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Monday, July 2, 2012

Aircond con-man

Today I discovered that I have been conned by the aircond repair guy.
On Saturday, the company that I called sent 3 guys to service my airconds at Shang Villa, and discovered that 1 compressor is not working and needed replacement.  One guy called me and said that a replacement would be about RM400 inclusive of labour.  I asked when this can be done, and he said that I need to make another appointment with his company before they can set a date for me.  I decided to call on Monday.
Then yesterday (Sunday) I went to the condo to repair the minor things like the bed and the leaky pipe.  While that was going on, 1 of the 3 guys who repaired the aircond showed up and said he was going to change the compressor now.  I was surprised because he didn't call me to make an appointment, but since the tenant recognized him as the guy who came yesterday, I didn't suspect anything.
He made repairs and in about 30mins, said that he has completed the job.  We left the aircond on to test it, meanwhile the guy collected the money for repairs and for servicing the other 2 airconds on Saturday.  He even went downstairs to his car with the money, came back to write me a receipt and put his handphone number on the receipt, saying I was to call this number for a 5-month warranty.  Then we all went home.
At night, the tenant called to complain that the aircond wasn't cold at all, the replaced compressor did not make any difference.
So today (Monday), I called the office to complain.  I got a shock when the office receptionist said they did not send anybody on Sunday, because they don't work on Sundays.
Then I called the number that the guy wrote on the receipt, and a guy answered and said this was for a massage parlor service!
When I related to the office about the whole incident, then they realized what happened.  Indeed that guy was one of the workers of this aircond repair company, but he was terminated for dishonest behavior on Saturday.  My condo was his last job under that company.  So this guy had actually came in his personal capacity to collect the aircond service money from me, giving me bogus receipts and all.
At the end, to cut a long story short, the company's boss called up personally to apologize for all that has happened, and asked me to install a new aircond instead of trying to replace another compressor, giving me a discount, so that when I calculate the costs of aircond replacement plus the servicing (that the company didn't receive a cent for), both the company and I more or less broke even.  The only person who "untung" was that con-man, who earned from me and the company.
Anyway, as this is a blog of gratitude, I am posting this here because I am grateful for a few things:
1. The company dealt with this incident professionally and honestly, without demanding that I pay them the rest of the service money.
2. New Fujiaire aircond was installed the next day, with warranty card and all, and tenant was very happy with the service.
3. At the end of the day, I didn't "rugi" a whole lot, just learnt a lesson on safety as well.
So I will continue to use this aircond servicing company.   I learnt that aircond companies do not let their contractors contact client personally for service appointments, all of that has to be done with the office.  Anyone wants a reliable aircond contractor with professional and responsible services, here it is:  Fine Air Services, Sri Kembangan, tel: 03-89482213.

2 comments:

  1. aiyo... this kind of thing also can happen. sedap2 dia dapat duit...

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  2. That's right, Anie, the worst part is the massage parlour phone answer, really gave me a shock. Looking back now, it sounds so funny.

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