Nightmare experience that has yet to go away.
They tried to install a ductless mini-split system without the needed expertise. They could not get it to work and they are trying to take the money and run. We had to pay a separate installer to put in a whole new system. We've had to report them to the state and are now in a dispute with the bank on who should be responsible for the $15k. Copying and pasting our complaint through the CFPB below.
Please see below for the context into our dispute regarding an installment loan through Synchrony Bank as well as our experience through the dispute process. In August 2024, we hired Rudy Cools Heating and Air Conditioning to install a full HVAC system (Units and Duct Work) for $15,655. We signed the contract (attached) on August 7, 2024, and opted for the third-party financing through Synchrony Bank that Rudy Cool's offered. As per the timeline (attached), Rudy Cools did not complete their due diligence before the installation and midway through installation, their electrician arrived and flagged to them that the unit they contracted us for would not work with the current electrical panel within our house. Their electrician quoted us an additional $8,400 for a panel upgrade which after the fact we realized is close to double what most electricians around Charlotte, NC charge for that service. We were now stuck in the middle of the summer with no AC, half of an HVAC installation, and Rudy Cools and their electrician trying to charge an additional $8,400 for an electrical upgrade that was not flagged before we signed the contract. Noted, we would have never opted for this specific system knowing we would have to pay an additional $8,400 or we would have at least received multiple quotes beforehand for an electrical panel upgrade. As we could not budget the $8,400, Rudy Cools tried to remedy the situation by installing a more efficient system that could work with our current electrical panel. They assured us that this would work fine and it was actually an upgrade to what we signed the contract for. Under those circumstances, we allowed Rudy Cools to proceed with their solution and they finished the installation on August 15, 2024. Unfortunately, it became apparent rather quickly that the installed HVAC system had multiple defects. Please refer to the documents for more details on the HVAC issues but in summary, there were multiple code violations that would have failed count permitting, the ducts were not sealed which pulled crawl space air into our house, the indoor unit was draining into our crawl space which potentially caused further damage to our home, the thermostat was reading 5 degrees higher than actual room temperature, and later when they tried and fix the issues, both the heating and cooling stopped working completely. When we requested that Rudy Cools come and fix it, they came by on two separate occasions but were unable to remedy the issues. After this, they ignored all of our communication attempts leaving us with no AC during the late summer. We would then dispute the transaction with Synchrony Bank over the quality of goods and services provided by Rudy Cools since there were many known defects and we now realized we would have to hire a new company to fix or potentially install an entirely new HVAC system. It was after Synchrony contacted Rudy Cools regarding the dispute that Rudy Cools reached back out to us, disregarding our previous requests and asking if they could schedule a final inspection. We reiterated back all of the current installation issues and with reason to suspect bad intention by Rudy Cools, we requested that they agree in email to fix the issues at hand, which they refused to do so. When trying to talk to their License Holder Brian Cozumie, who per the State is supposed to be overseeing the project, they refused as well. As this drew out for months we started to experience below-freezing temperatures outside and we were without central heating (It would drop to high 40s farenheit in our home). We had multiple contractors assess the situation and their recommendations were to install an entirely new system since Rudy Cool's installation was a significant repair job and they did not want to assume liability for defective work. On December 17th, we hired Cooks Heating and Air to install a new HVAC system which has been working to this day. We also offered Rudy Cools the opportunity to pick up their equipment and they refused, as per our email communications.
