Anonymous
map-marker Honolulu, Hawaii

Worst quality and Customer Service Ever

By far the worst company I ever hired to do a job and the biggest issue is that they are really expensive, so I assumed that the expensive price tag came with solid WORKMANSHIP! That wasn’t the case.

Customer Service horrible – No follow up on job and could care less about their customers Communication horrible – At first you have to put the pieces of the puzzle together because there are so many different company names involved which leaves you wondering who to call if you have issues. I initially called the salesman and all he could do was make excuses for Burt, like he has so much work and he even wondered why I was calling him because he told me “I’m just a salesman. Every issue I had I took a picture of it and sent it to Burt. He told me “ sending me pictures wont get the issue fixed faster.

I told him it was to give him a visual of what I was looking at. Thanks Burt I pay all this money for poor service and disrespect. Got it! Job Completion rate horrible – No viable time frame – work is done when its done and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Quality of work horrible – they don’t treat the jobs as if they were installing for their own home No accountability – Not sure who’s in charge The experience was a nightmare from the beginning to the end. First of all the company hires outside contractors and pays them under the table when the work is complete. Saw it with my own eyes. In this case there is no accountability of work quality because the technicians do not work for the company and can do whatever they want.

Learned this the hard-way. Technical Director/installation manager/customer service rep/ Person who drew up contract and only person who can do anything for you if the install is going south – Burt Lord. The biggest issue with this is he was the only point of contact and the only technician who kept coming back to try to fix the A/C issue and kept failing miserably. I found out quickly that it was going to be a long painful A/C installation that took nearly 2 weeks.

Please see below detailed A/C issues that I experienced. Technicians show up from Standard Sheetmetal Mechanical Inc. and remove and install the A/C handler and condensing unit. The duration of work was roughly 6 ½ hrs and number of workers was 2.

After they say the A/C is good to go we turn it on. 4 hours later I notice the A/C is not cooling and water is dripping from my A/C vent. I also notice the pipe outside leading to the Condenser is frozen solid like a block of ice. Next day Burt comes out to trouble shoot for about 4 hrs and noticed that the guys he hired did not set the handler correctly therefore the water was leaking in the wrong direction.

I EVEN WENT UP IN THE ATTIC TO HELP HIM BECAUSE HE COULDN’T DO IT HIMSELF. NOT SURE WHY HE DIDN’T BRING SOMEONE WITH HIM. After handler was aligned I noticed it didn’t leak anymore so I thought we were done. A/C was turned on and noticed it was till not cooling the house so I called him again.

Burt came out to the house 2 days later and began trouble shooting, he put more refrigerant because the ice accumulating around the pipe and said that should fix that issue and the cooling issue. He also told be that the block of ice that was forming around the pipe wasn’t a big deal. I told him, it would probably be a big deal if it was yours”. So, later on through the night I noticed the AC not cooling so I called him again.

Burt came out again and did the same thing and had the same results = NO SOLUTION. Finally he contacted the guys from Standard Sheetmetal Mechanical Inc and they finally fixed the issue. I was relieved that the issue was fixed but not relieved that I paid nearly $11,000 for below average work, disrespect, and no consideration from anyone that is affiliated with this Solar Cool company. Not sure how these guys keep getting work.

They also charged me $250 for a $75 Thermostat. Got it changed out because I said something. They Hired union guys from Standard Sheet metal Mechanical Inc. who don't even work for Solar Cool Hawaii and Pay them under the table.

Right in front of me. WOW! Was going to give them a second chance to redeem themselves but it turned out worse than the A/C installation. I have never experienced this with any company that I did business with.

The main issue is the lack of communication. The technicians never showed and didn’t even give me a courtesy call to let me know what was going on. I was told that someone would be at my house between the hrs. of 8-9 and that didn’t happen.

I called spencer twice and left a message because I thought he was going to be the technician on site since he did the site survey a day prior. I didn’t receive a response at all. So I called you to help me get in contact with these guys. When I was told Burt was involved I had a bad feeling that this would turn out this way.

Burt didn't even know the details of the job that was to be done. I even recommended that maybe it's best if we reschedule tomorrow (Friday, 23 Dec) instead of 22 Dec, since they were already 2 hrs late. He told me that wasn’t good for him because he had something else. He then asked me if they were just replacing the solar panels and I told him " Burt your replacing my water heater and taking the other out of the garage.

