Horrible Experience with Advanced Air Technology in Augusta, Georgia
THE FOLLOWING IS A WARNING FOR ANYONE CONSIDERING USING ADVANCED AIR TECHNOLOGY IN AUGUSTA, GEORGIA FOR ANY WORK IN YOUR HOME. THIS NIGHTMARE COMPANY RUINED MY HOME AND I WANT TO STOP THEM BEFORE THEY RUIN YOURS TOO. THEY CAUSED OVER $7,000 WORTH OF DAMAGE TO MY HOME. THEY FLOODED MY HOUSE......NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE!READ ON FOR DETAILS.
We live in a nice 2 story brick home (2800 sf) in North Augusta, SC. The upstairs AC unit began to go on the fritz last summer and we allowed it to limp thru last fall and into early summer of this year. I selected a local company, Advanced Air Technology (AAT) to perform the installation of a 2.5 ton unit, of which, the air handler unit was in the attic. They sent out an engineer, who surveyed the home, and recommended the system type and that we needed an additional return to the system. It all seemed logical to me and I like the fact they sent an engineer out to scope out the work ahead of time.
We ended up going with AAT and on July 15, 2012, they showed up for the install. The technician immediately notified me the attic opening was not large enough for the old equipment to come out of and the new to go into. So he stated he would enlarge the opening and re-case it upon completion. I confirmed this with the engineer and everything was good. They came back on that Monday, July 17 and finished the work, and had the system running.
On July 19, around 9om I discovered water in my garage. Since it was raining I thought perhaps I had a roof leak, etc. The water was dripping out of the ceiling in the garage. I culd not find the source, however, when I entered the attic space, I noticed the overflow pan was not directly under the unit. The pan was dry however, and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. In my mind, I was looking for a large puddle, or some sort of obvious indication. I checked everywhere I could think of, and the next am I called AAT and asked them to check it out. I was told, upon their visit, that I had a pluming problem. So I call my plumber who met me Thursday afternoon. We begin toe chase the water path which lead him to the attic space, where he discovered the unit POURING water out of the end, completely missing the pan, which by the way, was tipped away from the overflow drain and main drain lines. I immediately shut the system down and called AAT who replied "WE WANT TO SPEAK TO YOUR PLUMBER BECAUSE THERE IS NO WAY THE WATER IS GETTING FROM THE ATTIC TO THE GARAGE". I am no plumber, and neither is my 8-year old, but even she could explain this after witnessing the cascading water.
So by now, the system has been running for four days, and leaking like a sieve during the heat of the day when the cold air met the heated attic air, creating MUCH condensation. The engineer called me the next AM and stated he would take care of everything. Knowing I am not in familiar territory, I asked to speak with the owner of AAT. The owner, Gary Hill, called me and I explained my findings.......duct taped joints, used air return parts, and uninsulated box, etc etc. He headed to my home and called me, stating he was embarrassed. Their technicians (a new team) worked from 9am until 1130pm Friday night. They quipped how :the other guys hadn't done anything right, so on and so forth. They bragged about how THEY wired the shut off switch correctly this time in the pan.
By Friday night I was feeling some better, but we had damage to the sheet rock in the upstairs bedroom, the wall, and of course, the attic insulation, the garage insulation, and the garage ceiling., but at least the leaking had been topped.
I come home Sunday afternoon after picking up the kids (everyone was gone all weekend) and my daughter came running back downstairs stating that "THERE IS WATER COMING OUT OF THE CEILING". And sure enough, water is POURING out of the ceiling onto the floor, soaking the carpet. I shut down the system, crawled into the attic space and the pan (which holds 6 gallons+) was FULL and the emergency shutoff switch had not activated. Water was running out of the system like a water fountain and now I had carpet damage.
The owner calls in a third party clean up team to begin the repairs and abate the damaged areas. The insurance has calculated the damages, depreciating the repairs by a value of 10%. The damages came to around $7,000 and I am out the 10% due to what they consider depreciated value. Carpet in the bedroom was a year old, and I don't know why anyone would depreciate sheet rock, its not like we walk on it. I explained to the insurance carrier (AAT's) that this was due to TWO gross mistakes on AAT's part, not just bad luck.
Anyhow, the insurance company stuck to their guns, refusing additional compensation. I, in turn, asked the owner of AAT (Mr Gary Hill) to make up the difference, and an additional nominal "inconvenience refund". He responded to me "I CANT DO THAT". I WOULD THINK, AS A BUSINESS OWNER, MR. HILL WOULD BE HAPPY THAT ALL I ASKED OF HIM WAS TO MAKE ME WHOLE. Augusta Air Technology is incompetent, unfair, and greedy. And oh, but the way, they came back a MONTH later to re-case that opening.......that photo is attached. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? LAG BOLTS?
I have since signed up of Angie's List and guess what? They did this SAME thing to another customer in July! Amazing. Interesting part is that his "punchline" on his radio commercials is "we will leave your home better than when we found it". Right.
It has been 5 weeks since this occurred and my home is still not repaired. It truly has been a nightmare. Mr Hill's only comment was "THIS WAS DISAPPOINTING FOR BOTH OF US". Really? Did someone flood your house too?
Thought I would share in case you have the option to select Advanced Air Technology owned by Mr Gary Hill, Gary Hill Enterprises. I am extremely disappointed in the quality of the work, the follow thru and MY having to eat costs not created by MY actions.
