Air conditioning repair

Complaints Corner
1
A couple of years ago I bought a two-piece air conditioner from a major Swiss chain, no names no pack drill.

It failed in June so I sent it back as it was still under guarantee. Three weeks later it was returned but it did not cool.

Last week, they returned it after their third repair and it worked OK. The difference was they replaced the hose between the two pieces.

There was a document with it that listed the work done, each item listed with the price and each with a 100% discount so a total price of CHF 0.

Now my complaint is they have now sent me an invoice for the most expensive item, the hose, almost CHF 300, and including a new item "HL Wegpauschale 1/2 Reparaturen ELGG" which seems to be some sort of travel allowance, their invoice does not give any explanation or reason for the two charges.

I plan to dispute the invoice on the grounds that their workshop accepted all the items as costs under the guarantee unless anybody has a better idea.

Their guarantee conditions, copied in German below;

Von der Garantie ausgeschlossen sind:

- Allgemeine Verschleissteile

- Normale Leistungsabnahme von Akkus und Leuchtmitteln

- Einbrennschäden bei Displays

- Schäden durch Fehlmanipulationen oder mechanische Beschädigungen, Sturz-, Schlag und Feuchtigkeitsschäden

- Übermässige Beanspruchung oder gewerbliche Nutzung, Defekte infolge von Eingriffen oder Modifikationen

- Über- und Falschdosierung (kandierte Kaffeebohnen, Waschmittel usw.)

- Verkalkung, ausgelaufene Batterien, Datenverlust, Datenbeschädigung, Softwarefehler, Computerviren

- Vorgenommene Änderungen am Gegenstand, Bedienungsfehler

- Elementarereignisse, Frost, Blitzschlag usw.

- Nichtbeachtung von Wartungs- und Gebrauchsanleitungen

2
I would do exactly that:

* point out that the workshop accepted the guarantee in the first instance

* ask them to state which guarantee clause they believe excludes this part

I'd also point out that they had several attempts to fix it and you did not have use of it in the hottest part of the summer - it never hurts to show that you have been negatively impacted and they should feel bad about their service not try and sting you for costs.

And from what you said they didn't actually do any travel? So obviously that charge is completely false, again unless they can show evidence that it isn't.

3
I bet they will argue that a hose is a "Verschleissteil" which I sort of see the point. I did not know that you can spend 300 CHF on a hose though...

4

Hardly - we’re talking about the basic two year guarantee, they can’t reasonably exclude a key non-moving part, particularly as it’s illegal for the end user to replace it (due to the coolant).

Assuming it’s the two-part insulated coolant hose, they are really expensive:

https://www.hornbach.ch/de/p/kaeltel…raet/10585697/

5
Yes, exactly that.

6
Indeed travel cost. A Pauschale indicates that it's not based on the actual case, but on a flat rate. Like, "distance is 30km, at 2.- per km that costs you 60.-". Usually, transporting the item to the vendor and back is the customer's problem and cost, in the opposite case the customer gets billed. Perhaps ELGG means Elgg ZH (Winterthur)?

7
Success.

Wrote the letter, sent recorded delivery and today got a new bill without the cost of the hose.

8
Now received an email cancelling the collection costs which I had not complained about.

Seems they breached their own terms and conditions by failing to get my agreement in advance to pay such costs.

Thank you all for your good advice.

9
If it keeps on like this they'll end up owing you money

10
No peace for the wicked!

A neighbour is complaining that water is dripping onto her balcony

I checked the outside unit of my two-unit a/c and indeed there is water coming out of it. It does not have any water supply so must be condensation. This was confirmed by my old friend Google that under certain weather conditions this can occur.

So now the unit is sitting on a large plastic plant tray with a couple of blocks under it to keep it out of the water.

The water is coming out of the bottom of the air grille on the outlet side. Presumably, there is around 1 cm of water in the bottom of the unit, maybe I should drill a small hole to let it out but then it will have to permanently live in the plant tray.

Decisions, decisions.

11
Condensation is normal, it's usually caught in a tray and evaporates.

I wonder if it's the same as a fridge, they put the tray on the compressor and you get the double advantage that the water evaporates quicker and helps with the cooling?

The bad part of the above is the trays perish because they're alternately hot and cold - the one on my fridge broke a couple of weeks ago, completely brittle. Now have a large tin can sitting next to the compressor, which kind of works.

12
Sounds like the repair people forgot to do something. Potential future rust etc. Why not call them and ask them to fix their mistake.