Then he say's "oh, yea then we will have to reschedule for next week. I said, Burt I took time off from work for this and your saying I'm going to have to accommodate for you again and *** from work next week. . He says, "yeah".

That’s when I reached my limit and canceled. He gladly welcomed the cancellation. Guy has no consideration for the customers that expect a quality service because the price tag on this project is not cheap. I could have gone with another company that knows how to treat people.

Why should I spend thousands of dollars to be disrespected? Should have learned the First time.

View full review
Loss:
$15718
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution

2 comments
Guest

I've had similar experiences and came to the realization that a lot of these companies don't even have the proper license to do the work that they are paid to do. I would suggest you report Sedna Aire/Burt lord to the RICO http://cca.hawaii.gov/rico/ in case he doesn't have a license and you need to take legal action to protect your investment.

Guest

You need to make sure that you are dealing with a licensed company. If they are not licensed you should contact the Hawaii licencing complaint office and get satisfaction.

Help the other poor homeowners not get taken in the future. good Luck http://cca.hawaii.gov/rico/

View more comments (1)
Rane Rwq
map-marker Ewa Beach, Hawaii

Sedna aire hawaii customer complaint

stars-rating-full stars-rating-full stars-rating-full stars-rating-full stars-rating-full
Updated by user Jul 14, 2015

After 40 days; condensate water leaked. Now have water stains on ceilings under air handling unit.

Several contractors have come out but none have yet to fix the problem; the air handling unit overflow condensate drain was never connected to the existing attic overflow drain line, and a float switch, to shut off the AC, if the condensate drain became clogged; was not installed. Also never installed a new drip pan under the air handling unit in the attic space.

Sedna Air Hawaii subcontracts the job to multiple contractors.

It appears to lack quality control over the installation - the materials required for the installation, the instructions/specifications for the jobs, and consumer instructions.

This installation was just poor head work. It demonstrates a lack of planning, poor coordination with its contractors, and an absence of quality control.

Updated by user May 20, 2015

Monday came; solar contractor showed up an hour late to fix the extra hole he made in the roof and patch the shingles. It looks ugly.

Told the sales rep that the panel was good, but when the rep called for the ac contractor, that person was not available. Another lie about being able to complete the install.

Tuesday came; ac contractor came and completed the install.

In operation, the Sedna Aire Hawaii installed system is not what I was led to believe. The system only replaced my 4-ton working 13 SEER unit with a newer 5-ton 16 SEER unit.

The contracted cost was over $21,000. At stage 1 level of operation, the compressor draws 12 amps at 220 volts AC. At stage 2 level of operation, the compressor draws 17 amps.

The solar collector panel is supposed to boost the efficiency of the total AC system; yet, in operation, the system always operates at stage 2 within a few seconds of starting up. I thought the sun was supposed to provide the extra refrigerant pressure thereby allowing the compressor to run at a lower stage 1 amperage.

It does not work that way.

What does this mean? Well, with a larger system(25% larger) i.e., 5-ton versus 4-ton, it can cool the same size house faster.

And with a SEER 16 versus the SEER 13 of the system it replaced; it should be more efficient. However, since the Sedna Aire Hawaii installed system draws 3,700 watts while in operation, whether the bright Hawaii sun is shining or not, it's not going to save us a dime in cooling electricity costs.

And it will never recoup the added expense of installing this type of system. The system that Sedna Aire Hawaii installed is not even a Sedna system; the compressor is from Lennox, the air handling unit is from Goodman and the thermostat is from RobertShaw. We saw another Sedna Aire Hawaii system installation at another house; its compressor is a Prestige brand. So what is really going on here?

If you are reading this; whatever you do, it was not worth the $21,000 added costs to install a 25% larger system with a 20% increase in SEER. We will never see an advantage on investment in terms of lowered cooling costs over the next 20 years.

Original review May 15, 2015

Contracted Sedna Aire Hawaii to install a solar thermal AC system; was told it would be installed in two days, then later on, a single day.

Scheduled the install for a Thursday, but during install water was found in solar collector panel; so was told would install would be completed Friday. Friday waited around, no call, finally called contractor and was told that we had to wait until Monday before the solar panel could be connected.

Contractor also told us install would conform to homeowners association rules for installation. But as installers were performing the installation, we got uncomfortable with what the installers were doing.

