Trane Company, Typer, TX - unhappy with central home heating and air conditioning equipment and installation

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on December 14, 2002:

From:

RE: Trane Company, Typer, TX - unhappy with central home heating and air conditioning equipment and installation

I have a real complaint against the Trane Company of Tyler, Texas, a national manufacture of central home heating and air conditioning equipment. Their literature promised several things - for their 1200 A/C unit that it would lower energy consumption and cost by 50% and that one could depend on the well trained Trane Contractors/ Installer.

Well, the one I used, All-Tech Heating & Cooling, Inc of Marietta, Ga, screwed up my system, so that it used as many KWH as the old unit with no savings. But Trane and the Wholesale Company, Apex Supply Company in the Atlanta area where I live, would do nothing. Finally through use of a unique company called Digital Air, now Honeywell/Enalasys, which uses modern technology to measure effectiveness of equipment, I discovered the screw-ups and reported them to all involved; still nothing. In fact when the test was to be conducted Trane, All-Tech and Apex decline to have a representative present! Incredible!!! Trane denied their literature.

Apex said everything was running properly! I finally filed a complaint with the Georgia Industry

Licensing Board and after some 7 months obtained a Consent Order fining All-Tech and placing it on probation, but still no one will do anything. Whereas I had trusted the name of Trane as they advertise Nothing Can Stop A Trane, I finally checked with the Tyler, Texas Better Business Bureau and sad

to say they report it as unsatisfactory for failure to respond to complaints. Brother, my new slogan for them is DON'T GET HIT BY A TRANE.

Seriously, this matter has extended over 3 plus years. It is darn costly to file a law suit and that apparently is the only thing they will listen to, I guess. I would sure like to find a law firm that would take the case on a contingency as I believe these companies were so belligerent and fraudulent that punitive damages would be justified to stop this kind of consumer deception and fraud. If you or anyone on your site has an idea please let me know. Thanks for your site! R. C.

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Robert,

My parents read your post when reasearching thier problems with trane. They were wondering which states you were licensed in and were hoping tulsa oklahoma was one of them? If you could they would be interested in hearing from you.

Thanks,

kathleen

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I was wondering if anyone who has had mold or this dirty sock syndrome, had there system oversized for the home.

if the a/c has a short cycle then it would be obviouse the system is to big, and may be returning air off the floor rather than the cieling.

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i dont get this trane and GE(now trane)

have a good reputation in the industry their products have won awards why would any complain about trane maybe your contractor screwed you up

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I have a 3 year old TRANE piece of crap heat pump. Apparently the TXV valves are KNOWN to be bad and mine has failed. NOw it will cost me $500 to have it replaced. I tried calling TRANE and got answering machines and never a real human to speak with. I called a regional office and some jerkoff told me "it happens all the time, tough luck, pal:. Some jerkoff in Philly said this. Typical! Yeah, I'm really pissed at their lack of customer service, their faulty made in china parts and their unwillingness to stand behind their products. NEVER BUY A TRANE!!

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We had a trane installed this summer. Upon the cooler weather the system was on and the smell from the vents was nasty. A sickening sweet smell. So we had the HVAC guys out they said it must be in the vents, then we had a duct inspection, which was good and then a sanitizer blown in. I have been sick for the past seven days, and the smell is still here. So the duct guy came back, combed through the whole attic with my husband (no dead critters), and then they got near the air-handler, they found the source; the coil! It looked oxidized, and the smell was horrible. The tech said it was Dirty Sock Syndrome and said we could clean the coil till the cows come home but it will not go away. Now my son who has asthma is ill also. I am at a loss here. From what I understand, the only remedy is to replace the coil or put a UV light on the unit.

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Since we had our Trane put in my wife my son and I have been sick. I had never had problems before the 2005 systems were installed. My wife just got over a terrible case of pneumonia that had her in bed and out of work for 3 weeks. We have the units with the electrical air cleaner that is supposed to zap all bacteria....when it's on we get headaches. We paid for this add on product that we can't use. We can't stand the smell it throws off. We were also told our electric bill would be cut by 50%..not true...this air system is getting us very sick....need help...C.C. Miami Fl.

Comment On This

I am a contractor that is very familiar with Trane, Apex Supply and the pumped up energy savings statements they make. Additionally on an annual basis they advertise Free Extended Warrantees. Believe me this is all a smoke and mirrors game. Additonally they have been sued for this dirty sock syndrome. Mold grows on the coils and poisons people slowly. Its all kinda hush, hush in the industry because it is the type of thing that lawyers will represent on a contingency basis. Which means it could get out of control. I remember when we used to install an air conditioning system based on the customers needs and at the same time we made a decent living. Now the goons practically twist our arms into selling things and pitching them in a manner that in my opinion is unethical. The common statement is that "You don't have to involve a bit more labor and you will make 40% more money than on the cheaper system. We can have our factories busy building low cost equipment or we can have them building higher priced equipment. Its a win-win situation. You win and we win.". Well in my opinion it should be a win-win-win situation. The customer should win also. We should be selling equipment that is built to last for years, and that genuinely can pay for itself in extra energy savings. This manipulation of the numbers and false wording is not right. It always has been. The saving grace for Trane was when it purchased GE. GE was a great piece of equipment. Trane became King after this purchase. Now Trane is just Trash! At one time I would have never said this but in all honesty save your money and by a Goodman or Amana. I have a Masters State License in three states. I know. I am just sick of the lies, marketing, uncaring, big trips, fake people. If people only new how they were being taken advantage of.