Sears For Central Air Conditioner

[KJ1]

Hello all,

I am new to this group and a new homeowner of a new-build home.

I am looking at 3 different contral air contractors. One is Sears (they sub-contract).

I am wondering if anyone has had any issues with Sears on getting repairs done in a timely manner or bad installation resolution?

The reason I ask is because when I first looked for the inf. online to get to Sears for C/A, one of the first things to come up on google was a complaint dept. The people had some complaints of bad installation and taking a long time to get it fixed, also getting the machines fixed in general.

At this point, I see one more contractor on Mon. but would really like to go with Sears because of the name brand and the salesguy was an installer himself, his review of my home matched the 2nd (independent) contractor's almost exactly.

There is that nagging concern, since I saw the complaint website, so if anyone can offer experiences, good or bad, please let me know.

Another question, the independent contractor said that he wanted to use a unit that will have r-22 (freon) and showed me a chart where the stuff will be OK to be available (just no manufactured for freon products) in case I would ever need to put some in for the next 25 years. The Sears guy wanted to go with the puron, and I am not sure how much it really matters. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

God bless, KJ

[Special Ed]

When I bought my current home I contacted Sears for installation of central air. The Sears contractor came over and looked at everything and said there would be no problem adding air to my existing furnace and was rather aggressive in wanting me to sign a contract. I opted for a second opinion and after appraising the situation the second contractor said he wouldn't advise putting central air on my existing furnace. He said I had a single speed blower that is adequate for moving hot air up out of the basement but wasn't powerful enough for moving cold air up to the second story. He said he used to work for Sears and this was not an uncommon practice. He said the AC would have worked fine till the first 95+ degree day and when I would have contacted Sears about the problem they would have responded by saying there was nothing wrong with the initial installation and would have been glad to sell me a new blower.

[CBHVAC]

And WHY would you want to look to Sears in this case, since you can hire the same contractor, for the same unit, for less, since Sears isnt there with a hand out.

I LOVE SEARS! They have no idea how much money they have made me over the years. Seriously.

Thats what you get when you pay a sub, that can make more money on his own, and do it for less, and have a 3rd party in the situation.

So? Almost exactly might be the difference in right, and almost right.

Easy enough...you have a doubt already...forget that you can put it on your Sears card....any legitimate contractor can either work out finance arrangements that will cost you less, or take your MasterCard/Visa.

Google this, since its been hashed to death. Me, personally, would and DID go with R22. I have a fairly new unit I installed here when I bought it. I am pulling it out and installing a new York Infinity series (if you havent looked at them, you should, its what Carrier and Trane are looking to play catch up to) and I have a choice...R22, or R410. I plan on going R22...and perhaps, IF and only if R410 is THE end all to the replacements, (and right now, its not) then will go R410 later in about 4 years.

And yes...I know you probably dont have the luxury of changing out units every few years, but IF you are going to get one, and if you are planning on it staying a while, it pays to look at the options on each unit. I am a dealer for York and therefore, OF COURSE I prefer York, but I didnt pick that brand by throwing darts at a board...I went with what I trust and like and personally would use. But, YOU, need to look at the big 4, Carrier, York, Trane, and Lennox, and forgetting what name is on the box, you need to look long and hard at the installers. All the expensive equipment in the world wont do you a damn thing if the installer inst worth the equipment. Put simply, name means nothing, install means all.... And, Sears is NOT the best at installations....they ARE the best at marketing...:)

[Joseph Meehan]

First suggestion. Start with the contractor. Find a good one. Next let the contractor pick the brand.

You want a brand the contractor knows is good and that he knows. There are a lot very good brands you may not recognize and may name brands you know well that are not all that good.

My personal experience may not be very useful, it goes back over 40 years ago. I got a Sears unit and ended up with a number of repairs. I could do them all myself and non involved expensive parts but they were a bother and if I had to pay labor, it would have been mighty expensive.

So find that right contractor. They may or may not be the lowest bid but they will insist on taking a look at what you have and check the size of the distribution system and do some measurements and calculations to determine the size unit you need (too large is just as bad as too small) and assure that your distribution is up to the task. If they don't do any measurements, pass and move on to the next one.

The install has much more to do with how well it will work and how pleased you are going to be than the name on the equipment.

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

1) Leave the Sears people alone.

2A) Any warrenty work will be a week to get to it.

2B) The Sub out the units or work and just add 20% for their mark up and just pay for the unit with the subcontractor about what the Independent dealer wanted in the first place. Just send me a check for $500.00 and I will get with a contractor to come do the job and pay what the contractor wanted at regular price anyway.

3) The subcontractor who put it in will come back to repair it under warrenty and you will call sears to call the subcontractor to come see. I would want to call direct to the contractor and get something done and not have to work with a third part getting something done.

4) Right now Puron / 410-A / AZ-20 has not had time to prove it'self yet. At this time about 1 in 5 HVAC contractor will even work on Puron system because of the added cost of all new tools. So what I'm saying here is about 80% of all contractor will not work on your equipment if you have to change contractor. 100% of all hvac contractor will work on R-22 systems.

TURTLE

[m Ransley]

Yea you are new , new to everything.. Sears gets a cut out of " Local Joes " or anything. Why deal with a cut off the top . Unless you are that uncorformtable OK. But SEARS just ripped off my 83 yr old neighbor for 780 for a 230 sink and agreed to a 300 refund because of my invetigation. .. Trust WHO ? NOBODY stupid- tontos

[KJ1]

Hello all,

Thank you so much for your answers. It made me think things over quite a bit.

I decided I will not go with Sears. I cannot even find one good report on them. What a shame.

I see the next contractor on Monday, and each time I talk to someone and keep reading the articles I have, I get more confident and educated, I think I will make a decent, or at least, informed choice.

As far as R-22 goes, I will go with that.

I had a private inspector for my house before I purchased it, and he refuses to do referrals, but gives general tips on contractors. One was to go to BBB. So I went to BBB's website and I am going to pull a few from there to come and give an estimate.

God bless, KJ

[m Ransley]

the bbbbb is a joke lady , they con the un conned, talk to neighbors or Realtors, Bldg Managers. In 85 or so the BBB took money to publish the BBB phone book, they got millions but never published or refunded money , they went BBBBBBB bankrupt ..

[m Ransley]

OH I paid for the BBBsBsBs Phone book , which never got printed or got any $$$$ back. Also the BBBBs must mediate your claim but cant enforce a judgement , onl;y a court can, worthless the bbb, bs is.