So we called the contractor and voiced our concerns. The installer called the association, and now, has to modify the work already completed. This included an added hole in our roof, that now has to be repaired; removal of slim duct; and patch of holes in exterior wall siding.

All this is adding to extend the length of the installation.

We have had to wait around while the installers have been on-site; or no-shows. After asking us to be present for them.

We have two families interested in upgrading their central AC systems, waiting to hear from us, in Honolulu, regarding our experience with the Sedna Aire system and experience with the local installer/contractor, Sedna Aire Hawaii.

The installation so far:

- has removed a perfectly working 4-ton central AC system.

- installed the attic air handling unit and the exterior compressor.

- the installed components are working as a 5-ton 2-stage system.

- the current draw under dual stage was 17+ amps.

- when one stage was temporarily switched off, current draw was

12+ amps (we don't know how the TV commercial showing amp

draw under 7 amps was obtained ; but we do not have the solar

panel connected to our system)

They are allowing us to run the AC system without the solar panel connected; so, we at least remain comfortable. We will probably end up with a higher electric bill at the end of the month.

View full review
Loss:
$2000
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Deliver product or service ordered

5 comments
Guest

Has anyone figured out how to get the Sedna Aire system to decrease energy use? We installed one in 2014 and it appears to have made our bills go up slightly.

It certainly has not reduced them. We are concerned it is not properly installed.

Guest

By far the worst company I ever hired to do a job and the biggest issue is that they are really expensive, so I assumed that the expensive price tag came with solid WORKMANSHIP! That wasn’t the case.

Customer Service horrible – No follow up on job and could care less about their customers

Communication horrible – At first you have to put the pieces of the puzzle together because there are so many different company names involved which leaves you wondering who to call if you have issues.

I initially called the salesman and all he could do was make excuses for Burt, like he has so much work and he even wondered why I was calling him because he told me “I’m just a salesman. Every issue I had I took a picture of it and sent it to Burt. He told me “ sending me pictures wont get the issue fixed faster. I told him it was to give him a visual of what I was looking at.

Thanks Burt I pay all this money for poor service and disrespect. Got it!

Job Completion rate horrible – No viable time frame – work is done when its done and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Quality of work horrible – they don’t treat the jobs as if they were installing for their own home

No accountability – Not sure who’s in charge The experience was a nightmare from the beginning to the end. First of all the company hires outside contractors and pays them under the table when the work is complete.

Saw it with my own eyes. In this case there is no accountability of work quality because the technicians do not work for the company and can do whatever they want. Learned this the hard-way. Technical Director/installation manager/customer service rep/ Person who drew up contract and only person who can do anything for you if the install is going south – Burt Lord.

The biggest issue with this is he was the only point of contact and the only technician who kept coming back to try to fix the A/C issue and kept failing miserably. I found out quickly that it was going to be a long painful A/C installation that took nearly 2 weeks. Please see below detailed A/C issues that I experienced. Technicians show up from Standard Sheetmetal Mechanical Inc.

and remove and install the A/C handler and condensing unit. The duration of work was roughly 6 ½ hrs and number of workers was 2. After they say the A/C is good to go we turn it on. 4 hours later I notice the A/C is not cooling and water is dripping from my A/C vent.

I also notice the pipe outside leading to the Condenser is frozen solid like a block of ice. Next day Burt comes out to trouble shoot for about 4 hrs and noticed that the guys he hired did not set the handler correctly therefore the water was leaking in the wrong direction. I EVEN WENT UP IN THE ATTIC TO HELP HIM BECAUSE HE COULDN’T DO IT HIMSELF. NOT SURE WHY HE DIDN’T BRING SOMEONE WITH HIM.

After handler was aligned I noticed it didn’t leak anymore so I thought we were done. A/C was turned on and noticed it was till not cooling the house so I called him again. Burt came out to the house 2 days later and began trouble shooting, he put more refrigerant because the ice accumulating around the pipe and said that should fix that issue and the cooling issue. He also told be that the block of ice that was forming around the pipe wasn’t a big deal.

I told him, it would probably be a big deal if it was yours”. So, later on through the night I noticed the AC not cooling so I called him again. Burt came out again and did the same thing and had the same results = NO SOLUTION. Finally he contacted the guys from Standard Sheetmetal Mechanical Inc and they finally fixed the issue.

I was relieved that the issue was fixed but not relieved that I paid nearly $11,000 for below average work, disrespect, and no consideration from anyone that is affiliated with this Solar Cool company. Not sure how these guys keep getting work. They also charged me $250 for a $75 Thermostat. Got it changed out because I said something.

