. I checked after the first repair (notice AFTER, big lesson learned!). He had just received his renewel in March.
Re: Re: Re: Help! Potential Lien on House! Ok, I finally remembered to bring the letter with me! -------------- September 11, 2003 Me At my house In Re: Hick AC Account Date of Service: July 7, 2003 Invoice # 001161 Dear Ms. Sirrowan, Please be advised that the undersigned represents Hick AC in regard to service which was completed on air conditioning equipment located at your residence on the date captioned above. The total invoice charges were $329.00, which you promised to pay upon completion of the work. My client has informed me that on the date of service, you paid him $76.00 for three hours of labor plus materials in the late afternoon/eving hours, and that you indicated to him that you would send him a check for the balance due forthwith, in the amount of $253.00. To date, you have made no further payments to Hick AC in reference to this debt. Your account is now more than two months in arrears. The total amount which is now due and owing to Hick AC is $256.80, which includes the original amount of the invoice plus the accured interest, whcih is still continuing to accrue, less your partial payment. Please forward this amount to our office immediately. Enclosed please find a self-addressed envelope for your remittance. Should you fail to pay the total blance due and owing of $256.80 to the undersigned attorney within (30) days of your receipt of this letter, my client will have no other alternative than to file suit in Court for the balance due, interest computed from the date of the service, court costs incurred, and attorneys fees assessed. Govern yourself according, Sincerely, Kathleen the attorney KDR/ker cc: Hick AC ------------ Stapled to this letter is thi: "Notice Under The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act" If your name appears in the complaint and/or letter to which this is attached, the following notice applies to you" 1. The amount of the debt is stated in the complaint and/or letter. 2. The plaintiff as named in the complaint and/or letter is the creditor to whom the debt is owed. 3. The debt described in the complaint and/or letter and evidenced by the copy of exhibit attached thereto will be assumed to be valid by Kathleen attorney, unless, within thirty (30) days after the reciept of this notice, you dispute the validity of all or some portion thereof. 4. If you notify Kathleen attorney, in writing within thirty (30) days of the recipt of this notice that the debt or any portion thereof is disputed, Kathleen attorney, will obtain a verification of the debt and a copy of verification will be mailed to you by Kathleen attorney. 5. If the creditory named as plaintiff in the complaint and/or letter is not the original creditor, and if you make a written request to Kathleen attorney, within thirty (30) days from the reciept of this notice, the name and the address of the original creditor will be mailed to you by Kathleen attorney. 6. Written notices should be sent to ..... 7. Any and all information gathered shall be utilized in collection of this debt. --------------- Also attached is a copy of the 2nd invoice that is dated 07/07/03. It shows that it took this guy 3 hours to put frion in my ac. The other guy from a different company that FIXED the ac took a total of one hour to trouble shoot, fix and fill the unit with frion.
Re: Re: Re: Help! Potential Lien on House! First of all, I haven't sent out validation yet, because I realized that the last invoice was stapled to the letter. Secondly, would you say that the letter overshadows? It seems to IMO. The letter says that he will sue in 30 days if I don't pay the bill. I realize that if he intends to take this action, it may be ok to use that threat, but doesn't it over shadow my validation rights?
Re: Re: Re: Help! Potential Lien on House! Lb and jlynn, I PROMISE to not dissapear. I will post everything about this drama as it happens and the outcome. PROMISE!
LB & I both appreciate that! Look at the invoice. Does it state something like "accounts over 30 days accrue interest at xx", or anything about interest? If not they can't charge it. Secondly, Butch just posted an article about overshadowing, wished I'd saved the link, but its around here somewhere...maybe someone remembers it? You should find it...good stuff.
Ok, I found the link on overshadowing: http://www.mpbf.com/meart1.htm This attorney's letter is definitely overshadowing. First of all, the mini miranda isn't on the first page. It is on another page stapled to the first page. There is no reference to the 2nd page contained within the first page. The first page does not once tell me my rights to validation. It does state the following though: "Should you fail to pay the total balance due and owing of $256.80 to the undersigned attorney within (30) days of your receipt of this letter, my client will have no other alternative than to file suit Court for the balance due, interest computed from the date of the service, court costs incurred, and attorney fees assessed. Govern yourself according." That must definitely be overshadowing because the attorney threatens me with a specific cause of action, particularly filing suit. What do you guys think?