They Hired subcontractors who don't even work for them and Pay them under the table.

Right in front of me. WOW!

Guest

By far the worst company I ever hired to do a job and the biggest issue is that they are really expensive, so I assumed that the expensive price tag came with solid WORKMANSHIP! That wasn’t the case.

Customer Service horrible – No follow up on job and could care less about their customers

Communication horrible – At first you have to put the pieces of the puzzle together because there are so many different company names involved which leaves you wondering who to call if you have issues.

I initially called the salesman and all he could do was make excuses for Burt, like he has so much work and he even wondered why I was calling him because he told me “I’m just a salesman. Every issue I had I took a picture of it and sent it to Burt. He told me “ sending me pictures wont get the issue fixed faster. I told him it was to give him a visual of what I was looking at.

Thanks Burt I pay all this money for poor service and disrespect. Got it!

Job Completion rate horrible – No viable time frame – work is done when its done and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Quality of work horrible – they don’t treat the jobs as if they were installing for their own home

No accountability – Not sure who’s in charge The experience was a nightmare from the beginning to the end. First of all the company hires outside contractors and pays them under the table when the work is complete.

Saw it with my own eyes. In this case there is no accountability of work quality because the technicians do not work for the company and can do whatever they want. Learned this the hard-way. Technical Director/installation manager/customer service rep/ Person who drew up contract and only person who can do anything for you if the install is going south – Burt Lord.

The biggest issue with this is he was the only point of contact and the only technician who kept coming back to try to fix the A/C issue and kept failing miserably. I found out quickly that it was going to be a long painful A/C installation that took nearly 2 weeks. Please see below detailed A/C issues that I experienced. Technicians show up from Standard Sheetmetal Mechanical Inc.

and remove and install the A/C handler and condensing unit. The duration of work was roughly 6 ½ hrs and number of workers was 2. After they say the A/C is good to go we turn it on. 4 hours later I notice the A/C is not cooling and water is dripping from my A/C vent.

I also notice the pipe outside leading to the Condenser is frozen solid like a block of ice. Next day Burt comes out to trouble shoot for about 4 hrs and noticed that the guys he hired did not set the handler correctly therefore the water was leaking in the wrong direction. I EVEN WENT UP IN THE ATTIC TO HELP HIM BECAUSE HE COULDN’T DO IT HIMSELF. NOT SURE WHY HE DIDN’T BRING SOMEONE WITH HIM.

After handler was aligned I noticed it didn’t leak anymore so I thought we were done. A/C was turned on and noticed it was till not cooling the house so I called him again. Burt came out to the house 2 days later and began trouble shooting, he put more refrigerant because the ice accumulating around the pipe and said that should fix that issue and the cooling issue. He also told be that the block of ice that was forming around the pipe wasn’t a big deal.

I told him, it would probably be a big deal if it was yours”. So, later on through the night I noticed the AC not cooling so I called him again. Burt came out again and did the same thing and had the same results = NO SOLUTION. Finally he contacted the guys from Standard Sheetmetal Mechanical Inc and they finally fixed the issue.

I was relieved that the issue was fixed but not relieved that I paid nearly $11,000 for below average work, disrespect, and no consideration from anyone that is affiliated with this Solar Cool company. Not sure how these guys keep getting work.

They also charged me $250 for a $75 Thermostat. Got it changed out because I said something.

Guest

Awesome post. We have been doing some DD on a new unit and this helps a lot.

Glad to see you included the real life usage numbers. Based on the expense vs what you say your operating saving are I think your very optimisic about an ROI of 20 years.

I think additional home work is required on this product and I wonder why it's components are not a standardised, how can the energy specs be representative between units?

The poster sounds like a booster for the company.

Why did he not report on his energy useage and savings? Hmmmm

Guest

I was browsing the internet and I came across this review. I currently live in Florida and had a 4 ton solar cool system by Sedna Aire installed in my home last summer.

The system works wonderfully and is the best ac system I have ever owned in my life. This is the newest advancement in ac technology. The poster for this complaint exemplifies a person who is never satisfied with anything he buys and nit picks everything.

I'm currently employed as a quality control supervisor for a large furniture retailer and we come across similiar customers every couple of months. Sedna Aire corporate offices should review this complaint for possible slander.

View more comments (4)

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